Elrc (elite League Riders Championship) 19/10/13 At Swindon

[Red Robin 200]

We drove up from Bristol, parked up in the car park and it poured down, there was a longish queue and they were drenched before 4.30 p.m. Was so sure it would be cancelled, that we drove straight out again and returned home, staggered to find it was on. So glad we didn't stay, what a waste of money it would have been.Just sorry we wasted the petrol going in the first place.

[Crazy robin 2,963]

Have to hand it to Rory who has had his fair share of injuries & yet still seems to have the nuts to go for it tonight & win the meeting on what seems like a wet & dodgy track.

 

Another sad day for speedway & 2013 will go down as the worst season ever for me from start of last winter.

[Starman2006 2,354]

By the sounds of it, this meeting shouldn't have even been started..

[skthecat 90]

Any info into this evenings shenanigans....? I was tracking the storms up the country from the south west, looked quite vicious and meeting killers.. got to us in Leicester around 5.45pm and lobbed it down with thunder and lightning for around 30-40 mins. . Bet it was the same storm that hit swindon. If anyone is interested, another batch of thundery storms are tracking exactly the same course, hitting Swindon anytime in the hour or so....

 

Who won the meeting and should it have gone ahead.....?

 

These storms were forecast, surely another example where covers would have worked.... I know it went ahead, but deom comments I've readso far... sounds like Iit was a farce. ....

[Deak77 6]

Anybody who seriously thought that this meeting would ever go ahead with a top field wants their head looking at.The important stuff is over, GP qualifications all sorted, farcical EL title decided, the riders all have eyes on next season now.

 

The meeting has been meaningless for years, God help anybody who wasted £25 of their hard earned to watch it, stood in the mud on the back straight. British speedway, plumbing new depths year on year.

[Lord Antebellum 87]

What a disaster that they hold the biggest "alleged" individual meeting of the season in October & it turns into another fiasco.

 

When will these clowns realise that speedway is supposed to be a summer sport.

There have been nearly 50 ELRC (or similar names) meetings since 1965. All held in October, I believe. Today we had a freak downpour for about 20 minutes, apparently in late afternoon. We had driven over 100 miles to be there, and never saw a drop of rain! Meeting was poor, but BSPA made the best of a bad job by telling people to retain admission tickets against some to-be-announced discount next season. Swindon staff did OK in attempting to sort the track, but clearly lacked a "hard man" in the pits, pushing races out. On reflection, I accept the freak weather was nobody's fault, and applaud Rory Schlein, Craig Cook and (although he didn't reach the latter stages) Scott Nicholls for some exhilarating riding under the circumstances Not much to applaud Messrs Ward, Watt or Pedersen for, however.

Edited October 19, 2013 by Lord Antebellum

[SCB 0]

Not much to applaud Messrs Ward, Watt or Pedersen for, however.

Watt and Pedersen I am not shocked, if it don't suit them then forget it but Darcy has never struck me as the kind not to give a crap (see Freddie Lindgren testimonial). It as suggested earleir int eh week he picked up a nasty injury on Wednesday needing a visit to the hospital so it may have been down to that injury rather than conditions. Darcy strikes me as a guy who just wants to race his bike, regardless of conditions but I could be wrong.

[TrueBee 147]

By the sounds of it, this meeting shouldn't have even been started..

Poole fans should know all about those type of meetings!

[WembleyLion 413]

Well done Rory for his win and well done to those riders who gave it a go on a very difficult track.

 

So far as the others are concerned at the outset I had predicted Watt, Pedersen and Bjerre would put little or no effort in and that they would withdraw before the meeting concluded. At least Bjerre completed 3 of his 4 rides to set him apart from the other two.

[Crump99 4,476]

A league which, if second rate, was dragged down to that level by the actions of Coventry representatives three or four years ago.

 

It was already on it's way down through the levels and the only difference that made was that it made no difference.

[lynnboy 254]

Thanks Rory !! Had £5 on ya at 66/1 with skybet happy days

[JonHWeiner 95]

How can the Elite League Riders Championship be held in a stadium without even a proper grandstand? The Brandonapolis the previous evening was at least somewhere where you didn't have to stand up or take your own seats! I went to see the Coventry Storm at Sittingbourne this season - a National league stadium with a decent grandstand (unlike nearby Lakeside!)

[BluTiger 21,700]

Whatever happened to 20 heat, 5 rides each meetings. Just don't get this semi and final thing, in a one off meeting...

[Crump99 4,476]

Whatever happened to 20 heat, 5 rides each meetings. Just don't get this semi and final thing, in a one off meeting...

 

The most important race is the last one, what's not to get?

[BluTiger 21,700]

The most important race is the last one, what's not to get?

It hardly ensures the best rider on the night winning. Every race should be as important as the last, as in the Blue Riband at Poole...