Come On Ref's!

[brianbuck 928]

My enjoyment of a number of the National League matches I watched last season was spoiled by the increasing number of riders who seemed to set out to try and jump the start - and far too often they were allowed to get away with it!

 

Referees' seemed to me to be a lot more lenient with the creepers than they are at Premier and Elite League level, and apart from spoiling some of the races, this is in my view, encouraging young riders to pick up a habit that can be difficult to break, so hopefully, referees at National League matches will tighten up on starting procedures next season, and come down hard on the riders who won't toe the line.

Edited December 30, 2014 by BBuck

[Mike.Butler 601]

my view is quite the opposite. far too many races are re-started. creepers in the nl are often the most inexperienced. let them go..

Edited December 30, 2014 by Mike.Butler

[foamfence 2,917]

my view is quite the opposite. far too many races are re-started. creepers in the nl are often the most inexperienced. let them go..

Or disqualify them after the race has finished.

[Halifaxtiger 5,318]

My enjoyment of a number of the National League matches I watched last season was spoiled by the increasing number of riders who seemed to set out to try and jump the start - and far too often they were allowed to get away with it!

 

Referees' seemed to me to be a lot more lenient with the creepers than they are at Premier and Elite League level, and apart from spoiling some of the races, this is in my view, encouraging young riders to pick up a habit that can be difficult to break, so hopefully, referees at National League matches will tighten up on starting procedures next season, and come down hard on the riders who won't toe the line.

 

My problem hasn't been so much the jumping at the start (although I totally agree with you) as the inconsistency shown by referees.

 

Lets call rolling at the start what it is : cheating.

[DragonsDen 27]

 

My problem hasn't been so much the jumping at the start (although I totally agree with you) as the inconsistency shown by referees.

 

Lets call rolling at the start what it is : cheating.

It’s not cheating, it’s a gamble that every rider can take, if you touch the tapes you’re out!

 

Never understand why they pull races back when the rider doesn’t touch the tapes.

[Halifaxtiger 5,318]

It’s not cheating, it’s a gamble that every rider can take, if you touch the tapes you’re out!

 

Never understand why they pull races back when the rider doesn’t touch the tapes.

 

Nonsense. Firstly, most riders can roll forward without touching the tapes - breaking or touching the tapes is unusual, moving is anything but. Secondly, its seeking to gain advantage over your opponents by a better start. Finally, of course, it is stated that riders must be stationary in SCB Regulations.

 

I think the latter is probably why races are called back. The pity is it isn't applied consistently by any means.

[Mike.Butler 601]

if I was a ref I would try to raise tapes when they were rolling backwards. Also, if a rider is moving at tapes but misses gate why can't refs let the race continue. Footy refs now wait quite a while to see if an advantage has been gained. Don't hit the red lights immediately in a fit of pique, wait until after the first bend please.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Mike.Butler

[westhamboy66 599]

Sick and tired of watching....rider rolls then misses the start so no advantage gained but race still stopped , the riders even at NL level then copy the GP's going back to the pits to have their spoonful of fuel (even at a track the size of Mildenhall) and of course not forgetting the obligatory hair dryer on the clutch The dozy refs then wait another minute or two before considering putting on a fresh two minutes

All adds boring time to a meeting while standing in the freezing cold. Is there more of a turnoff?

1. Bit of common sense applied in the stopping of races, Ref to put on a ONE minute warning as soon as the race is stopped for rolling at the start thus preventing riders re entering the pits, Mechanics not allowed back on track for any reason.

2. Serial Offenders to be weeded out, I like watching James Sargent but i saw quite a lot of him last year and on average 50% of his races were called back as unsatisfactory starts, simply annoying

[Whiteliner 72]

Simple solution to stop rolling at the start is to line up the riders at the tapes then put a plastic rail behind the riders to prevent them from rolling backwards. Doesnt have to be anything massive or heavy, could be knocked together with a couple of pieces of would and a piece of plastic from BnQ. Knocking over the back rail would incur the same penalty as touching the tapes. All backward rolling would stop.

[Vince 9,459]

_{Even easier to say that once under starters orders any rider moving backwards at all is disqualified with no replacement. Wouldn't take long to sink in!}

Edited December 31, 2014 by Vince

[Daniel Smith 5,694]

This isn't a thread restricted to just NL. This is a problem in speedway as a whole.

 

There wouldn't be a problem if the start marshals and referees done there jobs properly.

 

It's the start marshals job to get the riders within the right distance of the tapes. Far to many start marshals pussy out of an argument with riders + almost all favour the home team and this is where most of the problems arise.

 

If the rider's were set at the correct distance at the tapes creeping of an significance they'd touch the tapes. It's then the referees job to spot riders rolling back and if they do, put on the red lights and warn the rider's in question.

 

It really isn't a difficult problem to correct it the officials do their jobs properly.

[PhilK 150]

 

 

Sick and tired of watching....rider rolls then misses the start so no advantage gained but race still stopped , the riders even at NL level then copy the GP's going back to the pits to have their spoonful of fuel (even at a track the size of Mildenhall) and of course not forgetting the obligatory hair dryer on the clutch The dozy refs then wait another minute or two before considering putting on a fresh two minutes

All adds boring time to a meeting while standing in the freezing cold. Is there more of a turnoff?

1. Bit of common sense applied in the stopping of races, Ref to put on a ONE minute warning as soon as the race is stopped for rolling at the start thus preventing riders re entering the pits, Mechanics not allowed back on track for any reason.

 

I rarely bother to post on here anymore - but that is one of the best posts I've seen for some time - agree 100% with you, and your solution is effective and simple to action.

 

 

Edited December 31, 2014 by PhilK

[P T Preece 262]

I agree that its pointless to stop the race, isnt that the reason they have the black flag with the helmet colour board that they sometimes show to a rider to let him know he has been excluded. Could this be applied to the racing as well as they come round for the second lap the start marshall puts out the flag and the rider has to pull up and get off the track.

This would keep the meeting running and they would soon get the message to stay still at the start, the biggest turn off for me is going back to the pits after a false start as somebody esle said go back to the start straight away any rider leaving the track is excluded and any mechanic coming on the track gets the rider excluded as well.

I would like to see a card system put in place as well that goes through the season and if you get enough points you are out of a couple of meetings.

While Im at it,I think the rider who touchs the tapes should get an automatic 15 metre handicap and not be allowed to be replaced by another rider at the tapes, speedway is a team event and the team should feel the punishment not just the rider. Putting a rider in as a replacement for a tape toucher only effects the excluded rider, the team managers would soon start to worry if this happened a lot.

[*JJ 531]

Simple solution to stop rolling at the start is to line up the riders at the tapes then put a plastic rail behind the riders to prevent them from rolling backwards. Doesnt have to be anything massive or heavy, could be knocked together with a couple of pieces of would and a piece of plastic from BnQ. Knocking over the back rail would incur the same penalty as touching the tapes. All backward rolling would stop.

Something like this was tried at Birmingham back in the seventies/eighties - a thick rope was laid behind the back wheels as the riders came to the tapes. What happened was that the riders fought and struggled to get their wheels over the rope again! Unless the riders are forced to cooperate, nothing will change. This was the reason for the tape-touching, as opposed to breaking, rule.

This isn't a thread restricted to just NL. This is a problem in speedway as a whole.

 

There wouldn't be a problem if the start marshals and referees done there jobs properly.

 

It's the start marshals job to get the riders within the right distance of the tapes. Far to many start marshals pussy out of an argument with riders + almost all favour the home team and this is where most of the problems arise.

 

Did ... A couple of years ago, the start marshal tried to make Iversen come to the tapes (he was trying to get a flyer). When the start marshal tried to pull Iversen's wheel forwards, Iversen tried to hit him! Again, referees must make the riders cooperate.

[paul90210 40]

Easy way to solve this issue. Put an electric line under the track where the front wheel should sit to be the right distance from the tapes. Every bike then has something on their forks that when it goes over the line under the track lights up a light on a panel in the refs box. If a riders light goes out before the tapes rise then he is out. Simple.