Boring

[topsoil 2,498]

If you think speedway is boring try watching from the centre-green if you can...if everyone could watch from the green loads more would turn-up, its fitting 'em all that's the problem...faster, noisier, more dangerous.

If you go for the hospitality option at Berwick, one of the perks is just that, you get to watch a few races from the centre green. I've done it a few times and the difference from standing on the terracing is night and day. I defy anybody not to be impressed by the sheer noise, power and speed of the machines. Especially at Berwick, which is a particularly big, fast track. Watch the bikes up close, sweeping down the banking is amazing. I would like to see tracks take advantage of this, it at all possible in this day and age of health and safety.

A few years ago D Norris went from the pit to the startline with 1 finger in the air to the crowd at Kings Lynn. The crowd hated him but he created an atmosphere. Shane Parker once walked the track and shook fans hands after the meeting at Lynn. He also stole the tractor at Ipswich to grade his start position. Speedway needs people like them so fans have something to remember from there night out even if the racing is poor it gives them something to talk about. No controversy means a quite crowd. A quite crowd means no atmosphere. The riders could do more to get fans involved but it seems riders are only interested in their pay cheque.

Kozza Smith used to jump off his machine and run down the home straight at Berwick, high-fiving the fans. They used to love it. Another good thing they do at Berwick is the riders go amongst the crowd after the meeting and sign autographs and take photos with the fans. You get a lot of kids hanging around them, lapping this sort of thing up.

[ColinMills 1,728]

i watched from centre green and totally disliked it, you are always turning round to watch the race and seeing it at eye level is nowhere near as good as up high. the closeness though is a bonus, you can feel the power of the bikes. its similar if you stand at eastbourne starting gate position

[crazysue 613]

I loved my visits to the centre green, alas I have not been invited to do it again these past few years and even if I was, I doubt I would be able to do the walk there and back and the standing anyway.

 

You really get a feel for the speed of the bikes, the noise at the start line and feel a real part of the race, much more than being stuck behind a blooming great fence across a stock car track.

 

I miss the Shane Parker's and the David Norris's of years gone by, real characters who added to the fun of the night and gave fans something to talk about when the action was lacking.

[heathen chemistry 660]

I was at Munich in 1989. It was one of the worst meetings I've ever been to.. mainly due to the track - but you're right, Troy Butler qualified from the IC final..the final ine-up was indeed very average... coach journey back was awful too as we left after visiting a beer cellar and several people were ill all the way back to the ferry.. Yuk...every time the coach rdriver braked...well I won't go into details..

sounds like few folks were enjoying the german ales a bit too much, trails of sick all down the autobahn?

[Icicle 896]

Initially, for the first few seasons, especially when young, the noise & excitement of 4 madmen charging round is enough to make it feel exciting. However, after a bit one gets more discerning & start to notice the number of FTGs & the gaps. I don't think it is less exciting now, like many things in life one tends to look with "nostalgia" & rose tinted glasses at the "good old days".

 

However I do think the outdated presentation, lack of advertising & info during matches is worse. Also the limits, so that rarely are the teams the same or near each season.

[Gemini 4,894]

 

 

.....nobblytriers.......At Leicester last Wednesday, the racing was very strung out until the latter heats. Glynn has come on here and explained why the track was prepared the way it was (thanks Glynn) and that the racing improved due the dirt building up on the outside.

 

Which begs the inevitable question ~ why bother with all the tractor grading to get the shale back on the racing line? (That's what the announcer tells us anyway.) Why can't the dirt be left on the outside if it is going to improve the racing?

[waiheke1 4,295]

 

Why is it an incorrect observation? Do you have any statistics to prove your opinion that the difference is less now? For example, how many Reserves beat Heat Leaders in, say, 1976, compared to 2016?

 

Until you can prove an opinion with stats, it remains an opinion and not a fact, as you well know.

 

Do you really believe that if you shout louder than the other person, you are right and they will give in and agree with you? Stoke Potter has as much right to his opinion as you do.

You clearly don't understand the El heat formula if you are asking about reserves beating heat leaders!

As for proof - look at the averages of the top riders in the El, that will show you that races are more unpredictable than ever. In fact, the majority or riders average somewhere between 5-7, which was never the case historically. If that doesn't prove that races are more evenly matched than ever then nothing will

[Trees 2,814]

 

Which begs the inevitable question ~ why bother with all the tractor grading to get the shale back on the racing line? (That's what the announcer tells us anyway.) Why can't the dirt be left on the outside if it is going to improve the racing?

cos it gets too far out and makes racing more dangerous I would've thought. U don't want one line racing either.

[steve roberts 9,246]

i watched from centre green and totally disliked it, you are always turning round to watch the race and seeing it at eye level is nowhere near as good as up high. the closeness though is a bonus, you can feel the power of the bikes. its similar if you stand at eastbourne starting gate position

I'm of the same opinion personally. Having watched from the centre green on one occasion I found it difficult to keep track of the racing. I admit that it appeared faster but I also prefer the view from high up. I have some DVDs that were filmed from the centre green and I find them confusing and not pleasing to the eye with the constant need to focus close in on the action...thus losing the bigger picture.

Edited April 18, 2016 by steve roberts

[arnieg 3,649]

i watched from centre green and totally disliked it, you are always turning round to watch the race and seeing it at eye level is nowhere near as good as up high. the closeness though is a bonus, you can feel the power of the bikes. its similar if you stand at eastbourne starting gate position

I'm with you on this. While it makes a change to do something out of the ordinary, having done it a couple of times I'm not in a rush to do it again.

 

However what I can recommend is a spot in the referee's box. Great view and some interesting insights into how the meeting is run.

Edited April 18, 2016 by arnieg

[Trees 2,814]

I encourage everyone who goes to Lynn to watch one race from the starting straight close to the start of the first bend, you will then appreciate the speed the guys are racing at, just do it

[steve roberts 9,246]

You clearly don't understand the El heat formula if you are asking about reserves beating heat leaders!

As for proof - look at the averages of the top riders in the El, that will show you that races are more unpredictable than ever. In fact, the majority or riders average somewhere between 5-7, which was never the case historically. If that doesn't prove that races are more evenly matched than ever then nothing will

Beg my ignorance but is it now therefore the case in speedway that the reserves no longer get to meet heat leaders (or just in the Elite League)? I am no longer familiar with the various formulae (having not been to a speedway for many years) Are there circumstances when heat leaders are placed in heats against reserves thru' the tactical substitute (if it still exists?) or rider replacement ruling or have these rulings also changed in recent years?

Edited April 18, 2016 by steve roberts

[arnieg 3,649]

Beg my ignorance but is it now therefore the case in speedway that the reserves no longer get to meet heat leaders (or just in the Elite League)? I am no longer familiar with the various formulae (having not been to a speedway for many years) Are there circumstances when heat leaders are placed in heats against reserves thru' the tactical substitute (if it still exists?) or rider replacement ruling or have these rulings also changed in recent years?

The only time a reserve will ride against a heat leader is if he takes an extra reserve ride (or rider replacement ride) or when a third heat leader takes a rider replacement ride for no 4 in the averages in a heat with reserves and second strings.

 

Edit: I forgot the possibility that a reserve could get a heat 15 nomination.

 

but 'heat leaders' - i.e. riders of heat leader ability (cf Freddie Lindgren) - can find themselves at no 4 in their team averages and thereby end up riding against reserves.

Edited April 18, 2016 by arnieg

[lucifer sam 3,953]

I don't think, in terms of the racing, speedway is any more or less interesting than it was 30 years ago. However, it's maybe lacking as many characters - they used to be something kicking off all the time. Maybe we need to let more controversy come back into the sport. One way would be to allow tape touching again (with riders only excluded if they break the tapes). That always used to cause a kerfuffle.

 

Having said that, probably the most incident-packed meeting I've ever been to, was Scunthorpe vs Ipswich last year. That was speedway on steroids - riders passing each other all over the place, a rider knocking off another rider post-race, a sit-down protest on the track, a separate punch-up between two other riders, etc.

 

I tend to pick and choose my meetings these days, and avoid anything that I consider might be 'boring'. A good starting point is watching half my speedway up at Scunny - speedway is never dull up there.

 

All the best

Rob

[RobMcCaffery 2,752]

I'm with you on this. While it makes a change to do something out of the ordinary, having done it a couple of times I'm not in a rush to do it again.

 

However what I can recommend is a spot in the referee's box. Great view and some interesting insights into how the meeting is run.

Very, very true. It was by far the best aspect of announcing, studying the referees and getting a superb view of what was going on together with an understanding of what was going on that you just can't get from the terraces.

 

Re centre greens. These could be hazardous, especially if you were dealing with a dog track - several surprise 'presents' could catch the unwary out. One track also had a mini swamp that had to be avoided or you ended up with a rather abrupt end to the mic work.

 

Speedway's always had boring races, and for that matter boring tracks that relied more on speed than passing to impress, but to me the balance has shifted.

 

While you will still get examples that people will use to try to convince others that nothing's worsened the outside pass has declined over the years. The thrill of watching a rider take a handful of throttle and be rewarded with a thrilling overtake was a fundamental aspect of the sport.

 

I watched, from about the mid eighties onward, riders going for the outside line just to find themselves falling further back as the tracks just no longer would reward their bravery.

 

When I started in the seventies I quickly realised that the only way you could get good racing was the distribution of dirt on the track, with a bias to the outside vital to make the longer outside line fast enough to make it an option to pass and give more than one racing line on the track. Now, far too often it's just a procession. We had these in the past -0, I believe there's just too many now.

 

Time after time I saw racers go out in a vain search for dirt only to be disappointed. The racing suffered and the crowds started to disappear. There's plenty of video evidence out there - it's not just 'misty-eyed nostalgia' or people longing for the days of their youth. I don't mind people fooling themselves that nothing's changed, just please don't try to fool me.

 

The old Hackney Hawks thrived for two decades on quality of racing rather than results. Now at far too many tracks it's only about the team winning, not having an entertaining night's racing. When the wins run out, so do the fans....

Edited April 18, 2016 by rmc