gate choices

[chun 193]

i have seen a few comments that opting for the heat 15 gate choice is the way to go.

to put the opposing view.  at wolves last night, Wolves won the toss and went for 1&3 in heat 1.  this then puts the opposition heat leaders off gate 4 more often than not in the opening heats.  at a track like wolves where passing is at a premium in the early heats this tends to give a huge advantage.  once the track is graded and settles down then allows for more passing opportunities bringing 2&4 into play.

in the interests of a better spectacle it is probably better for the away side to get those early 1&3 gates, although in the case of Ipswich last night it would have made little difference.

i’m interested to understand the logic behind why the gates don’t alternate between 1&3 and 2&4.  didn’t they always used to?

 

[chun 193]

by way of example, the scorecard from last night's panthers versus aces fixture.

peterborough_31.05.21_res.pdf (speedwaygb.co.uk)

in the opening 6 heats the team off 1&3 in the opening heat have 4 inside gates.  Of the two heats that the other team have 1&3, heat 2 is the reserves race and in heat 5 only the opposition number 2 enjoys the inside gate.  therefore the team off 1&3 in the opening heat have a far higher percentage of heat leaders off inside gates in the opening heats, before track regrading has a chance to even things out.  totally appreciate that not all tracks are the same and always offer advantage to inside gates but this programming of gate positions does seem to give scope for an uneven start to proceedings.

Heats 7-10 have the side off 1&3 in the opener off 2&4 for 4 consecutive heats!

Edited June 1, 2021 by chun

[Gambo 1,347]

The gates are programmed to give all riders a start from each of the 4 gates, so alternating 1-3/2-4 would not work.

[chun 193]

I see both away sides won the toss and opted for 1&3 in the opening heats.  Certainly might have helped Kings Lynn stay in touch and hold back their tactical ride to Heat 14.  I also see that the Polish league has a different gates schedule, with more alternating between gates for consecutive heats.

[arnieg 3,711]

9 minutes ago, chun said:

I see both away sides won the toss and opted for 1&3 in the opening heats.  Certainly might have helped Kings Lynn stay in touch and hold back their tactical ride to Heat 14.  I also see that the Polish league has a different gates schedule, with more alternating between gates for consecutive heats.

It is easy to look at one or two matches in isolation, but those examples prove nothing.

 

Chosing gates 1 & 3 probably cost Peterboro the win at Belle Vue on Monday ( the early heats there was little heat advantages, but in the later ones it was 5-1 for Gates 1 & 3 pretty much every heat, and that gave the Aces an 8 point advantage because of the unbalanced gate schedule.)

 

You would need to analyse 100s of matches to get meaningful data.

[mikebv 10,387]

On 6/1/2021 at 10:55 AM, Gambo said:

The gates are programmed to give all riders a start from each of the 4 gates, so alternating 1-3/2-4 would not work.

I am obviously being very thick here but.

Why wouldnt it work?..

Currently after 14 heats each rider has had 4 races from every grid..

Therefore why wouldnt just swapping the heats around to alternate ins and outs work?

Its the same outcome.. 

ie after 14 heats every rider has had 4 races from every grid..

Maybe it would mean some riders with two on the run to make it fit but you could track grade or do an interval to create a gap..

I am though probably missing something so obvious....

[bluebee 199]

Just a thought and am willing to be shot down on this:  as home advantage is so predominant in the sport - as the point allocations for away wins testifies - would it not be an good idea to encourage close racing by giving gates 1 and 3 exclusively to the away team?  If that's not a good idea what about allowing the losing team to have gate choices when they fall behind by a certain number of points. To  many outsiders speedway is just gate and go and this might liven things up.  Just thinking!

[mikebv 10,387]

8 minutes ago, bluebee said:

Just a thought and am willing to be shot down on this:  as home advantage is so predominant in the sport - as the point allocations for away wins testifies - would it not be an good idea to encourage close racing by giving gates 1 and 3 exclusively to the away team?  If that's not a good idea what about allowing the losing team to have gate choices when they fall behind by a certain number of points. To  many outsiders speedway is just gate and go and this might liven things up.  Just thinking!

Cycle speedway allows the team (I think 8 points?) down to choose gates..

Seems to maintain a competitive edge to most meetings..

[chun 193]

7 hours ago, arnieg said:

It is easy to look at one or two matches in isolation, but those examples prove nothing.

 

Chosing gates 1 & 3 probably cost Peterboro the win at Belle Vue on Monday ( the early heats there was little heat advantages, but in the later ones it was 5-1 for Gates 1 & 3 pretty much every heat, and that gave the Aces an 8 point advantage because of the unbalanced gate schedule.)

 

You would need to analyse 100s of matches to get meaningful data.

gate positions can make a huge difference in speedway.  it’s one of the aspects that makes the sport interesting.  At Ipswich last night Gate 4 was a bit a graveyard.  At many tracks it’s very difficult to get across from Gate 4 so it makes the programming of gate positions important if the format is uneven, especially combined with the way the track develops through the meeting.

Just my opinion but I think Gates 1&3 will be the preference for most teams this season and that’s to do with advantage they more often than not give you early on in the meeting, not just heat 1.

I think there could be mileage in allowing the team that fall behind selection of gate positions in later heats, like one poster said in order to try to keep the racing competitive.

I’m sure that statistical analysis would show gate 1 trumps gate 4.

By the time you get to the last heat it tends to be less about gate positions as riders get dialled into the track.