Special Comets meeting 29th july

[Neila 1,159]

44 minutes ago, Racin Jason 72 said:

What was your estimation of the crowd.  Do you think it will be championship level racing next season ? 

Had a rough head count imo 300-350, but when I was at Edinburgh the other week the head count was 175, and about 40 comets fans,

as for next year who knows what is happening in speedway at all levels 

[SteelShoe 500]

Thoroughly enjoyable afternoons racing, 23 heats done and dusted in around two and a half hours so well done to all concerned. 

Young Ashton Boughen set a new track record in heat 1 in a time of 56.3 seconds knocking 0.2 seconds off Connor Bailey's previous best. The first 6 heats were nearly all sub 57 seconds and this may well have continued if the initial track moisture levels were maintained. Ashton generally looked the faster rider  throughout the meeting, his semi final 2 winning time was 1.6 seconds faster than that set in semi final 1 an indication. It was great to see him pulling his celebratory wheelies.

Other riders to catch the eye were Steve Boxall who never looked like a rider who had given up the sport 5 years ago, Max Clegg, Jack Smith, Nathan Ablitt  and Max Perry. 

Best Comet on show was Sam McGurk who very nearly made the final and may well have done so with a better start from gate 4 in the semi. Young Elliot Kelly showed signs of regaining his early season form and looked like making the semi final after riding the outside line to get to the front in his last heat only to put the bike down on the exit to turn 4.

Harry failed to beat an opponent and his struggle to find form continues.

Personally i thought the Grand Prix format worked well and at £15 for 23 entertaining heats was good value for money. Thanks to all those who took up rider and heat sponsorship in so short a time. I noticed heat 3 had been sponsored by a certain Kauko Nieminen.

Thanks to ref Craig Ackroyd who kept the meeting moving along nicely.

It was good to see Comets legend Carl Stonehewer in the crowd.

Special mention to Steve Lawson, the track was smooth  as the proverbial babies bottom.

Didn't stay for the World Cup Final showing as this didn't start until 7pm rather than the usual GP start time of 6pm.

 

[SteelShoe 500]

22 minutes ago, Neila said:

Had a rough head count imo 300-350, but when I was at Edinburgh the other week the head count was 175, and about 40 comets fans,

as for next year who knows what is happening in speedway at all levels 

Yeah crowd down today which was a shame as the racing was generally of a very good standard.

[Neila 1,159]

23 minutes ago, SteelShoe said:

Thoroughly enjoyable afternoons racing, 23 heats done and dusted in around two and a half hours so well done to all concerned. 

Young Ashton Boughen set a new track record in heat 1 in a time of 56.3 seconds knocking 0.2 seconds off Connor Bailey's previous best. The first 6 heats were nearly all sub 57 seconds and this may well have continued if the initial track moisture levels were maintained. Ashton generally looked the faster rider  throughout the meeting, his semi final 2 winning time was 1.6 seconds faster than that set in semi final 1 an indication. It was great to see him pulling his celebratory wheelies.

Other riders to catch the eye were Steve Boxall who never looked like a rider who had given up the sport 5 years ago, Max Clegg, Jack Smith, Nathan Ablitt  and Max Perry. 

Best Comet on show was Sam McGurk who very nearly made the final and may well have done so with a better start from gate 4 in the semi. Young Elliot Kelly showed signs of regaining his early season form and looked like making the semi final after riding the outside line to get to the front in his last heat only to put the bike down on the exit to turn 4.

Harry failed to beat an opponent and his struggle to find form continues.

Personally i thought the Grand Prix format worked well and at £15 for 23 entertaining heats was good value for money. Thanks to all those who took up rider and heat sponsorship in so short a time. I noticed heat 3 had been sponsored by a certain Kauko Nieminen.

Thanks to ref Craig Ackroyd who kept the meeting moving along nicely.

It was good to see Comets legend Carl Stonehewer in the crowd.

Special mention to Steve Lawson, the track was smooth  as the proverbial babies bottom.

Didn't stay for the World Cup Final showing as this didn't start until 7pm rather than the usual GP start time of 6pm.

 

Agree with all you say, another star in the pits was ex world champion Gary havelock 

[Woke23 19]

Some good riding today from a lot of young and old riders.

Ashton Boughen is an absolute star. He is phenomenal t 15 years old and only been doing speedway for a year or so. Not sure if I heard right but I'm sure he said he's got offers from championship, premiership and polish teams. He won't be in the NDL next season I don't think. 

Coming back to comets tho, I was very impressed with Sam, Elliot, and even Crangy. All three riders have had a downturn in form recently and this was some well needed track time and all of them showed great improvement, particularly Elliot. On the other hand we have Harry who just doesn't seem like he's going to improve. He done well at Edinburgh the other week but at what point do you go this isn't working anymore. 

It was a shame that Kyle Bickley didn't have the return we were all hoping for. You could tell he was rusty but there's a good rider in there, he just needs to get back to it. Would love to see him return next year.

 

[Neila 1,159]

Imo today showed why Mr bickley should not be considered for a comets team place, got an average of 9 points in the league, but struggled to score 5 today, did not look that interested, pulling up twice when at the back, but may have had bike issues, but it was still running 

[topaz325 1,859]

I think a move to championship racing would. be disastrous.for the Comets at this stage.

[SteelShoe 500]

7 minutes ago, topaz325 said:

I think a move to championship racing would. be disastrous.for the Comets at this stage.

On the fence re this one, there are a number of variables including degree of sponsorship that may influence any decision. The project is still very young and no doubt there is still plenty of work to do in further development of facilities so i tend to think it will be NDL in the shorter term

Like Neila mentions no one knows what the structure of speedway will look like next season. Huge doubts about long established clubs such as Peterborough (land sold for housing) and Wolverhampton (non-renewal of lease) are just two clubs who look unlikely to be at tapes next season at least. It may well be the remaing Premiership and Championship clubs will have to amalgamate to form a British League ?.

The NDL is a development league and i admit to having been very impressed with most of the young riders i've seen this season. It would be great to see more young riders stepping up and more teams joining the structure because the entertainment and skill level has generally been high.

The slight issue i have with the NDL is that there are not enough fixtures for supporters and also for riders who are not riding in other leagues.

[topaz325 1,859]

36 minutes ago, SteelShoe said:

On the fence re this one, there are a number of variables including degree of sponsorship that may influence any decision. The project is still very young and no doubt there is still plenty of work to do in further development of facilities so i tend to think it will be NDL in the shorter term

Like Neila mentions no one knows what the structure of speedway will look like next season. Huge doubts about long established clubs such as Peterborough (land sold for housing) and Wolverhampton (non-renewal of lease) are just two clubs who look unlikely to be at tapes next season at least. It may well be the remaing Premiership and Championship clubs will have to amalgamate to form a British League ?.

The NDL is a development league and i admit to having been very impressed with most of the young riders i've seen this season. It would be great to see more young riders stepping up and more teams joining the structure because the entertainment and skill level has generally been high.

The slight issue i have with the NDL is that there are not enough fixtures for supporters and also for riders who are not riding in other leagues.

True everything up in the air with the amount of tracks facing problems in running next year , maybe a slightly weaker championship and a weaker Premiership....two League set up , would probably mean the loss of the likes of Doyle , Bewley and Holder etc ...who knows ?

[Phil The Ace 2,860]

First time visitor yesterday and what a true ly magnificent set up. Built a great track and the. Just keep adding to the structure season in season. Perfect way to start a project. 
 

Racing was good. View was excellent. Moved to bend 2 for the semis and final. Huge mistake. God it was windy and cold there lol. 
 

what’s gone wrong with Harry mcgurk. That was so sad to see. That’s not the rider than left the aces. Looked very low on confidence like his heart was in it. 
 

Ashton boughen though. What a talent. Honestly. Not been this excited about a youngster since dan Bewley. Kid is going to the very top. And I’ll stick my neck on the line and say that the next SWC in 4 years he will be in the team 

 

I’ll end by saying keep up the good work Workington, you have a positive future as long as the sport I. General sorts the mess out

[SteelShoe 500]

2 hours ago, Phil The Ace said:

First time visitor yesterday and what a true ly magnificent set up. Built a great track and the. Just keep adding to the structure season in season. Perfect way to start a project. 
 

Racing was good. View was excellent. Moved to bend 2 for the semis and final. Huge mistake. God it was windy and cold there lol. 
 

what’s gone wrong with Harry mcgurk. That was so sad to see. That’s not the rider than left the aces. Looked very low on confidence like his heart was in it. 
 

Ashton boughen though. What a talent. Honestly. Not been this excited about a youngster since dan Bewley. Kid is going to the very top. And I’ll stick my neck on the line and say that the next SWC in 4 years he will be in the team 

 

I’ll end by saying keep up the good work Workington, you have a positive future as long as the sport I. General sorts the mess out

Thanks Phil for the positive comments. Strong south-westerly wind yesterday. The back straight and turn 3 offers shelter to wind based around a westerly direction. We could see that the trees on starting gate side were really getting blown around. 

Agree with what you say about Ashton , wev'e seen him 3 or 4 times at Worky this season and he looks a great prospect for someone so young.

Re your comment around Harry, unfortunately that is the only Harry the Worky fans have seen hence the reason he has dropped nearly 5 points off his average.

Looking forward to the meetings against the Colts, looking at James Pearson, Jack Smith and Sam Hagon whom has already impressed at Worky then a feast of entertainnent could be in store.

 

 

 

[CTD26 88]

Great meeting yesterday and nice to see the track have multiple racing lines and even some passing! Feel a bit more heavy stuff on the outside and we’ll have a superb venue on our hands but that’ll all come with time.

A lot of the lads impressed me yesterday, but Ashton Boughen is something else. If, and it’s a big if, he is still in this league next season then the promotion should be going all out to sign him. Wouldnt look out of place in a heat leader position and judging by his scores around the country, would bring consistency away as well as at home.

 

 

[sandking072 151]

Would anyone have the race times for this meeting please? Thanks in advance.

[SteelShoe 500]

3 hours ago, sandking072 said:

Would anyone have the race times for this meeting please? Thanks in advance.

 

1. 56.3   2. 56.8   3. 56.6   4. 56.8  5. 57.0 

6. 56.9   7. 57.4   8. 57.8   9.58.5  10.58.3

11. 58.3  12. 59.4  13. 58.7  14. 58.5

15. 60.0  16. 60.2  17. 59.2  18. 59.3

19. 61.0  20. 59.5

SF1 60.0   SF2 58.4  Final  58.1

 

 

[sandking072 151]

1 hour ago, SteelShoe said:

 

1. 56.3   2. 56.8   3. 56.6   4. 56.8  5. 57.0 

6. 56.9   7. 57.4   8. 57.8   9.58.5  10.58.3

11. 58.3  12. 59.4  13. 58.7  14. 58.5

15. 60.0  16. 60.2  17. 59.2  18. 59.3

19. 61.0  20. 59.5

SF1 60.0   SF2 58.4  Final  58.1

 

 

That’s brilliant. Thank you very much.