FIM Women's Speedway Academy at Belle Vue

[steve roberts 9,246]

You never know if women's speedway caught on it may even make the BBC TV schedules considering we have women's football, rugby league, cricket, netball and golf getting extensive coverage?

[jrs 3,290]

14 hours ago, DazS said:

yes will be looking forward to seeing her in moto gp. can you let me know when she makes it.

Shes been racing against the guys in Moto3 which is certainly not racing for the faint hearted person to be in for about three years maybe more now. She regularly beats one of our British guys in that class and is better all round racer than Josh Whatley who is supposed to be one of the budding stars in UK racing. 

You can watch her at 1000 next Sunday morning at the Austrian grand prix,

Will somebody one day give her a very top bike to ride and see what happens ?

[DazS 431]

moto 3 is for the kids, listen I'm not against women competing in mens sports, no women will compete at the highest level of mens sports and win ,its not how they are built. stop falling for the feminism bullrubbish. there are woman who compete at isle of man tt. thats not for the faint hearted .

2 hours ago, jrs said:

Will somebody one day give her a very top bike to ride and see what happens ?

 if she had the equal  talent of a male rider she would be given 1st choice just because she's female. 

[Wembleyfan 5]

22 hours ago, jrs said:

Shes been racing against the guys in Moto3 which is certainly not racing for the faint hearted person to be in for about three years maybe more now. She regularly beats one of our British guys in that class and is better all round racer than Josh Whatley who is supposed to be one of the budding stars in UK racing. 

You can watch her at 1000 next Sunday morning at the Austrian grand prix,

Will somebody one day give her a very top bike to ride and see what happens ?

Just pointing out Josh Whatley is 17 with little experience internationally, Ana Carrasco is 26 and has much more experience, having won the 300 championship. Neither are in very top teams so at this stage she should be beating him, but they both have similar results at the moment.

[jrs 3,290]

1 hour ago, Wembleyfan said:

Just pointing out Josh Whatley is 17 with little experience internationally, Ana Carrasco is 26 and has much more experience, having won the 300 championship. Neither are in very top teams so at this stage she should be beating him, but they both have similar results at the moment.

I accept he is young as is Ogden but they are in their second full season racing in the elite World Championship in his class, despite Ogdens good qualifying at Silverstone l don’t think either of them have made any great steps forward as many of the other youngsters in moto3 have this year which is disappointing.  As an example Alonso who is just seventeen was only in his fifth race when he won last weekend.

Far too much media pressure was put on Ogden and Wheatley when they came into Moto3 series from the likes of. BT TV as it was then, and the commentators. They, are not on the very top bikes and it would be interesting to see them on one. But for me neither has really progressed much over the last eighteen months.  They will probably find their levels in BSB or similar series eventually. Ogden seems to be able to run at the race pace, whereas Josh is always a few seconds down. As for Carasco she has been a figure head flag carrier for women in the sport but at her age I  think she hits the age limit in Moto3  so what does the future hold for her , probably a national series.

Just my opinions.

Edited August 13, 2023 by jrs

[truthsayer 234]

In a sport that needs as many new competitors as it can get, it is encouraging to see this forum encouraging 50% of the population to take up speedway.

Again, speedway's obsession with 'team' racing sees it miss an opportunity. Women's speedway could easily be a thing and bring welcome numbers into the industry and publicity to the sport.

Not every competitor needs to challenge to be a world champion, sometimes being a participant is all that matters. Speedway's lack of inclusion is just one of things that will lead to its demise.

[DazS 431]

next you will be asking to give out medals to the losers.

13 minutes ago, truthsayer said:

15 minutes ago, truthsayer said:

15 minutes ago, truthsayer said:

Not every competitor needs to challenge to be a world champion, sometimes being a participant is all that matters. Speedway's lack of inclusion is just one of things that will lead to its demise.



 

 

[truthsayer 234]

2 minutes ago, DazS said:

next you will be asking to give out medals to the losers.

 

No, not at all.

If you play Sunday league football you are doing it because you want to play, not because you think you'll win the FA Cup.

I can ride motocross for fun, but I can't really ride speedway for fun - it's all about getting people into teams.

I'm in my 40s. Been around bikes all my life and tried speedway a bit in the past. I'd happily have a speedway bike in the garage and use it to practice and do some amateur meetings maybe 10 times a year. I'd probably put £3000-4000 in the speedway economy every year, but there's no place for me to race. It is not, to use a modern term, inclusive.

Seniors racing, womens' racing, electric racing, youth racing, classic racing.... all potential audiences for speedway to build its participant base. But no, it's a closed shop and would rather focus on team racing and bringing in ready made imports. There, straight away, is an income stream for speedway and a way to build the sport. It's economics as much as anything.

[DazS 431]

we all know we are in a cost of living crises  , the media keep reminding us.and guess who controls that. anyway good to know your into your bikes i am likewise, i did race speedway in the eighties, in fact my 1st bike i ever rode was a jap., 1st time i ever rode a bike with brakes and gears i was 28, did a bit of moto cross, then past my bike test when i was 30. done a few track days and mad Sunday isle of man. all good clean fun.

[truthsayer 234]

So how appealing would it be for a speedway club to have a meeting consisting of 16 female riders, 16 classic riders and 16 youth riders?

48 competitors and three meetings on a day. Each pays £150 to enter and they don’t have to worry about attracting a crowd or paying anyone at the end.

That’s sport at a grassroots level. Speedway doesn’t have this but there’s no reason why it couldn’t. I’m not saying it would be easy, but as a business model I’d bet it’s a heck of a lot easier than paying out money to international riders, in the hope that they can create a product which brings in enough at the gate to make it financially viable.

This is why it is important to attract competitors into the sport.

[DazS 431]

in the early eighties i did training schools at Bellevue Hyde rd and Ellesmere port, 30 to 40 riders every week , nothing like that now. like you say speedway bike only one thing you can do with it race speedway. numbers your talking just not there. 

[truthsayer 234]

Just now, DazS said:

numbers you're talking just not there. 

They are not there just now, for sure, but they could be. I don't think it's a difficult target to try and meet.

Speedway needs to build a grassroots. I genuinely don't think this is asking too much. Even if that wasn't achievable, 30 riders paying £100 for a good day of racing and practice should be possible if you target the right people, and hopefully viable for some venues.

 

[DazS 431]

love your enthusiasm, but aint gonna happen. people want everything handed to them on a plate these days, the get up and go people, slowly being told to shut up. (in a inclusive way)

[truthsayer 234]

8 minutes ago, DazS said:

 people want everything handed to them on a plate these days, the get up and go people, slowly being told to shut up. (in a inclusive way)

I agree with you, but not in the way you probably think.

Modern society makes things easy and accessible for us. To order a takeaway, watch live sport, to have a debate like we are here... are so easy because of technology. The things that were special to us 20 years ago are not so special now, because everything is so easy to access.

But people still want to do stuff, especially over 40s and 50s, where we have money, memories and a bit of health! 

Seriously, those running speedway need to understand times have changed and that tastes and standards are higher than they once were. They need to develop their product for those who 'want it handed on a plate'. Driving for hours to get two or three races after the main meeting is not good value for 'junior' riders. Making a product where I pay to play and know I am getting good value is the modern way of doing things. 

Getting back on topic, women's speedway can be a way to regenerate the sport. There's an opportunity to make the sport accessible by females who have felt excluded from other forms of motorcycle racing, a good PR opportunity and a chance to build a business model away from the currently unsustainable spectator sport/team racing format. It's a formula which could equally be extended to youth racing, and to those who want to race classic bikes or uprights.

As an aside, I could see a 'Masters Tour' being good business for the current speedway audience. 

[DazS 431]

the technology given to us is not in our best interests, its actually dumbing us down , as a society we are so controlled you even think we are free living human beings, you do understand they money we work for and spend most of our time trying to make a living. the money from the central banks is created out of thin air.. to cut a long story short we and our labour is the money and they are the parasites living of us. they are taking the p8ss out of us, we must now be the most ignorant people who have ever lived.bet you dont even know the meaning of the word government, (control the mind) but dont you worry about that its just a conspiracy theory.