Workington 2024

[mikebv 10,276]

33 minutes ago, Nickinho said:

Giving a place to a female didn't help Nascar bring in extra fans although in Danica Patrick's case she was fully deserving of a place in that motorsport, this is just tokenism in this particular case. Interest will be garnered for a few weeks over the Comets new signing then everyone will see her trail in last and soon get over their excitement and realise that it was just a bad team signing.

 

It really doesnt matter if it turns out that way..

Any semi decent marketeer will see the huge opportunity for a bit of hype and publicity to get your name out there off the back of it...

And NASCAR has tens of thousands of fans already at each venue, so bringing in a female racer wouldnt have meant tens of thousands more..

(And given the following demographic of NASCAR if may have even turned a few away)... 

Worky would be delighted with just an extra couple of hundred on the opening night I am sure, as that would be circa  20- 30% more than a "usual" crowd I would imagine..

A very healthy uplift given the small starting point at most tracks..

[mikebv 10,276]

1 hour ago, Nickinho said:

Most teams will probably sign one in future years simply because of their gender which doesn't help at all it's just tokenism and is happening in all walks of life but I was hopeful that it would pass speedway by but i was obviously fooling myself.

I'm not surprised by all the celebrations about this but I doubt that any of the male NDL riders who have missed out on a Championship place are happy. I seem to remember all the Edinburgh fans complaining about Dayle Wood at the expense of younger riders because he wasn't very good yet I guarantee he isn't any worse than the Comets new rider.

So much for encouraging young British riders...

Nothing stopping any of them coming out as "trans", or identifying  themselves as a female....

 

[mikebv 10,276]

1 hour ago, Falcon1983 said:

In the dark ages they didn't have the internet or forums, go back there immediately 

In a weeks time it will be 2024...

For some, they will read that as being nearly twenty five past eight....

[Diamonds85 699]

I've only seen Celina ride once in the under 24 Ekstraliga and she was miles off the pace. However it's a much tougher league than the Championship and that was at the beginning of last season, she may have progressed since I'm guessing. Although Tate and Antti (Antti in particular) scored VERY well in that league so it's hard to say. I just hope that the second someone fairly criticizes her it's not labelled as sexist just because she's a girl and she's treated as any other rider would be (under performance = the boot). I can see there being lots of drama on upcoming Workington threads lol

The signing I'm most excited by is Antti Vuolas.

[bloom89 496]

25 minutes ago, mikebv said:

Nothing stopping any of them coming out as "trans", or identifying  themselves as a female....

 

Be giving Richie Worrall ideas here to get around his ban….

[lisa-colette 6,030]

14 hours ago, Neila said:

Definitely no batch well past it now, didn't pull up any trees last year anywhere and would want top money 

He was decent at Poole tbf, so if you want to win there you prob need him.... 

[1stbender 18]

15 hours ago, Neila said:

Definitely no batch well past it now, didn't pull up any trees last year anywhere and would want top money 

Didn’t he pull a few wheelies around his first couple of heats at the Pairs in Oxford for fun? Wouldn’t bother after that display 

[scoobydoo 2,254]

Does this signing mean all championship clubs will now need to provide separate changing and shower facilities for her .

[szkocjasid 3,027]

17 hours ago, JanAndersen said:

Let’s turn that into a positive though. This gives the female riders in this country something to aspire to as gaining a team place in the championship is now on the cards. 

I agree that it's good she gives fellow female riders someone to aspire too, but gaining a Champ team place has always been on the cards. If Katie Gordon had been scoring maximums every week in the NJL, then topping the NL averages, she'd have gotten a Champ place!

No team will refuse a woman who is better than the men, if it helps them win. They just need to reach a certain level first.

[szkocjasid 3,027]

6 minutes ago, scoobydoo said:

Does this signing mean all championship clubs will now need to provide separate changing and shower facilities for her .

Legally I'm sure she'll be allowed privacy, most likely get to use the changing facilities showers first or last. There's no way every stadium can build new facilities before the season starts. 

But this is something new, females race at Amateur / junior league / Nora level - they must have suitable arrangements.

[szkocjasid 3,027]

1 hour ago, STEVEHOLS54 said:

Hi All

Can someone explain this to me as a little confused.

Tate as young Aussie if he had come straight from Aussie would have been a 4, but because he did 6 matches 23 rides in POL U24 in 2023 he becomes 5.

Celina also an overseas rider rode in the same League also 6 matches - but 21 rides and comes in on a 4.

Firstly best of luck to Celina, but can someone explain how she arrives on a 4 not a 5 ?

I asked a similar question, hopefully not because she's female, because that's not equality!

[szkocjasid 3,027]

2 hours ago, Nickinho said:

Most teams will probably sign one in future years simply because of their gender which doesn't help at all it's just tokenism and is happening in all walks of life but I was hopeful that it would pass speedway by but i was obviously fooling myself.

This sort of thing has happened for years, Kolodziej doesn't get a wild card for GPs (despite his average in Extraliga, plus 2nd in Euro Champs) because of his age / nationality, Kai Huckenbeck gets a GP wildcard because of his Nationality, last year's GP reserves were all picked because of their Nationalities, Chris Harris dropped from the GB squad because of his age.

Now gender has become another reason to pick someone along with nationality / age, ahead of ability.

[iris123 20,984]

19 minutes ago, scoobydoo said:

Does this signing mean all championship clubs will now need to provide separate changing and shower facilities for her .

Well she has been riding for years around Europe, in some I guess you can say anti woke countries like Poland for instance. She must have been able to cope so far. They must have come up with a solution . She has even rode in the UK....

Edited December 26, 2023 by iris123

[scaramanga 902]

3 hours ago, Supersteady84 said:

Very fast at northside?? She was 4 secs off the track record. And this will be a much harder league 

she was quick on the day thats how you need to judge them  

we can only see how she does after a few meetings

 

[scoobydoo 2,254]

1 hour ago, iris123 said:

Well she has been riding for years around Europe, in some I guess you can say anti woke countries like Poland for instance. She must have been able to cope so far. They must have come up with a solution . She has even rode in the UK....

As an unattached rider expect shes adapted to just changing in a van but now shes apart of an official league team within the Uk she has to be entitled to the same facilities as her team mates , its something completely new within british speedway and im sure her requirements will be met , would be a bummer if there made to provide something that costs the clubs then she got dropped from the team.