Oxford vs Sheffield - Thursday 21st March

[Grachan 7,362]

A good evening of speedway. Once again Oxford are showing how to present meetings, and are probably reaping the benefits of it by bringing in a packed crowd (although attracting fans from Swindon, Reading and Coventry probably helps with that too!).

Sheffield were unlucky not to get a draw due to Woffy's engine failure, but you could see it coming with flames coming out of his exhaust at the start.

Great to have a good scoreboard and a countdown clock with riders ready to go in every race before it got to zero. Is this a British speedway thing or is this an Oxford thing? 

[SharpenRake 1,505]

48 minutes ago, Grachan said:

A good evening of speedway. Once again Oxford are showing how to present meetings, and are probably reaping the benefits of it by bringing in a packed crowd (although attracting fans from Swindon, Reading and Coventry probably helps with that too!).

Sheffield were unlucky not to get a draw due to Woffy's engine failure, but you could see it coming with flames coming out of his exhaust at the start.

Great to have a good scoreboard and a countdown clock with riders ready to go in every race before it got to zero. Is this a British speedway thing or is this an Oxford thing? 

The  clock and riders being ready to race before the 2 minutes expire is a uk thing, a welcome new rule.

[Grachan 7,362]

25 minutes ago, SharpenRake said:

The  clock and riders being ready to race before the 2 minutes expire is a uk thing, a welcome new rule.

One thing I did notice is when the riders were brought back for an unsatisfactory start they were immediately put back on 2 minutes. No problem at all, as it was immediate, but what happened to the "one minute" warning?

Anyway, when I think of the atmosphere at some speedway meetings being dead and drawn out and plain dull, Oxford put on a good show. It felt like you were being entertained, which is how it should be.

I still can't get used to the riders not coming out of the pits on the 3rd and 4th bend though!

Edited March 22 by Grachan

[Col 854]

13 hours ago, TTT said:

Wright and Bomber have hit the ground running.

Not a surprise to me, they were the best two riders at the Championship best pairs meeting held at Cowley last year. 

[Toady 231]

6 hours ago, Grachan said:

Anyway, when I think of the atmosphere at some speedway meetings being dead and drawn out and plain dull, Oxford put on a good show. It felt like you were being entertained, which is how it should be.

To be fair it’s been like that at Oxford for the last two seasons in the championship, good crowds and top class entertainment, what’s not to like.

[SteelShoe 500]

On 3/22/2024 at 4:08 PM, Toady said:

To be fair it’s been like that at Oxford for the last two seasons in the championship, good crowds and top class entertainment, what’s not to like.

Great to see the crowd so healthy. I believe the Speedway needs to be entertaining . Interested to know what Oxford are doing  this season for you to label it "top class". I visited 3 times last season for the meetings against Poole, Workington and the Pairs.

[Toady 231]

4 hours ago, SteelShoe said:

Great to see the crowd so healthy. I believe the Speedway needs to be entertaining . Interested to know what Oxford are doing  this season for you to label it "top class". I visited 3 times last season for the meetings against Poole, Workington and the Pairs.

Did you enjoy those visits?
Quite simply an exciting and entertaining team a good surface and an enthusiastic crowd (made up of all ages). 
 I personally am not a fan of gimmicks give fans a place to stand, get food and a drink, it’s the racing experience first and foremost.

Having witnessed plenty of dross over the years  it was fantastic to  have speedway back at Sandy lane an opinion shared by many others who bring along the next generation of young fans encouraged by Oxfords admission policy.This season we have the chance to see some of the top riders again on our circuit, watch speedway almost every week . It doesn’t get much better than that.

 

 

[W9 Lion 222]

On 3/22/2024 at 9:11 AM, Grachan said:

One thing I did notice is when the riders were brought back for an unsatisfactory start they were immediately put back on 2 minutes. No problem at all, as it was immediate, but what happened to the "one minute" warning?

Anyway, when I think of the atmosphere at some speedway meetings being dead and drawn out and plain dull, Oxford put on a good show. It felt like you were being entertained, which is how it should be.

I still can't get used to the riders not coming out of the pits on the 3rd and 4th bend though!

One minute warning was removed from the rule book for this season.

[Triple.H. 1,986]

4 hours ago, Toady said:

Did you enjoy those visits?
Quite simply an exciting and entertaining team a good surface and an enthusiastic crowd (made up of all ages). 
 I personally am not a fan of gimmicks give fans a place to stand, get food and a drink, it’s the racing experience first and foremost.

Having witnessed plenty of dross over the years  it was fantastic to  have speedway back at Sandy lane an opinion shared by many others who bring along the next generation of young fans encouraged by Oxfords admission policy.This season we have the chance to see some of the top riders again on our circuit, watch speedway almost every week . It doesn’t get much better than that.

 

 

Not forgetting the publicity machine that Jordan Jenkins is. He puts in lots of time doing school visits etc to spread the word.

I've noticed a fair few Poles at the first 2 meetings, so the Magic effect is working. Nobody seems to have cottoned on yet that Oxford and Wroclaw are twinned, so that could give plenty of opportunities for more publicity.

 

[Toady 231]

1 hour ago, Triple.H. said:

Not forgetting the publicity machine that Jordan Jenkins is. He puts in lots of time doing school visits etc to spread the word.

I've noticed a fair few Poles at the first 2 meetings, so the Magic effect is working. Nobody seems to have cottoned on yet that Oxford and Wroclaw are twinned, so that could give plenty of opportunities for more publicity.

 

Spot on, it’s definitely working!

[Colinspeedway 40]

13 hours ago, Triple.H. said:

Not forgetting the publicity machine that Jordan Jenkins is. He puts in lots of time doing school visits etc to spread the word.

I've noticed a fair few Poles at the first 2 meetings, so the Magic effect is working. Nobody seems to have cottoned on yet that Oxford and Wroclaw are twinned, so that could give plenty of opportunities for more publicity.

 

Certainly noticed the poles myself. Great to see. Although I do remember Janowski getting a similar following last time he was in the UK both home and away! 

[racerback 36]

17 hours ago, Triple.H. said:

Not forgetting the publicity machine that Jordan Jenkins is. He puts in lots of time doing school visits etc to spread the word.

I've noticed a fair few Poles at the first 2 meetings, so the Magic effect is working. Nobody seems to have cottoned on yet that Oxford and Wroclaw are twinned, so that could give plenty of opportunities for more publicity.

 

i did email the club pointing this out and suggested some kind of club partnership but no response 

[auntie doris 2,342]

Good to see the Ox are one of the success stories of British Speedway. With the millions of peeps that live within an hour or so drive of the city should enable regular big crowds at Sandy Lane for Premier and Championship meetings. Quite a few Swindon fans I know are attending. Great for the sport.

Edited March 27 by auntie doris