OveFundinFan

Not really, just an odd one or two

I fully understand what you saying Ian, but it is still £650....... PLUS you get a better viewing experience at home on the telly. For sure there will be corporate seating their, but when you look at the crowd many/most of them look like "normal/average" people And its not just the world championship snooker that gets massive tv exposure, its other major championships from around the UK, Europe, middle and far east. Speedway at its best is an amazing sport to watch, not everyone's cup of tea for sure, certainly the sport does not get the publicity it deserves I read a comment from Dan Bewley re that amazing last race at the British Championship the other week.. something like..that's what this track can deliver when prepared well. Sounded to me he was having a dig at what the wrong input in track preparation can have at the 2 GP's in June, leave it to BV staff and it will be good...leave it to others and it could be average. If Charles Wright and Chris Harris can challenge the likes of Dan and Robert in that final race then, potentially, all 23 races will be amazing hot....if the tracks right.

A seat to watch the final of world championship snooker in the Crucible Theatre Sheffield cost £650 I understand. £650 !!! Of course no speedway race could be anywhere as exciting as watching a frame of snooker. Whose being ripped off?

BSN stream for tonight 14.99, not part of their season ticket.

Update....I went online to cancel subscription, before I pressed the "cancel" button there was an offer on the screen 7 months at the premium price, £30.99pm LESS 50% pm, for the next 7 months, works out at £108.50, Problem with that is the deal would end before the end of the speedway GP and SON season, plus under the 2024 pricing 7x £6.99 is £49, so still a significant difference. I still cancelled. I will take a look before the first GP see if any offers on.

I just informed Discovery+ I am cancelling my subscription, told them the reason why, cant afford. Now cancelling the direct debit.

Received the statement below this morning from Discovery+ My comments......I currently pay £6.99pm, can't justify paying £30.99pm. if they allow monthly membership of my choice I will select a month or two with say 3 GPs (June comes to mind). Already lost winter fuel allowance, energy prices up, council tax going up, and I don't think Labour has finished with pensioners yet, so something has to go. ......................... On 28 February 2025, the Eurosport and TNT Sports brands will be brought together, with all sports content available in one single destination via TNT Sports. This in turn means the discovery+ Standard plan & Eurosport linear channels are closing. What about my subscription? On your next renewal date on or after today, the price of your plan will decrease to the price of the Basic plan at £3.99/month. From 28 February, Sports content, including Eurosport 1 & 2, will no longer be included in your plan. From your next renewal on or after 28 February, you will continue to renew on the Basic plan unless you cancel in your account before that renewal. If your plan was previously ad-free in on-demand content, on-demand content in the Basic plan contains ads. To continue to access sports content, you can either upgrade your plan to the Premium (incl. TNT Sports) plan before 28 February 2025, or resubscribe to Premium after this date

I didn't know you could just walk into business class and take a seat.

I stand by my original statement, speedway IS a technical motorised sport AND costly to compete”. And it IS for the very reasons that you state, their technical and costly. But they are there, in weekly use, and yes…having to be paid for by the viewing public. Are these “advances” necessary…….NO. Racing was probably just as exciting in the 1930’s, as now. The JAP engine became the predominant engine up until around the mid 60’s……how simple an engine was that. I would imagine now engine tuning costs a small fortune. A new engine straight out of the box is no longer good enough, it has to be tuned. And as I read things different tracks “need” a different level of tune. Mmmmm. So I agree costs are ridiculous and, agree, unnecessary. But it adds to my statement “costly to compete”, it is what it is. So what can be done reduce costs back to something more “sensible”, whatever that is. Back to a simple design, 2 valves. Fundin, Moore, Craven, Briggs etc won enough world championships on 2 valve JAPs. Technology moves on, R&D is BIG in any industry. Is advancement really necessary though? Whatever individual views on that is logically money comes into, as Dean Machine says. I suspect letting technology run its course can be seen as an easy option to choose. The more restrictions that are put on engine development means more checks are needed. Doesn’t seem to get mentioned much these days, but there were always suspicions that some engine were overbored, with correspondingly bigger pistons, engines exceeding 500cc type of thing. Put restrictions on technology and it could mean that official results of a meeting cannot be verified until hours/days? after a meeting. It’s a big problem, and I don’t know the answer to it. Certainly I would be happy to get rid of these lay down super rocket ship engines. Call me old fashioned, that’s alright, but I much prefer an upright engine in a speedway frame - it looks right. The ESO/JAWA engines of the late 60’s looked neat, 2 valves. Mid 60s to mid 70’s saw a flurry of 4 valve engines in the hands of mostly top riders. The likes of Neil Street and I think there was a Swedish engine (can’t remember who) followed but it sort of culminated in Weslake dominating the seen for a period. So I am sticking to my words….speedway…… it’s technical and it’s costly…fact. But it needn’t be, it shouldn’t be.

Ah right. The three times we been 2013-14-15 we were up on the third tier, great view looking down on the track.

I was there too, and it was our first (and only) speedway trip abroad. Fantastic atmosphere, just a meeting memories are made of. Still watch clips of it on YouTube. Our coach went onto Marianske Lazne, Czech for the following weeks long track world final. Much prefer speedway, though admire the courage of long trackers at those speeds. It was another world final that sticks in my mind. 1967, Ove Fundin 5th and last world final. First world final my girlfriend (now wife) went to and she thought me and my male mates were nuts jumping, in a circle, up and down when he won. That night Ove raced using an ESO bike with a JAP engine in. He still rated the JAP engine for Wembley track, though it still has to be set up right. Apparently he asked the Belle Vue mechanic to set the bike to get him to the first corner first, and he would do the rest. He dropped 1 point to his nemesis Igor Plechanov. That put him in a runoff with Bengt Jansson. The story goes, on the walk from the pits to the start line, Fundin “talked” Jansson out of him winning. The “wily fox” won. Whether the story is true or not, but it fits the result.

Any one know why it’s the front rows that haven't been filled. Surely they too far back to catch the shale.

Your are right, and I do need help to remember some things, glad you can assist. You probably know how much PPV costs per viewing, approx twice as much as Discovery+ and I get a months viewing with D+. So my trip to PPL was a “little treat” so to speak. Depends who is in it this year as to whether I treat myself again.

Speedway is cheap in the uk IMO We just been away to “the seaside”. We enjoyed an ice cream cone each, just a single blob. It was very nice (cherry flavour with slices of cherry too). £9 for the two (and kept an eye on the seagulls). Stayed a few night in a 7 bedroomed B&B, nothing cheaper than £75 per night, we paid £100 per night and was very happy, lovely place. Snack lunch in a corner cafe near the seafront, just a panini and fresh salad, very nice, cup of coffee each after. £28 for two. It’s today’s cost of enjoying yourself on a break. (I also got a £25 fixed price car park ticket that I appealed against and won). Today, speedway tracks are closing down, have been for a long time, some due to environmental issues, or land development, but some because not enough money is being made to make a track a viable proposition. Up go the prices a quid or two and “foul” is shouted by the fans. Speedway is a technical motorised sport, and costly to compete, riders travelling hundreds of miles each week, often this means it’s there only means of making a living. Lots of costs associated with running a stadium. All needs to be paid for, if the fans don’t/wont the track closes down. There are those on here today who remember Wembley in the 60’s/70’s with a 80,000+ crowd. That was then, 50 or 60 years ago! 50 or 60 years ago. At times I can’t get used to today’s prices when compared to how things were in the good ole days, but life has moved on. I’m careful what I spend money on, but sometimes get caught “by the moment” and buy something I later wish I hadn’t. That’s how it goes sometimes. As for today, I can’t afford, nor do I want to travel 65 miles return to watch Belle Vue. I cannot afford all the subscription channels that may show all I want to watch. So I am happy to pay for a sub channel that gives me all the GP’s, events such as SON, British championship, some British league matches and a few others such as world championship Challenge. That cost me about the same as 4 admission prices to British Premiere league matches (for one person). Would be nice to be there in person, but apart from costs as a pensioner there’s the other reason of me or the wife not always feeling too good.

A good 36 hours after the great event final….. has anyone seen any reports in any of the national newspapers or on tv news? Why, as a sport in the UK that has international success both at individual and team level, speedway does not seem to get a mention at all.? It’s not that it’s one newspaper or one tv news channel……it’s as if it’s blanket No No across the whole spectre. WHY