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It's purple,,,, you need to get to specsavers

Stuart Robson Farewell Meeting · So where do I begin!! First of all a massive thanks to everyone at Redcar Speedway for their massive team effort over the last 7 days. The track had taken a fair bit of water over the recent period, but the weather forecast had turned in our favour, and after days of work by the incredible track staff led by Jonny Swales, yesterday afternoon the track was able to be tyre packed. Then last evening there was a sharp storm and this ultimately is the period of wet weather that has beaten us today. Upon arrival this morning, Jonny and team had already been working on the circuit to try and get some air into it, and after a couple of hours things were promising. The forecasted weather was with us, and there was a very good view on being able to get the track into a position for us to go ahead. Then the blade was used to get rid of the top wet stuff, and again things looked promising. At that stage again we were planning ahead. However once the 2nd blading had happened, it became apparent that the top stuff was hiding a problem underneath…..when blading a circuit you either find it is firm and then fine, or you find a soft spongy track, and that unfortunately becomes dangerous and the decision was made. Before the decision was made we had made a conscious decision to not take money from the public at the turnstile, and to delay opening them for half an hour whilst a final remedy was sought. We did allow sponsor packages in as they had already paid their packages. This we felt was the right decision so that no one else parted with their cash. Once the decision to cancel had been made, we opened the turnstiles to let everyone in, so they could have a drink, food, if they wanted to even buy a programme, but none of this was forced on anyone. I have already read some comments online about should have called it off earlier to stop people travelling etc, and those comments are absolutely fine……however we had the Sun, wind and everything we could have hoped for, and indeed time on our side…..but unfortunately the track never quite came back to the scene of yesterday. To prove how much it hurts, today has cost Stuart and the Farewell sponsor pot somewhere in the region of £3,500-£4,000 when you add up the cost of programmes, travel money for riders, St John’s ambulance, fuel, staffing costs etc, and with it being a Farewell meeting and the chance for a rider to make a little bit towards their future, all of the decisions made today were not taken lightly at all. We wanted the meeting on……but it just wasn’t possible. What next? Well after being defeated 4 times, most people would say jack it in…..but Robbo was never someone who gave up on track, and we owe it to ourselves and the fabulous sponsors who have stuck with us throughout to give it one more crack. We also owe it to Redcar and all of their staff who have been so welcoming and supportive too. Rules state that you can only run these meetings at certain times of the year, but we will be asking the powers that be if we can secure another date in the summer to be able to try and get this done. I will release some more info over the next couple of days about sponsorships/live streams etc, we are now already approx £5,000 down when you include the programmes printed for last Aprils event, and either need a very rich Arab sheikh to suddenly like speedway, or will have to continue to see if we can get more sponsorships for bits and pieces. Finally to those of you who have shown your displeasure at the decision to cancel so late, I do apologise if this has put you out of pocket today, it was never intentional, but hope the details above will answer some of your questions. The hard work starts again tomorrow……. Martin Coleman

I think people are overlooking the fact that we've had the best part of three weeks of almost daily rain and that the ground is sodden. That is ultimately more significant than whether we get 3 or 6mm of rain this evening. Conditions have not been conducive to drying out the track so with the best will in the world this has looked to be in doubt for some time. After all a day of blazing sun wasn't enough to save Redcar yesterday.

Sorted.

The negativity on this - from those that weren’t there - is truly disappointing. I flew into Manchester yesterday morning, collected a hire car and drove to the track. Like many, I was pleased that the weather was set fair but, as Martin Coleman has said, yesterday’s weather wasn’t the problem. As soon as I set foot on the track, and sank into it ankle deep, it was clear that, despite all the work done, it wasn’t fit for racing. No one calls off a meeting without good reason and the decision made, difficult though it was, was the correct one. Here’s hoping that BSPL allow this to be run during the season, especially as there seem to be loads of gaps in the fixture list which would allow that.

You have to feel for Robbo.

Knowing the possibility of a rain off is a risk you take when you pay to travel to events such as this (especially in march!). All forecasts have stayed dismal and they left it as late as they could for it to change and it still didn’t. I’m sure if the meeting had gone ahead and then got rained off early on you would also be calling it a “speedway shambles”! No pleasing some people.

All weather forecasts say rain from 5pm right through to 10pm, some of it heavy, absolutely the right decision. If your going to quit due to a meeting in March getting rained off, then speedway's not for you.

Robbo will be due a Testimonial for his Testimonial being attempted for ten years.

Suits look nice

Or at least wait until the hour changes!

Just to reassure the doubters, the forecast rain did as expected and arrived between 4.30 and 5. The roads round the stadium are saturated and there’s no chance this could have gone ahead. I’m in the Diamond Lodge just along the road and so would have been the first to moan had there been a chance. But there wasn’t. And still isn’t. Two meetings, two call offs, two hotels plus hire car petrol and flights. Can’t be helped. It’s UK in speedway season!

Looks like Ryan Ingram

Speedway meetings in March and October are, in my opinion, stupid ideas. The National Speedway Stadium can take a lot of water, but once saturated it just cannot take any more. It may have been light rain all day but the damage was done, and the forecast from 6pm is not kind at all. From what I see of the forecast, Wednesday looks no better - hope I proved wrong.

Obviously I was very dissapointed yesterday, having travelled so far & arriving in lovely weather - who wouldn't be! I can read about all the effort gone into running it & understand why they chose not to call it off earlier. The downside of their efforts falling short of creating a safe track, apart from fans wasted journeys, is how many fans will stay at home in the future of the weather is iffy (or there's been a few wet days)?

Strange not seeing the red though! A lot of teams using blue in their race suits now.

We are talking about a meeting taking place in MARCH & not June/July/August. The weather had not been kind Friday & Saturday & Redcar have only had practice meetings during the winter. Sods law it is difficult to prepare meetings in March & also October!!

Belle Vue Speedway @TheAces · 1m ❗️ LUNCHTIME UPDATE ❗️ We are monitoring the weather here in Manchester as we build up to tonight's meeting. At the moment, it is not raining at the track. We would ask supporters to please keep an eye on our social media for further updates as we move into the afternoon.

That’s right Steve but as long as it does continue then there is still a chance however slim of a return of the Robins and I guess everyone on the forum would welcome that.

It seems very odd that the building work at the stadium seems to be going ahead at a much quicker rate now that the speedway has officially closed own. If the promotion are supposed to be looking for a new venue, why can't they use the new Abbey as a temporary home while they look? All very odd.

I hope Thursday's meeting doesn't dampen the optimism around Ipswich. The club seems to be on the right track and a league title is surely not far away.

Well this is the question..Why would Swindon lose more money than other clubs who are tenants to a landlord...They are still are one of the Best supported clubs in the UK.. Now if Russell thinks that he will lose money at the Abbey then give the chance to let someone else who might be able to balance the books..Of course we know the reason why as he has took a bung of Gaming to stopspeedway running at the Abbey .

Thought it meant to be raining!

IMO Workington won't have much home track advantage as it's a new track for every rider, yes the comets riders will have some extra practice but with most riders doing other things, time maybe a limited factor to get in extra practice, and I'm a comets fan, but looking forward to a season of good racing while the young kids improve their speedway riding

Yes, but if there has been a change and the Pits Marshal or Clerk of the Course hasn't informed him, he can only go by who is programmed. Most referees would spot any uninformed changes pretty quickly, though.

Also sounds like the stock cars made a mess on Saturday night

Weather forecast on the iPhone - suggests 1mm of rain each hour from 6pm… I’d call that light drizzle. I really hope for BVs sake that their forecast is right or it’s an expensive mistake. Agree if you shell out money it’s a risk you take, but what I object to is a meeting being called off on the basis of a weather forecast. Forecasts are often wrong and having kept an eye on it since Saturday it hadn’t actually changed much!! I guess there are worse cities to be in and we’ll make the most of Manchester! (With or without the rain)

The NL isn't just about finding 3.00 reserves who could become superstars (Harrison, Killeen & James) but also about continued progress of the previous seasons "rising stars" to accurately describe them: Hodder, Perry, Boughen, Trigger, Warren, Scott & Pijper all of these guys could have a future in the Champ & hopefully above. That is if Champ promoters use these up & coming Brits instead of flying in Aussies to average below 3.00!

Hi Gordon if it was clear to you the track was unfit for racing surely it was unfit for racing say 5 hours earlier so should have been called off earlier. Seems a bit strange but maybe the track staff thought it would dry out and be ok but seemed unlikely yesterday

Still dull but not raining in South Manchester at 12-15 (7 miles from the track)

Lots of rain here through the night. It stopped about 30 mins ago, but looks like it might come down again. The right call in the end i think.

Certainly looks a league this year where all teams should win the majority of their home matches and the top spots will be decided by who can find away points and they look a hard find for a couple of teams. I actually think the understrength Kent side will probably score ok on the road a couple of times but also look likely to have a costly home slip up.

I must admit over the years the production on sky / eurosport often uses multiple camera angles which I am not a fan of - i like to watch my speedway from a fixed camera like I watch a meeting from one place only, very often they change the camera angle just as something interesting is happening!! I am going to pay for a meeting and see what its like and then decide form there!

Or maybe the positive PR of getting speedway back but preferably someone other than Terry!

Craig Cook is an easy deal to do if Hans cant find another mechanic before Thursday.

That's not a good look just a few days before the season starts is it.

There is a fella who was involved in the greyhounds at Swindon who has tweeted some drone pictures of the progress of the acoustic barrier and stand. He also said in one of the comments that there were rumours of a bookmaker buying the stadium once its complete. I assume this would be good news for us as they would want the rental income that speedway would bring in.

Hit the nail on the head. Wishing all that are involved safe and successful riding. And yes looking at all the teams will be the most entertaining of all the leagues, with no clear favourite.

Paul Gachet Is one of my favourite riders along with Steve weatherly & Joe Owen. All three were very talented riders.

By your comments it seems all 8 teams will make the play-offs lol!

All very strange isnt it? The promoters no doubt wouldnt want to give up their promoting rights, but that is effectively what they have done by not continuing racing at the stadium... It was said that without the dogs it wasnt viable, yet the dogs are still there. (?).. Therefore, why not let someone else take the reigns and run on the track that is already in existence and throw up the large meccano set that is also there and build at least one stand...?

The new shaped track used in the last few years Swindon speedway ran was a decent shape much better suited to good racing than the old bigger track ever did in my opinion. - I presume the shale track still exists at the Stadium cause if it does then it'd be ideal for a restart at the Abbey? Without a doubt the Abbey Stadium remains the best option for speedway to return to the Swindon area and if the planning conditions are followed this will be the case. I hope the MP or Councillor who shares these views carries on the fight cause it will be ethical justice. With the seemingly advent of quiet E speedway bikes in the future any concerns of local residents in the new houses around the stadium will be indeed quite literally silenced! The newly formed Company, partly by members of the last Swindon Robins promotion is I suspect just a lip service campaign that will probably wither away which is what they want. I don't blame the former promotion for wanting out cause I suspect running Swindon speedway cost them a hefty sum but wouldn't it of been better if they'd just come out and just say they don't want to do it anymore and give other potentially interested parties a chance of reopening Swindon speedway at the Abbey!

100 % agree with this. The signs are genuinely positive for the first time in many years

No and no

Boughen, Perry and James to up their starting averages by 10 points between them, leaving Spencer and Foord as reserves on 5+ averages.

More to the point, in this day and age where EVERYTHING is expected to be available to the public (often through social media), I don't need to SEE things as proof. I know who and what to believe, as I'm not one of these crazy conspiracy theorists who refuses to believe fact and reality...

It's pretty obvious who is telling the truth. On one side we've got a man on his own, claiming in his book (which contains many other errors and "misrememberings") that he didn't write the letters demanding free passes for 100 of his friends. Then on the other side we've got a number of promoters who received the letters, and many more who have seen the letters. These include the late Phil Rising, a fairly impartial journalist and self-confessed Collins fan. Then we've got the vitriolic scrawled message to a dying man who had only tried to help sort out the situation of the 100 free passes. Why would you be so nasty if you hadn't even demanded the 100 passes in the first place? Sorry, but you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to solve this one.

Could follow Swindon and have a few...

For me it's BSN, they don't have any input into how a meeting is run, so it's very much like attending an actual meeting pace wise with no delays waiting for adverts and interviews. If only BSN could tempt Sam Ermolenko and his office it would be the perfect viewing experience