THE DEAN MACHINE

To be honest I’m not really interested in the safety side, life is dangerous deal with it but as a fan I don’t want to travel round Europe paying my hard earned money to watch meetings get called off needlessly and it has happened ,after the call off yesterday the PGE should have had an inquest into what could be learnt by calling off a basically dry but heavy track, the answer until they can control the weather has to be in the bikes but speedway never learns from its mistakes and the really sad bit is they already know the problem

It is a contradiction, the modern bike is not built/tuned or whatever for safety, it is built for speed and to get the edge, even frames are made for the edge with no regard for safety, remember the incident in Toruń when someone’s experimental frame snapped causing half the bike to land in the seats, where was the thought given to safety then? fact is despite the rain yesterday the track wasn’t wet after the grading just heavier and you could hear it in pawlickis bike noise but the problem is the engine has very little scope for change meetings get called off and when that affects fans and that shouldn’t happen when it doesn’t need too, it’s a case of safety when it suits them and it isn’t case of conquer and divide as most of the technical speedway world agrees something should be done even the poles but getting it done is another matter

That pretty much sums up modern speedway, the knowledge is there unfortunately the will isn’t

That In real terms last around 40 mins before it needs money spent on it, the cost of the purchase of the engine is not the cost of racing speedway

Yes I have, I got one in my workshop and I’ve got a long stroke GM from 15 years ago and I’ve got a weslake and a 2 valve Jawa and have ridden them all, the modern engine in fine if the conditions are good but when they are not which in our sport is quite often, more adaptable engines could be used in the sport, everyone knows this even the modern superstars but nobody will do anything about it, calling of meetings is doing and has done the sport no favours at all, apart from expense absolutely nothing has been gained by the evolution of the engine we have today, racing is no better or worse than years ago but the balance of engine/rider has changed dramatically especially on bigger tracks and all that has done is push the cost up, nobody is saying a return to a 2 valve or a weslake and there is nothing wrong with the angle of the engine but when it comes to safety it doesn’t even get considered when you’re talking about the engine, it’s all about getting the edge and that means higher risk

Rider safety comes first is a contradiction in itself ,if it came first then the sport would make riders use a more adaptable engine, the engine used today is power and nothing else, safety doesn’t even come into it ,speedway is dangerous, if you don’t like it don’t ride

With everything that’s going on in the world and it’s been a while since I’ve seen any speedway I kind of forgot how much some modern riders are prima donnas where there is a bit of rain around

Yes but leszno have said that he has signed a 2 deal with them but may not be picked to ride because of money

You have to wonder about leszno this season,with hampel leaving and sayfutinov doubtful to be picked over money

While I dared to criticise the elite cartel that obviously runs the mag these days and obviously the cage doesn’t like being poked, there has been a marked improvement in the interviews the last few weeks and that doesn’t include the best of them all (mine ) but it’s still clear that a lot “their work” is going on but my biggest bugbear is the filters used on the photos, what is it with photographers in all mags etc are using filters, stop it, a good pic is a good pic it doesn’t need bloody filters

Well there is a piece in this weeks edition from one bloke that is worth reading

I’ve been mountain biking for the last 7 weeks, something I have noticed while out is I’m not alone by a very long way, the canal tow paths are full of bikers, walkers and fishermen and I’ve been working delivering around the country and in parts of London you would be hard pressed to know there was a lockdown on

Apex motox track was open last week and many riders were there

Done and voted for Jonathan Rea

Just got our tickets , no seats left just 2 standing sections left

I think off track things were the final nail in bens career

I did feel guilty about it at the time and appolgized to Ben but he was fine about it, he understood it was an accident and it happens, you can’t dwell on these things, it happens and if you are thinking about crashing or other riders then it’s time to retire

Ben Taylor , I broke his knee/leg, he was out for quite a while and did eventually come back but only briefly

I had so many crashes at Newport, I very rarely left the stadium in my own van it was always in an ambulance , I broke my shoulder there and my collarbone and my profile picture was took there where I smashed my helmet on the fence and I pretty much ended a team mate’s career there when I collected him after clipping an opponent but despite all that I quite enjoyed racing there, I got on well with Tim stone but was aware just how stubborn he was, I don’t think the toll would of made a lot of difference, a lot of Newport fans stopped attending because of Tim and his stubbornness and well the less said about the ending of Newport the better

I don’t have with a problem with any rider riding in the NL as long as a standard pay rate is stuck to, who benifits by paying more ? As with higher leagues there is no bike control so costs spiral but we have set the stall out by paying demands and now it’s expected and quite frankly a joke, instead of a reduced points limit teams should of been made to reduce admission price so they can’t pay more, I see Judas himself has already dumped a team for more money elsewhere, is that really what fans want ?s

That is not a problem ,no other sport pays to learn a trade no matter what the out goings are, you’re not supposed to be making a profit at that level or even breaking even , it’s got beyond a joke, basically anyone can buy a bike and some equipment, string some laps together and now expect to be paid to do it, the league has lost the plot now and Buxton’s demise is the final nail, apart from some rider sponsorship I’m sorry to say I’m done supporting this league now

In other words nothing

I don’t really understand the rules anymore

And so the doubling up begins, for me very few positives have come out of this years agm, it’s just carry on the same ,truly have had enough of british speedway, only went to around 10 meetings in Britain last season, think it will be less next year

Beyond sad ,something is very wrong with our sport