wandersome

Well said Glyn. Which then brings us back to the fundamental point.. and we all know where this is going. It's what what Andy Joyce so eloquently called 'the nonsense on here'. The shape of the track. When 4 riders are going that fast down a straight and then having to scrub off that much speed to get round such a tight corner then i can't see how the track can work with much more dirt on it. I remember that Scunthorpe match last year and as entertaining to watch as it was, it was clearly a train wreck waiting to happen. Track changes have left us with the same fundamental issues irrespective. Honestly, i'm in disbelief there is anyone out there who is still defending the thing or coming up with alternative reasons, such as track preparation, as to why that might not be the whole problem. It's clutching at straws What we need was someone in charge who has an ounce of sense who can sit there and say, we've got it wrong. Lets sort it out before it's too late. Mick,

You may be right, Halifaxtiger. However it's not unreasonable. If the promoters track record didn't involve not making any changes to the track the previous winter whilst making assurances in writing to sponsors that they had been made in order to get the money. Then this year the track changes clearly aern't the ones that were going to be made and look for all the world like a cheap face saving option. For the second successive season people have spent large amounts of money on season tickets and sponsorship in the belief that meaningful changes were being made. That's unreasonable. Until proven differently they deserve no benefit of the doubt from me. Mick. fair enough comment, Martin. I didn't see that at all though. Like you say, had the track been moved in further we'd probably have been 3 pages shorter on this thread and everyone, me included, would be giving the track the benefit of the doubt you and others think they should.

I guess you mean on bend 3 and 4 because 1 and 2 appeared to be as useless as it's ever been. I did see a couple of riders desperately decide to use the extra couple of foot on the entrance to bend 3 to try and spook the rider in front out of the way by heading into the apex at breakneck speed but having to pull it up at the apex when the rider in front didn't get out the way. I guess It may work with a few riders deciding to get out the way but i'm not sure it's an entertainment that should have anyone marvelling at the skill of it all. Mick.

I'm sure Robert doesn't need me to help him find his old quotes though!.. he uses them daily! My point is we've heard them it all before from both sides and we seem no further forward! Not with me though. it's definately the track. It's crap. Mick.

i think you caught that as a work in progress... you can safely say that Wild Wild West ain't doing it for me on this easter sunday.

Below are a few of the excuses for the racing at BP that i've selected from those used at the start of last season should anyone be floundering a bit to find their own over the next few weeks.These were from the meetings that are generally accepted as being the some of the worst meetings ever, not just at BP but anywhere... I think they all still should work fine... well , maybe not all of them (you might have to change Bridgett, Meredith and Taylor to Dave Darcy and some other people with access to plant) but otherwise most are good to go and i'm sure the people who wrote them won't mind you reusing them... it might even have been yourselves! Hopefully the changes to the track will see improved action this season The track cannot be blamed for the lack of passing Once again, DH has made the changes as recommended good to see a number of passes on the track as well Really? That ' ' bloke seemed to manage a good pass on a Scunny rider going into turn 3. Neither rider got out of shape or crashed The track doesnt seem as bad as everyone is making it out to be David Hemsley has done exactly whay messrs Bridgett, Meredith and Taylor suggested should be done and they are supposed to be the experts. The racing and presentation were better than last week Track changes have happened I'm glad I did go back, it was definitely better. Not brilliant, but better We've got what we've got and I hope that DH is continuing to look for a solution to the problem. There does appear to be an improvement Well that's bullrubbish. There was a lot more than 1 pass. Must be feckin blind then yet there are those (particularly some who post on here) who are not prepared to give this venture time to bed in I thought it was a cracking meeting saturday,much closer racing,a couple of fantastic passes, just goes to show what can be done i feel each week has been better than the previous week everyone keeps saying the tracks not good but am i not right in saying sat heat five the track record was broken? so cant be that bad???????????????? Hopefully more lines will develop around BP with the ever improving track preparation

what i want to see is in a speedway meeting is a Lasse Bjerre using speed and guile to overtake a Simon Stead or vice versa or else a Ricky Wells having to use guile and the whole of the track to hold off a Kauko Nieminen. Neither of these scenarios happen at BP and neither will they IMO. I don't doubt that a Simon Nielsen or Joe Haines going 3/4 speed around the 3/4 bend will allow a riders of the quality of Richard Hall or Lasse Bjerre to go around them, even at BP, but that, to me, is not what it's all about. I suppose we have to agree to disagree with what makes speedway an entertaining business. Mick.

'Fastest speedway in Britian'. Careful, we'll be using that next week!. However, bringing facts into a discussion, It would be interesting to see if anyone with an actual knowledge of speedway will hold their hands up and say the home straight and angle of the first bend corner will actually allow a rider to carry enough speed around the bend to overtake someone half decent who hasn't made a mistake. I begin to think that there are people out there that believe the corners are negotiated by magic and fairy dust (just watched tinkerbell, sorry). Maybe you are one of these people Dave? if not, what are your thoughts? anyways, i thought long and hard about how the track could work without any alteration to the bends and i think i have it. It's chicanes half way down the straights.. only half joking. Mick.

True Nobblytriers. I did watch the NZ GP and it was indeed rubbish. That was a preparation thing rather than a shape issue though. With the correct banking, the right amount of shale and the correct preparation that track could do the business though. BP never will because it's up against the law of Physics and the law of Physics win every time. At the speed riders can carry down the home straight, the 1/2 bend is then at an impossible angle to make overtaking possible once you've scrubbed off the speed needed to take the bend the quickest way. Once slowed up to take the corner speedway bikes just don't accelerate again quickly enough in order to get the speed back up to overtake whoever is in front of you. It is a law of physics thing. It's not rocket science. There isn't an untold mystery to how and why speedway works. It involves the law of physics and you'd need to defy it to overtake a decent rider who is not making a mistake on the the 1/2 bend. For just this reason, the new entry might have well not have been changed for all the use it is. Mick.

I think Stead and Wells looked good. I also though Albin looked like he would be decent. I don't see the promise you see in Koppe though. We were missing the rider i expected to be our best rider this year and 3 of his four rides were taken by our reserves which i think left the scores closer. Hall scored well but got a lot of luck in only really beating Graversen, Nielsen and Blackbird until he beat Nieminen in the last. You can only beat what you are up against though. I was surprised he made the last heat ahead of Wells. For Leicester, Bjerre looked good, Blackbird looked much more competitive if not much less erratic, Nielsen looked steady but very slow once out of the gate and Graversen i guess was having a few engine issues going by him not taking his extra ride and struggling to make it out for his last ride. Nieminen and Doolan were about their mark.

Halifaxtiger, did you just copy and paste that from one of your posts this time last year! Rather telling that in his programme notes, the track curator mentioned the track changes in a very matter of fact way, pointing out how they may or may not give us a new track record, though It's hardfor him to tell. This, just after telling us in detail about the removal of the toilet blocks and the tidying up of the centre green. Read into that what you will, i'd say.

and that's what speedway is about? being more enjoyable than a night in watching x factor? For no apparent reason as far i can see, for the second year running, the track hasn't had any of the obvious changes that are required to turn it into even a crap track. it's still an absolute shocker of the first order. 3 years in and benefit of the doubt used up, It ain't like any speedway i've witnessed in the last 35 years. If people are happy with that then i'm trully amazed. Mick.

such as they are? the track changes are barely discernible. Have they improved the racing? of course not. As ever, the overtaking required very slow riders popping out the gate in front of much, much faster riders (Simon Nielsen being tonights example). Personally, if i'd been Popple or either of the Sensicalls i'd have been embarrassed to have to keep mentioning the 'new track' but there you go, it's probably in the contract..

Actually, I think you'll find most Lions supporters do not favour either the social network medium or forums. Due to the ease of facebook i think you'll find it's the same case with every tracks supporters that the the ones who go on the internet use social network over forums. It requires far more effort to post on BSF than it does on facebook. That's why in every aspect social networks have taken over the internet from forums, except in the important area of having a serious debate over a posting throwaway one liners. That said, My apathy currently has more to do with my pre season optimism and enthusiam being completely drained over the weekend when i saw the 'track changes' at first hand. I'm afraid they won't come back until i see the action on saturday and can determine whether they actually are all we needed or not. Lets hope Glyn can make a track of it. Seeing Lewis score today has stoked me up a little though. Well done him. I think we'll stuff Sheffield. I expect good from Stead, decent from Wells and average from Haines from Hall. I think Albin will struggle to get around the bends and to me, Koppe only looked average NL quality around BP last year. I think 52-38 or more. Mick.

Interesting to read all the input on covers and whether they would work or not. I don't doubt the validity of what anyone is saying but that does beg the question of what the BSPA were going on about at the AGM though with regards to us trialling covers. A bit embarrassing that nobody seems to have an idea what they were going on about.. according to fanmale, not even the people who are supposed to be carrying out the trial!

But wouldn't the idea be to leave them off during normal weather, including rain, so the track can be worked as normal but on the day of the meeting be able to cover the track for short periods if it decides to trully lamp it down, say for an hour or two before a meeting. To stop those short sharp pre meeting deluges, that normally put paid to a meeting, from waterlogging the track.

Wasn't there a big deal made at the AGM that Leicester would be trialling covers this year on behalf of the BSPA. Is that still happening? Mick.

I thought Seargeant looked on the pace when riding BP last year though i can't see him troubling the scorers. I'm sure i remember the Cov Szczpaniak having quite a few issues negotiating the tight corners when he rode in the 4 team thingy last year so if he doesn't improve and his brother has similar issues then i see it being reasonably close as Summers hasn't really inspired round BP either. Even at that I still think Cov will have far too much firepower up top though. If they all make it round the corners OK we might be in for a bit of a spanking.

Is Roynon fit for this meeting? Just looking at the line-up for the brandonapolis and he is the only Bee not riding.

This will be my last post on the track changes until we actually get an outcome on saturday. IMO, if these track changes actually do work then it can only be the work of pure fluke by rank amateurs. You know, It will be the biggest shock in speedway since Jerzy Sczakiel if all works out. The promotion have absolutely ignored all informed advice from pretty much every expert and non expert alike. I can't believe anyone would give advice that those changes were all that were required and if so, who?. I'm backing this up by saying I've looked at every photo of the work in progress and i can't for the life of me see anyone who would come even close to fitting that bill. Instead, At best the changes appear to have been made using the the considered hunch of a Architect and a Lorry Driver. At worst it could be said that it looks like they've done the least possible work to be able to say they've done good on the written promises made in the programme and elsewhere last year that track changes would be made. And yet you and others are defending this to the hilt, you all appear to be making no effort to ask yourself questions. It's all about giving the promotion another chance. the line is 'Well, they've made the changes we've all asked for haven't they so lets see what happens'. You should be asking have they made those changes? Have a look at the youtube videos i posted. I think it's the likes of you who should be down there asking the the question about the track changes. I wont be there at the Q & A. I asked for assurances before the start of last year that the muted track changes would be made and after getting them in writing from the promotion that they had already been made i paid out an amount in excess of four figures for season tickets etc. This year those assurances were made to everyone in the programme and elsewhere and changes have clearly been made this time so why do i feel like i've been had with my pants down again. Mick.

Maybe of interest to some who havent seen the changes first hand here is a youtube video of the major work done to open up those racing lines on bends 1 & 2!. http://www.youtube.c...h?v=W7IrHt0jxs8 The vid has been named 'Leicester Speedway sorting out the track' http://www.youtube.c...h?v=UOc1tpQIySc this is another youtube video showing the work done to both the entry and exit but cordoned off! probably gives a better idea of the alterations than the one above. Mick.

don't disagree with anything you say with regards to Newport though i'm not really getting what releveance any of that is to Leicester. I think Leicester are still in the process of trying to keep their spectators whereas Newport were trying to get theirs back. My feelings were that Gareth made an awful track trully abysmal and Glyn just got it back to being awful. No mean feat on Glyns part though. Mick.

Anyone have the actual line-ups and riding order for this? Who is guesting for the Bees instead of Adam Roynon? predictions?

i think that was probably at least 10 years too late in Newports case, those fans had gone, whereas Leicester were still drawing good crowds last season that weren't disimilar to the latter part of the first season. I think there are still a good proportion of Leicester fans that are still hanging on in there every week hoping the track improves, me included. We got a huge crowd on opening day last season to witness what has to be one of the poorest speedway meetings ever. This was absolutely down to the appalling track and the promotions belief that there was a cheap way to rectify it's issues. I expect another bumper crowd this weekend, if the weather improves, so lets hope, for my sake, we aren't entering groundhog day with regards to the track.

Have to say there is not a lot i agree with Robert72 on (well, bar the ropey track of course), but i have to agree with Leicester Lion about the threatening nature of some of the posts made towards him last night. My personal view is if you can't deal with his posts in a civilised manner then you might want to try just ingnoring them. I think you may be right with the under 15s meeting. i've probably just muddied the waters more for you. I'm sure someone will be on here soon to give correct times.