BTFC LION

I know the rules, i have to read through them every season. Birmingham are well within the rules of what is required, In my head a water bowser is something that can soak a track in 4 or 5 laps, putting say 5000ltrs of water down. It is a very loose description, some tracks have tanker lorries, others have big bowser towed by tractors. Some have a smaller sprayer as I call them just to use to touch up parts of the track when needed.

There is no water tanker that i am aware we can use, there is a sprayer that is used all day, but it will never soak the track enough.

A very simple answer, no water tanker!!

Yes he was honest and open in the interview. To try and answer you observation about watering before ht1, This is only a guess as I do not know, but many times in the past after track walks riders request no more water, if you have attended lots of meetings at Leicester you may of noticed me waiting at the pit gate after track walks, then Stewart would pass on the info, a bit more around the outside of the bends or 2 laps the whole track or none at all. Another factor would be the strong possibility of rain , i think it was ment to arrive around 2pm, but can never be definite on timing, so you trust the weather apps, go out and water, then you look stupid if the rain comes early, and then the meeting get abandoned.

Thanks for the mention, track curator is the dirtiest hardest job in speedway, Dry dusty, to wet, not enough material, to much material, you use your experience to try and get it right, you think you have cracked it, then it bites right on the arse.

I can't speak for the club, as I'm no longer involved with the track prep, however I can tell you there are 6 drain pots on the infield, I am aware that atleast 5 of them are piped to the 40ft container buried near the 2nd bend, each pot used to hold about 6000 ltrs, couldn't tell you what the container holds, sure someone could work it out, but they will most likely be empty as there has been very little rain of late. As for the pond outside, that is just tap fed, not great, it would take a good 24 hours to fill from empty. It's the same water feed that supplies the stadium, so when the public enter the stadium that tap has to be turned off, otherwise the toilets ect would not work. For Thursday, if it was me I would of had the tap on all day today, taken water from the pond and put it in the big tank, do that for the next couple of days and it should be fine, then you have a full pond plus tank, water the track from the tank during the day of the meeting, then the pond at night time, if the pond is clear of silt and rubbish you should get 12 to 14 bowsers, and probably 6 from the tank at guess. I'm sure it's already been thought of so should be OK.

Not it wasnt watered ,simply because it had been watered from 6.30 am until 6.30 pm, if more had gone on after that it would of just sat on the top surface , making puddles which riders definitely do not want, they get filled in . In fact we were asked to try and dry it out abit with the grader at ht7. In Poland they have very different tracks, very different equipment, even the material. In my opinion watering a track is a very dark art, 1 bowser to many and you have materials that turn to slop, not quite enough then you have dust.

Having put an extra 20 ton of material on it on Sunday, and ripped up the outside for grip, I wouldn't say it was completely slick, yes the inside went slick, but that happens at a lot of track.

Sorry but you only get 1 day to do a track, dog racing all other days.

If time money and weather were not a problem, I would shorten the straights by bringing in the kerb on both ends, banking the track from airbag to kerb, By doing that it would enable riders to enter the bends on different lines hence giving them more options while in the bends. In the winter I would hope to get the motor blade on the track and do as much as we can to get rid of the off camber on turns 3 and 4.

Just to let everyone know, all that can be done is being done. We have had unprecedented amout of rain this month. Last Fri I pumped off any standing water, Saturday I let it dry , was best to stay off the track, you can do more harm than good if you try and work it while it's to wet. Sunday I worked the track for 6 hours, it was bladed several times, wheeled many times, spun in, then graded, finally packing it for an hour with the lorry, if I knew how to post a pic of how it looked on Sunday I would, it looked really good. Monday and today we have had nothing but rain! My pump has been working since a week last Sunday. Sam has been up today to get any surface water off, horrible job in the wet and cold. As soon as is possible the track will be worked on tomorrow and Thurs, we are trying, very hard !!

Yes. Yes

To correct you, I am the track curator in question, I went as a spectator, just to watch the meeting, I arrived about 5pm straight from work with no intention of doing anything, the track was being watered at that time, nearer to start time it was clearly drying out fast, it was also clear it would need watering during the meeting, you can not put water on a slick part of the track as it makes it like ice, as john was on his own I offered to help if needed, I graded after ht4, ht,7 ht11, so I find your accusation that I had an influence on the out come of the meeting offensive. I was told the track had been constantly been watered from Sunday, and all throughout Monday, I would also add many track curators know each other and it's not unusual for them to help each other out from time to time.

It's not a terrible ruling, pre season all clubs had the opportunity to keep their RS from the previous season, 4 clubs decided to to do this , KL, Sheff, Ipswich, BV, Leicester RS average was to high so couldn't be used, As Oxford and Birmingham were new in the league they would get first and second choice from the list, Leicester getting last choice. As sheffield signed Jason that effectively took him off the list as the other 3 clubs could not sign him.

A guest from the rs list, his ma must be the same or lower than the rs he is replacing. He can not be attached to another prem club.