E I Addio

How do you know that, in your words "few if any newcomers attracted by the big names " ? Did you go round asking who the newcomers were and what attracted them ? How many did you speak to ? What did they say ? Another big crowd for Lakeside -v- Poole tonight. I suppose that was nothing to do with big names either and they would all have turned up regardless even if it was Berwick or Scunthorpe ?

Amazing how people who weren't even there think they know what won the meeting. Huge home advantage? Dave Watt knows his way round the place after three seasons there but didn't capitalise on it. Hans and Adam Ellis made a mockery of idea of huge home advantage. In fact Hans gave a really top class professional display, as he always does at Lakeside. If Holder and Watt showed his application it might have been a different story. What won it was the Tatum effect. Lakeside have a history of fading in the latter stages of a match but what we are seeing this year is them keeping the pressure up all the way through. Pooles problem was that apart from Hans they were beaten in their minds once the Hammers got back into the match and their heads dropped. From a Lakeside perspective it was a really good Speedwáy meeting. It had everything including a big crowd. Read what the neutral texter (Halifaxtiger) says on Speedwáy updates. Early days yet and too soon to get carried away but the two Lewis' are gradually getting their Jawas sorted and things ( we hope) can only get better. Poole are still well and truly in the driving seat for the Championship but if the Hammers stay fit all those that predicted a bottom two finish for them may be in for a surprise.

So Poole have failed to reach 60 and Elite League expert Gavan is stunned. For my part I am relieved. It could have been a lot worse. To put it in perspective Lakeside did better than Swindon. That's nothing to crow about but they came away without the sort of mauling that saps a teams confidence. There will be probably be plenty of other teams going to WR this year and not doing any better. It seems from what Shovvy says that the Hammers at least got stuck in and put up a bit of a fight which is not always the case away to Poole Good to see Lewis Kerr getting into the action, and Swid getting a win to keep his confidence up. Work in progress for LBR and Rob Mear it seems. Most importantly they all came through unscathed. Watt happened to Dave Watt ? Did he think he was still riding for Lakeside or is Father Time catching him up ?

Sounds like your not there and therefore don't know what you are talking about.

Another in-depth incisive and balanced peice of journalism by the Echo's ace sports reporter Phil Space. I doubt if anyone outside of the Echo' s sales area gives a toss what Matt thinks anymore than they give a toss about its other reports about, stolen by bicycles in Swanage, the Women's Institutes jam making evening in Blandford Forum or the or last Sunday's sermon at Evangelical Hall in Cheatford Muddlo ! Blue Touchpaper fails to ignite the damp squib !

You can spend as much as you like on advertising but if the product is not what people want they won't come, or if they do come they won't come again. If it were simply a matter of advertising it would have been done. Crowds are not dwindling because people are unaware of the existence of the sport. Fans who have been going for years have drifted away. There are a whole range of complex reasons for this. The Fast Track / EDR farce has not helped.

The Highway Code requires you to keep a safe distance from the car in front, and to only overtake when it is safe to do so. Those rules don't apply in any form of motor racing.

Real life example Match A March 25th 2016 Lakeside -v- Kings Lynn Andreas Jonsson riding for Lakeside Neils Kristian Iverson riding for KL. Probably the last time NKI will ride at Lakeside this season, possibly the last time ever. Biggest crowd for probably more than a year. Start had to be delayed because they were still coming in. Real life example Match B April 1st 2016 , Lakeside v Leicester. Leicester have no star riders and the crowd is probably half what it was for the KL match Decent sized crowd virtually guaranteed next Friday when Poole come because Chris Holder will always pull the crowds even more so when he was with Darcy. Anyway, the question was, what evidence do you have that spending £3 k a week on advertising will bring the crowds in ?

It won't be close , nor will most visiting teams keep it close. For the majority of home matches Poole will have 8 points on the board before the meeting even starts by reason of their virtually guaranteed 5-1's in heats 2 and 12, now that Adam Ellis is gating well. Watt and Hans at 3 and 4 should be a tremendous pairing if they are anything like usual home form. I woukd say Team Revolution are still working on their Jawas to bring them up to speed. Both are very fast in a straight line seem a bit hit and miss from the gate and it's pretty obvious on watching them that they have the usual Jawa problem of dying a bit on the bends. Certainly that seems to be the case at Lakeside so far. I suspect they will be more dialled in as the season progresses but at this stage I think if Lakeside keep to within 20 points they will be doing as well as most teams at Wimby Road this year.

The rules require the referee to exclude the rider deemed to be the PRIMARY cause of the stoppage. The first thing in the sequence of events that led to the stoppage was Dudek slowing. That set up the chain of events that followed and therefore must be the PRIMARY cause. Kildemand wouldn't have hit him if he hadn't slowed in th first place, therefore Kildemand hitting him is a secondary cause of the stoppage. Dudek should have gone.

Where is your evidence that spending £3k a week, week on week throughout the season, would bring another £3k+ through the turnstiles ? After you take off VAT and average out concessions, kids for a quid etc the club get around £13 for each punter through the turnstiles. If you spent £3k on advertising you would need another 250 through the gate to get your money back. If you spent another £3k next week you would need original 250 to come back plus another 250 on top of that. If spending £3k a week on advertising worked it woukd bring in an extra 3500 or so punters over the season, on top of what you started with and the sport would be saved without the need for star riders Maybe you have hit on a suggestion to save the sport or maybe it's another daft idea that hasn't been thought through. The best form of advertising us word of mouth. If people like what they see they will talk about seeing great racing and newbies will be encouraged. If people go to work moaning about standing in the cold with nothing happening, cancellations for no explicable reason, teams winning 65-30, cheating, poor refereeing and all the things that annoy the existing fan base then all the advertising in the world won't make a difference. Top stars on their own won't bring the crowds back but they are an important part of the package.

Don't be daft. There's usually more than that in the que for Jon Cooks autograph !

The fool would think it's hilarious.

Lakeside have for years tended to race Coventry at home on a Saturday and always seem to get bigger than average crowds on those nights, although it's difficult to say whether it's because people are more willing to go out on a Saturday or whether it's becsuse Coventry are usually a pretty decent side to watch (well they often are at Lakeside anyway ). Jon Cook has said that he would always have a Saturday race night if he could but obviously recognises the impracticability of it all the time if he wants top foreign riders. Probably the crowds would be better on a Saturday than a Friday, all things bring equal, but throw Jason Doyle into the equation and build a half decent side and I dare say more would be tempted to see that sort of team on a Friday than a losing side on a Saturday. Surely the logical thing would be to try a mix of Fridays and Saturdays and see if there is much difference. Lakeside have always managed to find a couple of Saturday's when riders committed to Poland on a Sunday could ride. The problem arises when they are all Saturdays.

Average age of the crowd to be about the same !

Lakeside have been a six main team in the last two meetings with Rob Mear struggling, although he was excellent against Kings Lynn. One can only hope that it is mechanical gremlins rather than a collapse of confidence. Also the two Lewis' seem to be struggling with their Team Revolution Jawas , trying to get out of the gate, and also power seems to be coming in at the wrong time on the bends causing all kinds of wobbles. May take a while to get them sorted Meanwhile Poole seem to have more or less hit the ground running and should have this one in the bag.

Ulamek was dire at Lakeside in 2013. The few points he did score was because Swiderski was shepherding him home. He is a real nice guy but sadly 4years past his sell by date for British Speedwáy. Walasek has a history of not bothering if he doesn't feel like. His performance at Lakeside last Friday and last season was diabolical, just pulling off the track after less than a lap in every single race, then driving back to the pits with no sign of mechanical failure. One has to look at the Leicester management. Norrie Allan is not the easiest person to get along with and seems to have a talent for rubbing people the wrong way. Look at Swiderski, dropped around two, nearly three points off his average at Leicester last year, then last nigh he was back as an away rider and took 8 points off his old club. Same rider,same bike, different frame of mind. I very much hope some team strengthening can take place, for the sake of the fans and the sake of Speedwáy

The irony of that comment stands out like a sore thumb!

I hardly think "performance " is the right word. He didn't complete four laps in the whole meeting let alone in a single race . Just dropped the clutch, did half a lap and pulled off the track, which is exactly what he did last year. Disgraceful. I think some mention should be made of Patrick Hougaard and Paul Starke. Patrick again showed his liking for the track, and was the opposite of Walasek. Well done to him for putting on a decent show and springing a few surprises. Paul Starke really surprised me. He seems to have really progressed since I last saw him. Decent starts and riding a good line, I felt he could have done a reasonable job as a second string in some teams. As for Adam, his gating was just brilliant, especially in the first half of the meeting , but what was also noticeable was he was riding inside and outside lines instead of being stuck mid track like he was last year. Speedwáy is a confidence sport and he is riding high on confidence just now. I just wondered how you formed your expert opinion on the reason for his progress when you have hardly seen him ride in the last 4 years.

Just remind us when you last saw Adam ride at Lakeside ( if ever )? The new Lakeside forum you've just got a ban from for abuse ?

Good. Give Chapman (sorry still can't call a grown man Buster ) credit where it's due. Plenty of people especially around Oxford , Reading and Cradley would be glad of a stadium like the NA, even if the team struggled. Too many people have adopted the Poole mentality that the only thing is winning. Not so. From memory I don't think Hackney won anything ever, if they did it wasn't much, but there are plenty of people around who will tell you it was the greatest place on earth. It's all about attitude. And what a great side that was. One of the most entertaining sides of recent years IMO. Unfortunately Peter Adams has now gone senile and lost the plot and the irreplaceable Peter Karlsson seems to have finished his British career (sadly).!

Lee Richardson, Richard Lawson, and Lewis Bridger all didn't like the track when they joined the club. They all had to work at it and put mind over matter, and turn the track from one of their worst to one of their best. Similarly Freddie Lindgren is on record as saying he didn't like Wolves when he first went there but he knew if he mastered it he would be a better rider. If a rider goes round saying he can't get on with a track he'll never get in with it.

......but there fans are not as good as most. Biggest bunch of pessimistic, glass-half-empty, faint-hearted, unsupportive moaners in the Elite League. Worse whingers than even Coventry or Swindon fans. Two years ago they were telling us Chapman walked on water, now we have one poor result against a strong team and they want to walk away. Sport goes in cycles. Someone has to win and someone has to lose. Belle Vue have had their share of losing in the last few years, as have Lakeside, Leicester and Wolves.

You mean the same team manager as his team mate Hans Andersen whose high standards and potential were realised in his massive four point tally guesting for the same team as Adam in the same match tonight ? What did the people close to his team mate Hans Andersen (4 points at Swindon tonight) tell you about the team manager then ?

They beat Kings Lynn by 20 so should be aiming to do at least as well if not better against the Lions.