E I Addio

Because methanol allows a higher compression ratio. Grass track bikes also use methanol because , like Speedwáy it is a sprint and needs a lot of power in a short burst. They would seem quite boringly slow on petrol

....and Agent Kasprzak is an asset of ?

Will there be an additional charge for the car park ?

You can't do anything regardless of purse strings whatever business you are running, whether it is Speedwáy club or a corner shop. Once your outgoings exceed your income it is a recipe for going out if business, unless you have a sponsor with very deep pockets, it's as simple as that. It's obvious that crowd levels took a big hit last season due to an inordinate number of guests who didn't perform. For example Lindgren, Roo-boy and Doyle only scored about 16 points in total between them in three meetings guesting at No 1,apart from being totally shafted on the fast track with having to get NL riders covering for the injured Ashley Birks . The fans won't take much more of that.The club clearly have to rebuild financially from a poor season. Stuart Douglas, to be fair, has been straight with the fans from Day One in saying he wants to balance the books as far as possible. Fair enough, we don't want the club to go the way of Peterborough and Eastbourne with thousands being poured in without results. That is the sort of shoestring that most Speedwáy clubs have to run on these days whatever league they are in, and I use the word shoestring in a relative sense because we are talking about the risk of losing tens of thousands of pounds not a few pence. Such is the precarious state of Speedwáy in the 21st century.

Yes, and he also added "But unfortunately the purse strings wouldn't quite stretch to that" , a fact you chose to omit in your previous attempt at stirring. That throws a totally different perspective on it. One might as well say they could have had Bjarne and Emil Sayfutinov if the purse strings would have stretched to it. Interesting that Bjarne doesn't have another team place over here though. Has Matt priced him out of the market we wonder ?

A grass track racer. Half the Ipswich team of that era, notably John Louis, Mike Lanham and Tony Davey had been scramblers or grass trackers before turning to the shale and were not coming into Speedwáy cold. Loads came up from the grass in that era . Michael Lees dad was pretty good scrambler so he was another one that pretty much grew up with off road riding But there are still no names, of who they were. Anyway the discussion is getting a bit futile now, as these things often do when other people jump in and start name dropping names without reading the thread properly. The fundamental point that we are agreed on is that the great days of the past are largely a matter of perception, and although there were some great races in the past there were plenty of others strung out for four laps, it's just that we forget about those.

The point that I said was an exagerration was that a rider could turn up at a training school and be in the top fight within "within weeks" . Kelvin was at the Hackney training school for a whole winter i.e months not weeks, but in addition Martin Tatum had been a pretty good grass track racer before that so I am 90 % certain Kelvin had had some time on a grasser before that.

The point of contention was the assertion that "numerous" riders went from training school to riding " at the highest level" within a few weeks. Clearly some went into a team of some kind in a fairly short space of time, not necessarily top level.

rr Your comment was that there have been "numerous" examples in backtrack magazine. "Numerous " in most people's language means many, a lot, or more than just a few. Aces 51 who had more background knowledge than most on here can only think of three riders that went straight into the top flight and all of them had been riding for some time. Your claim is that there are numerous examples of riders turning up at a training school and within weeks were in the top flight but so far we don't have a single name of anyone who did, let alone numerous examples. There might be several examples of some that went into the lower leagues within weeks of sitting on an bike but I doubt if there are numerous examples of riders going straight into the top flight from training school. I think we all agree that racing was better when we were young whenever that was and the riders we grew up watching, whoever they were, were the best.

It happened occasionally but it is a wild exaggeration to say, in your words, "you could just show up at a training school and within weeks you're in a team at the highest level!" There is far more to it than just showing up. Riders who came into teams very quickly were and still are the exceptions rather than the rule. Some got into lower leagues fairly quickly but even those were exceptionally talented riders who went to the top. Most, like Collins or Simmons had already ridden grass track or had previous experience of some kind, and were really the equivalent of modern day riders like Robert Lambert who went straight into the top league but with previous experience. Lewis Bridger is another example of a modern day rider that went into the top league at a very young age. On the other hand Ivan Mauger could not hold down a regular team spot at Wimbledon when he first came over and eventually had to drop down to the Provincial League to hone his skills before riding at the highest level. The difference between today and the past IMO is that a lot of second strings are much better than they used to be and riders who don't perform usually get sacked a lot quicker than years ago, but overall you have to compare like with like, and it's futile to compare past and present.

To be fair to Lewis he invariably clears the track pretty quickly if he falls, even back in his Eastbourne days. He is not one to stay down hoping for a re-run. Lewis might be a lot of things but I don't think he is a cheat. Now I come to think about it I can't remember him touching the tapes, being warned for rolling at the start, or being excluded for unfair riding.

Nor has Starman according to some of the posts on here................

Not sure if that is a fair comment. From at least the Fundin/ Briggs era and maybe before that, those at the very top laid off the booze, in contrast to the stories we hear these days about some riders getting legless before the GP's. In those days with a wider pool of riders coming into the sport there were far more naturally talented riders coming into the sport. Briggo was the first rider to realise the value of fitness but even he used to say it doesn't necessarily make you a lot better, it just keeps you at the top longer. In the context of Poole today Holder is an obvious talent but I think someone like Davey would in almost any team of any era be pretty much what he is in today's team. Personally I think it's futile to compare eras. You have to compare like with like. Poole are a winning side and definitely on a roll but maybe not for the same reasons that Wembly were in the 50's or Belle Vue in the 70's. They should all be appreciated for what they are and not compared.

I couldnt decide between them . Bjarne is undoubtedly has a very professional set-up but its a good few years since he scored big points at Lakeside and even longer since he actually overtook anyone. He would need to turn the clock back at least 5 or 6 years years to do the sort of job he was being brought in to do. Maybe he could have done it maybe he couldn't , we will never know , but it certainly wasn't guaranteed. Lewis, well, he was in great form and spectacular with it in the last half of 2014, but somehow I don't think he will improve above what he was then. He had managed to correct the flying leg style and we didn't see much of him pulling wheelies at the back ( not that he was at the back much at that time), but the style was very much throttle wide open and hang on, without much finess. Plus he didn't seem to care whether it was his own team or the opposition he was taking to the fence. We' ll see what Kelvin can do with him. I am surprised nobody has mentioned Ed Kennet yet, who I would say is at least equal talent to Lewis. He came to Lakeside with his confidence at a seemingly low ebb after a few unhappy seasons but finished up being voted rider of the year by the fans thanks to his spectacular passes. His confidence still has room to improve. The guy was close to winning the British Final a few years ago and if he can get back to his best it would be great for him , and great for Lakeside. Big question mark over him but I would love to see him back at his full potential.

If he produces his 2010 form with Lakeside you had better start getting on the phone to Kenni Larsen right away.

As it happens, I don't read Twitter either. Someone posted it on the BSF . I do hope that helps. Please digest.

Ah, so once again it's clever ol' Starman, that outwits the rest of us with his pretend stupid comments that fooled us all. (I don't think so)

I am in tears now. The Jerran Hart thread was a classic but Hans Andersen doubling his average is something else. The thing is, we all know that sooner rather than later he'll come out with another one.

Exactly. To be fair, we only have Shovlars paraphrase on that. We don't know quite what though he was trying to express. All things being equal, a team that includes both Bjarne and Lewis is a fair comment but once you throw in the fact that Bjarne will be missing crucial matches it puts a different complexion on it. Kelvin is only the coach, he is not part of the promotional team so is not necessarily going to be considering all the angles particularly as there was very strong feeling amongst the fans last year when there were guests in practically every match.

Not a lot of reason ? After last season nothing is going to hit attendances harder than yet more unnecessary, guests and r/r. A rider signs on the basis of being available for all meetings then suddenly he is not riding in key meetings against the best two teams in the league . In the entertainment business doing something that hits a promoters income is one of the best reasons there is to drop someone.

So, it was said as banter. Whichever way you break it down it comes to the simple fact that Bjarne first of all said he was going to give GB priority, then he subsequently got a job in Poland and we find he starts missing meetings. The goal posts had moved. There is some dispute over just how many meetings would be missed, but the starting point was still that Bjarne is 37 years old with a history of falling averages. Lakeside were at best taking a bit of a chance that he could turn the clock back but missing meetings against the two strongest teams in the league was a step too far. It's not as if he was sharing a position like Lawson and Kennet but as second heatleader you can't just go missing for key matches. It's unfortunate that all this comes up when Bjarne had spent money but if they look Bridger in ahead of someone else that person would also have spent money. I feel genuinely sorry for Bjarne but nobody forced him to say he was giving priority to GB . If he said at the start he would give priority to Poland he probably wouldn't have got the job in the first place. Of course it is once again Steve Shovlar who makes a rare post on the forum these days to come on and stir it up.

Ben Morely as second Tier two reserve takes it to 10.

Bjarne is 100% professional, agreed but he has not had a really good meeting at Lakeside for years, from memory only about one really big score there since he left Poole. Lewis was whacking in good scores all the time towards the end of 2014. Either one would be a gamble. In Bjarnes case it would be a gamble that he could turn the clock back to where he used to be, in LBR's case it's a gamble that he could turn the clock forward to where it should be. After seeing the way Lewis came from the back to beat Peter Kildemand in the last bend of his last race of 2014, in a move that Bjarne could never do in a million years, I would say he is the better option.....just ! As for the battle of the spoon I think you win that hands down Steve. The stirring spoon that is.

Yes.

Bjarne he isn't. A second heatleader he isn't. A team player he isn't. Good on away tracks he isn't. Talented he is. Exciting he is ( at least he is at Lakeside). He won't put Lakeside in the play offs but he will keep Lakeside away from the bottom of the table, and he will be a big asset in helping the Hammers to keep a good home record which will be essential in this years league, with a lot of teams that will struggle away. I would rather have had Bjarne, but Lewis is probably the best of what's left and if he is as spectacular as he was in the last few months of 2014 he will get a few extra punters through the turnstiles, so we have to give him (another) chance and see how it goes.