SteelShoe

Wonder if BSN release viewing figures ?. It would be useful if clubs currently streaming released some data but this is improbable. In the personal case you put ie where you travel a good distance and the weather is dodgy then I can see the logic in paying for the stream, it makes sense. The issue I have is that streaming in all likelyhood will not be watched by people outside of the combined Speedway demographic so in all likelyhood won't attract any new fans. Any income is drawn from a defined pool of people and it could be argued it is too cheap relative to admission cost. With re to Comets TV, it would be understandable to stream matches against Poole, Plymouth , Oxford and Scunthorpe. Hopefully the home fans would still attend in good weather but it may persuade fans not directly from Workington to stream. If the forecast was a bit dodgy some would resort to the stream. For the northern meetings against Glasgow, Edinburgh, Berwick and Redcar who have a decent away following then the case for streaming has to be less compelling from a financial standpoint. Without data though all of this is supposition. If clubs keep accurate attendance data then any impacts of streaming could be better assessed. Hope it goes well for the Comets but personally I am circumspect on whether there will be financial and attendance benefits.

I believe It adversely affected the gate at Glasgow so they stopped streaming. Why encourage people to sit at home on a lovely day, miss positives such as fresh air, the crack with fellow supporters, sharing a beer or an ice cream, getting involved in generating atmosphere etc etc. Just don't get it. Streaming won't save clubs when the crowds have gone and nobody wants to go because nobody else goes.

Scunny usually strong at home but i hope the Comets can push them all the way. We need to produce something a bit special to put us into a group decider at home to the Bears on Saturday. Come on you Comets race your socks off 👌👍👊

that seems like an expensive ambulance

Crowds dropped off end of season notably against Poole (who were so much better than anyone else and whom we faced in both BSN semi final and the Playoffs with a team weakened by injury to key riders) and Plymouth. Crowds are always lower against the Southern teams and Scunthorpe due to the low number of travelling fans. Conversely we did have some pretty decent crowds earlier in the season. Comets won't be unique in being partly reliant on help from sponsors and I thank them all. Quite a lot of work has gone on during the closed season including the purchase of a new FIM+ air fence and referees box again funded with the help of sponsors but also having a financial cost to Andrew who is on a mission of continuous stadium improvement , just hope he has a fund to help with weekly running costs when these aren't covered by gate receipts.

I agree with this, if I was visiting an away team say within 200 miles then a 3 or 4pm start works well . When visiting most away tracks now with a 7-30pm start I have to price an overnight stay into the cost and hotel prices have gone up markedly especially in the summer months. I would much rather witness live Speedway than watch it on tv.

I thought after last seasons disgruntlement with the Championship fixture list and the fact that there only 16 teams between the Premiership and Championship leagues that there would be more of a push from promoters for a combined British League. For me this would invigorate the sport and inject some renewed enthusiasm. I hope this happens next season inspite of all the arguments as to why it isn't workable.

I was just discussing a later start yesterday say 5pm, obviously we have no floodlights but that should be doable from now until end of August. I think the promotion would like feedback on this and may well consider a poll of fans.

This is a very valid point. I was at the meeting and the racing was indeed very good.

Track prep can't have been easy since the start of the season because it has generally been really dry weather. We struggled to get the usual outside line at Worky for the Scunthorpe meeting because the track was very dry and hard going into pre meeting watering, even the wonder wheel was just scratching the surface during the meeting grading breaks.

I don't like to see riders giving up and Troy does this at times. In his defence he is an experienced rider, it maybe that if he finds himself at the back on a slick track with nothing in it to help him pass then that this influences his mindset. I'm not justifying him doing this because the fans want to see riders race for 4 laps when under power. Two other notable heat leaders who couldn't pass when they didn't come out of turn 2 in front where Danny King and Anders Rowe , the latter made 3 lightning gates to go impressively unbeaten into heat 14 was beaten to the first corner by Fraser Bowes who had only scored 2 points up to that point but Anders couldn't overhaul him. Only really Charles Wright who unsettled Batch on the very inside of turns 1 and 2 in heat 15 really managed to execute a pass of note from memory.

I've witnessed riders who struggle to deal with dirt but look comfortable when tracks are slick. I would imagine the best gaters prefer slick as such conditions appear to make it harder to overtake. In my opinion too grippy a track isn't great while sometimes slicker conditions can produce good racing . Tracks prepared with enough dirt to produce a good outside line along with adequate moisture level to prevent a track becoming too slick seems to produce better racing in my subjective view. Consistent tracks, prepared with the sole aim of facilitating entertaining racing should be the ultimate aim because fans pay their money to be entertained.

The Oxford fans absolutely love him 😇😂

I watched the Edinburgh meeting on BSN and thought Cookie said slicker and more consistent.

Pleased you had a good day Montie 👍

Very entertaining meeting with some cracking races. Nine scores of 5-1 4 to Scunny and 5 for the Comets meant the tie was close throughout. The Kennedy brothers impressed for the Scorpions especially Declan who bagged 10 points which included 3 heat wins. He was involved in two close 5-1's over Comets 3 and 4 pairing of Tate Zischke and Fraser Bowes the latter of whom in particular raced hard with little reward. Not sure this Comets paIring has worked particularly well over the two weekend meetings and I think both riders will have better days going forward. It was good to see Antti improve as the meeting went on, he was particularly impressive in heat 15, would love to see the level of skill and confidence he displayed coming through more in his away performances because there is a real racer in there. Good to see Jye bagging 8 points following an exclusion in his first ride bearing in mind he came out of a 3 rider first bend crash at Redcar Friday night looking a bit worse for wear. The 1-5 to the Scorpions in heat 14 after bringing in Steve Worrall as a tac sub took the meeting it to a last heat decider. Choice of gates for the Comets was important as gate 4 hadn't produced a lot of points during the meeting, Scunny would surely have taken 1 and 3 if it had been there call. Bit surprised Declan Kennedy didn't get a full 7 rides and I thought Comets may have used Vinnie as a reserve switch in heat 14. Jacobs machinery has failed him in both weekend meetings something he will need to sort out. Steve Worrall was solid for the Scorpions as was Connor Mountain. Jake Allen wasn't anywhere near as impressive as he had been the week before ar Redcar. I had hoped for a greater margin of victory to put us in with a shout of the aggregate bonus point but after witnessing how competitive the racing was I was pleased with the win. UTC !

Nice day over here Soupy👍, like you hope good meeting and injury free 🤞

Yeah , Cookie called for Berwick to be slicker last week on BSN.

Promoters have to realise gate and go speedway will kill the sport and alot of that appears to be how tracks are being prepared. There was not much to help racers in the track tonight, same as last week and Redcar is one of the better tracks for entertainment. Hope young Tom and Ace are okay.

Well done the Bears whose top 5 were stronger than Comets tonight. Gating was generally crucial and like last week not a drop of water went onto the track during what turned out to be an extended meeting. Great ride from Charles Wright who bust a gut to unsettle Batch and execute a fine pass in heat 15. Congratulations to Fraser Bowes on his first heat win in British Speedway , a much improved start from the young Aussie resulted in a tapes to flag win over a previously unbeaten Anders Rowe. Tate was looking more like his old self as the meeting wore on, won't be long until he takes the chequered flag in front. Jye took a hefty fall after being the meat in the sandwich on turn one heat 1 , hope he isn't too bashed about.

I think last week you guys were generally way slicker out of the starts . Because there was very little moisture in the track it appeared that there was not the usual outside line. Hopefully a bit more moisture tonight and we can gate a bit better than the Scorps did 🤞😃

Yeah it's about time we had some Speedway to watch, into May already and not had a meeting . Hope we can get something from the weekend. Friday a tough start at Redcar, the Bears track was very dry last Friday with lot of dust on the back straight, nothing much grip wise out wide for riders to use so gating was vitally important. Hope their is a bit more moisture in the track this Friday.

First time i've seen Oskar Polis and he looks a classy intelligent speedway rider. Sedgy aggravating his broken wrist was tough on the Monarchs because he was gating well and looking quick. Cookie's gating was at it's best for the Bandits and he was looking fast, only beaten by an intelligent cut back from Polis in heat 13. From a Worky perspective it was good to see Jye getting a meeting in, hard to believe its not our first meeting until friday away at the Bears.

Easy for Poole in the second half of the meeting. Thought Lasse was going to have a good meeting but the fall related to the shed chain followed be the mechanical failure on his second bike done for his evening. Only Klindt had the class to take the fight to the Pirates although young Ben Trigger done well. Joe Thomson and Mitchell Cluff looked a weak 3 and 4 on this showing and suspect a change won't be long in coming. Alfie Bowtell and Ben Barker offered little. Tough place to go but on this showing Plymouth will struggle away.

Antti and Vinnie having a practice.