Fortythirtyeight

“Many tracks offer opportunities and different organisations offer these to facilitate new riders.” Well DUKES, can you list these ‘ many tracks ‘ ? As theres now only 16/17 tracks in the country and I can think of only around 4 that provide REGULAR sessions, this will improve with the inclusion of Buxton and a few sessions at Glasgow , Mildenhall. Amateur meetings are virtually dead now.

I think the chairman takes the fans for fools and when challenged by a ‘new’ promoter on the subject he was told to ‘ stop complaining’, so basically do what you want, not what the rule book says.

But the chairman INSISTS all clubs are paying the set rate of £15 a point for no.1 and £10 a point everyone else, so it must be true ! 😉

A sad state of affairs that sums up the state of the sport. Whilst I admire the academy set up the club have the National League ( it’s no longer a development league ) is just becoming a watered down championship with second strings ( Simon Lambert ??? ) and non Brits being brought over to fill team places .

Well the side has been announced and there’s quite a few surprises. Both Pijper’s were expected but not Ablitt. Then throw in the ‘retired ‘ Trigger ! Add an unknown Aussie in Sadler ( he must be part British ? ) Didnt expect Southwick to be back but he’s a catch. Ward slightly surprising as I thought he’d prefer a more southern track . Not sure how they’ll line up think it will be Sadler and Ward at reserve which is a gamble, an unknown quantity and Ward blows hot and cold. Slightly disappointed all the local boys have gone and thought Halder was worth a team place all day long. The way this league has been changed means it’s no longer a development league and so this is what you get with experienced riders getting places and the odd non brit. Still, its a team and not a bad one on paper.

We won’t need one if they don’t sort the mess out soon.

As the somewhat flexible rules have now made the NDL ( really should drop the D ) somewhat stronger by including half the championship second strings and reserves is the new ‘ 5 year plan ‘ to make the NDL ( hence forth to be known as the NL ) replace the championship meaning the championship will become the new premiership as that will have disappeared by the end of this year ?

‘ Dropping the minimum level to 2.00 is a big worry with the heat leader calibre being drafted in as i can see riders getting lapped not through falls just lackof speed and thats a worry. ‘ The league is becoming as big a mess as the premiership , bringing in championship 2nd strings , some of which have been around for years, and expecting new 16 year olds in their first season to mix it with them with just 5 home matches to get dialled in to any sort of home advantage is just ridiculous. Its not what this division should be doing.

So this is no longer a development league it’s just a league that pays slightly less than championship rates.

….then it won’t be a ‘ bumper ‘ crowd.

Let’s hope it’s run on the regular Friday night as it’s always a struggle to get a good crowd for individual meetings.

Will they be changing the team name if Lambert is no. 1 ?

As she’s now of pensionable age I’m not sure she can be classed as a ‘ glamour girl ‘ or are we to have Vera Lynn presenting on BSN ?

That’s an open secret and I don’t care how loud RG shouts that all NDL clubs are paying the ‘ standard agreed rate ‘ the likes of Lambert, Mulford , Harrison , Bowtell etc are not riding for £10 a point !

and now we have riders like Mulford who were ruled out of NDL because of averages being allowed back in ( not his fault by the way as he doesn’t appear to have a premiership slot anymore ). How many more championship second strings are going to be taking the place of newbies ?

As a previous volunteer at two tracks I can assure you I have probably attended my fare share of BYC rounds at a number of tracks over the last 10 years so I do actually know what I’m talking about. Saturday daytime meetings attracted family and friends plus around twenty fans and neither track charged an entry fee for spectators. As for riders ‘ making an impact ‘ I wouldn’t have a clue about Belle Vue but the two tracks I have attended have supplied dozens of riders into the NDL and several into the championship. In Redcars heyday , when they did fortnightly practices and had hire bikes , they had to run two junior teams due to the amount of youngsters taking part, but that has all died away . Workington are bucking this trend and are improving season by season.

Have a look at the BSPL accounts…..they aren’t financing anybody !

The fee is taken by the SCB who run the rounds, the clubs provide the track for free which is why the BY Rounds are mainly split into second halfs at willing tracks as the clubs don’t really want to cough up for refs, medical cover , staff wages for an event that attracts 20 people.

and who tells them ( him ) what to do ?

Well that’s a given as the man who sanctions it is the man signing them ! Lambert is going into the NDL to keep match fit.

Things are now that desperate that Vatcher is ringing recently ‘retired’ riders ( one’s that have simply given up through lack of opportunities and rising costs ) to see if they would make a comeback ! When will they realise that they need to start at the basics by having open days with free ‘ Try it ‘ experiences to try and entice kids to come and have a go. The pool of riders is fast running out so where is the future plan ?

If rumours are right it’s neither of you, but I’d best Pipe down !

According to the Kings Lynn NDT team manager…..they’ve got one !😜

Redcar…..you heard wrong. When they did actually ride on the proper race night they got a very good crowd but running at different times ( 6pm, 3pm , 12 noon ! ) on different days did affect the crowd, but it was still decent for NDL.

Published Fact today…..but it’s speedway !