DaveWayne

Agreed, but as far as I can gather it all stemmed from stock cars being ousted, which was for reasons which would have no effect on speedway, so I am just trying to find out if there are any other factors involved.

As you have mentioned this twice in a short time on this thread, can you please give links to any shred of evidence that Sheffield are under threat of not running next season ? There is definitely nothing coming from the club to suggest this, so I assume it is just an internet rumour that is now taken as gospel ?

Not sure exactly who you mean by "Coventry", but as someone who has spent their whole life around stock car racing, and therefore knowing many people involved at all levels of the sport, I can assure you that those involved in the consortium have more than enough money to bring the stadium back to a decent standard to reopen. It may not have the facilities initially that it had previously, but the backgrounds and businesses of some of them will also assist in the process, with one of them having recently been involved in major construction projects at 2 other oval venues.

Massive difference between preparing a track that was used by stock cars 48 hours earlier, against one that was last used for speedway 7 days ago. A lot of the initial prep at Belle Vue will have been done last week, so today would just be the finishing touches. With the Lynn promotion losing 50% of the preparation time they had due to yesterday's weather, the 2 situations are in no way comparable.

Does it on purpose ? Or just the way he speaks usually ? The way this forum jumps on him, anybody would think most speedway fans don't swear. It's not as socially unacceptable as it used to be. Kids of junior school age do it, so why shouldn't a grown man ? What makes me laugh is all the Ipswich fans who got so wound up about his comments on the mic after the 2023 playoff final, but somehow they all missed Doyle giving both middle fingers as he went up onto the podium for his losers medal. I can only assume most of them had already done what he suggested. 😉

Everyone would have heard it if it was Tai. This forum would be full of people slating him.

If he doesn't turn up next Thursday, then it will be comparable to Cook and Kurtz, but not just yet. 😉

7 of the current 15 SGP riders are riding in the qualifiers over this weekend. Do you feel the same about all of them, or just hating on Holder ? Bearing in mind the injuries to Doyle both last year and this year, Woffinden last year, and even Holder in 2023, it is easy to see how any rider can miss out on a top 7 finish even if they are good enough. Is it really that wrong for them to hedge their bets just in case that season ending injury is just around the corner ?

Meeting in Germany starts at 1pm GMT so should be done by 3pm. I'm sure arrangements could be made to get to Leicester by 7.30pm.

£30 Adults for both meetings.

That's because, despite the vast sums of money they are spending, they are still 'one of us'. Stock car racing is still an amateur sport, the pits are open to the public even during the racing (except for Odsal), and the drivers stand on the terraces with us to watch races they are not competing in. The junior formulas race at the same meetings as the senior formulas with races interspersed, so by the time they hit the top we have been watching them race for years and many of them are from racing families so we probably already know their parents.

As someone who follows both 4 and 2 wheels on the ovals, I thought it worth responding to this. The meeting at Mildenhall was actually Bangers, not Stock Cars. They are very different formulas and different types of racing. Attendances vary depending on the formulas racing and the level of the meeting. On average probably very similar crowds to Speedway, but some meetings can fill a stadium. This particular meeting was far from 'run of the mill'. Although it wasn't a major title race it was one that attracted attention due to the type of meeting it was with all the cars being pre-1990. It was a 2 day meeting with over 300 cars booked in, giving fans a chance to see rare cars being raced, stay overnight at the track for a good social, and the weather was superb for the time of year. With regards the comment from someone else about Odsal looking empty. It has a capacity of over 20,000 so even a 4-5,000 crowd makes the place look sparsely populated. For some of the less popular meetings they only open the stand on the home straight (which I believe holds around 3,000) as this reduces stewarding costs. A youtube video shot from that stand would then obviously show very empty terracing.

Stock cars have gone because the area they use for pits is now being used as a battery storage facility for solar panels. Only about 3 stock car meetings ran there each season (none last year) so it's a no-brainer for the owners really - rental income 365 days a year or 3 times a year ?

I am not in any way confident that this will be successful due to past experience with other venues, but it won't be through lack of finance. The stock car person who has had the 'offer on the table' from day one is a multi millionaire who owns one of the biggest vegetable wholesale companies in the UK. His interest in reopening Brandon is purely based on his sporting interests, not turning a profit.

Nice of the 2 main protagonists to pop in and prove me right. 😉

Belle Vue threads always end up like this because there are an element of BV fans on here who post like 12 year old children.

It was the hypocrisy of it after Belle Vue fans spending the previous 6 years whinging about Wolves bringing Tai in.

I hope the officials immediately confiscate his helmet if he does that !!

Slightly pedantic, but it's Stock Cars on Saturday night, not Bangers. 😉

I think the big issue with speedway ever returning to Odsal is the new stand at the top of the picture. The supporting legs at the front are very close to the outer perimeter of the track and could be a danger to a falling rider. It also wouldn't be able to host any high ranking events as, although the bends are wide, the width of the straights is below the minimum requirement for any FIM competition.

Like most 'club' banger tracks, it's a dirt track in a field. Rough, bumpy surface that has never seen shale. The fence is made up of tyres embedded into the ground. Totally unsuitable for any decent level of speedway.

That all depends on your personal situation. I don't have a laptop, just a desktop PC, and I don't have a smart TV, so watching it on BSN would mean me and my other half squeezing into my office to watch it. The TV package I have through Virgin includes all the sports channels - Sky, TNT, Eurosport, etc. - so if the GPs and live Premiership matches move to TNT it won't cost me any more than it does now and I can still watch it from the comfort of my sofa. While some are complaining about the cost of TNT, the move to BSN would be costly to me.

But if you don't turn up and put your money into the coffers, how do you expect them to build a team that won't be cannon fodder the following season ?

I see this sort of comment on various threads during the 'team building' period and I must admit it confuses me to some degree. I assumed that people who bought season tickets were dedicated fans who follow their team through the good times and the bad. As a football season ticket holder, the 'early bird' period is usually immediately after the previous season ends, which is over a month before the transfer window even opens. Most people buying football season tickets have no idea who many of their players will be for the coming season. If you are a supporter, you are a supporter.

Am I imagining those 4 people on each bend with rakes and shovels every time I go then ?