DaveWayne

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 ?

I have been spectating at ovals all my life, 4 wheels more than 2, and have seen some terrible lighting over the years. However, having been fortunate enough to spend a few years on the dangerous side of the fence, I can assure you that the riders won't be having the same issues as spectators as the visibility is far better on track than looking in from the outside. Worst track I raced at was Crewe which literally had light and dark patches on the straights and very little (if any) lighting on the bends.

As I was absent from speedway for a while and missed the controversy at the time, can someone please explain why Woffinden is considered a 'ringer' in 2016 despite riding in a fair number of league matches in August/September, but Lambert wasn't in 2022 when he only rode in the playoff matches ? Not trying to start a war, just curious.

Not forgetting that with 7 teams in the league, 1 would be sitting out each week, so it would take a minimum of 28 weeks to run all the league matches if only a single night was used.

As well as Speedway, I go to Stock Car racing and lower league football. All 3 are similarly priced so it feels right to me, especially as 2 of the sports are at some of the same venues.

You have obviously never been to Stock Car racing ? Tomorrow night I will be at Kings Lynn. Admission is £22 for adults, there are 12 races, start time is 5pm, and I will be lucky to be leaving there before 10pm. There will be far more tractor events than you will ever see at a Speedway meeting. About an hour of actual racing in 5 hours or more.

It's all about choices. How many of those who claim to have those difficulties drink or smoke ? I'm not saying everybody does, but literally one less pint a week could have made a big difference to retirement income if invested into a private pension for the last 30+ years.

Well if you thought the state pension would be enough to live on then you weren't paying much attention to all the advice being given. Always good to see someone quoting the good old 'gold plated pensions' for civil servants and the like - that great myth bandied around by the right wing media. You do know that those people had to make contributions from their salary don't you ? Just like you could have done into a private pension.

I have openly stated on here numerous times that Ipswich were the strongest team in the league, and without injuries would probably have done the double. Both teams took gambles that didn't pay off. Sheffield gambled on 3 strong heat leaders and a weak reserve pairing, but losing 1 of those for the majority of the season hampered us, and weaker guests and R/R were our downfall. Ipswich gambled on having the best lead pairing in the league. Without injuries it is quite likely that we would have both been in both finals (awaits arguments from BV fans 😂), but unfortunately injuries are part and parcel of speedway and the gambles failed on this occasion.

Also constantly ignores the fact that Woffinden missed almost as many league matches as Doyle.

Yes the state pension is poor but people can make provision for themselves as well. My Dad is 87 and very comfortable due to not assuming the state would look after him in his old age, and no he wasn't in a high paid job, he was blue collar working class and Mum was a housewife. Private pensions were introduced in the UK in 1988, and many companies had occupational schemes before that. Anyone under the age of 80 who is living purely on state pension hasn't planned ahead very well.

Hence the reason that my first post which got the 'yawn' response, leading to my reply that you quoted, specifically mentioned the 'normal' league season. I was simply pointing out that our number 5 had missed nearly as many league matches as yours had, so add in the 2 Jack missed and it is the same number. I fully appreciate the fact that you lost Emil when you needed him most, and I don't think there is a single honest speedway fan in the country that would argue with the fact that you had the strongest 1-7 and would have probably won the double this season, but as I and others have said many times, it was always a gamble on those 2 staying fit and available and you ended up with the perfect storm. Yes, that is a lot of injuries in a season, almost the same as Sheffield in 2023 when they won the playoffs and lost in the KO Cup Final, but apparently we injured our riders on purpose so that we could use 'horses for courses' guests and cheat the system. 😉😂