FAST GATER

I for one hope and believe this will happen and if the new track is any where near as good as H/Road we are in for a real treat I see no reason why it will not happen from what i have read.Everyone seems on board and the cost of the stadium will be a fraction of the profits achieved by the housing and it is a condition of planning is it not.

This could mean that Andre may get one last season has he been on a bike since his" big off "?

1973 Ellesmere Port been a fan ever since Cyril Francis(at the end of his career think it was his last full season ) was my first s/way hero riding number 2 at the Port

Still got about 2 1/2 lts of Castrol R in the original gallon tin this could start you off ,joking aside we have to move on and I'm with Mr T on this .

I would say the void between GP and league racing already exists but i take your point that every rider will want a setup like Hancock's but will that voidnot increase as the number of tracks and riders diminish as cost escalate beyound control .Why would top riders not be happy to ride in a league with lower running costs at the end of the day some riders ride s/way ,longtrack and grasstrack so they must have the ability to adapt to slightly less powerful ( if that be the result ) engines in the British league.

I find it a little harsh to say that some fans "old school" won't embrace change when I for one have stated many times change is needed how we go forward is another matter.I don't think promoters are making any money out the sport in the present climate but I do feel that they are like turkeys voting for christmas most of the time .Please inform me as to what future I am to embrace other than tracks closing riders unable to pay huge tuning bills (even at NL level) and fans dropping away .This not just MY out of date opinion but the general consensus if you read the posts on here .

Excellent post as always Dean is man after my own heart as a fan for 40plus yrs I know where he's coming from and believe that the sport should take a step back even though many feel that is looking at the past through rose tinted glasses .

Spot on in most cases the best they can hope for is s/way being a paying hobby ,this applies to the riders as well as most return post carreer to normal everyday jobs .Unlike football and other pro sports s/way never yields the rewards that could set them up for life after s/way with the exception of handful at the very top of the sport. Therefore if their operating costs could be lower then they stand a very slim chance of making a few bob promoter and rider alike .There are very few promoters who make their sole living out of promoting s/way if any they normally have a day job( business interests elsewhere) as it were as well.

Gardening have no issue but restarts back to tapes and pit gate kept shut the 2mins rule needs tightening up but tape touching should be allowed (sorry I watched s/way in the 70's) and riders should not be pulled for flying starts .

In the mid 70's we sponsored a top NL(PL now ) rider for about 5yrs he doubled up at Halifax and Wolves in that time and we lost one engine,he held multi track records so the engines were being pushed to their accepted limits .Apart from a Piper conversion (2 valve) and a Street conversion (4 valve) any other engine 4valve Jawa and Weslakes were left pretty much standard IMO the fellow twisting the "throttle " is the biggest addition .

From memory 2 valves were always susceptible to vibration even nylocks used to come undone , the 4valve addressed this problem to large degree but I am sure that this could be solved if that's the biggest issue other than presuading speedway in general to change .

Excellent post but far too sensible for speedway change has to start at the bottom and work it's way up ,prehaps the like's of Dean and other ex riders could be given the engines and they be used in demo- races to give an idea of the how the they performto the speedway world as very often people need the visual experience to appeciate the product.

This appointment makes me think that Andre Compton may not be retiring just yet as he would have made an excellent team manager IMO,Newcastle prehaps for him or injury cover for the season for the Tigers.

He was one of the most complete riders that i have ever seen and a pleasure to watch hard but fair but I always say just a little too brave for his own good .One of those riders I could watch all day sheer class and riders like Joe are what is missing from the sport today IMO.

Gets my vote

I would suspect that Andre will retire for good this time ,nothing to prove and lucky to escape serious injury who could blame him prehaps management or young rider training maybe his best course of action .

Joe Owen speaking to Tom Owen "don't let Jacko gate YOU will never catch HIM" I was there and the diffence between Joe and Jacko was Joe was a little too brave for his own good .Would not argue with stats but it is not as clean cut as they may lead you to believe but that's just IMO.

John Jackson and Joe Owen not much between then in their day but more recent Stoney

Fiddling while Rome burns springs to mind nothing will ever change complete waste of time :sad:

Many thanks for the service you provide

Can't resist anymore although this subject has been done to death it is IMO vital to the sport that something is done about engine costs in the long term.I say long term because that is how it has to be tackled what ever is decided and unlike most things in s/way a yearly knee jerk reaction .IMO it needs to start from the bottom NL is the training ground and developement league of the sport so let be used to start the reduction in costs of engines what ever the solution is. The biggest problem with s/way is that those that make the decisions have vested interests and appear to have no vision for the sport ,the word "can't" is the most over used word when change is considered IMO.I don't have the answers because I don't know all the facts but I do know that you can't please all the people all the time so some where along the line there are going to be unhappy parties . For what is worth I would give the NL two years( subject to new engine units i e Jawa or GM stock engines or mods to existing units etc) notice that present engines would be outlawed ,this would give time for anyone who has invested recently to get reasonable use out of their purchase .The othe two leagues would have thee years (one extra ) and the GP's five years in total as IMO that race series and it's costs have no direct effect on our domestic leagues. Sadly nothing new just some personal thoughts but one thing I will say is that I have nothing against engine tuners or the present engine manufacturers .They may well be casualties but they are not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts at the end of the day and like s/way they may need to adapt and change to retain their involvement in the sport .Nothing stays the same for ever s/way may think it can but it is sadly mistaken IMO.

Joe Owen Neil Collins John Jackson Louis Carr Steve Finch Phil Collins Chris Morton

Might replace Compton don't think he will be back after that nasty accident and who could blame him at his age with nothing to prove either .

Wonder if he will ride again at all really nasty crash may feel he has had a lucky escape ,hope not he was really riding well at the time.

I think you are right the team suffered from points not scored in Comptons absence ,will he be back this season or at all after that serious spill I wonder , I hope so but would fully understand if he called it a day for good this time.