Ben91

And?

Which is exactly where the sport is going wrong. There will always be riders, there won’t always be fans. The riders have too much power these days.

Will do mate, hope all is well for you, Sarah and the family too. Makes sense as you’ve got the track on your doorstep, would be silly not to go. Maybe one day there’ll even be another northern tour for the Rockets.

For the sake of British Speedway I hope you’re right but I doubt Lambert will average more than Nicki greatly. To put a little context on things here are the Polish averages (excluding bonus points) of the riders you listed for 2019. This is the best way to compare their 2019 form as they all rode in the Ekstraliga. Doyle 8.80 Lambert 4.28 Iversen 6.65 Pedersen 7.81 Kurtz 4.58 Pedersen has ambitions to get back into the Grand Prix series. If he is serious about those ambitions he will have to be as good, if not better than he was last year. I wouldn’t bet against him doing just that. A tangent from what the thread is about but this just goes to show how good Jason’s old sparring partner still is.

Nicki and Jason Doyle should be the top two riders in the league this year without a doubt. Crump could come back and shock us all. I think (and hope) he will do well but if his average is similar to Nicki’s then he’s done incredibly well or Nicki has had a stinker of a year. Its similar to a boxer who has been out of the ring for years, your body changes and you forget what it’s like to be punched or slog it out for 12 rounds even if you can still do the business on the pads. Will be interesting to see how Crumpy fares after his first fall.

As I said on the Ipswich thread, Nicki had the 12th highest average in Poland last year. He is still one of the best in the world. The time off the bike will be what hurts Crump. But then nobody is expecting him to be the 12th best rider in the world this season.

He’s still going strong and wants to make a trip to Poland to watch a meeting, don’t think they’re ready for him! That makes sense, there’s a highlights VHS from the 99 season knocking around in the loft here somewhere and I recall Len being on it remonstrating with a referee for giving a photo finish against David Mason in a Bronze Helmet race (against Adam Allott maybe?) but I knew he wasn’t promoter at that time.

Goes to show that the best way to promote speedway is to promote! I didn’t start attending until around 2002, but am I right in thinking 2000 would be pre-Silver in terms of Len being sole promoter? My introduction to speedway was my grandad telling me I could either go watch Rye House or go to play golf, I didn’t fancy either much but Rye was closer to home, the lesser of two evils but the bug bit me after a lap. I only ever recall seeing anything remotely like advertising from us in the local newspaper or the speedway star, almost preaching to the converted. Glad to hear you’ll be back along should we get on track mate, can’t even remember the last time I saw you, been far too long!

Despite not being a GP rider Nicki had the 12th highest average in the Polish top flight last year. He is still one of the best riders in the world.

People live longer now, people hit their peak at a later age, 40 being the new 30 isn’t just a saying, there’s a truth to it. Was Schumacher’s return to F1 a disaster? He wasn’t winning races and championships but he was still comfortably one of the top 10 drivers in the world from what I remember. Nobody is expecting even that from Crump. The fact that there is nothing to prove makes it less of a risk for Crump and for Ipswich IMO. He can go out, enjoy his racing and what will be will be. He had bucketfuls of natural talent and was one of the best in the world for a very long time. That kind of talent stays with you.

Immediately looked for the Sheffield dates when I heard this news, not to be rude I’d have had no interest in going to watch Ipswich since Danny Ayres’s tragic passing (a man always worth the entry fee alone regardless of where he was racing) without Crump in the line up. It’ll be interesting to see how Jason gets on. I think he still has it in him to hit a seven point figure should he have decent equipment under him. He’ll also be a huge benefit to have around the pits for young Drew Kemp.

Appreciate the reply, I don’t have Facebook these days so haven’t seen any of the information which may be available to see there. If there is a passion then there’s always a point. It’s worth noting that not everyone who has a difference of opinion is doing so to put the hard work of others down, we all have our own ideas about things and Speedway in particular is a business/sport that has always been shrouded in mystery as to what is going on to those who don’t have a direct involvement. Be it this year or next I hope to see Speedway return to Rye, the sport just isn’t the same for me without having my own team to support.

Got Tai’s book for Christmas, I wouldn’t have bought it myself seeing as Tai is still an active rider which for me means I’m buying an incomplete story. As a Rye House fan of course I was interested to see what he has to say about his time at the club however there wasn’t too much about it (understandable considering what Tai has gone on to achieve). I think Tai’s stance on the British/Australian thing has always been clear so it came as no surprise to me. I don’t see why it is an issue either. He is both British and Australian, people can have more than one nationality and be passionate about both. As a Brit myself we benefit from having one of the best riders in the world competing for us, he is the ultimate professional and is trying to push for the national team to become a more professional outfit. That can’t be a bad thing. The book isn’t a classic, it highlights how good Tai and his team are at marketing though. The book was on sale in high street shops and supermarkets, for a book about a fringe sport like Speedway to be in those markets is incredible promotion. Hopefully in 10-15 years, or whenever Tai hangs up his kevlars he will revisit his career in another all-encompassing memoir.

Any idea if this is all being done with 2021 in mind Rob, or could we see some challenge/individual events later on this year?

Makes it a gamble to buy one on whether the team is going to perform or not. Surely it would make more sense to offer a season ticket for all guaranteed fixtures (league, cup first round etc.) and then if you’re a season ticket holder you get a discount for entry to further cup matches, challenges, play-offs etc.

So if you’re going to miss a meeting (most people won’t be able to attend every single meeting) then there’s no point in buying a season ticket at all.

Why did you post it then? What exactly were you trying to achieve? Wasn’t a comment that needed to be made. Well done for the name calling too. Takes a big person.

Did Greg’s retirement really detract from the deserved send off Danny got? I don’t think so, let’s not make this an issue where one is played off against the other. Is it really worth it for a few likes on an Internet forum.

One of the best to ever throw his leg over a Speedway bike. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluded. Was intrigued to see if Greg could have mixed it still this season but it wasn’t to be, some things are more important, family being one of them. Hope he has a happy retirement.

Shame nobody tried trying to arrest the decline of the sport 20 years ago.

We were blessed with the old fence at Rye. While the introduction of air fences as mandatory has been a revelation at many tracks the old fence at Rye was probably safer for riders in all honesty. It would give on impact and there was then a run off behind it, whereas with an air fence despite a cushion there is still a more sudden stop on impact. There are many incidents that I can recall that would have probably been worse had an air fence been in place. As mentioned in other posts the air fence did also make viewing worse at Rye, we do have to accept the times change however and air fences being mandatory is certainly a positive thing on the whole.

Would they go on Friday or Saturday night though?

Hoddesdon is a small town with a population of just over 40,000. To make Rye House a success the floating fan is very much needed. Not perhaps to be attending every week religiously but to put money in the till as often as they can be enticed to travel to Rye. To do that you need to ensure the race night is one that is easiest for fans from further afield to attend. Undoubtedly Saturday. Let’s not forget away fans also, some teams do still take travelling support. I agree completely with pushing the sport to local schools and in the local area as that has never really been done before either under BMR or Len Silver. There’s not that much to do in Hoddesdon, take advantage of that and let the people in the town know that something exciting is going on in the town. Advertising in London won’t come cheap and won’t attract fans either I’d suggest. Start local and build outwards.

Remember a coming together between Vissing and I want to say Chris Neath at Rye. Vissing somehow ended up on the other side of the fence which was bowed to about half its usual height, he got up and ran to hurdle what was left of the fence but his feet didn’t clear it and he face planted.

Heartbreaking. RIP Danny, a true entertainer on tracks, a character the sport needs these days. My thoughts go to his family and friends, I hope Danny has found peace.