marko

And I will say the same thing here about Doyle as per Kurtz, he rode in the Grand Prix, he should race for Ipswich and if he doesnt, he should face a mandatory seven day cool down before he can race again. (An official doctors note should also be provided in all cases)

If Kurtz is not going to ride then no facility should be allowed. Wasnt there a ruling not so long ago that if a rider was not fit to ride, they would automatically be banned from racing for seven days to stop this going on where riders would be fit and unfit several times in the space of a week?

Sounds like another great advertisement for the sport, thankfully the only ones who saw it are the diehard fans or who paid BSN. I was never going to sub to BSN this season, it’s not their fault but the sport now is just going further down the drain with tracks no better than some grassy field, and I think they will struggle over time as who is going to pay money to watch paint dry?

No one, I went to speedway to watch the riders, not the manager, anyone can do that and going by some of the people who have got the job over the last decade or so, has got it despite never rode a bike, they just have the right friends, hardly a qualification.

The thing is some fans can’t separate their own bias towards the sport, I doubt anyone catching that on tv without much knowledge of speedway would be impressed let alone searching for their nearest track. Newcomers don’t want to go somewhere where they are likely to get covered in dust and the racing is all the riders riding the inside following each other. As for Tobys comments about wanting it dry and slick, I find that very shortsighted, the riders might like it like that but that sort of racing doesn’t draw crowds, how are they going to continue being paid to race when fewer and fewer are going to watch?

No winners tonight, terrible advert for the sport on a terrible track

Victor has been tearing it up, the last time I saw a reserve hit those kind of scores was Pavlic for Swindon many years ago. But the thing is these riders will only stay as reserve for so long. If only Monarchs were in a slightly better shape they could have stormed the league this season.

Saw a clip on youtube of the final race, track was bare and bone dry, biggest blue groove I have ever seen, this seems to be what speedway is becoming.

Sorry but that is not a good look when you can see a blue groove like that, its means there obviously was not enough material on it to start with, even a light shower on that would have meant an abandonment. Did it cost Ipswich match with the track like that? I hope not, even with two riders out i can't believe they have lost at home, if there was one certainty this season, the Witches would not get beaten around Foxhall, but it goes to show though, the league is far from the forgone conclusion many thought it would likely be.

Most races are drawn out from the gate, same at most tracks, some tracks are a little more setup to allow races like we saw with the British Final. Some tracks you can race on but essentially your only just following the rider in front hoping they make a mistake because there is only one line which is either on the curb or right out by the fence, stray from that and you go backwards.

Although a Plymouth thread, most promoters (such a misleading word) have been making poor decisions for years, never looking ahead, always the short term plaster, the “engine” is knackered, putting some new oil in it isn’t going to make any difference. PS no one wants any track to close, probably more fans now on this forum who have lost a track than still have one.

As I have been saying for some time, riders today can turn up and if they are not bothered, that’s it, heat leaders like Batch are probably on a guarantee equivalent to 7 or 8 points anyway. And promoters wonder why they lose money!

Not surprised dogs love it, we all as fans love the smell, Dogs have much better ability to smell, so the methanol fix for them must be off the charts 😉

Nothing wrong with technical tracks, I followed Arena Essex from 88 to 2018

Rider assets went with doubling up, if a rider rides in prem and champ, who really owns his British league contract?

Location wise probably not the easiest track to get to and for travelling in 2025 that has to be a consideration, along with the track itself, not only is it very small but it’s also far too narrow, see Ben Barkers crash, you get it wrong and not much margin for error and bang your in the fence or over it, the more width you have on the bends the more time you have to bail out or put the bike down. Plymouth would better suited in a third tier where costs are lower and riders not so fast around such a limited space but still a good track for teaching lesser riders how to turn harder.

Five teams, Four places, it’s not really that exciting. Five teams and two places, that would change the dynamic. Always said too many play off spots, for a system of four play off spots you need at least a eight team league minimum, how can you justify finishing in the bottom half of the table (4th in 7) and still being potentially crowed champions, no credibility in that.

True but I am talking about applying water to a track that effectively has no or very little dirt on it, your down to the hard base which is like concrete and nowhere for the water to go other than run off onto the centre green if there is enough of a camber or more likely sit on top like a wet tarmac road, doesn’t need to puddle to become dangerous.

If I can play devils advocate for a minute, if watering would mean it would sit on the top, doesn’t that mean that there was no dirt to soak it up? My own track (Lakeside) was no angel either, it was often so slick, adding water would turn it into an ice rink and if there is dirt on the outside and you water that and it binds, you go from slick to grippy with bad consequences. From what I have seen from clips from various media outlets, the tracks this season are just the same old same old and no one is prepared (no pun intended) to address the elephant in the room, these modern bikes are so crap and can’t handle anything other than a smooth track with a fine layer of dirt that is gone after a couple of heats, hence follow the leader, the riders like it, ok they can’t pass very easily but as I have mentioned elsewhere, most have a min guaranteed payment anyway, so do they really care if they come first or second? Bring back the uprights and then you can have more dirt which will also help prevent rain offs, because if you have dirt down you can always scrape some off (provided it has stopped raining)

I think the biggest issue the sport has is guaranteed money, coupled with a rider shortage it’s perfect for some riders, they get paid whether they score 8 or zero and they won’t be dropped because there is no one to replace them. Look at Tungate (others are equally guilty) riding around looking at his engine all the time, do you think they would be doing that if they wasnt being paid? I think if riders only got travel allowance they would be trying a lot harder to fix a problem and make more effort. They certainly wouldn’t be giving up after a lap and then riding back to the pits. I haven’t been to a meeting for years now, do riders still come out after the meeting to test a few things? Or get other riders to ride their bike to prove its not the bike but the rider?

Tried twice to buy the stream yesterday but BSN wouldn’t accept my payment, bank said it’s nothing their end, BSN didn’t bother to reply to my enquiry so I guess they don’t want my money. Disappointed to read that even riders like Tobias were not up to much, he is normally excellent value on these small tracks. I think Ipswich could be on course for one of the best seasons ever seen in the top flight, competing with the Oxfords and Cradleys of the 80s

But by the same token though, wouldn’t a heavier rider gain at the start? Where if you have something powerful but light it will generally spin more?

It doesn’t seem to matter what it is in this Country, it’s always a race to the bottom, not a race to the top.

This weeks bumper issue actually scanned at my local WHSmiths, I almost fell over in shock lol

I maybe in my 50s now but have been buying the star since I was in my early 20s