marko

I see that the Hammers have booked Rory Schlein for AJ and Poole have booked PK for Janowski and Blackbird for Newman, I got this down as another home defeat. Who would have thought this time last season that we would end up facing a team a year later with Davey and PK on the other side of the pits?

Not the first time this season so goes to show they have done absolutely nothing about it, if this is how you treat your staff its no wonder that sometimes they might think twice before breaking a sweat.

Maybe Freddie only agreed to ride if he was promised five rides? either way reads like another rather dull meeting with next to passing but we shall have to wait for others who went to give a more true reflection on that score. There was enormous amounts of criticism last week though on the Lakeside forum re: the state of the track for the Wolves meeting.

Was sure i read somewhere earlier this year that Marc Owen is actually now an Eastbourne asset.

Don't blame the riders, blame the promoters, they are the ones which came up with this silly format and agreed to have to pay the heat leaders a fixed wage as result of their earning potential being compromised.

Here's a microphone Rob, say something stupid! How do you Aces fans feel about this man trying to con you out of £20 plus petrol just because his team is riding like crap?

Lynn trying to get it called off, if only they had got on with it! Sky will never f'n learn

Sure we will get the same old same old "we will get on with it" only to have breaks for rider interviews, commercials and goodness knows what else. And then we will have arguments about should they try and run to heat ten, the winning side say yes, the losing team want to go home!

The problem for riders like Adam is that in the FTR positions many will go out and spend a lot on getting fast bikes and ultimately push themselves on the track to speeds which are often not in tune to their current ability which can result in falls and subsequent injuries to them and possibly others. Both last season and this, Adam has spent a fair amount of time parting company with this bike at Lakeside, he will be a very polished rider one day but you have to learn to walk before you can run.

They want to get the season done and dusted asap so they can plan their move to Kent?

Changing my prediction now to 8th place for this club, I have a feel a feeling that with the promotion possibly moving to Kent next season which seems ever more likely in view of recent planning approval conditions on use of the Kent track, this operation will be run into the ground with next to nothing spent on shale. Bech certainly won't last the season, maybe another month and then he will quit or be asked to fall on his sword and some old hand will be brought in on the cheap. Nothing will be said though until the end of the season for fear of alienating what fans they have left. Lastly well done to Wolves, knew PK would do well and well done for sticking it to the people responsible for wrongly sacking him, as they always say, form is temporary, class in permanent!

You can bet just about every single heat leader is on that, its why PK was dropped by Lakeside last season because the points he was scoring on track was not matching up with the money he was guaranteed, the whole thing is penny wise and pound foolish, any money being saved by using the draft riders is being more than offset by chucking money at the heat leaders.

I am a subscriber to speedway star but this one is always the highlight of the season, Mimmo makes a great point about pricing and really shows just how over inflated speedway program prices are, my local non league footy team which often gets gates lower than that of most speedway clubs but offers a program which is twice the content of a speedway example and still costs less!

I have said time and time again that Speedway needs to make each event mean something and put everything into making that event a "can't miss" We have twice home and away which means its no big deal if you miss the odd meeting plus the play offs have rendered the league matches less valuable. All too often in this country the race night is just "another meeting" and thus has that just "another meeting" feel about it. And as for the age thing, blimey! that is the most frightening thing for the future of our sport, can only really comment on Lakeside and i would think at around 60% are of pensionable age and another problem we have is its all very well getting the kids involved but if your a Friday or Saturday track once they get well into their teens the lure of a night on the town clubbing is far more appealing and you wont get them back if at all until maybe they have settled down and have kids of their own. Youngsters always like to be seen in places where its cool to hang out and they don't feel out of place, a speedway track is not such a place.

I remember seeing the changing rooms a few years ago when doing a ride and slide day, was quite shocked at the state of them, no idea what some of the riders thought of them especially the likes of Andreas Jonsson who must be used to having something decent, personally I would not use them for fear of being more dirty than when I started, I think you will find cleaner facilities at a tier nine footy ground than that.

I actually don't blame the track for last night, i think merely Stars had their bikes nailed and Hammers riders did not and struggled most of the night to get them going although a couple did look more on the pace towards the end but could still not drive off the start line quick enough. Granted it was a massive come down after the best pairs on Saturday, sky's coverage does feel very dated now, the Elite League has actually turned from being a fan more interested in team racing to a fan more interested in individuals such as the Grand Prix's and the SEC as it provides better racing with every rider giving 100 percent , no guests, no R/R and no one going through the motions.

Did not see the Leicester meeting but was planning to go Friday but after tonight and in light of the news that Hammers are effectively going to close after this season?????? not sure I can be bothered anymore, sacrilage to move Arena Essex Hammers to Kent imo, be like Arsenal moving to White Hart Lane.

I thought with these new silencers we were not going to have any more rocket launching from the bikes, or are the lay down engines the real culprit and not the exhausts?

Lakeside notoriously poor travellers and fear this season will be no different.

You are spot on and unfortunately despite the paying punter having to fork out full price on such a night they are shown nothing for their loyalty, in return they are treated to a long drawn out meeting whilst those who stayed at home get all the riders interviews etc, there really does need to be more incentive for people to leave the house and part with their money.

Bruce Penhall

Hopefully the Sunday slot can replace the existing training on a Friday meaning the track can be at the best it possibly can for the important EL meetings, I know Gerald and his crew can work wonders but the track in my own opinion will never be as good as it could if you have riders practicing all day before an evening meeting, especially in the warm summer months where constant watering is crucial. Ultimately though a NL setup at Lakeside will always be limited because of the gulf between the EL and NL, a PL/NL setup is much better in terms of natural progression, that said though there is nothing to stop Lakeside loaning riders out once ready and building an asset base of youngsters, I have always said that is what the club should be doing, does not matter who and where they ride so long as they remain assets which could be used or sold in the long term. The more tracks there are offering rides the better.

I agree whole so strongly with the letter in the star and discussed above i would like to copy it here Verbatim (I hope this is allowed because i feel that it is something all fans should see regardless of whether they subscribe to the Star or not) Having taken on the role of sponsor and manager of Niklas Porsing, this season has been an eye opener to me, seeing the sport from more than a fans point of view. I have looked after Niklas’ affairs in the UK and Europe this year and driven him to each Elite track and from this experience, my belief is that British speedway is attempting suicide. The debacle at Poole last week has only confirmed this belief further. Having arrived at Poole, myself, Niklas and Robert Lambert walked the track at 5pm Monday. Yes, rain had fallen throughout the day but at this time it was dry with no more rain forecast. The track was soaked and the track staff were attempting to blade off some water and some shale or, at this time, liquid slurry. It was on the first bend that Niklas, as all riders do, toed the track for grip. The track immediately broke up creating a four inch deep hole, down to a base of loose gravel. As other riders inspected the hole, it was obvious this hole would continue opening up and so would other areas leading into bend two. The whole area of loose track could have been repaired by filling the holes with fresh shale and compacting it. The rest of the track was not perfect due to the rain, but would have been made satisfactory to race. Sadly, it was found that Poole do not have a supply of shale, so the holes were filled with unsuitable gravel. Track staff then attempted to pack it with a small van running over the area, I’m sorry, but i thought speedway was a professional sport? This was so amateurish. It is meant to be the ‘Elite’ League. As we know, all the riders deemed the track unsafe and the meeting was postponed until Wednesday. The forecast for the week including Wednesday, was dreadful. However, Niklas and I set off for Poole at 11am from Norfolk and drove through torrential rain on the M25 and M3 with dark clouds ahead of us towards Poole. The weather radar was showing heavy rain at Poole at this time and continuing into the afternoon. We drove on, expecting a call to say the meeting was off, but none came. We arrived at the track at 3pm, where we was told all was in order and the track would be fit. Then we saw the track, with the inside of the third bend flooded. Even without more expected rain, it was obvious the track would not be ready. To have it ready (without further rain), all the track surface, down to the base, would have had to have been bladed off and then new, dry shale laid and prepared. One saviour may well have been track covers, but you also need good drainage to enable the water to flow off. As a fan, having seen the forecast, I would not have travelled. But Niklas does not have that choice. In my view, the Poole management, knowing the situation of the track and the weather forecast, and with riders and fans from kings Lynn having a 200 mile journey, should have made the call off decision before lunch, not at 4pm. Some say Sky TV are to blame but what influence Sky have, I do not know. But whether it is Sky or the tracks management, decisions have to be made earlier going on the known facts. British Speedway is dying! And i think I know why. If you re-call a couple of decades back, the Bradford football disaster, Hillsborough, Heysel and hooliganism. Football was dying then, fans didn’t want to go to be poorly entertained, possibly attacked and stand in run down stadiums. But football woke up and business people invested in the sport. Facilities were improved and football knew it had to entertain. Look at where football is now, It’s not perfect, but the facilities for fans are excellent and speedway would love even a tenth of the money thrown at it. Without fans, either paying to attend a meeting, buying TV subscriptions, buying food/drink/merchandise at stadiums, you don’t have a sport. I could go through my thoughts on each Elite track I have visited but here are just a few comments which spring to mind. Swindon hasn’t had a coat of paint since electricity was connected to replace the gas lamps; Coventry, I have never seen such disgusting toilets and changing rooms; Belle Vue, track preparation was a man standing on the back of an old harrow to weigh it down. I could go on. Promoters wonder why crowds are so low but perhaps they are because of poor racing as no effort is put into creating fair, safe, race tracks for good, exciting and competitive racing and offering fans run down, poor facilities. Set race nights would help, so fans can plan in advance. Get rid of the ridiculous guest rider system and have squads. I want to see the best, not the also-rans. It would be easy to go on and on. Speedway needs to be marketed to bring in the fans, kids love it. It used to be a great family sport but you cannot market the dross we have at the moment. Take someone new to a speedway meeting and they will probably enjoy the racing but won’t come back! Why? They don’t want to go to a dump! The sport needs to look forward. With insight and investment, we could have some stadiums like Poland and fill these with 5,000 plus fans each week. But sadly promoters and management will only look after their own interests, seeing no further than the end of their noses. I’m sorry but in a few years time, without change, people will be saying, “do you remember that motorcycle sport, what was it called?”

I fully agree with the OP and in fact suggested something similar only a week or two ago. Poole have finished top so the challenge is there for Pirates fans! regardless of whether you win the play offs, will you be clubbing together to give the club something to honor their top of the table finish? You claim to be the biggest club with the biggest fan base, well lets see you set an example then! Please do not come back and say it does not matter because you will win the play offs anyway, this is not about the play offs! its about recognizing that a team has over the course of a season has out performed their competition. The BSPA wont ever do anything officially for fear that it might take some of the gloss of the play offs which might then put the sky deal in jeopardy?

Any news on the future of Iwade? Not been down there for a couple of years but always great fun and Graham and Co were always so very welcoming and helpful, it would be a travesty if this establishment had to close.