IainB

She was much more than that... She was the first host presenter in the history of the sport on TV in the UK who was actually a knowledgeable fan. Was able to bring more to the party than the stock "what is he thinking right now", "will he be making any changes to his setup" and "is the track changing" questions. And was a decent presenter too. Everybody else has been a rent-a-presenter.

Surely you mean she knows "of" Speedway

Was thinking take the speedway bikes to the moto x track... so riders could have a little go on them to feel the power, acceleration etc. Didn't realise you were referring to a moto x show

Were bikes taken along for moto x riders to have a go on? Or were they expected to go out of their way to a track? "If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain," Is bio oil an option? Hmm... not so sure about this one. I think this isn't so much to do with the speed of the bikes but the ability of the riders. I remember watching the junior matches in the 2nd half at Cov back in the 80's and some riders were shutting off halfway down the straight, as you would expect them to as they were still learning to ride the bikes to their full potential. Then I remember watching Tony Rickardsson & Jason Crump at a GP practice session, also at Cov and was amazed at how they were actually opening the throttle and powering into the bends, these were the only 2 riders doing this and understandably were in a class of their own during that era. Look at Zmarzlik at the moment, bumping the fence and straight lining into the turns, the only rider with the ability to do the latter. So for me it's about rider ability... which, as good as the riders are in this country and as much as I admire them, we just don't have. Having said all that... I do agree that the bikes do need slowing down and standardising in this country.

all-weather sports pitch... crafty!

Done

I suppose it's almost a self fulfilling prophecy... Because fans don't attend fixture filler challenge or individual meetings at the beginning or @rse end of the season, they assume they won't attend a well promoted meeting in the height of summer. There's a reason the British SGP was scheduled for this weekend, it just needed somebody with the vision to put a meeting on somewhere. A Young Lions test match against somebody. Matches involving the national side are proven crowd pullers.

Yes, and unless I'm mistaken I do remember issues during that season... Didn't BT let him off a GP and got a guest in lol

My point was that basically there's nothing on at Leicester on Saturday night because Kent signed a rider who has put his "TV Career" ahead of his speedway one... the exact reason why he's not signed back at Leicester ironically.

How ridiculous... sounds like the tail is wagging the dog down there.

My criticism isn't directed at Leicester specifically but speedway in general. There must be a few clubs operating that are nowhere near covid capacity due to the size of their stadium. Why is the BU21 being held on a Friday night in Redcar for example. An actual meaningful fixture that could have been held at say Ipswich on a Saturday night and promoted correctly could have drawn a decent sized crowd. ... or any postponed league match could have been slotted in, stadium availability permitting. Better to have it on a Saturday in the summer than a wet Tuesday in October.

About the same time as me then, it sounds like the overall atmosphere attracted you, there used to be big crowds in those days though. Tough to generate an atmosphere with no fans and long gaps between races.

When did you start attending?

Don't "need" answers at all, was just asking a question and everybody got their knickers in a twist You may have gathered by now that I, as a fan, am not keen on postponements based on weather forecasts, not only is it frustrating when you're sat at home and the sun is shining outside, it's also frustrating at the end of the season when showpiece events that should be attracting big crowds are crammed in, often on "off" race nights on wet unraceable tracks. All of these false postponements have a knock on effect with the fixtures. Below is what was cancelled in October 2019 due to actual real rain. Premiership P/O SF National League PO SF British Youth Championship Round 7 National League Riders' Championship Premiership P/O SF Premiership Supporters Cup Championship KO Cup Final Premiership Grand Final.1 National League Grand Final.1 Championship Grand Final.1 Championship KO Cup Final British Youth Championship National League Grand Final.2 National League KOC Final I would also bet that the restaging of many of these were held on less than perfect tracks.

I only say 30 heats because if you do away with all the faffing about you're still only left with 15 minutes of action, you have to give the punter some sort of feeling of value for money, it could all be over in 30-45 mins with no faff and people maybe leave feeling short changed. I think 15 heats are pretty boring because they are spread out sometimes over 2 and a half hours, there's still quite a lot to admire even in a poor race. The interminable delays often mean a meeting has no flow or momentum and the atmosphere can go flat very easily. One of the many down turns in Speedway was the loss of the old 2nd half. I can only speak on what initially got me interested in Speedway and it was the noise I could hear from about a mile away, I badgered my dad to take me along to see what the noise was and in those days at Leicester it was free admission to the 2nd halve, we went to a number of those together, then started paying to watch the main match. The 2nd half also allowed promotions to get local companies involved with sponsored rider of the night trophies and a sprinkling of "junior" races to help bring on future talent. All in all there were around 20 races in the evening. It all stopped, if memory serves, because the riders got greedy and wanted extra appearance money for the 2nd half events, what a very short sighted view and we're now reaping what they sowed. It's obviously going to take a hell of a lot more than that but that's a start to get new people coming along again.

Pairs at Somerset? 4's was due to be on the Sunday at Leicester last year. Obviously nothing on the Saturday. Everybody has had 3 months to organise an event of some sort somewhere... yet nothing

No, I don't want any club to run at a loss. Not every track in the whole of the UK is running at a restricted capacity level that would mean a loss. Why on earth any of those clubs hasn't put a fixture on, on a midsummer Saturday night, shows what a state the sport is in. Maybe you're right, they should continue to run midweek meetings in front of a few people.

Yes it was... but that was cancelled in April

No meeting on a Saturday night in the middle of July is a sad indictment of our "sport"... not just at Leicester but any track in the whole country

Afraid not... seen too many matches cancelled on incorrect forecasts and then watched too many matches at the end of the season, with too much at stake on atrocious tracks... Agree to disagree :-)

I well remember the summer of '76 as I got horribly sunburned as a young pup on Fistral beach in Cornwall, I still have the scars on my shoulders!! One can't help but wonder if the match would have been cancelled so far in advance if it had been in front of the cameras?

What a very sad state of affairs we've arrived at. One wonders if sponsors are even being approached for such opportunities

Yes, I get that, but the GP was postponed back in April... And Eastbourne are running a double header on Sunday directly against the Silverstone GP, a very brave move.

Mr Watson, I'm always happy to correct and apologise for any factual inaccuracies, what I will not apologise for are my opinions as that is all they are, my opinions, you may disagree with them that's fine they're worth absolutely nothing and are all part of the "discussion". What does not help discussion are incendiary posts telling me my post is peurile rubbish, so on this I accept your apology and offer mine for anything I said that has offended you. It is never my intention to offend anybody but if somebody attacks me, I'm afraid the gloves are off. Perhaps a reasoned post in response like the one above would have been a better way to go. If you'll permit me I will go through the considerations had you been the one to make the call. I do accept the postponement as there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. Is the track under water - yes - was the track underwater at the time of cancellation, I'm not sure we know this Is more rain forecast - yes it is Can the track be pumped off and dry out evenly (bear in mind the huge grandstand at Peterborough and that when watering for a normal meeting they often don't water under the shade) - probably not - depends how wet it was at time of cancellation Even if there's no more rain can the tractors etc. get onto the track to prepare a racing surface - doubtful - again we don't know Is the rest of the stadium useable? The grass car-parks and the pits have been known to flood at the Showground - we don't know Will fans, riders and officials incur costs that will be wasted if there is a late call-off - what do we define as a late cancellation, I would say anything after 6pm on the day of the match Will other costs be incurred for a late call-off, rent, medical, staff etc - again, how late is late Maybe an extra consideration should be, what kind of knock on effect is this going to have on future fixtures, not just by the decision that Peterborough made but also other clubs that call fixtures off based on forecasts. You may not be a troll but chasing me down on another thread again calling me peurile and ignorant is pretty troll like behaviour. As for the Coventry , Mr Horton and by association you, situation, this is still a very emotive topic for many people so it may be best to let that particular sleeping dog lie. All the best. Iain

Mr Watson is correct in the fact the meeting was called off 24 hours in advance. I don't know where I came up with 36 hours from and apologise for my mistake... Still too early to call it off though imo, they should have left it until around noon on the day of the match like clubs always used to, and many still do, before fans, riders and officials start off with their journey's.