Track Preparation.

[Odds On]

The last couple of meetings on TV and BSN has seen tracks that can only be described as poor, this includes British racing and the Grand Prix's.

I thought the BSPA had a track curator who was in charge and over looking tracks? 

In a few weeks time we have the chance to put on a show piece for the world to see, I think we all acknowledge that the Belle Vue track is the best for racing in his Country, please let the local track prep team work on it and present it, nobody wants to watch a gate and go bore fest, fans pay to be entertained right now they are not, its no good commentators saying the track will be good later on, most times it isn't, fans need to be entertained from heat one.

 Speedway as a sport is up against it, pizz poor tracks are nailing another nail in it.

[IainB]

I think it's time to allow a free practice before a meeting like they do in Poland for riders to get their "setups" right. Having half the meeting passed before riders have got their kit right because the track is "random" is not really on in 2025!

From what I've seen this season the preparation of many tracks has left a lot to be desired. Most tracks don't really have the kit to get enough water into a track like they do on Poland, when you see their truck go round the whole track is ready to race after a couple of laps, cut to the UK and IF the water cart does make an appearance during a meeting, it's like watching an old man have a pish.

[ouch]

ALL tracks should have a minimum of two racing lines, more if possible. Promoters who favour gate’n’go need to be taken to task and I’m sure their fans would soon welcome better racing. It’s such an easy thing to monitor over a season as you just need to count passes after bend 3 lap 1. If it’s consistently low then there’s a problem that needs addressing. We all know every race isn’t going to be great, that’s always been the case and passes don’t need to occur between first & second. The NSS has around a 50%-60% hit rate for good races but many tracks are 10%-15% which is simply unacceptable.

 

[mikebv]

1 hour ago, IainB said:

I think it's time to allow a free practice before a meeting like they do in Poland for riders to get their "setups" right. Having half the meeting passed before riders have got their kit right because the track is "random" is not really on in 2025!

From what I've seen this season the preparation of many tracks has left a lot to be desired. Most tracks don't really have the kit to get enough water into a track like they do on Poland, when you see their truck go round the whole track is ready to race after a couple of laps, cut to the UK and IF the water cart does make an appearance during a meeting, it's like watching an old man have a pish.

They need to fill him up with water during the afternoon then....

To be fair, comparing anything UK Speedway presents against what Poland delivers is not a fair comparison...

I switched off last night, like I usually do most UK meetings, around heat five or six..

After watching weekends of Polish Speedway and the GP's, and the level of intensity these meetings are raced at, plus the crowd engagement in the events, it is difficult to summon up the same level of enthusiasm when watching on a Monday evening..

Even more so when you see opposition managers and riders stood alongside each other watching the generally poor racing, laughing and joking together in the pits...

 

[Fromafar]

3 hours ago, Odds On said:

The last couple of meetings on TV and BSN has seen tracks that can only be described as poor, this includes British racing and the Grand Prix's.

I thought the BSPA had a track curator who was in charge and over looking tracks? 

In a few weeks time we have the chance to put on a show piece for the world to see, I think we all acknowledge that the Belle Vue track is the best for racing in his Country, please let the local track prep team work on it and present it, nobody wants to watch a gate and go bore fest, fans pay to be entertained right now they are not, its no good commentators saying the track will be good later on, most times it isn't, fans need to be entertained from heat one.

 Speedway as a sport is up against it, pizz poor tracks are nailing another nail in it.

Would agree,but if you watch Polish League matches track conditions are  normally consistently good( suiting modern day speedway).Riders don’t seem to struggle with track conditions.In Uk they seem different every meeting at tracks.

[The White Knight]

7 hours ago, IainB said:

I think it's time to allow a free practice before a meeting like they do in Poland for riders to get their "setups" right. Having half the meeting passed before riders have got their kit right because the track is "random" is not really on in 2025!

From what I've seen this season the preparation of many tracks has left a lot to be desired. Most tracks don't really have the kit to get enough water into a track like they do on Poland, when you see their truck go round the whole track is ready to race after a couple of laps, cut to the UK and IF the water cart does make an appearance during a meeting, it's like watching an old man have a pish.

How do you know? I'm eighty now - so I know you are right. 🤣

Who have you beeen watching? 😉😲🤣

[MattB]

On 6/3/2025 at 9:09 AM, ouch said:

ALL tracks should have a minimum of two racing lines, more if possible. Promoters who favour gate’n’go need to be taken to task and I’m sure their fans would soon welcome better racing. It’s such an easy thing to monitor over a season as you just need to count passes after bend 3 lap 1. If it’s consistently low then there’s a problem that needs addressing. We all know every race isn’t going to be great, that’s always been the case and passes don’t need to occur between first & second. The NSS has around a 50%-60% hit rate for good races but many tracks are 10%-15% which is simply unacceptable.

 

I think one of the issues is that there is a percentage of supporters who aren't really bothered about the quality of the action as long as their team wins.  Ive been to loads of meetings over 35 years where I've been bored by the complete lack of any entertainment, yet others around me are raving about what they've seen.

Also, there seems to be a perception that close meetings automatically mean it's an exciting match,  but that isn't always the case.  One of the most exciting matches I've seen was Wolves beating Poole about 64 - 26 in our double winning season, yet the action was brilliant because Poole were jumping out of the start and our riders were rounding them up.

[IanBrannan]

On 6/3/2025 at 11:51 AM, Fromafar said:

Would agree,but if you watch Polish League matches track conditions are  normally consistently good( suiting modern day speedway).Riders don’t seem to struggle with track conditions.In Uk they seem different every meeting at tracks.

One if the main differences is we live on an island, and as a result the weather is more volatile literally depending on which way the wind blows. The track material here is totally different, even riders say it is a different sport. Comparing Polish and British tracks is largely pointless as the type of material available is different here, they also use different tyres, and run bikes with tubeless tyres which we don’t. So the wheels they are racing on are different too.
 

[MattB]

11 minutes ago, IanBrannan said:

One if the main differences is we live on an island, and as a result the weather is more volatile literally depending on which way the wind blows. The track material here is totally different, even riders say it is a different sport. Comparing Polish and British tracks is largely pointless as the type of material available is different here, they also use different tyres, and run bikes with tubeless tyres which we don’t. So the wheels they are racing on are different too.
 

Plus Poland get pretty much free access to work on their tracks.  Here we get one afternoon a week with a list of instructions supplied by the landlord of things you can't do while you are working.

[Fromafar]

1 hour ago, IanBrannan said:

One if the main differences is we live on an island, and as a result the weather is more volatile literally depending on which way the wind blows. The track material here is totally different, even riders say it is a different sport. Comparing Polish and British tracks is largely pointless as the type of material available is different here, they also use different tyres, and run bikes with tubeless tyres which we don’t. So the wheels they are racing on are different too.
 

I take your point regarding materials.I don’t understand why conditions can be so different from week to week at certain tracks(weather conditions accept).All you  here from riders is (the track if different this week complaint and can’t get set-up).Let’s face  it riders don’t want any dirt on track(very few exceptions).Riders want “gate and go racing”stuff the fans.

Glasgow on Friday was quite and entertaining meeting (with a decent track prep)but I’m sure most of the Home riders would be moaning.Cami even said his riders need to gate better(because that’s all they want slick track).Dirt makes they look like juniors at times.

[Zagarmeister]

NSS always serves up awesome racing.

However, the cynic in me says it will be slicker than snot for the GPs.

That's before I've looked at a weather forecast!