Foxes vs Witches, Thursday 30th April

[Roger Jacobs]

3 minutes ago, Wee Eck said:

With two bikes?

I don't think he brings bikes on Ryanair ...

[IainB]

20 minutes ago, Roger Jacobs said:

I don't think he brings bikes on Ryanair ...

[SteveLyric2]

33 minutes ago, IainB said:

It will when prepared properly, it's far too slick tonight but there's been some decent stuff never the less. 

There's no "trick" bends, it's a perfect size and a pretty good shape with proper speedway shale too.

Where did the 'proper speedway shale' come from? Answers please to BSPL.......

[Col]

Shame Foxes couldn't open with a win.

[FishersGate]

What's the track looking like ? First impressions decent or concerns? Hopefully it brings some decent racing

[IainB]

7 minutes ago, FishersGate said:

What's the track looking like ? First impressions decent or concerns? Hopefully it brings some decent racing

Decent

[Baldyman]

54 minutes ago, Wee Eck said:

With two bikes?

Doesnt it take vans? Or borrow one of team mates. 

Think I mean le shuttle or whatever it's called 

Edited 22 hours ago by Baldyman

[Baldyman]

Just seen some pics and looks like there was a good amount of dirt on the track,, that's a great start 

[TB1]

6 minutes ago, Baldyman said:

Just seen some pics and looks like there was a good amount of dirt on the track,, that's a great start 

It was just a bit on the dusty side, not terrible but just a bit. It's a long run from the tapes to turn 1 but our boys showed more aggression in the turn, and on a surface with minimal passes I think that may have been the difference.

[oleoleole]

Well I was really impressed. 

A great crowd, all the facilities you need and the track looks a good shape and size with plenty of room on the banked bends.

The track was a bit slick tonight and gate 4 was an advantage but I’m sure they’ll improve the track preparation as the season progresses.

Great to see the riders going full tilt with no concerns and also good to see the crowd react so well to any Foxes heat wins. Looks like plenty of home support and not just folk there for the event which augurs well.

[norbold]

I've been reading on here for months that there's been no publicity, no-one in Northampton even knows there's a new speedway team, the promoters have been hopeless in…er…promoting. It'll all be doom and gloom. And yet here we are, everyone reporting a good crowd. I blame the promoters.

[IainB]

Klindt needs to be moved from number 5 to 3 in the long run as he's as likely to score 2 as he is to score 20... when he's on 2 form there's not much cover when riding with a reserve. 

[BlueIn2Red]

1 hour ago, Baldyman said:

Just seen some pics and looks like there was a good amount of dirt on the track,, that's a great start 

Pics can be deceiving, there wasn't enough dirt imo. A big pile on the infield (ready for stock cars on Saturday) though! I'm also a bit surprised they didn't lightly water it during grading breaks. The result was too dry and slick, meaning the outside groove didn't quite work, despite some valiant attempts from various riders. Even with these issues though, the track was still pretty good for a first attempt, very smooth, and I think it has great potential as a speedway track, a good size, shape and camber.

[Wolfie456]

28 minutes ago, BlueIn2Red said:

Pics can be deceiving, there wasn't enough dirt imo. A big pile on the infield (ready for stock cars on Saturday) though! I'm also a bit surprised they didn't lightly water it during grading breaks. The result was too dry and slick, meaning the outside groove didn't quite work, despite some valiant attempts from various riders. Even with these issues though, the track was still pretty good for a first attempt, very smooth, and I think it has great potential as a speedway track, a good size, shape and camber.

Great have the British Final there next year and get it away from Belle Vue 👍 

[the hobbit]

4 hours ago, FishersGate said:

What's the track looking like ? First impressions decent or concerns? Hopefully it brings some decent racing

Looks excellent. Great size and shape. Decent amount of banking on the bends. Looks a very fast track 

will only get better as it settles in and the track staff have more time to work with it. Plenty of track equipment due to arrive in the very near future so all looking very positive. 
Some good racing tonight, very impressed by both foxes reserves.
Gutted for Thomson in heat 14,  spark plug problem with half a lap to go , cost him an easy win, the foxes a 5-1 snd the crowd, a last heat decider which the meeting merited. 

Edited 18 hours ago by the hobbit
Typo

[the hobbit]

2 hours ago, norbold said:

I've been reading on here for months that there's been no publicity, no-one in Northampton even knows there's a new speedway team, the promoters have been hopeless in…er…promoting. It'll all be doom and gloom. And yet here we are, everyone reporting a good crowd. I blame the promoters.

There were massive queues to get in, slightly delaying the start. 
I’d say 2,500-3000 fans. It was rammed 

[HGould]

8 hours ago, FishersGate said:

What's the track looking like ? First impressions decent or concerns? Hopefully it brings some decent racing

A bit smaller but it reminded me of Dudley Wood in terms of the shape of bends relative to length of straights

[paulnolan]

Well I thoroughly enjoyed my first night at the new track, even if my Foxes couldn't get the win! Let's get that out of the way first: it's not a great team and will absolutely need surgery sooner rather than later, but there were positives in the shape of Thompson and Harrison going great.

But that can be sorted. What can't be sorted is if your opening night goes wrong. And it didn't. Not by a long shot. A massive crowd - probably about 3,000 if I guesstimate right - and some good racing, with times all within a second of each other. I said good, not great, because the track will need time to bed in and neither side had anything resembling an out and out racer to test it. But the shape is good and there's some banking on three and four that can be worked with, so it's all there.

The facilities are good, even if the queue for the men's toilets at the interval was an issue, and there's room for improvement if needed. And it was a brilliant night for it, too! All in all, a success! Whether I'll be back next week is to be decided - it's £25 a go and that's not great value, even if it is the "going rate."

[bigcatdiary]

Our first visit and we found it easily, the car park is massive and getting in was fairly easy despite a very large crowd, food outlets seemed ok although we didn’t try them but plenty around us did.

The grass banks were somewhat uneven to walk on but there was plenty of room despite a huge crowd and we eventually settled at the back of the first bend.

Viewing was good and the speakers was clear and certainly loud enough, probably a bit too loud.

The track unfortunately wasn’t, it looked a good shape and prior to the meeting looked ok as they watered it but clearly the damage had been done in the afternoon

From the first heat it was clear that despite a long run to the first bend their wasn’t much dirt on the track and most heats were processional after the first corner, their were a few overtakes but they were few and far between and the majority of the heats were decided at the the gate.

We were aware that a lot of the track surface was brought in from Peterborough's circuit but being a hot sunny day and with the afternoons practice it clearly hadn’t been watered enough and it very soon showed with dust after just a few races.

The meeting was conducted at a fairly brisk pace and several riders tried to overtake using the bend banking but despite going wide it was clear their just wasn’t enough material on the outside to provide the grip to get by which was a shame for such a good opening crowd.

We managed to get out quick and got home to Peterborough in about 45 minutes but the racing wasn’t good enough to tempt us back on a regular basis although we might return if it improves.

[YeOldPitGate]

1 hour ago, paulnolan said:

Well I thoroughly enjoyed my first night at the new track, even if my Foxes couldn't get the win! Let's get that out of the way first: it's not a great team and will absolutely need surgery sooner rather than later, but there were positives in the shape of Thompson and Harrison going great.

But that can be sorted. What can't be sorted is if your opening night goes wrong. And it didn't. Not by a long shot. A massive crowd - probably about 3,000 if I guesstimate right - and some good racing, with times all within a second of each other. I said good, not great, because the track will need time to bed in and neither side had anything resembling an out and out racer to test it. But the shape is good and there's some banking on three and four that can be worked with, so it's all there.

The facilities are good, even if the queue for the men's toilets at the interval was an issue, and there's room for improvement if needed. And it was a brilliant night for it, too! All in all, a success! Whether I'll be back next week is to be decided - it's £25 a go and that's not great value, even if it is the "going rate."

Great to hear roughly 3k turned up re the team as you mentioned surgery that brings to one of UK speedways big issues who out there is there who would make a material difference who would come outside of the usual suspects like Kerr etc who wouldn't be much better than what they have. In the ideal world they need an Anders Thompson type rider but as we know 99% of that type of rider just won't come.