Foxes vs Witches, Thursday 30th April

[marko]

I recall only too well from Lakeside that any afternoon practice would kill the meeting later on,  and no amount of work would be able to get it back from being slick and haggard. 

[Roger Jacobs]

4 minutes ago, marko said:

I recall only too well from Lakeside that any afternoon practice would kill the meeting later on,  and no amount of work would be able to get it back from being slick and haggard. 

And watering a dry, slick track either has no effect* or makes it too slippery.

*As they found at Foxhall in the first meeting, a sprinkle of water on virtually on a very dry surface in warm, breezy weather was completely pointless.  In the "good old days" Chris Louis and trackman Bob used to prepare the track with a good soaking while packing the shale as they went.

[szkocjasid]

Good result for Ipswich with their reserves being outscored, I always thought that was what would give them an advantage over their opposition.

Delighted for Northampton to get such a great crowd. Probably won't make the play-offs, but look to be more competitive than Birmingham & Oxford last year.

[IainB]

Thoughts on last night...

Had to queue to get into the car park, but I think I arrived just at the time when the main car park became full and they had to open the mahoosive overflow car park.

Gaining entry to the stadium was a bit of a shambles, after watching the video earlier in the afternoon where it said the e-ticket gates were situated on the left side of the turnstiles, when I approached all punters were being funnelled in through the same cordoned area, a lot were just ignoring this and just heading to the e-ticket gate and nipping under the rope, which I also did (shame on me) but because everybody was being funneled in the same way there was actually nobody using the credit card turnstile and there were another 2 cash turnstiles open to the left of the e-ticket gate, again with nobody queuing! Teething troubles I know but a bit of forethought could have been used. It took an age to get through with my e-ticket as well, not sure if there was a problem with the system as nobody seemed to be gaining entry for around 5 minutes.

Surprised to see the grandstand actually on the back straight when I entered. I then had the decision of where to stand, it was a choice between backstraight/turn 2 with a very bright sun shining directly in my eyes or turn 1, 3 or home straight. I plumped for the home straight but it was difficult to see with the perimeter catch fencing in place, especially with the sun shining on it, this ceased to be an issue when the sun set and the excellent lights took effect.

Early on gate 4 seemed to be a huge advantage but the track does show promise, as I've said earlier when it's prepared better, it was far too dry and looked a bit choppy in places, there weren't really any (successful) big blasts around the outside but some good tussles with riders easing their opponents off the line on the inside coming out of the bends. It reminded me a lot of King's Lynn with the stand, the grey fencing, the concrete infield and Buster milling about. There did seem to be a lack of sponsorship, the team, as far as I am aware are not sponsored and there were no sponsor signs on any of the fence panels, even the league sponsorship banners were non-existent.

Presentation was a bit subdued, Dave Rowe in the box and Craig Saul on the roving mic, they're both good at what they do in their own style but there was no real hype going on, no come on get behind your team, no real hyping of the riders, just the usual reading out of the heat runners and a few interviews all interspersed with music from the 80's and 90's... all very Speedway 😁

Getting out wasn't as smooth as it should have been either as we seemed to have to exit the same way we got in through the turnstiles, all of which weren't open, there didn't seem to be a big gate to let punters out and by the smell of the bogs just in front of the turnstiles, they were struggling to deal with the crowd as well 💩👃. I thought stadia had to have proper exit routes in case of the need for evacuation 🤷‍♂️

Then getting out of the car park took a while, which was to be expected with a large crowd but they did have some folk marshaling the traffic, so it wasn't quite a free for all. That's the trouble when everybody leaves at the same time though, if more tracks did what Leicester do and interview the riders in turn after every match it gives the chance for those that want to leave straight away to do so, while others not so much in a rush are still engaged, especially important I would have thought with a new team that should be trying to build a bond with their new fanbase.

Didn't see the Premiership CEO in attendance or the Chairman of the BSPL, not to say they weren't there, I just didn't see them.

All in all it was an entertaining evening and once the small teething issues have been addressed it should sit very nicely alongside the other clubs in the PL. I'll certainly be returning whenever the Lions aren't riding as it's a pretty easy 1 hour trip down the motorway for me 👍

[Derrickn]

10 hours ago, oleoleole said:

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.

It's ok saying the track will get better,but with regular stock car meetings,its always going to be a case of starting from scratch with track prep.

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

Congratulations to Northampton on a smooth and successful opening night - I'm glad I made the effort to check it out

An easy 2hour(ish) journey from Ipswich,  simple to find and pretty well organised parking 

A good location to take advantage of those supporters sadly missing their own teams

A great turnout (3-4k?) Lots of 'neutrals' but hopefully a good number will become regulars

Track very slick with any outside dirt pretty much unusable particularly on 1&2 where the significant descent negates the camber

A number of decent battles without oodles of passing. The general buzz of a bigger crowd meant these probably came across better than had it been an empty stadium (take note promoters - atmosphere is a big factor in perception)

I can certainly see that there should be an improvement in the racing with some relatively straight forward adjustments to prep

Gate 4 was a huge advantage , with gate 1 a graveyard - a couple of clever/experienced first bends off the less favoured gates made the difference in the Witches favour - Score totals 1) 13+2 2) 21+6 3) 22+2 4) 34+2

Decided to make a dash for it during lap 4 of heat 15 to ensure our exit was possible in decent time

Generally a very positive evening for the sport

[Bojangles]

1 hour ago, IainB said:

Getting out wasn't as smooth as it should have been either as we seemed to have to exit the same way we got in through the turnstiles, all of which weren't open, there didn't seem to be a big gate to let punters out and by the smell of the bogs just in front of the turnstiles, they were struggling to deal with the crowd as well 💩👃. I thought stadia had to have proper exit routes in case of the need for evacuation 🤷‍♂️

 

Agree with all you said, except exiting the stadium. I think it depended where you were standing. We were on bends 3/4 and there were huge gates open (as well as 3 or 4 other gates) directly leading into the overflow car park. So we managed to escape straight after heat 15, were in the car within two minutes and drove out before the congestion started. Worked perfectly us, and something to consider if you go again.

Edited 6 hours ago by Bojangles

[GeneralMelchett]

Good to read, the sole reason I didnt go last night was i suspected a big crowd would go and there could be delays etc - but I am keen to get to see it this year sometime. Lets hope even half that crowd returns regularly!

Edited 6 hours ago by GeneralMelchett

[CoffeeandTV]

I was quite surprised to see a fair few Northampton Saints shirts at the stadium, so there must have been some promotion done somewhere to tempt non-regulars and locals. Let's hope they enjoyed it and will return.

[IainB]

10 minutes ago, Bojangles said:

Agree with all you said, except exiting the stadium. I think it depended where you were standing. We were on bends 3/4 and there were huge gates open (as well as 3 or 4 other gates) directly leading into the overflow car park. So we managed to escape straight after heat 15, were in the car within two minutes and drove out before the congestion started. Worked perfectly us, and something to consider if you go again.

Thanks, that's good to know for next time, I was approaching the exit from turns 1 and 2... and it was a bit like trying to leave a concert.

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

15 minutes ago, Bojangles said:

Agree with all you said, except exiting the stadium. I think it depended where you were standing. We were on bends 3/4 and there were huge gates open (as well as 3 or 4 other gates) directly leading into the overflow car park. So we managed to escape straight after heat 15, were in the car within two minutes and drove out before the congestion started. Worked perfectly us, and something to consider if you go again.

 

3 minutes ago, IainB said:

Thanks, that's good to know for next time, I was approaching the exit from turns 1 and 2... and it was a bit like trying to leave a concert.

I watched from the turn 2 exit (with the Danny King fan club) but moved to turn 4 for the last heat

Did the same as Bojangles - there were a number of exits direct to the field car park for a straight forward quick getaway

I was back in Ipswich by 11:15 having beforehand feared that might be the time we left the car park if there had been teething problems/delay with the meeting and then car park carnage

Thankfully there were no such issues

[Fromafar]

Great to see a positive start for Northampton. 

[mikebv]

Sounds like a big success all round...

One promoter once told me that crowds usually settle to around a quarter and a third of opening night, however that was for tracks that had "come back" so already had a following until they closed..

Not many will remember Brafield I would think, so it is more like starting from scratch in this venture so it will be interesting to see how crowd levels move...

Last nights crowd would have seen plenty of "generic" fans so, hopefully, those attending from the local area will spread the word, and the consortium also have a strong promotion package in place to build on last nights positive occasion...

Were any discount vouchers given out last night?..

The next five meetings for, say, twenty pound a throw could help get people used to attending and build some emotional attachment to "their team"..

In such a short time, the consortium have certainly done a fantastic job in getting the place open...

Let's hope healthy crowds are the norm, and the "novelty factor" remains through the season as more and more people from Northampton, and sponsors, gradually latch on to their new sport, and team...

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by mikebv

[bigcatdiary]

23 minutes ago, IainB said:

Thanks, that's good to know for next time, I was approaching the exit from turns 1 and 2... and it was a bit like trying to leave a concert.

Did you miss the exit in the middle of bends 1 & 2 (at the back fence) which had a security person on it, this led into the pits car park and the main car park at the rear, this was opened at the end of the meeting, we got straight out after leaving at the end of heat 15.

[IainB]

5 minutes ago, bigcatdiary said:

Did you miss the exit in the middle of bends 1 & 2 (at the back fence) which had a security person on it, this led into the pits car park and the main car park at the rear, this was opened at the end of the meeting, we got straight out after leaving at the end of heat 15.

I did... must have had dust in my eyes 😂

[marko]

Seen a couple of races on YouTube, my initial impression is with a bit of dirt down and well watered this could be an absolutely awesome track, there is a ton of room on the corners which is good only if from a safety point of view.

[Cross Roads]

Attended last night thought for a first meeting was as expected great crowd, track needs to settle. Get more shale down and should make for some good racing plenty of room for passing. Came from Leicester back home for 10.15pm. Luckily we got a parking space outside the entrance gates whilst arriving 6.30ish. Easy to find from junction 15 of the M1.

Impressed with Harrison will keep an eye out for him this season. Look forward to returning when the lions visit later this month and hopefully pick up a few other meetings during the season. Huge congratulations to the team in the short period of time to set up this new venture. As some may of noticed my moaning on the lions tread nice to see the racing with the stadium lighting...lol.