Foxes v Stars 07/05/26

[Sir Sidney]

4 hours ago, IainB said:

A lot of people saying "once the track settles down"... with stock cars being run on it every week (are they running every week?) will it ever "settle down"?

I think it might be more appropriate to say 'once they find out how best to prepare it' and then do that consistently 

[glenantony]

Once again it seems mainly people who weren't there moaning about start times etc - how about praising a new promotion for getting a new track up and running in such a short time? I arrived early enough but the car park was running out of space and the road from Northampton itself looked chock-a-block - I was coming up from London so missed that traffic but understood why they might have needed more time, every paying spectator counts after all.

The team is going to struggle when they pick up the 'leftovers' but some riders need to think about their performances last night, being all too keen to pull up at the back, so hopefully replacements will become available. Kye Thomsen was sensational and really showed his team mates the way. Of course there is really no home track advantage at the moment, but it's no excuse for a lack of effort.

The people involved, the stewards, on the gates, in the stand were friendly and keen, and the track produced some racing on the night. I enjoyed my first visit, boosted by a KL win, and I'd hope to go again this season.

Finally, Cooper Rushen may have made an error, it just looked a horrible crash from where I sat, but please he is only 16 and as he said himself he is learning all the time. He is clearly a special talent, so instead of the usual Forum pile-on, how about cutting the young lad some slack and supporting a future GB superstar?  

[foreverblue]

45 minutes ago, IainB said:

Have you seen the crash, I'm pretty sure it was on YouTube earlier as I watched it... doesn't seem to be there now though 🤔

In my view Cooper turned left but probably more that he meant to, realising this Luke tried to avoid him but could not. To castigate him and calling for a ban is way over the top, I am sure Rob Lyon has had a word with him and he will learn from his mistake. 

[Roger Jacobs]

4 hours ago, Colinspeedway said:

Had Rushen been excluded, would heat 2 have had one rider only due to the other 2 being treated?

Yes. Last night was one of the rare occasions where a rider and their team was deprived of at least one point because the rider could not compete in the rerun through no fault of their own.  I think there's a case for the Regs to enable the third rider and their team to have a point awarded, e.g. last night Scott would be given third place behind Thomson and Rushen, meaning a 4-2 to the Foxes.

In the extreme example of two riders missing, then they and their team(s) could be awarded 1.5 points each.

Edited 5 hours ago by Roger Jacobs

[Roger Jacobs]

8 hours ago, LisaColette said:

That is all very well but the ref didn't even exclude him, so obviously he didn't think he did anything wrong. 

He is only 16 he is going to make mistakes, as long as he learns from them. Also maybe not have patchy grip when the younger kids are out. Even Ben Cook and Chris Harris were struggling with it a race later. 

BSN said that the Ref didn't look at the replays. Jan Staechmann said he was astonished by the Ref's decision not to exclude Rushen, because it was clear he had turned left, and Harrison had little to no chance of avoiding him.

I appreciate Rushen has got to learn, but in the first meeting at Foxhall I saw him take an odd line on the second bend and he was within the veritable whisker of wiping out Scott Nicholls.

Rushen is very talented, no doubt, but needs to reign in the "enthusiasm".  Harrison was very impressive when speaking, and his riding so far has been very measured.

As for your comment "maybe not have patchy grip when the younger kids are out" - how on earth would you manage that?!

[Daniel Smith]

Watching the incident over & over & for me (unpopular opinion clearly) the referee made the right call.

Rushen overshooting the corner a little & just tries to get his wheels in line quicker to regain speed to hold position. At no point through the whole move is he moving left down the straight. The view from behind is very very clear on that.

For me, Harrison had enough time & room to see what was happening in front of him but failed to adjust to the situation.

 

[noaksey]

15 minutes ago, Roger Jacobs said:

BSN said that the Ref didn't look at the replays. Jan Staechmann said he was astonished by the Ref's decision not to exclude Rushen, because it was clear he had turned left, and Harrison had little to no chance of avoiding him.

I appreciate Rushen has got to learn, but in the first meeting at Foxhall I saw him take an odd line on the second bend and he was within the veritable whisker of wiping out Scott Nicholls.

Rushen is very talented, no doubt, but needs to reign in the "enthusiasm".  Harrison was very impressive when speaking, and his riding so far has been very measured.

As for your comment "maybe not have patchy grip when the younger kids are out" - how on earth would you manage that?!

Whereas they announced over the tannoy whilst the injured riders were being treated and before the exclusion light came on that "the ref was reviewing the video footage"

[SPEEDY69]

1 hour ago, Colinspeedway said:

Yes with age should come better decision making. Im sure all of your choices as a 16 year old were spot on? 

That's a ridiculous comparison.  My choice to form a relationship with one girl when I was 16 was proven not be the best but I fail to see how that's related to racing a bike.  Equally a 17 year old driver who's just passed their test may choose to drive around a bend on the opposite side of the road - when they kill others would you shrug it off, oh well they made a bad choice....?  Every rider knows turning left on the straight, especially when another rider is so close, is a definite no no.

[ouch]

The other thing people aren’t mentioning is the fact it was inexperienced riders behind Cooper. I’ve seen riders with a few years under their belts almost stop down the straight when needed. I don’t know how they do it but that level of skill doesn’t manifest over night. 

Having said that, my problem with Coopers move yesterday was the looking beforehand. Riders have made moves being unaware of those behind but this was thought about. Negatives can be the best learning platform and I believe this will be for Cooper. 

[Daniel Smith]

12 minutes ago, ouch said:

The other thing people aren’t mentioning is the fact it was inexperienced riders behind Cooper. I’ve seen riders with a few years under their belts almost stop down the straight when needed. I don’t know how they do it but that level of skill doesn’t manifest over night. 

Having said that, my problem with Coopers move yesterday was the looking beforehand. Riders have made moves being unaware of those behind but this was thought about. Negatives can be the best learning platform and I believe this will be for Cooper. 

But he is going to look, he made an error off the bend so checked everyone else's position, it's normal with every rider who makes an error. Absolutely normal to do.

At the point of Rushen looking back, Harrison was far enough behind to see Rushen's corrective manoeuvres. For me, the incident only arises because Harrison isn’t aware of his surroundings.

Rushen doesn't & never did turn left down the straight.

The only decision the referee had on offer was excluding Harrison. 

[Gavan]

7 minutes ago, Daniel Smith said:

But he is going to look, he made an error off the bend so checked everyone else's position, it's normal with every rider who makes an error. Absolutely normal to do.

At the point of Rushen looking back, Harrison was far enough behind to see Rushen's corrective manoeuvres. For me, the incident only arises because Harrison isn’t aware of his surroundings.

Rushen doesn't & never did turn left down the straight.

The only decision the referee had on offer was excluding Harrison. 

Take your kings Lynn hat off mate 

I for one am not castigating Cooper … I believe he meant to go a bit left and when he did coupled with the looking behind him he went further over than he thought 

My youngest daughter now 17 did roller speed skating and was a multi british champion …. One of her very first outdoor races at the age of 6 she was coming down the final straight and looked behind to see her fast finishing rival … the looking made her veer to the left … her skill set at that stage meant she drifted …. She was pulled in front of the officials and given a warning and rightly so although her mum thought the officials harsh I believed they were correct … age is not a factor and should not be taken into account 

Cooper got this wrong and I don’t believe maliciously …. The fact he is the best youngster we have and is showing outstanding form doesn’t come into it … I’m sure those around him will have had a word and I expect cooper himself will see the reaction (some of which is way over the top) and learn from it

Many many ex riders have all said Cooper was at fault ranging from Steachmann, Silver , Stonehewer .. down to the likes of James Brundle…… I’m inclined to go with ex riders opinion rather than a fan who can be biased to his or her club

Cooper clearly at fault … not malicious or dirty and hopefully he has took it all on board 

[Whitelinehugger]

19 minutes ago, Gavan said:

Cooper clearly at fault … not malicious or dirty and hopefully he has took it all on board 

This board?

[Roger Jacobs]

1 hour ago, Daniel Smith said:

But he is going to look, he made an error off the bend so checked everyone else's position, it's normal with every rider who makes an error. Absolutely normal to do.

At the point of Rushen looking back, Harrison was far enough behind to see Rushen's corrective manoeuvres. For me, the incident only arises because Harrison isn’t aware of his surroundings.

Rushen doesn't & never did turn left down the straight.

The only decision the referee had on offer was excluding Harrison. 

You are joking! As Jan Staechmann pointed out, there aren't any brakes. You can see Harrison trying to pull back/away, but he was accelerating out of the bend taking a natural line, while Rushen (who took one long look, and then a second glance), had moved across from the natural line. I doubt any rider would have expected him to be there.  Harrison had no chance - neither did Scott - or do you think he should have navigated his way past?!

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Roger Jacobs

[DaveWayne]

8 hours ago, IainB said:

One of the riders said they've already managed to add more banking in the last week.

Stock cars / Bangers don't run weekly at Northampton. Sometimes they are on consecutive weekends, but usually there are 2 or 3 weeks between meetings.

Interestingly, I was watching interviews with F1 stock car drivers last night from the meeting held there last Saturday and they were commenting that there was more material on track than at the previous meeting.

One thing that should please everyone is that I am not seeing any complaints on here about the surface being rough last night, despite there being torrential rain mid-meeting on Saturday night. If there were going to be issues I would have expected them to show up after that.

[Colinspeedway]

4 hours ago, SPEEDY69 said:

That's a ridiculous comparison.  My choice to form a relationship with one girl when I was 16 was proven not be the best but I fail to see how that's related to racing a bike.  Equally a 17 year old driver who's just passed their test may choose to drive around a bend on the opposite side of the road - when they kill others would you shrug it off, oh well they made a bad choice....?  Every rider knows turning left on the straight, especially when another rider is so close, is a definite no no.

Ok so what would you see as appropriate punishment then?

[SPEEDY69]

14 minutes ago, Colinspeedway said:

Ok so what would you see as appropriate punishment then?

What for Rushen or any other rider that does it? Exclusion from that race. 

[Colinspeedway]

1 minute ago, SPEEDY69 said:

What for Rushen or any other rider that does it? Exclusion from that race. 

Is that it? After all your chastising we agree?

Edited 1 hour ago by Colinspeedway

[SPEEDY69]

Just now, Colinspeedway said:

Is that it?

What else do you expect? Any infringement in a race which causes a fall is always an exclusion, if Ray Charles isn't refereeing. 

[Colinspeedway]

Just now, SPEEDY69 said:

What else do you expect? Any infringement in a race which causes a fall is always an exclusion, if Ray Charles isn't refereeing. 

Ok so we agree then? Ridiculous chastising a youngster the way you have. If it's so bad that he tried to kill someone then you'd want him to be punished?

[IainB]

20 minutes ago, Colinspeedway said:

Ok so we agree then? Ridiculous chastising a youngster the way you have. If it's so bad that he tried to kill someone then you'd want him to be punished?

I'd have thrown him from the meeting and that's it.