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Think MPT has shown tonight hes now a genuine number 1 in the Premiership

Lee Complin - The Comeback Begins Here........

After the massive struggles and heaps of abuse LR and the owners have had to endure to put together an anywhere near competitive team, I am sure they can live with a little embarrassment. If that's what it takes to get through the season and give the fans some exciting racing, then so be it. Instead of continuing to berate and snipe some people need to back off. Let's wait and see how the season pans out. I get the impression some on this forum would be desperately disappointed if things turns out well.

That's a shame. With Tai there, I think they would have got maybe over 1000 people to stream it and it could have brought over 10 grand into the kitty. But I wasn't going to do a four-hour drive on a Monday night.

Kids should always be free,,, at every track. I don't have kids, so makes no difference to me,,, but I totally agree, good on ipswich for free kids. They should be free everywhere.

Most under rated rider in the league

Came in and then took the spoils

My 2 pence piece; I would say Clegg looked quickest even after blowing the bottom out of the engine… Starke very close behind (probably to be expected given they know the place inside out). And Starkey rides Brough so well. BWD looked decent although not as smooth as Clegg or Starke seemed to be…to my eye seemed to be muscling the corners a bit but I’m sure he’ll get dialed in. Definitely on pace though. Weathers and Wright as you’d expect although Wrights brand new swanky kevelars made me keep having to check who it was, used to him in his old school red and black. As for the 6 & 7, Congreve looked spot on to be honest you can tell he knows what he is doing, looked better and better every time he came out. Obviously it’s different when there’s 3 other riders riding in anger next to you at the same time but think he may surprise a few people… may take a few meetings for him but going off yesterday I have absolutely no concerns… Complin,,, probably and absolute steal at reserve, absolute control over the bike still, certainly not the quickest (yet) at P&P but you could see him trying different lines and slowly building it back up. You can just tell bike control comes totally natural to him… wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in the main body of the team after the first round of averages get updated. Again I think any concerns people had about him coming back can be put to bed he’s going to be very handy still… Quietly optimistic we’ll be tough to beat at home this year which is a far cry from last season… Definitely a team everyone can get behind…

Yes, after his year of average manipulation at Glasgow

Not just Poland, I assume. Any Swedish or Danish matches on UK nights would surely have taken priority as well.

Bang On!! If they are not there now, you lose absolutely nothing by giving them free admission.... And if the kid wants to go, then simply the parent or guardian has to go too... And having "quite a few kids" from the same school also means they can watch together, which can only encourage repeat visits... Why do establishments provide free rooms for kids parties? Simply because they know adults (and their wallets and purses), will be in attendance...

Similar story to me and my lad.. (No crush on Heeps though). (I think)... He unfortunately doesnt see the value in paying to watch league racing now he is 18 and has to fork out for himself... He cannot reconcile how riders can end up riding for everyone else, so he doesnt treat it as a serious sport, hence, no way will he pay twenty quid to get in.. We stopped being "regulars" when the Aces charged for 12 and upwards, after many years of being free when he was under 12, (so they lost my money and gained nothing), and instead we did FIM meetings and "decent" individuals, ie Proper Speedway meetings, with the odd attendance to the Aces when certain riders were in town.... He has though paid for me and him to attend tonight and the British GP, (over £80 on me!!!), as a thankyou for the thousands of miles I have covered taking him the length and breadth of the country so he can play football.. I was "shocked" to say the least.. Although it will be me paying the hotel bill.... Hopefully your daughter stays with it and can see the value when it his her turn to have to pay to get in, as the sport needs that "missing generation" so badly... Edit: FWIW. I actually think that for a good many that £7/£8 could actually be the "deal breaker" given the cost of living will rise/is rising so much.. And, just like with me, you lose the adults money too...

So short sighted and terrible attitude. Costs me 20 quid for me and my daughter to go to Foxhall, will cost me £29 at Peterborough! That’s a huge difference. My daughter wasn’t initially keen to go at the beginning, and I certainly wouldn’t have paid to take her knowing she wasn’t overly fussed about going, but because she was free to get in I dragged her along for company to see what she thought. She now won’t miss a meeting, and it’s actually me that can’t be bothered some nights but I end up going for her. Club merchandise, teenage crush on Heeps, the works! You never can tell, but every chance in a few years once she turns 17, she’ll return as a paying customer. How many others are just like her? Saw more youngsters at Foxhall last year than probably all the away tracks I visited combined. Is there any wonder? Again, well done to the Ipswich promotion for some forward thinking, pity the others aren’t of the same mindset

Doesn't really make any difference if its £19 or £20 if kids are £7 or £8. All of a sudden its nearing £30 for the adult taking them . It's not as though it would be the kids paying you themselves is it? From not missing any meetings at home since I started to go in the 80s as a kid its now getting to a stage I miss more than I goto . It's all about value for money.. £20 for British speedway can be poor value where by £100 for a GP trip in Poland can be good value.

I’d rather praise the Ipswich promotion for being the only club at least trying to encourage the future support of the club/sport by still allowing the youngsters in for FREE. Everyone else is charging, ranging from a Fiver to 8 quid!

It’s dying because a very high percentage of the fan base are covered in cobwebs and have two digit National Insurance numbers. Before you can attract younger people through the gate, you have to make them aware that the sport actually exists. Go and check the BBC sport website. It’s not that speedway isn’t mentioned, it’s the minority sports that are covered that reflects the embarrassing status of speedway.

Not the best ever meeting at the NSS by its extremely high standards but still pretty good, and VFM... Heat 20 was "WOW". One of those races that come along every 1000 or so. Brilliant... MPT was on it all night so a deserved winner with Tai taking the "interview of the night award".. If any promoters need to learn how to promote an event, have a word with Woffy. I might just book that flight to Poland for his testimonial..... Crowd well over 2000, and the 50/50 draw had a prize of over £500 which shows how many were there to contribute.. Couple of gripes. One being the constant music being played whilst the centre green person is talking. What with the bike noise when at the tapes in readiness for a race, and the music, you simply cannot hear what she is saying... And the second is the use of the 2 min clock. They used it for the first 10 races or so (a la Poland), and it was great. One race ended, another quickly started. Then they let the riders get off their bikes and do plenty of gardening for the last half of races and didnt use the clock.. The interviews in the pits were good, and loud and clear, which sometimes with a "roving mike" doesnt always happen.. Didnt see much promotion of next weeks meeting v Sheffield given the crowd was so big, (double a usual meeting I would say), which I always think is an opportunity missed, as many of the fans in attendance would have been "local" but infrequent visitors to the Aces league meetings. (I saw five lads who, like me and my lad, "used to go" but none of us will be there next week)... Maybe they could have knocked out some £15 or so tickets for the first couple or three meetings to encourage more of tonight's "locals" in the crowd to go back? Overall some pretty tough, hard racing for a "pre season" meeting, with plenty of passing (not always for first), to keep you interested, and if you get the chance to see Heat 20, then enjoy...

Since his tangle at Monmore with Ryan Douglas hes gone up another level with his consistency in his scoring , to think someone posted on the 2022 Predictions thread hes the weakest number 1 in the premiership this season

Terrific Youtube content from Lee Complin there. I'm not a fan of social media but it is exactly what the general public are after. There's a good backstory there regardless of whether or not his comeback goes well. Really professionally done and great exposure for sponsors.

That goes a long way, could be the key?

Sounds promising. Feel for Max though, on the eve of the season as well Hopefully George and Lee will be powerhouses at reserve!!

We better hope Ricky doesn’t hit top form then.

I think we are allowed to think such things but not to say them. It is almost that Buster gets into a tractor plays the tractor equivalent of the Skaters Waltz on his headphones an is away in a world of his own.

Very best of luck to Lee for the season ahead, got some good memories of watching him guest for Glasgow a long time ago

It's probably never been thought of but the witches in the past have a history of running meetings such as the 16 Lapper, Billy Sanders Memorial etc. Some of these have either been at the start or the finish of a season Why oh why do they not look at a pre season fixture where you get a very wealthy local businessman involved who funnily enough loves the sport and create something spectacular I'm talking about the "Tru7.com Challenge" and run an individual meeting featuring 16 riders plus some junior racing perhaps and have Tru7 Group promote it alongside Chris Louis Guy can offset alot of the costs via his business and with his relationships with various manufacturers could likely get say a brand new van for the winner If he was willing to cover the costs which would gain alot of local coverage (if prompted properly) you could do free entry Both Tru7 and Witches gain the data from the public (if tickets had to be reserved online) Guy could have X amount of the allocation to give to staff, families, clients etc. If one man can make it work it would be Guy Nicholls, and if I've thought of it surely more than a few others have People could argue he does alot for speedway as it is but he is also big on the local community and putting something like this together which can go into schools as part of the promotion would be a win-win

You're right!

Buster is addicted to tractors it seems to me.

My take is that the shale used at Lynn is of course heavier and more clay based than elsewhere due to the stocks and if it wasn't graded you'd just have one mega fast line out wide. It's not ideal but it is what it is and if they get on with the in between races like they did last night it's not a massive issue. 3 hours or so for 27 heats isn't too bad although it turning chilly doesn't help people's mood I admit!

That was Derek’s last season and Aaron’s one and only season in the UK by seasons end they were running out of puff a little. However we started the year with Steve Worrall and Justin Sedgman at reserve so there massive improvements meant the 1-5 were all heatleader standard

I would also start really advertising the fact that kids go free,, and make it a tag line. Compare it to other such things parents and kids do together, so it looks like a good value night out compared to say the cinema or the zoo or whatever it compares better than.

The rule change they voted against, would've meant British Speedway not being considered a "professional league" this would've meant no restrictions if riders want to race in Poland, Sweden & Britain. But also would've meant any time Poland had a re-arranged fixture on a Monday or Thursday, they'd get priority over riders, meaning even more guests needed to be used!

I’d go further and give kids season tickets to every school in Ipswich and surrounding areas. With maybe after every 5 meetings the parents get half price admission. it’s called promotion

Keep blaming everyone else if it makes you feel better.

Think it makes it seem worse due to how cold it is… i went to Josh Auty’s the day before and there was hardly any hold ups it was so cold every tiny thing seemed so much worse!! (Even the riders coming round celebrate was starting to annoy haha)… Rob Godfrey introducing the riders was like a form of torture

I did think of going to this, but i tested positive for the bug on friday. After following the updates, i feel like i had a lucky escape.

Hope Lewis benefited greatly financially from this meeting. Perhaps things got better later on, possibly the most boring meeting I have ever been to, spectators all around were heard to say they are bored or fed up. Why I wonder does every meeting at Kings Lynn have have tractor endurance events. Hope you did well Lewis but very poor fare IMO spectator wise.

Looked comfortable on the track that's he's never even seen before never mind ride it

I must admit that was a disadvantage of the old one off World Final-though it was still exciting to have everything decided in one night.

Riders usually ride for expenses, and the beneficiary probably hopes some will re-donate these expenses. If big stars appear for riders they perhaps don't even know, that will probably be for an agreed fee. It's unlikely there will be much concession on rent because stadium owners will want their cash, though the rider might persuade the promoters to sponsor the rent. The ref may be kind enough to re-donate his/her fee.

i don't see a problem with doing that, as long as Birmingham understand that there will be no facility available when the short term contract expires

I do, always cash when out, probably most speedway supporters do as let’s face it most supporters are geriatrics avoiding the old folks home including me

Must be Adam Ellis after Plymouth's news about losing a Premiership rider to another Championship team

The Bald Bloke does. Never use a card or that contact less thing. The only time i use my card is for online car/ bike insurance. Never carry one. Always cash. Think i might be in the minority

A guest.

How about 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw, No tactical’s off 15 yards or otherwise. The current 15 heat formula has proved to be good and a reasonable points limit should be kept. If promoters think they need more excitement then they should ensure their race tracks are not super slick and encourage racing as opposed to gating competitions. Rules should be left to the SCB as the BSPL have showed over the years they are completely incapable of any reasonable improvements as this latest example shows. All leagues should be under exactly the same rules, let’s get back to keeping it simple.

Shows how confusing it is! Basically, they are potentially punishing away teams (home teams have nothing to lose) just because they think drawn matches aren't exciting ...

Seems like so many other rule changes British Speedway has conjured up over the years. Completely needless and guaranteed to wind the fans up

Even before a wheel is turned for congreave he's being sort of written off already... From what I've heard he's been practicing everywhere possible since arriving over here last month so let's give the kid a chance !! You never know he may turn out to be the next David bargh or mark Thorp or even better the great Ivan mauger

Wow I didnt know that. Another set back for the promotion but new pits is never a bad thing, are they laid out the same as the old ones? Looking forward to seeing the new improvements anyone got any idea on the riding order for the new season, I'd personally go. 1. Bradley Wilson Dean 2. Max Clegg 3. James Wright 4. Matty Wethers 5. Paul Starke 6. Lee Complin 7. George Congreve Time to get excited for the new season!!

Couple of months later, revised predictions..... Glasgow Leicester Poole Redcar Oxford Edinburgh Birmingham Berwick Plymouth Scunthorpe Newcastle Just a bit of fun folks, nobody get their knickers twisted