Halifaxtiger

Sadly, I don't agree. There were one or maybe two decent races but the rest were from the gate. Admittedly I don't go every week but I am wondering just why this season - and possibly for a couple of seasons - Sheffield simply isn't the very decent racing track that we all know it can be. They have the same trackman as Scunthorpe, yet the quality of the speedway is light years away. What's going wrong ? Interesting article in the programme about intervals with the only thing missing being why we have them at all when neither fans nor riders want them.

The problem is not so much rule changes as the way actual rules are bent, twisted and ignored.

A team trying to win the league strengthens up (big time). They break absolutely no rules in doing so. They bring in a club asset. They bring in the British World Champion and a major drawcard. The first is hardly unheard of, the second and third unusual and the fourth good news for the finances of every EL club that Wolverhampton ride against. I am wondering just what is so wrong about this.

If its anything like the last meeting, this is not to be missed.

Has to be Chris Harris at Poole in the PO final. Truly amazing. Not walking away was Jamie Smith at Mildenhall in 2007. He not only cleared the safety fence but the 7 foot high stock car catch fence as well and - fortunately - landed on the sand of the dog track. Broken collar bone - to everyone's astonishment - only. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bff6ATACYAAcQtc.jpg

That did occur to me and I suspect to many others. Last week, they said there was to be no parade as there was a junior meeting after the main event. First heat took 30 minutes but we still had an interval. Its as though they are compulsory when it is clear that one of the highest priorities for speedway fans is no unnecessary delays.

Personally I think there should never be an interval whatever the weather. Never met a fan who likes them and apparently the riders don't either. Tonight was just ridiculous, though. Black clouds were there from the start so there was at the very least a possibility of rain. Referee Graham Flint got things moving, though, and after 50 minutes we had had 10 heats. Then the promotion decided to have an interval despite the rain that had come down and was very likely to come down again Had that not happened, the meeting would have been completed (thanks largely to Mr Flint) - as it was it was abandoned and we all got wet. For the reasoning, I'd have to agree with Boz's view above.

Any news on the weather?

I'm not sure that's correct, Rob. Section 16 clearly refers to the NL several times - indeed it is stated under 16.1.2. If it didn't apply to the NL, it wouldn't be there. Where you are right is that 19.9.3 is very clear. Looks to me that we have 2 rules that can directly contradict each other, so adjudication is required. I have no issue with that with two proviso's : the first is that the person making the decision is named and provides an explanation for the decision, and the second is that if the same circumstances occur again the same decision is made. Neither of those have been satisfied. The fact that Ayres is injured allows for a guest - it is not a 'no facility'. As such, Davey should have been allowed to take his place (and I'd agree injury is a far more persuasive reason for allowing a replacement of similar ability). So we return to the usual SCB/BSPA decision making: inconsistent, irresponsible, unjustified. That's simply not good enough

I knew from the moment I saw it that, prepared properly, NSS would be something special. Last night proved it Its not the size of the circuit, its the quality of the surface that counts. Plymouth is tiny but, prepared properly, its one of the best.

That's because preparing tracks to suit paying customers needs rather than those of paid employees is a simple concept. I have known two trackmen. Bob Ellis of Ipswich/Mildenhall is one and I pretty sure he gets paid. He prepares a track for racing, not riders - I have actually seen him tell a rider in no uncertain terms where he can go when he has tried to interfere. The other was Robert Huggins (known as Huggy) an acknowledged expert in track curation who loss to speedway is a bad one. No-one - absolutely no-one - told him how to prepare a track. Scunthorpe most certainly does attract bigger crowds because of the quality of the racing, a direct result of quality preparation. Indeed, I sometimes think that neutrals in the crowd outnumber the home support and am pretty sure that without them the track would have closed by now. When I went against Ipswich, I was with a Berwick fan, a Sheffield one and an IOW one. Against Edinburgh, a Sheffield fan and a Workington one. Peterborough was prepared for racing, not home riders and that's one of the principle reasons why the meeting was out of the top drawer. This post on the SWC thread regarding Belle Vue says it all: ​'When considering 1,000's of fans are appreciative of the brilliant racing that Saturday produced, it just goes to show how important the track man is to the promotion of speedway. When the track is as good as last night, the concept of speedway is far more exciting and easy to sell. Promoters doing cost cutting on track preparation and the materials they use are on false pretence, when in fact they are destroying the excitement that fans crave for'. The one thing that is consistent about the view of the Redcar fans that I know is that when Havelock took over the quality of the racing declined dramatically (apparently due to the wishes of Havelock junior). It has improved since but is still nowhere near as good as it was under Van Straaten and Taylor. STMP has been and can be again a superb race track and penny pinching on the quality of preparation is nothing less than a false economy that, in the end, will backfire.

That's where Redcar are going wrong. Tracks should be prepared for those watching a meeting, not those taking part. After all, since when do the needs of paid employees come above those of paying customers ? Prepare the track for racing (neither slick nor deep) not how riders want it and that goes for every circuit in the country, not just Redcar. Fans want to see good racing (preferably with a home win) and in my experience tracks good for racing and what riders want are not necessarily the same thing. If riders don't like it (and as long as it isn't dangerous), tough. As the great Ivan Mauger once said, 'a track's a track. Ride it'. Certain riders regarded Scunthorpe's track of the season win last year with derision and amusement. Says everything about the differing views of fans and riders, because I think it is viewed by speedway fans as by far the best in the country. Track preparation is a highly skilled job and refusing to pay someone who has the necessary skill and expertise is a massively false economy. STMP could be (and has been) a superb racing track but for the last few years (principally since Havelock took over) with a few exceptions its been nowhere near as good as that. I hear all sorts of excuses about why tracks are rubbish and they usually involve wind, sun, rain and stock cars. At Scunny two weeks ago they had a stock car meeting on the Saturday and Sunday was a hot, windy day. Read the reports about just how fantastic that meeting against Edinburgh was. The same goes (without the stock cars) at Peterborough for the PL fours Scunthorpe and Peterborough don't have a magic wand. If they can do it, so can everyone else.

Spot on and even if they do its still about 4 blokes on bikes without brakes everything else is 'fluff'. Again, spot on .​ The quotes about mates loving speedway but not going because of tactical rides is, I suspect, in almost every case a load of crap. Pretty much sums it up for me, Vince, although I much prefer team meetings. While I get a lot of pleasure motoring about this beautiful country of ours and meeting up with mates all over the place they are just bonuses - its all about the racing, nothing more.

I think you are right here - it was exciting because it was close but the racing was somewhat poor. Some might say that chasing back wheels is as good as passing but if you know that they can't pass the race is over after bend 2, and that's how it was (mostly) last night. The sadness is STMP used to be a very fine race track - which means it could be again. The meeting against Plymouth last season, for instance, was one of the best that I saw in 2015. Its just a pity that they don't put the effort in to make it as good as it can be. Big thanks for the weather report. Rained all the way up until it stopped just north of Yarm.

Hows the weather ?

I like the announcer. At least he tries to get the crowd involved. As to the meeting, it was decent because it was so close but the racing at Eastbourne never seems to be as good as it should be. Its not a bad track, there just don't seem to be the racing lines that it used to have any more. Pity. Close call in heat 8. I had a reasonable view by the starting tapes and it could have gone either way. Another track that charges full price for an insert. That's simply not on One last thing : Good to see Uncle Bob on the tractor given that he has been very ill.

Thing is you have the pairs at Somerset and the fours at Peterborough with the PLRC at Sheffield. One of those should be at one of the northern tracks which, lets face it, constitute pretty much half the league. Having said that, Somerset and Peterborough have done an excellent job so why change them ? Neutral venues are a very good idea but they simply don't attract the attendances.

I suppose if you don't want to watch some fantastic speedway that's fair enough.

Some very decent racing late on, particularly Holder's brilliant ride in heat 13 - won't see much better than that anywhere. Very pleased for my pals in the Devils on Tour, some of the best fans around and deserving of some success. Especially good to see my old mate Brian Cave, top bloke and an inspiration. In the past I haven't been a fan of Roy Clarke but he did an excellent job today.

Agreed .......only it didn't exceed my expectations. Seen some cracking speedway at Lakeside in the past and this was no exception. Very rare that heat 1 is an outstanding race but this one most certainly was. Star of the show for me was Robson. On a track that suited him down to the ground he was excellent value. Only criticism was another club that charges full price for an insert ​

Absolutely spot on, Brian Unnecessary delays - including any interval - should be cut out as much as possible. No-one wants to be standing around getting cold, getting sunburnt or getting bored and my understanding is that is how the riders want it, too. At Scunthorpe, there is never an interval and its rare that a meeting takes longer than 90 minutes, partly because Rob Godfrey says stuff over the mic like 'are we having the 2 minutes on then, ref ?'. Its not difficult to realise that with a rigid curfew things will need to move along as promptly as possible. That's why I say it isn't Kent 75%, Birmingham 25% or anything else, its 100% referee.

I'd be pointing fingers at the referee rather than anyone else. He's in control of the meeting and can get the 2 minutes on quickly, allow a reasonable amount of time for bike repair (not as long as they want) and stop time wasting (because it appears that that was pretty blatant). Riders, team managers and promoters will try to get away with gaining an unfair advantage. Perhaps not natural, but certainly inevitable. Here, it seems to me that the man with the power to stop them did not do so effectively enough. That still shouldn't take 25 minutes. Ref issue.

Ashworth last to first. Remember it well. If memory serves me correctly, there were a few Sheffield fans jeering when he gated last..... Take it from me, there were about 8 races as good as that on Sunday - it really was just brilliant.

Me too. Doing the updates, I ran out of superlatives

That is the end of season average. The rule says at any time, so Rob's reference (which was 2 weeks before) stands and Davey wasn't eligible. I think it will hinge on why Bewley rode for Belle Vue rather than Edinburgh. Its a little unfortunate that all this distracts from what was a superb speedway meeting.