Vince

I think BWitcher is spot on, the rules don't really keep people away from Speedway. May eventually wear down fans who are disillusioned with the sport anyway and add to their lack of desire to keep going but I don't believe they are the reason crowds are poor. Speedway hasn't been a mainstream sport for a long time now, even in the 60's when I first started going it didn't get the coverage it had two decades earlier. I have a horrible feeling that it's probably a sport that has had its day and will now keep going much as it is with spells of slightly more and less popularity. I personally believe the racing is generally as good, if not better, than it's been since I started watching. There are many things that could be done to improve the sport, for one I would do away with the double points nonsense immediately if I could but like most other changes to rules it won't make any difference to crowd levels. Where I do differ slightly to BWitcher is that I think you need good track prep that produces good racing as I think that can make or break a first time visitor. I would also forget fining riders for having a bit of a dust up following an incident and even encourage it a little as there is no doubt that crowds love it. There are always posts expressing disgust on here when one rider hits another but the same posters will often talk about past hard men of the sport with relish. None of that will make Speedway popular again with conditions in stadiums etc, might keep current fans around longer and get a few new fans to stay around but the difference will be marginal. Atmosphere is everything at going to a Speedway meeting these days it is hard to believe that it is an exciting, dangerous sport because it has the feel of an old peoples home with music to match. Unless there is a massive effort to re-market the sport in a different way I think it will stay much as it is, if there is a complete re-branding that brings in youngsters then many of the older fans will hate it anyway!!

If Speedway promoted the sport as being extreme and highlighted the dangers then guests, R/R and doubling up could be sold as positives. Your newbies might be impressed that the sport is so dangerous that there just aren't enough riders to go around when the injuries start to hit teams.

Im not so sure that his bikes are especially quick, he clearly gets them set up really well within a couple of races. Personally I think he makes his bikes look quicker than they are because he has an uncanny ability to get his wheels in line early. I'd agree that he is the best first bend rider at the moment, he makes fantastic cut backs but also seems to get the bike to drive after turning so tight. I wouldn't disagree that he is probably the best rider in the world at the moment, annoying thing is that first time I saw him ride I wasn't impressed :-)

Except the post you quote proves they don't!!

It's such a shame that those in power within the sport don't take this forum seriously!!!!

Think understanding bosses who would give time off and put up with injuries for Speedway are very few and far between these days. Think understanding fans who would accept one of their riders not being available for some meetings due to work are even fewer! Practically I think the chances of a young rider doing anything that isn't self employed during the season these days is going to be very difficult although they should and do work in the off season.

Never did anybody choose such an ill fitting user name!

Next Friday sees the 4th round of the UK Dirt track Championships. Vintage, Thunderbike, Restricted and Pro classes are running Friday night with the Rookie class running on Saturday morning. Under lights last year the track held up really well and produced some great racing, especially in the pro class. Saturday also sees the very popular annual Dirt Quake event run by Sideburn magazine. An event you'll never forget with all sorts of riders on all sorts of bikes, ranging from sports bikes through scooters to choppers racing around a Speedway track. Some of the riders are very good, Guy Martin won last years chopper class, some are a little lacking in off road and racing experience to put it politely. If it's not too embarrassing to be seen with me after seeing me race come and say hello to No 95 on Friday night or ask any of the organisers where Vince is on Saturday.

Oh if I'd known you'd spoken to a start marshall I would have realised how much more knowledge you have than I possibly could. I'll try again, once the start marshall has called them to the tapes the referee doesn't allow them to roll backwards. Not sure why that is so difficult to understand in theory or practice. Having raced motorcycles of various types on and off for 44 years and still going I have a reasonable understanding of clutches and their behaviour when in all sorts of condition. Considering how much time and money Speedway riders spend on clutches I have to say that in my opinion there is no reason for them to not sit still if they had to. You will at times have a clutch drag but that's a mechanical fault like any other so if you can't sit still it's a breakdown. Besides which in your haste to ridicule people you said that anybody who thought it possible to sit still on a race bike didn't have a clue, no mention of that only applying to a knackered clutch.

I'm really sorry that we can't all have your superior knowledge and expertise but I assumed that by mentioning the ref as well it was blindingly obvious what I meant, however I will explain. The Start marshall calls the riders into the tapes and is strict about putting them in position. While he does this the ref (who is sat some distance away and therefore is able to watch all 4 riders)makes sure that nobody move backwards at any time. Hey presto!! we have 4 riders sat in position and unable to move backwards so problem solved. Now that I've enlightened you perhaps you could explain to me why a decent, properly adjusted clutch won't allow you to sit still at the start. For further education and enlightenment perhaps you recognise that sarcasm will generally be met with sarcasm.

I'd hate to see tape touching re-introduced, one of the best things they ever did was get rid of it. Now at least you generally get four riders leaving the gate in a position to compete for the first corner. Generally it used to be two at best because two or three would get caught out. I'm with Robert Lee in the Start Marshalls can stop the problems completely with the help of a strong ref. The Marshall puts them in place and anybody moving backwards by even a fraction is disqualified. You wouldn't deprive the public of too many four man races once the riders realised they can't earn while sat in the pits!

I have and still do and can sit as still as you like.

For me Speedway is 4 blokes with big balls racing as hard as they know how. Personally I like individual meetings more than team racing but it doesn't really make a lot of difference if you just watch the 4 blokes tearing around. The negativity on here and places like it is largely self feeding in my opinion. When you read how much better it was in the old days forget about it, it's what they were saying at the first meeting I went to in about 1967 or 68. Like any sport there are good meetings, poor meetings and the rare superb meeting. The great meetings make all the poor meetings worth sitting through. Speedway today offers, in my opinion, the best racing it ever has. The standard of the riders is very high and few of them like to sit back and settle for what they have in a race. Get along to see a live meeting and the speed and danger will take your breath away. Finally one important thing to remember is that unlike the overpaid participants in some other sports these lads are largely paid by the point and not very well in the main. Injury is a near certainty during the season and they will carry with pain that would see the average man off work for weeks. Yet they are usually friendly and willing to mix with the fans. There are undoubtedly many faults within the sport and the rules, pretty much like any other sport. It is still a fantastic sport

I'd bet that there are far more accidents caused by engines that have been 'softened' picking up too much grip than there ever are by outright engine power. Very noticeable in the NL when you sometimes see inexperienced riders trying to use the same set up as top riders and struggling to even get the bike turned. Strange as it may seem a novice is generally safer with more power rather than less (too much wheelspin is safer than too much grip). Where I think modern bikes are more difficult is that they are very sensitive to set up because of their lighter flywheels and higher revs and the difference between a fast well set up bike and a complete pig to ride is narrower than ever before. My opinion is that the rev limiter could be the best thing ever by not only making service intervals longer but by making super light flywheels a bit less effective. A minimum stroke would help as well.

Only met snazzy a couple of times and exchanged a few texts and emails but feel like I've lost a good friend. Smashing lass who wasn't afraid to speak her mind and loved her speedway. She'll be greatly missed

I think Speedway in this country would be better with a top league only a little above the current PL standard with the 2nd division between current PL and NL and the NL at a level where heat leaders can compete with PL 2nd strings. Allow doubling up for British riders and have a draft system throughout and you have something that would be more sustainable on current crowd levels. You could then have test matches and individual meetings to give people the opportunity to see the stars of the sport and because of its rarity value they would presumably attract good crowds.

Vardy is the worst ref I have seen in well over 40 years od Speedway. There was an incident at Weymouth where a rider had fallen right by the start line and the commentator ended up switching the red light on after he pointed this out and she still couldn't see it, very lucky somebody wasn't seriously hurt. One night at Stoke she sent the scrutineer around to measure the eco mats to the millimetre, fined a rider for having the wrong shade of yellow helmet cover but completely missed one rider punch another on bend 3 following a crash (probably a good thing as the riders were fine 2 minutes later and had she got involved it would no doubt have been like WW3!!) I think every single meeting I have ever seen her referee, and that's quite a few, she has messed up. The one good thing she does is make Ms Horley seem quite good in comparison!

So you bloody should be :-) Dave Norris was brilliant as a co commentator I thought

Why would you ban Hancock when he's just sold as many tickets in a few seconds of bad temper than his fantastic bike handling and set up skills probably have in a long career!! Like it or not incidents like this add to sport rather than detract from it, nobody was hurt, a number of people with no previous interest are looking at Speedway and if GH and NP have any sense they'll keep this grudge going at least as far as the public are concerned.

I think that riders tend to give Hancock more room than most of their opponents for the simple reason that he generally does the same for them

The move wasn't even a patch on what Sundstrom did twice last week and until refs punish riders for dangerous riding whether somebody ends up on the floor or not it will continue and very likely get worse. I thought NP left no room and was fully at fault, he does pull this type of move too often but he's the type of rider that brings in a crowd. My guess would be that he's not putting people on the floor deliberately but he puts himself into position with no regard as to how it will affect the other riders. The real shock was seeing him at a training school helping kids where he was a thoroughly nice bloke for whom nothing was too much trouble. Greg Hancock!!!! That is right at the top of my list of things I never thought I would see but what the hell it was exciting, nobody got hurt and it will be talked about for far longer than any other race this year. I'm a firm believer that Speedway needs some more of this sort of stuff, look back at posts about memorable Speedway events and there are usually far more about such incidents than about great races. Speedway is a hard and aggressive sport and it shouldn't be a surprise that riders have a tear up now and again and I think all that aggression is far more likely to attract people to the sport than the family image. Sell it rather than stop it would be my suggestion. The only stipulation I would make is that riders lashing out at other riders is only lightly, if at all, punished. However anybody else, mechanic, father, pit crew whoever who hits a rider is banned from the pits/ trackside for life. Far too many people running into little scuffles and heroically throwing punches at the back of heads and that is when somebody will get hurt. If somebody is big enough to ride Speedway they are big enough to fight their own battles.

Strangely I think they decide your nationality based on things like relatives and country of birth rather than who your mates are!!

I think if riders had to ride in the strict position dictated by their average i.e highest average at No1 lowest at No7 and points were then awarded by their number minus the number of the opposition rider that they beat. So if the No7 beats the opposition No1 he gets 6 points and so on. Obviously a bit of a hitch for the highest average riders who will score -6 points for beating the opposition No7 but he will get his reward when he becomes the No7 with a -37 average. Referees like Ms Vardy or Mr Robinson can be relied on to use their immense skills to instantly spot anybody not trying to win so this would lead to a system that would give an instant guide to the riders abilities even for the newcomer to the sport.

But how many riders will give the sport away if they don't have any idea of how many meetings they are going to get?

I like Barrycuda, he makes me feel like a genius