Vince

I think once he settles in he will be within a hairs breadth of being as fast as ever out on his own but a little less likely to take big chances for a point and probably less forceful in the first corner. He will consistently gate most of the riders he comes up against though so I would expect his average to be about a point short of Pedersen and put him up near the leagues top guys. What he loses in aggression I would expect him to gain most of back in consistency at our league level. Very different from trying to win in Poland or the GP's.

Even if the track has changed drastically, which mostly they won't have, he can set up a bike to be spot on after one race while less experienced riders will be chasing the set up all night.

I think he'll do pretty well and you have to add on the points his team mates will gain by learning from him. I would think on top of the points he scores you can expect another 5 a meeting (especially away) from helping his team with set ups and coaching.

No idea what is happening at Rye Speedway wise but I can say with certainty as I've seen it done a few times that Saturday evening Speedway could follow a day of Speedway or flat track practice. There is plenty of time to prep a good track in normal weather conditions. Also it seems certain that since most Speedway teams are said to be making a loss that the practice sessions are more profitable!

Id agree with much of what you say except that Football gets the gates it does because the product is right. It has the huge advantage that supporters are almost born into the sport simply because it is already so popular in the UK and children follow their parents in so many cases. Almost every kid plays football at least for a while. The atmosphere of supporting a football club is so tribal that for a large number they simply can't imagine doing anything else on a Saturday afternoon (mainly), after all there are plenty of poor games played at all those clubs during a season. The success of being in the top division counts for a lot as well given that they get to see different world class players most weeks. I don't think it would suddenly bring big crowds to Speedway clubs if the tracks and racing were great every week. We now have one of the best tracks in the world in a large city producing consistently good racing in front of relatively small crowds. Still seems that winning is what will bring crowds into the local Speedway track every week and as soon as the winning ends so do the reasonable crowd levels.

I always think of Martin Lampkin as a Trials rider, first ever World Trials Champion in the mid 1970's on a Bultaco where previously it had been a European Championship.. Quite possibly he did some scrambles too as many did in those days and I remember they did a superbiker challenge where everybody had a go at other motorcycle sports and Martin Lampkin being useful on both Speedway and grasstrack bikes in that. Arthur Lampkin was definitely better known as a scrambler and I may be wrong but I think Sid did a bit of both Trials and Scrambles to a good standard.

One of my heroes from my younger days, always the rider I wanted to see win the big meetings and now and again he would pull it off. Particularly remember seeing him on the CCM, he looked a bit of a geek with his thin frame and glasses but must have been immensely strong the way he used to hustle big four strokes around.

I think it's in On any Sunday 2 that there is a segment about Japanese Speedway, obviously from several decades ago. The parts that stick in my mind are that the crowd was pretty much silent, in Japan they were for some unknown reason using Triumph engines and as you say the riders were kept isolated and taken out to their bikes in a covered trailer so they couldn't be in contact with anybody.

I believe that their earnings in this country will have dropped a fair bit as well as them not earning abroad. I think many on here would be surprised by who work elsewhere and just how much riders earn. There aren't too many pulling in better money from Speedway than the people watching them do from their jobs. Things have changed for Speedway riders with far less jobs that are able to fit around the sport than the old days which makes working difficult during the season for many, many others still manage it though. While fans talk about the good old days of a rider turning up with one bike on a rack the reality is that these days any rider turning up with one bike that is less than pristine will be slaughtered if their equipment costs the team points.

While the racing is the most important part for me by far given that I've never really supported a team it'll be interesting to see what happens at Swindon next year if they aren't as successful. Time and again it has been proved that while fans all say the quality of racing is the most important factor the fact is that a winning team is what brings people through the gate these days.

The best summing up of the situation for Speedway at this time I have probably ever read on here (obviously by best I mean that agrees with my own views )

Hit the rev limiter on a modern bike and all that happens is you get a slight misfire, much more like an over rev on an old engine than backing the throttle off. Points bounce was always a good indication you had reached 8000rpm and needed to fit electronic ignition in the old days too. Road bikes now have all sorts of traction control and anti wheelie options. Even my flat track bikes have mapping choices and start options that are basic traction control, it all works flawlessly, whether you need it or it is desirable is another story, I've used the same map since I've had the bike I use and never bothered with the start option. From 2019 the Yamaha YZ450 MX bike has had the option to connect to it via Bluetooth and make quite significant changes to the fuelling and timing from your phone. I've been tempted by that, not because I'd need it but I'd enjoy playing with it! I can't see the set up suggested for Speedway doing any harm at all and it may well have some benefits, especially if the option to gradually lower limits was used.

I agree that a big crowd will make the whole thing seem better but how many return to watch normal league meetings in the future? Those extra people are surely lapsed and armchair fans in the main who normally keep an eye on the results in the local paper or watch the meetings on TV. Doesn't seem to engage new fans in any numbers or keep people paying to come in the door. It's been the case for years that a club doing well in the league increases it's crowds significantly, also been the case that often enough the increase doesn't pay for a competitive team. Promoters are much maligned for a lack of ambition when they run cheaper teams but in truth they are often the clubs that survive year on year.

I agree with the idea of Speedway being a weekend sport, the good old days with big crowds also had the majority of people working until 5 or 6pm which is no longer the case I don't think you can extend the time a meeting takes or involve it with other sports without it becoming an amateur event supported by friends and family of the competitors and funded by the racers. Too many Speedway fans have absolutely no interest in other forms of racing. About 3 or 4 years ago we did a demonstration race at Rye House on a Saturday night, 'luckily' it was a very good race with loads of passing and plenty of elbows and hard passes made. The crowd were very receptive with plenty of cheering on and applause afterwards and lots of spectators after the meeting asking about flat track and telling us how good it was. . The following day we held a full British Championship meeting at the same track with a minimal spectator entry fee in front of the usual one man and his dog. All live sport struggles to capture an audience most of the time, even football and cricket which are part of our education and culture only pull a crowd at the highest level. Speedway is expensive to put on and I find it really difficult to see where future crowds are coming from no matter what you do. I've always maintained that much more should be made of the very real danger and risk to the riders as outsiders would be horrified at the list of injuries some riders can collect in a career, it really is an extreme sport marketed as a family friendly one. However while I see that creating some interest I have no idea how long it would last or just how many people would turn up live to watch. Might just be time to fund the sport in a different way with sponsorship available because of good TV coverage being the aim rather than people through the gate.

Might not be so daft when you realise that time and again it has been proven that what really matters to fans is a winning team. Unfortunately it's also been proved more than once that paying for a winning team can be the end of a club. It's easy to say you have to supply what the customer wants but even among the small number of customers on here we can't agree what that is!

See your point but think there should be something awarded for making the semi. Maybe 4,3,2,1 for semi and 5,4,3,2 for the final

If anything is to be changed about the scoring system I would like the semi's and final to be scored 5,4,3,2 so there is a decent advantage to qualifying for either even if you finish last.

I think the riders are being underrated here. At the end of the day they are riding Speedway because they love racing motorbikes and it is part of the make up of the majority to hate losing to anyone. How often do we see complaints about riders passing their team mate with no regard to the meeting score? Of course there are some who sit back and take the safe money but what I see in todays meetings are riders taking ever more slim chances to make a pass, whether that is the security of the air fence or not I don't know.

I'd disagree with that, everybody I know races hardest against their mates and hates being beaten by them. You only have to look at GP's where team mates and best friends will stuff each other against the fence without a second thought. I don't see Speedway surviving as an individual sport if it is to attract spectators. Only way that can happen is at an amateur level where the riders pay an entry and the club profits from that. It's easy to watch the videos of fast Fridays from California and think Speedway is doing really well there but it's a couple of thousand people from a massive catchment area who turn up for a party. You couldn't do the same in the UK I don't believe, in fact I bet you couldn't do the same elsewhere in California on a regular basis. Speedway in the UK is a team sport and suffers greatly from having to rent stadiums. I have no idea what would be the best way to move forward, I suspect costs will continue to have to be reduced until we have a big Championship league at a level a little lower than now. Maybe then a few tracks could run individual meetings by bringing top riders over as they could only be seen once in a blue moon. Some decades ago that was the case when a big individual would be your only opportunity to see 8 or 10 really top class riders in the same meeting apart from a World Final. Nowadays you can see 16 of the best from your sofa several times a year.

Came across this video on youtube. Seems the fashion is knock engine builders/tuners these days but the good ones make a big investment in equipment and put in the hours for their money. Whether you should need tuned engines is a different argument. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuqwkM7_-P0

I think the MCF are good and the AMCA and YMSA a lot better than the ACU. That's the only ones I have experience of and as far as the ACU goes it's near enough all bad!

The ACU make even the BSPA seem like a modern, forward thinking and efficient organisation!

I like Keith Heuwen as well, think he's well informed and quite funny. Pair him up with an ex rider and he'd be ok.

I think NQ is OK, Tatum is very knowledgeable and has become good at the job and paired with Nigel Pearson they are a great team. Seems like I'm the odd one out but I like Pearson, he is enthusiastic and knows the sport and is far better than anybody else currently commentating Speedway in my opinion. The only one I really don't like on TV is Sam Ermolenko who can ruin a meeting for me. The best sport on TV recently has been Bristish Superbikes and that is on Eurosport so could be they'll do a decent job. No idea who films BSB but it must be expensive as the quality is excellent and they don't miss much.

So I saw announced by the kart track on FB the other day. Have no idea what is happening but seems that it's carry on as they are for the time being.