Aces51

I think the problem is not free admittance to former riders but that some expect those who come with them to be admitted for free as well. I may be wrong but I think that is the problem at Belle Vue.

The difference is that Cook looks after his physical fitness which wil enable him to ride for quite a few years yet. Whether he will improve further and by how much is a matter of opinion but I suspect I have seen a lot more of him than you have and he is certainly capable of being a number one in the EL. You are right that there is an easy answer as to why he has not been given a chance in Poland although I suspect not the one you were implying. His problems in Poland and his early form here were down to his Holloway tuned engines. His performances, admittedly only 3 meetings, since changing to PJR so far speak for themselves.

It's a very difficult choice. King was impressive all night and didn't ride badly when Coveney visited but the track for the British Final was hopefully, far different than the track we shall see in the SWC. It was wet and heavy and therefore not necessarily a good guide to who will cope with it best at the end of July. I would go for Woffinden, Cook and Lambert and choose the best from Harris, Nicholls and King based on form much closer to the meeting. Nicholls will have done more laps around the NSS, Harris, often a slow starter to the season and may have come into form and King may have shown his victory was no flash in the pan. Likewise, the UK reserve,pick whoever is in form at the time. Ellis,if he is fit and in the form he was at the beginning of the season.

Some magnanimous comments from Cook about Danny King's deserved victory. http://www.bellevueaces.co/newsitem.aspx?id=1774

Congratulations to Danny King on a determined and deserved win and week done to Cook, Lambert and Steve Worrall on getting to the final. That was the poorest racing I have seen at the new stadium but some of the best, if not the best I have seen at any track after days of rain including, heavy rain on the day, drizzle during much of the meeting and heavier rain towards the end. These days many tracks would have had to cancel the meeting and if it had gone ahead at others it would have been a mud bath with riders struggling to get round and more than a few falls. What we got was a track where riders could race and some decent races, although passing was more difficult than usual because of the affect of being hit by wet, heavy shale. Overall, I enjoyed it because of the determination of the riders, the closeness of the individual scores throughout the meeting and the performances from Lambert, Steve Worrall and Starke, the latter two showing the benefits of the EDR system. The crowd was poor but the result of fans seeing too many matches called off after only moderate rain and even on the basis of future weather forecasts. That, plus the heavy rain on the day, the meeting being on TV and it being a Monday was probably more than enough reason to keep many at home in front of their TV. I must admit that on my journey I was expecting to get a call to say it was off. The South Stand is primarily designed as a sound barrier, which explains the nature of the structure. It was nothing to do with cost saving and, if memory serves cost a considerable amount.

And that could be one of the reasons why crowds are generally so poor. Once people find something else to do on the weeks with no fixtures they can easily get out of the habit.

Further information from the Belle Vue website about tickets and access to the stadium. Supporters attending the 2016 British Final, scheduled for June 13th at the National Speedway Stadium, please note the following information applicable to race night:... Tickets for all areas - Grandstand, West and South Terrace - may be purchased at the Main Reception from 9:00am - 4:00pm. Please note after this time sales transfer to the Ticket Offices. Ticket offices will be open from 5:00pm in the Main Grandstand and 5:30pm in the South Terrace for ticket purchases, and all turnstiles will be activated from 6:00pm. Ticket Purchases and Collections for the Grandstand and West Terrace (Turn 1) areas are located at the Grandstand Ticket Office, adjacent to the Main Reception on Kirkmanshulme Lane. Ticket Purchases and Collections for the South Terrace (Back Straight) area is located at the South Terrace Ticket Office, on the South Car Park near the turnstiles on Pink Bank Lane Ticket Collection Points will be located independently of the main ticket offices, and will be clearly marked "Collections" for your convenience. Your ticket will grant you entry into the stadium via the applicable electronic turnstile shown on the ticket, for example South Terrace tickets will grant access via the South Turnstile. 2016 Belle Vue parking permits will be valid for this fixture. All remaining on-site parking and St. Peter's School will be for those wishing to take advantage can do so at a cost of £3 per vehicle. As we expect a large crowd for the 2016 British Final, we advise fans to allow plenty of time to arrive and collect and/or purchase their tickets to gain entry into the stadium complex. Heat 1 will commence at precisely 7:30pm. There will be no delay to the start of the meeting.

Further information from the Belle Vue website about tickets and access to the stadium. Supporters attending the 2016 British Final, scheduled for June 13th at the National Speedway Stadium, please note the following information applicable to race night:... Tickets for all areas - Grandstand, West and South Terrace - may be purchased at the Main Reception from 9:00am - 4:00pm. Please note after this time sales transfer to the Ticket Offices. Ticket offices will be open from 5:00pm in the Main Grandstand and 5:30pm in the South Terrace for ticket purchases, and all turnstiles will be activated from 6:00pm. Ticket Purchases and Collections for the Grandstand and West Terrace (Turn 1) areas are located at the Grandstand Ticket Office, adjacent to the Main Reception on Kirkmanshulme Lane. Ticket Purchases and Collections for the South Terrace (Back Straight) area is located at the South Terrace Ticket Office, on the South Car Park near the turnstiles on Pink Bank Lane Ticket Collection Points will be located independently of the main ticket offices, and will be clearly marked "Collections" for your convenience. Your ticket will grant you entry into the stadium via the applicable electronic turnstile shown on the ticket, for example South Terrace tickets will grant access via the South Turnstile. 2016 Belle Vue parking permits will be valid for this fixture. All remaining on-site parking and St. Peter's School will be for those wishing to take advantage can do so at a cost of £3 per vehicle. As we expect a large crowd for the 2016 British Final, we advise fans to allow plenty of time to arrive and collect and/or purchase their tickets to gain entry into the stadium complex. Heat 1 will commence at precisely 7:30pm. There will be no delay to the start of the meeting.

Racing at all levels can be good or poor. The NL meetings at Belle Vue have been excellent. However, it is a fact of life that more people, particularly newcomers and casual supporters are more likely to be attracted to the highest level available in their locality. That is why the Aces draw much bigger crowds than the Colts and why Poole drew much bigger crowds than Bournemouth. That is why this idea of a super EL with only a few teams and the top riders, meeting home and away once and then those clubs running a PL level team to fill the majority of weeks of the season will not work. The small hardcore of fans will attend meetings at both levels but the casuals and newcomers will only turn up for what they will see as the first team, not for the reserves. We know the sport was in serious decline when the top riders were racing here and that crowd levels were such that we couldn't offer anything approaching the money on offer elsewhere. Why do people seem to think that their return now would increase crowds to a level where they would, at the very least, pay for themselves. It is time to accept the financial realities and to cut our cloth accordingly. The sport has to live within its means to survive. Many changes and improvements need to be made. Promoters need to ensure that the sport is run more professionally. Chapman's new rule book has to be clear and concise, rules have to be interpreted fairly and consistently, teams have to retain riders from year to year, riders committed to the UK so fans can identify with them and the presentation at meetings has to be slicker and more attractive to the younger generation. A combined league at a slightly higher level than the PL, either run as one league or, if necessary, divided into those who can afford the costs at that level and the rest at a lower level. A league which would involve only one match home and away with each other team plus a KO Cup would soon produce is own stars and the standard would improve over time hopefully, with mainly British talent. The casuals and newcomers, who have probably never heard of Woffinden, Janowski or even Hancock, would simply see it as the best league in the UK and that is sufficient to attract them. Some point to the failure of a combined league in the 1990's but that was down in part to the failure of the EL clubs to share the top riders. It worked in the 1960's when there was a fairer distribution of riders and almost overnight a lot of top second division riders, Mauger, Brown and Monk to name but a few had developed into stars of the new league, more than able to compete with the stars of the old first division.

Under 18's are free at Colts meetings and it's only £10 for adults and £8 for concessions. The racing has been excellent and it's a good way to try to get new fans interested.

I don't think we need it anymore. However, I did hear that Matt has offered to pay for a holiday for Colin Meredith and suggested we use the services of the Poole track curator and his patented hole and wavy surface machine. I think we'll be ok though, Colin isn't too keen on a week in a caravan on the Wimborne Road car park.

I should have bought a lottery ticket this week. Some good races with plenty of passing although not as many as on Monday. Steve Worrall was exceptional, winning heat 9 easily despite starting 15 metres behind. Cook was also on top form after his first race blip and it was good to see Jacobs get a race win. Zagar was unfortunate to have engine problems when leading and showed his class when picking off Jonsson in heat 13. Lakeside put up a good fight, none of their riders were dominant but all put in workmanlike performance apart from Kerr who struggled in the 1-5. It looked to be a good crowd again, about double what we were getting at the dog track. Greater Manchester is a huge conurbation but the problem is the number of other major entertainment attractions available. Hopefully, the excellent facilities and good racing will mean that new fans will be attracted by what they hear and be more likely to come back when they see what is on offer.

I'm sure he would, riders rarely turn down an opportunity to earn a little extra. I thought it was a done deal he was going to Poole.

Thanks, we all make mistakes.

Perhaps seeing so much of Rosco made it an easy decision.

This was my only post on this topic so I've no idea what you are on about.

I I think Bridger could be the difference, if he scores anything like 15+ it could be very close. If he doesn't ride well then 50-40. Fricke is in outstanding form at the moment, effectively 7+1 from 3 rides against Coventry, as he pulled up expecting a re-run when Sarjeant got away with a blatant roller, whereas Kennett is an unknown quantity at the new track, so difficult to be sure who will be the greater loss but I think it will be Fricke. If the racing is anything like Monday we shall be in for a treat whatever the score.

I haven't done an analysis but could one of the main reasons be the change of rules that prevents using a guest for second strings?

I did think it odd myself that none of the usual avid Echo readers had posted it. I saw it on Twitter at about 8am but didn't bother to post it then as I felt sure that one of the Poole fans would. I posted it over 4 hours later when I realised nobody had.

That was last week, this week he's a home rider so will have the same concerns as the rest of the team.

Which is probably why nothing has been done to put it right.

The adult standing entrance fee is £17, so even with the booking fee it is no more than the £18 that some EL clubs charge for poorer facilities.

From little acorns ......... Let's hope so. I've seen good comments from people who hadn't been since the Hyde Road days and from people who had never been before. It was a great advert for the sport so let's hope some return and that word of mouth brings along others.

A few comments from Chris Holder about the Poole and UK tracks. http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/speedway/piratesnews/14527772.Speedway__Chris_Holder_waiting_for_a___39_miracle__39__over_Poole_Pirates_track/?ref=rss