mikebv

Disappointing... Still, at least having Bomber there will give it the feeling that a guest is being used...

Maybe Peterborugh have instructed him to stop racing in Poland...

Yes... They've all gone to live with their relatives in Liverpool and Newcastle...

They want them to stay and be available to guest.... Just in case Poland decide to run some meetings tomorrow....

I was taught a very salient point approx 25 years ago when I got to run my own store, and excitedly told my boss after 12 months that since I had been there, sales had risen by 8%... "Aye lad, but an 8% increase in f*#k all, is still f*#k all"...... A wise man indeed.. With Emil and Dan riding, (and Nicki for 5 seconds), you would think crowds would have to be up, or heaven help us... One due to the huge novelty value, and two down to the low like for like starting points for crowds at so many tracks.. I can guarantee that as the novelty value wears off, and riders start to continually miss meetings due to FIM and Polish meetings on Mondays and Thursdays, then crowds will start to drop off.. Just like crowds historically have done down the years, as "the stars" became so frequently "elsewhere" on nights that UK Speedway were happy to still run meetings on without them... Instead, replacing them with inferior riders from their competitors, which ultimately led to a mass exodus of punters... Noticable how the FIM and Poland have now taken over Mondays and Thursday's. The nights that were, (and Monday still is), priority race nights for the UK, however now, for both nights, they get considered secondary...

Basically in this country, before Poland starts, you get a couple of weeks where two teams have 14 riders on show belonging to them... When Poland starts, then forget it.. It cannot be too far from round 80% of meetings running with guests from April onwards... You simply cannot sell a sport like that to major sponsors, nor expect punters to follow it and take it seriously...

It was... Rain has impacted the track for the race off... "Old videos" show how much riding styles have changed over the decades, with riding styles up to around the 90's being less sideways than today as the riders hit the bends, with them only locking up well into the turn to straighten up to go down the next straight... This meant more room to pass as the riders just behind hit the turns.. Workington have deliberately made bend entrance and exit width wide meaning several bikes can enter in the modern sideways way.. Somerset, Scunthorpe, and Belle Vue all had/have that shape of track and bend width that suits the modern bikes and riding style.. Swindon changed theirs, and Ipswich the same, to try and open up lines into the bends.. Which, due to the horsepower of the bikes down the straights, is often the main opportuniity place to pass..

The speed at the NSS is 100% flat out, however the bends entrance width, and depth of track material, make the passing opportunity.. For such a great track it actually provides it's best racing when on the "slicker side"... When grippy, it becomes follow the leader at top speed with the track record in danger. Fast but not entertaining... Given the modern machinery and riding style means riders hit the bends often on "full lock, sideways" it means to execute a pass you need room either side as you enter the turn. Not many tracks have that width to allow that, meaning the rider in front can affectively block any potential attack if he rides full lock almost mid track as he enters the bends..

If every individual rider increased their points average as predicted by their promoters at the pre season press conferences, every meeting would have to finish 70-50...

Most fans who follow the sport closely can pretty much nail most play off and wooden spoon contenders well before a race is run.. And they also then pretty accurately predict what impact any changes made will have.. They know that, in the main, the riders average, and past performances at their own track, will be the key determinate on how the season unfolds.. You dont get too many surprises in Speedway, especially when you are dealing with riders of five years or more experience, who will pretty much be, in the most cases, at or around the level they will always be at.. If a team looks a wooden spoon contender in the eyes of a clubs most loyal followers, it will be based on some quite considerable knowledge, and very often, proved correct... Promoters on the other hand, have to talk up their teams, as predicting a poor season isnt generally a great idea... Deep down though, if they have even the slightest idea of the sport, they will know what they have... And if it looks like a bottom of the table team, then, most seasons, it usually will be..

Unusual for Doyley that....

Some tremendous action taking place at the back there... Honestly, there was....

At least Phil has resisted the temptation to get the water trucks out... So far....

Might be good if it stops completely... Slick tracks that get wet often have decent racing towards the end..

Stevie Wonder....

If you are watching in Aussie... Who won?

KL were not complying with "the rules" and got away with it for a time... And then they didnt. .

Bartek nailing someone up the inside at the apex of the turn and running him up the track... Almost like these riders dont ever watch him ride.. Ride narrow and at least make him go outside you, giving you some sort of chance to dictate to him what happens.. Leave a gap inside and he will nail you...

You wouldn't... You really wouldn't....

All correct... Yet. UK Speedway will spend a couple million pounds in rent and riders over the coming season.. With clubs all trying to out do each other... To win... What exactly? Their very own operating model prevents any real achievement being delivered... And 100's of thousands of pounds will be spent on just ten riders or so who will pay nothing like that back in admission money.. And 100's of thousands of pounds more on the rest of the riders who will bring in much less.. Maybe, collectively and generically they could pool some of that huge outlay to start to purchase land in areas that already have, (or have had successful) teams... Build it, (think Buxton, Somerset, Worky types), and then start to invest in further projects gradually as (hopefully), profits start to be made.. As is often proven, both live at "events", and via TV audience numbers, there is actually a sizeable following for the sport in the UK... Getting many of them to believe in the domestic product enough to attend regularly is the challenge..

Citeh fans will say that this is the reason that they didnt sell out their allocation...

Make it that meetings are actually worth winning... Make it a credible offering... Make it worth investing your emotional involvement in... Make it affordable for those thousands who go now and again to attend more regularly... Make it semi pro for the vast majority if it means a significant reduction in admission charges.. Make it cheaper for the riders to participate... Make it a "proper night out" at a well promoted stand alone "event".. Make it a joined up collective national marketing plan with decent budgetary investmemt pushing the sport generically.. Make it that you are not beholding to other leagues and run at the best time you feel can bring your largest crowds in... Make it something that major sponsors won't see as being regarded, by even its own most loyal fans, as 'a bit Mickey Mouse"... Make it up as you go along... (Oops, no, not the last one, I took that from the current masterplan)..

A marker down from Wroclaw... Should have been a win by six but they will take that...

Think it means just a little bit more than over here... Everything has to be 100%...

Dan still loses too many points in Poland by getting passed up the inside... Pawlicki showed how to control hitting the bend at pace and keeping close to the white line.. Dan drifts to mid track too often. Wroclaw's No7 owes his team one..