iris123

On the other hand maybe upping the price to make it seem more exclusive and maybe get rid of a lot of the older fans to bring in a fresh young look and make the sport more fashionable is the answer ? Trying to keep the old people happy doesn't seem to have worked. And look at the crowds in Poland . Despite the fallacy often bandied about, the sport isn't cheap there and the crowd isn't full of old people with blankets and flasks. It is young and fashionable. But you have to get out and market it to the young and there isn't really anyone in the sport capable of pulling it off. Just a thought though...... The number one reason businesses fail is, simply, their prices are too low. They don’t sell their products at prices high enough, then they operate on margins so small they are unable to expand There is no company that can’t increase prices if they understand a few simple tips It is a well known and successful market strategy

Seems like the ban on large events stays in place until the end of October. Basically no big speedway or long track meetings this season. At least not with crowds of 1,000+

As I have shown the cost isn’t that different to Poland in real terms. If costs were cut I doubt that would be handed on to the fans. More likely the promoter would make a bit of money, rather than running the sport as an expensive hobby

Not going to shoot you down in flames. Just want to question you on what is cheap in Poland ? I mean going by rough average monthly wages and 1% of that is 49 PLN. Now that is slightly higher than the average price to get in I think, which is say 40 PLN at a rough guess. So if we take UK average wage of around 2044 quid and 1% is 20 quid. Slightly lower, and say 16 quid is the equivalent of the polish price. Ok you have a lower level and pay out less to riders. But the big problem is the rent and often I gather is not getting the money from food and drink on top of that. 5 quid is a huge huge gamble and a promoter would probably go bust before he see's any major improvements. But maybe one or two might give it a go.....

Isn’t or wasn’t Lahkbaum a Russian ? Szlauderbach like Lahkbaum has a Germanic surname anyway. But that wouldn’t be unusual Hampel,Lampart or Glücklich do too

Once took my cousins son and we sat behind the glass. After a couple of heats he started crying his eyes out and my mum took him home. No idea what he would have been like outside

Certainly the team with the longest way for home meetings then

Saying they have been promised the meeting next season

See, me and my mates never went up there. We went to the pits and the bar which was private, half way up the steps to the grandstand. Maido always seemed to be at the door

Yes, sure there was a hatch on the first bend. Was also a bar I think in the back straight stand, but my guess was the stand was closed a year r two later than that. It was where I used to sit with my school and local mates in the 70s. When I started going regularly again in 84 I also sat there in roughly the same old place as before, and just from a poor memory it feels like I went in there for a few seasons One of the great things, I thought about the stadium in the 60s770s was the little hatches and shops under the stands etc. The Supporters Club shop under the first bend and seem to recall another one further round towards the back straight that might have sold old programmes etc

Yes. I thought the guy on the right looks a bit like Mike Broadbank's brother

Graham King put it on the 'I grew up in South West London' group. 10 riders there

Anyone seen that Wimbledon team photo doing the rounds on FB from 1967 ? On the South West London group at least, which my dad sent me. Know all the riders apart from the two kneeling at the ends, left and right .Know there were a couple of riders that year that I have never seen a pic of Alan Stapleton for instance

Wittstock will have a warm up meeting when they pit themselves against the Rest of Germany on July 11th in a memorial match for Mirko Wolters young son(https://trauer.shz.de/traueranzeige/lee-justin-wolter/57102702) .Crowd will be limited to 1,000

Don't forget they have had one or two top Ski Jumpers, who are amongst the top sports personalities in the country. Plus one or two top boxers, who I think also manage to attract decent crowds from the US polish community

Often the way though. Some obviously like the quiet village life and don’t want change, whether it be new houses or a sports stadium. Others see an opportunity

The long postponed noise test took place earlier. 100 m away from the bike the noise was as loud as a vacuum cleaner. But of course some of the locals are not convinced the test was realistic, plus the worry about traffic and rubbish etc remain https://www.nordkurier.de/neubrandenburg/motorsport-verein-will-kritik-der-anwohner-entkraeften-1339685706.html?fbclid=IwAR1Z7SGNNvV8P5shO-oNKnss_moaquQLxIyWxTWKXO-QjA3BstBkDUx05OM

Interesting, if off topic Edgar Elder, the original driver of this 1938 “Farmall Special” Midget, made a name for himself in the early days of circle track racing as a driver, designer and builder. Born in 1923 and hailing from Fresno, California, Elder grew up around racing and was introduced to motorsports early; his father, “Sprouts” Elder, was not only a legendary motorcycle racer but also half of the team that invented the Harley-Davidson “Knucklehead”-derived Drake midget race car engine, paving young Elder’s way into the sport. During Edgar’s formative years, the Fresno area was a hotbed of early circle track racing development, and he would go on to design and build several well-performing midgets while developing his own driving career—one that spanned the West Coast and brought him to some of the more well-known tracks of the Midwest. The days of Edgar’s race car helmsmanship came to an abrupt end, however, after a particularly serious crash at the famed Gilmore Stadium in Los Angeles before the track was torn down in 1952. Still, he would go on to make a name and career for himself in the sport as he crewed, designed and built winning midgets, even designing and building a few Indy cars by the early ‘60s. The Farmall Special—named for its warmed-over 123 CI Farmall 4-cylinder and originally driven by Edgar—was campaigned across Northern and Central California from 1938 through the mid-‘60s and possesses a provenance made more historically important because of Edgar’s well-rounded and documented contributions to the golden era of independent circle track racing, USAC and the Indy series.

This is interesting though, as it shows Elder in Australia in 1927 using and wearing Indian Motorcycle gear https://www.gettyimages.ch/detail/nachrichtenfoto/american-speedway-racer-sprouts-elders-at-the-nachrichtenfoto/539491723 and an early pic ? https://www.gettyimages.de/detail/nachrichtenfoto/lloyd-sprouts-elder-is-considered-one-of-the-fathers-nachrichtenfoto/156317547

Anther piece from wiki, that I would query In Australia Elder raced against top Australian as well as several top British and American riders who also spent the winter months racing in the Australian summer Now I am not sure how many times Elder went to Australia, but I don't think any 'top British ' rider went there until 1929/30. Fay Taylour I think was possibly the first after speedway started in the Uk, who went after the 1928 season.By the time a lot of good British riders went, Sprouts was doing the South America trips. Not 100% on that though But of course he did write a book which probably sets out his career in detail https://www.amazon.com/romance-speedway-Sprouts-Elder/dp/B0010ZWMZK

That is good. At the time they were both riding Harley’s and of course it was those 10 mile races etc not 4 lap speedway. It could well be the Harley link that took Elder to Oz as I did find a connection on the Frank Arthur thread that a Harley dealership in Oz invited riders over at first

Not so sure on that. Could be right, but first I have found of Elder in Australia is making his debut at the Showground in December 1926, where he is mentioned as being ' a very retiring chap for an American'. The American Hall of Fame website generally has some good bio's, but I tried to access it a week or so ago and it was being rebuilt or some problem In the summer of 1926 he was racing at Fresno in a Raisin Day meeting, but was coming 2nd best to B.Sarkegian, so wasn't even the best local rider at that time

Just trying to clarify something. You have a passion for bringing up posts from over a year ago back into the arena John. Is it one rule for you and another for the rest ? I wonder what your answer will be

I wonder if this is what one describes as being ‘whimsically eccentric ‘ ? A. De Bunker