My opinion but, sometimes, passing in every race isn’t always all that makes a meeting.
To a newbie it means a lot to see riders going wheel to wheel and swapping positions.. or simply overtaking. That is Speedway in its most simplistic essence and, yes we all love that. In reality, these days, it is a little rarer and, so, is much appreciated when it happens…
However, I like to think there are many more layers to a meeting. For those of us that appreciate the finer points, there is as much excitement on a close scoreline where heat by heat the match can hang on the result of the next four laps.
Last night the Pirates were chasing the bonus point and it was tense to see them real in the 14 point advantage and then to see it snap back and forth once it became within two points!
And, most importantly, the bit that the uninitiated will never see (obviously) is when a lesser rated rider goes on a giant killing expedition such as Anders Rowe leading Sam Masters for 4 laps which kept people on the edge of their seat for the whole of heat 11 .. a huge ovation for his effort adding to the atmosphere but likely to go over the heads of a newbie.
Similar for Ben Cook seeing off Sam (on a tactical) and Scott for three and a half laps before his engine gave way in heat nine. High drama.
The final result (for the bonus point) went to a last heat decider so despite a pretty dominant Pirates’ performance which might otherwise have been regarded ‘one-sided’ there was much to entertain and, even though my team lost out in the last one, I, for one, was entertained.
”yes”, I’d love to see some wheel to wheel action but my heart rate never dropped much throughout!…..
it’s a little bit like that brilliant TV series you tell your friends to watch…. Until they get comfortable with the various characters, they probably don’t get what you see in it …..at first?