old bob at herne bay

Last week a dust bowl….this week over 2 hours to run 10 heats….. next we will be hearing how crowds have dropped….. promoters need to take a long hard look at themselves before blaming people for not turning up to watch.

I don't think so hammer 1969 ... we would like some teams to remain in business ! On totally surprising fact that emerged from the Q and A was that neither speedway nor stocks could have taken place in 2020 due the the condition of the stadium ( electrics) ! One wonders why there was any money spent at all by the promotion in 2020 promoting a club that basically had no track to race on ?

Surely any revival ( if the stadium remains) will be either an NDL level club with the BSPL or a shale track racing club with the NORA. Either way unlikely Tim Brennan would feature - and let’s be realistic - would Tim be riding in the UK CL next season or in Poland/Sweden ?

This coming Bank Holiday Monday afternoon the Kings take on the Brummies at Central Park. A return of Scott's Peterboro clubmate Chris Harris and also a return for former Kings favourite James Shane's riding against his former club. Chris Harris deemed to be in the twilight of his racing career (like Scott !) is in the form of his life and along with Eric Riss will both pose a threat. At reserve they have Paco Castagna the son of former rider and current FIM Director of the Track Racing Commission Armando. They also have Valentin Grobauer who has started to find his feet in British Speedway. Kent will need to be on their guard on Monday afternoon but I feel quietly confident Kings can pick up three points to boost thier chances of grabbing the 6th play off place . On another note I hope Len Silver gets the track sorted out after the debacle of the dust kicked up during last week. The track needs to be back to how it was at the start of the current season.

M.D. That’s a fair summary IMO. Certainly a good deal of gambling on crowd growth in the business plan. The complete loss of the 2020 season must have been a major set back, with a good deal of marketing effort completely wasted.

Can it get ANY worse ? Yes on closer inspection spedeworth fixtures are all provisional.

Jake has had a number of clashes with his grass and longtrack commitments...... but is very much part of the Royals team who have all their remaining fixtures in Sept/Oct. This can only be a move with 2022 in mind ... assuming the CL still exists .....surely Kent have only a very slim chance of p offs?

Hope you have now got over your "loss of 3 points " after EB results were expunged

Edinburgh with R/R and a pointless gust at number 6 were always going to struggle. Poole full took full advantage of beating the team put out to race against. Even Kent managed a draw last week so Edinburgh clearly not in the greatest of home form. Poole should run through card now and take their chances in the p. offs. Maybe their Car park attendant will get to grips with track preparation for the p.offs or else the TV cameras will struggle to see what is going on

Needs an experienced man to fit in with top of the table club. Ed Kennett ?

The life of an airfence must also be related to the number of times it is "hit " by an opposition rider being shoved into the fence on bends 1 and 2 ? (and occasionally on bends 3 and 4 too)

Anyone with an interest in taking on promoting EB speedway under the auspices of the BSPL in the future has a few obstacles to overcome New airfence ( allegedly £35k) Agreeing a deal with the stadium owners - who will surely be apprehensive renting out to another speedway operation without some guarantee up front? Raising funds to lodge a bond with BSPL. Recruiting a team of riders who will trust the new owners for their wages. Setting out a business plan to just breakeven on that investment with a crowd of 600 will be a challenge. The more likely scenario is the stadium is sold and used to fund the Dugard’s pension fund .(and frankly who would blame them) For many years I always believed that Bob was the sole speedway supporter in the family that kept the club running through thick and thin.

light the blue and white touchpaper and off we go Surely in the interests of Speedway they will gift Poole the Championship KO Cup ? Wouldn't want old Neil Middlo to get upset.

So Lawson at Poole ...with Schlein taking time out to recover from a nagging injury.

Kent have done naff all against EB so will lose no points, but Leicester will lose 7. Sixth play off spot starting to look interesting ?

Who is the track curator at Poole ? One of the car park attendants ?

and for many of the older group of supporters , Covid was the final straw, and put them off returning to support speedway. Seems pretty obvious to me that was always going to be the case, and I would be very surprised if any tracks are seeing average attendances back to the "pre Covid" levels of 2019.

No prizes for guessing in which group I sit ;-)

Aha the word “entertainment” appears in a posting. No matter what league riders are racing , people go to be “entertained” Sadly in short supply at so many meetings nowadays….. mostly replaced by “delay”

Dream on … speedway finances being made public ….don’t make me laugh. No one will ever be told the truth…. Just that not enough fans turned up … it’s the fans fault . They have closed Eastbourne Speedway goodbye Mr Jordan Mr Fineing and goodnight.

That and over optimistic attendance breakeven numbers … due diligence on previous years attendances ?? Last time I went to Arlington several years ago would be amazed if they had 1000 there ( would have been a Lakeside away meeting

Oxford promoter… what’s their target crowd for breakeven ? 1000, 2000 . Guess they will bring Hans Nielsen out of retirement to captain the side

Very sad for the Eastbourne fans. The more I read the more baffled I am about this sorry mess. Tom Brennan quoted in Star today saying riders owed money for SEVERAL meetings. Alleged rent arrears to stadium owners. Then EB statement promising everyone refunds on tickets , merchandise for future events, donation to air fence fund etc etc So they must have some money in the bank ?? So with a ludicrous 1000 breakeven crowd target one wonders whether they ever got 1000 and every meeting in 2021 ran at a loss? Desperately sad that the late Charlie Dugard’s Speedway site didn’t quite make its 90th Anniversary It will be a brave man/woman to take on EB speedway again, stocks to continue this season then I wonder about the planning status of the Arlington site ? Like Rye House Swindon Coventry Oxford does anyone seriously really believe these tracks will ever be revived ??

Don't get this lack of water on tracks recently and the resulting dust bowls. ( Poole are not alone.) No one seems to get enough water into the base of the track early enough in the day. Addidng a sprinkle on top surface during the meeting - its toooooo late just makes the track slippery and un rideale.

Tractor Racing……. always what I enjoyed at Lakeside…… good to see Kent have continued this sport. :-)