Elephantman

The arrogance of both your posts is quite astonishing. I don't have a problem with the concept of Air Fences whatsoever; I do have a problem that they have not been correctly tested and there appears to be a haphazard methodology for installation. You have a post from a member of the track staff highlighting just one of the issues and you totally ignore the points that are made. So you sit back with your smug complacency and lets all hope that some rider doesn't suffer worse injuries because of poor design and installation of these fences. I do apologise if taking safety seriously causes you people a problem. Speedway truly is made up of the blind leading the blind!

Oilyrag always mentions Ben Wilson; I believe you posted last year that Ben works for him (or was it his father); so assuming that is true there is no shock that at every opportunity Ben is mentioned

Great post FTM. That is why you cannot go on people's opinions you must always act on facts. If their is a known installation flaw with these fences, that mean the potential for injury is increased, then somebody can be found liable for the riders injuries. Speedway is inherently dangerous but if you know of anything that has the potential to increase the risks and you are the person responsible for safety; then you are duty bound to do whatever you can to eliminate the cause of that increased risk. I wonder if the BSPA has considered their legal responsibilities before they issued this edict? I wonder who will/is getting sued for poorly fitted Air Fences; it has to be happening somewhere?

It takes a big person to slag off a 16 year old on a forum! I think this actually shows what a half cocked idea the "draft" is; something that has been pushed through by the Elite League with little forethought (if any) and not enough time to explain the process or the implication of signing up for the draft to the very individuals it laughably claims to be helping. If you were a young kid wanting to race speedway (16 years old is a boy actually)and you were told that you should sign up for something if you wanted a team place then I'd suggest 9 out of 10 would do it without thinking about the consequences of their decision. That is because young people often don't fully develop the ability to think through their decisions until well in to adulthood. Who signed the form; the 16 year old or a Guardian/Parent?

1. They are only compulsory for FIM events not all Speedway Events 2. The BSPA have decided that all UK tracks must have them (some of these promoters may or may not have a financial interest in selling air fences) 3. All tracks are different 4. Safety is not "one size fits all" 5. At some tracks other forms of safety fence will be safer than Air Fences 6. The Air Fences have not been independently tested and (as far as I am aware) do not meet any EU (or any other) safety standards 7. There have been a number of incidents where the way air fences have been installed has led to injury to riders, that is because: 7a There has been no independent testing to verify in what circumstances the Air Fences will improve safety 7b There has been little consideration of how they should be fitted; so at some tracks they have been installed in a dangerous manner The development of Air Fences has been trial and error; undoubtedly at some tracks they have improved safety but at others they have not and have and will in future exacerbate injury. Safety is too important for the cavalier approach of trial and error. And by the way there are many different forms of mesh fence some patently safer than Air Fences. So I'll make my decision based on the independent scientific testing please...... oh sorry there isn't any!

Its the way they are unfortunately; then they wonder why the majority of promoters and riders consider the BSF to be a pain in the backside and ignore the majority of posts.

All that matters is how much they get paid which is why many race their team partners instead of racing the opposition.

Your posts really are quite objectionable and usually are an abject lesson in cynicism. The original post is typical of the questions that many people new to speedway often raise. I guess like many of the people who liked your posts, you would not know that as the chances of meeting someone new to the sport at a typical speedway meeting are slim to zero! I wonder if it is the sport that puts people off or some of the supporters?

Is that the air fence that will not improve safety at Owlerton and is only a requirement because the air fence manufacturers clearly have some mates on the BSPA?

Understand your point but it only looks daft when there is a competitive pyramid within the sport. So in football for example Teams from different leagues can compete against each other in Cup competitions, European competitions and through promotion and relegation. None of this really applies to speedway allowing the self employed rider to earn his crust wherever he is wanted.

This is a sham rule change for a sham league. But I'm fairly confident that someone with connections to the co-promoter at Lakeside will have something to say about it. I just wonder if it all goes wrong who will hold their hands up to admit it was their cock-up? My guess would be the Elite League who are driving this will find away to blame the PL or the guys who got lumbered doing the draft! Apologies everyone always blames the BSPA, don't they?

There was a whole thread on Air Fences; there is no independent testing to prove they are safer than some current alternatives. I'm surprised the pro air fence crew haven't slaughtered you for having the temerity to raise the issue again. They are also not compulsory unless you are running FIM events; that hasn't stopped the some members of the BSPA railroading them through as a compulsory requirement.

They only need to generate an additional 20 people who attend every week and the costs are covered. Anything above the 20 is extra revenue; facebook; twitter etc. haven't been floated for billions of dollars for a laugh; they are valuable companies because correct use of their services will generate additional revenues for companies who use them correctly. At least this chap is floating the right sort of ideas; whether his work is suitable or not is a separate question; you cannot criticize the idea unless it has been tested and proven a failure; I don't believe it has been tested and many other organisations make this approach work. You may be correct; the sport deserves what it gets then doesn't it?

You really don't have a clue about marketing do you? There is nothing wrong with his ideas and it is refreshing to see a young person having the balls to say what they think. Its always better to have plenty of ideas as there is certainly plenty of old experts who will pooh-pooh them. If the average website person costs £300 per week to run a campaign of social and content marketing, targeting young people, they would only need to generate 20 new people at an average entry fee of £15 per week to cover the salary. To me that doesn't seem that impossible a number to hit; god help the sport if anyone thinks it is?

Top stuff this and a clear indicator that the Elite League are doing their own thing and the rest of the sport be damned. They should do better than going public with a press announcement in the local paper. From the way this whole thing has been handled by the Elite League one would assume they haven't had the courtesy to inform the BSPA. Making it up as they go along; pathetic!

You really are a card. I don't believe the PL promoters were invited to join the party at all; as with the majority of fans (apart from you), this came from left field. You can attempt to justify the actions as much as you wish but the truth is fairly obvious to any one who is willing to look at this from a neutral viewpoint (something you clearly do not have).

That's a problem that the two promotions near to me must address is it not? Presentation can be fixed in a nano-second. The key point you missed is, "if the racing was good you could get away with the other failings to a degree". If there is good racing then that provides a platform to fix the rest and it provides something that can be marketed. If the racing is no good......

It's so unlike you to let blind prejudice get in the way of facts and logic. I suggest you check the facts before you post; but bearing in mind the experience of reading your comments, on threads where I have commented, I'm not holding my breath In the 1970's my local comprehensive took us sailing; it wasn't posh; we even had a speedway track that was local to us!

Yep; I accept your riposte. However you are again falling for the Elite league spin; the fact that they need to cut costs has no relevance to any interest in developing young British talent. The two are totally unconnected but have been positioned by the Elite in such a way as we are expected to believe something like this, "We have been working hard in the Elite League to find a way to support and encourage young British Talent. We have therefore restructured the competition to ensure that young British riders will be incorporated in to the Elite League teams to provide them with the structure and support required to nurture their skills and talent". Now I've made that up, but all of the positioning of this change by the Elite has been to make it appear as if this is what they have done. They haven't, they are skint and need to cut costs. To do so they are chucking some kids in the mix and they can sink or swim. This was undoubtedly a proposal thrown on the table at the Elite League AGM without any detailed forethought or planning. They have taken it up and run with it because the Elite League are bereft of ideas as to how to fix the problems they find themselves with. It is a shambles and to believe they are making theses changes for the benefit of British youngsters is laughable!

Your post is so sad; I'm almost feeling sorry for you. The league is called, "The Premier League". The only thing that changes is the sponsor's name that is a pre-fix the league name. What are they going to do when Sky renew call it the Sky British League (sorry we changed from Elite when we thought you'd b*gg***d off!). Pathetic!

Or driven a car; or rode a bicycle. There is no link between the numbers of people who ride motorbikes and the number of people who support speedway. A totally spurious post.

As happens a lot with Desmond's publications and his employees!

I don't necessarily think so. The rights to run speedway at Sheffield have a value Neil deserves to maximise that value bearing in mind the work he has put in. It seems to me that he clearly doesn't want Sheffield to close but he has come to the end of the road. It sound to me like the guy is totally exhausted and needs a good rest.

Sailing is huge! Over 1,500 Clubs and something like 2 million plus adults are/have been involved in sailing activities. Speedway doesn't even touch on those numbers.

You may be right; but why are we having to guess at it? Plus I can't imagine the football Premiership changing its name because of a change of sponsor.