PHILIPRISING

CLUMSY wording... sorry. The work is carried out by the contractors but Meredith will obviously advise when it comes to the top surface.

I DON'T think anybody was totally happy with it but, presumably, didn't fully appreciate how bad the problem on the third and fourth corners would evolve. As I understand it, the base of the track on the third and fourth corners was the problem which were the last to be completed because heavy machinery was still required access to the back straight until quite recently. There is a suggestion, as yet unconfirmed and unanswered by the contractors, that different materials were used for the base of that part of the track and, as we now know, were flawed. Worked carried out since early Monday has, I'm told, resolved the problem with the base which is now as good as the rest of the track. This has allowed Meredith to lay the surface to the required standard and, by all accounts, he is confident it is as good as the other 90 per cent of the racing surface. Of course, we won't know for sure until it has undergone some rigorous testing by speedway bikes which unearth flaws which might otherwise remain hidden. And this is supposed to take place tomorrow.

APPARENTLY track curator Colin Meredith is happy with the track now and that a full practice will be held tomorrow and he is confident it will be okay for Friday.

APPARENTLY track curator Colin Meredith is happy with the track now and that a full practice will be held tomorrow and he is confident it will be okay for Friday.

APPARENTLY track curator Colin Meredith is happy with the track now and that a full practice will be held tomorrow and he is confident it will be okay for Friday.

Graham Flint

WHERE'S the evidence that "he was told not to run the meeting?" Do you seriously think they would have opened the gates, let everyone in, gone through the opening ceremony, seen the riders get changed and out on the track if he knew beyond doubt that it would not go ahead with all that entails. That defies logic. When I spoke to the referee before the meeting he was worried about the track but gave no indication that the meeting wouldn't proceed.

I UNDERSTAND that discussions are on-going between the building contractors, insurers and BV management to determine who is liable for the refunds. If the contractors handed over a track that wasn't fit for purpose, it could be them, which would in turn let the insurers off the hook too.

DAVID Gordon has no control over the builders, who are contracted to Manchester City Council. If he wants a light bulb changed, at this moment in time, he would have to contact the Council project team who would then instruct the on site team. That's the chain of command with the Council paying the bills until all the construction work, as part of the Belle Vue Sports Village, is complete.

THAT'S not what some of the riders are saying... ask them yourself.

THE contractors have already dug up the whole of the third and fourth bends amid suggestions, as yet unexplained, that the base they laid there was of different materials to the rest of the track. It will be completely relaid rather than trying to just fill in the ruts as it were.

MIGHT just point out that the hole in the Poole track, which seems to have been there forever, is apparently still there and riders aren't happy about it. ENTIRELY different ... for starters, he didn't know it was there. ADMITTEDLY I didn't go to the south terracing and if there were teething troubles there need to be reported and rectified. But the pit area is terrific, both in terms of space and lighting, the floodlights are terrific, there is wi-fi available throughout the main grandstand at least. Car parking was always going to be a problem (tried parking at a London football club?) and despite having a car park pass I couldn't get in at 3.10 pm but was offered free parking at the adjacent school just a few yards away.

THANK you ... just trying to salvage something out of Saturday's debris because I honestly do believe that while the scars will remain we will still live to enjoy the whole experience of the National Speedway Stadium and, hopefully, a fantastic Speedway World Cup there.

NOT exactly Paddy Murphy and his gang ... laying the base for the track was part of the whole construction remit and required considerable expertise not just by someone used to maintaining a speedway track but more akin to laying a road... laser guided machinery to ensure the right level of banking and levels all round. Of course, once the base was laid, Colin Meredith could supervise the laying of the actual racing surface.

QUITE obviously the BV management thought the track was okay for the meeting to go ahead. Of all the scenarios what actually happened is by far the worse. Postponing it even the day before or the morning of would have been a major embarrassment and caused huge inconvenience but nothing on the scale of what actually happened. The consequences are far reaching and mistakes were made but, as in Warsaw last year, the gates were opened because the promoters genuinely believed the meeting would go ahead. Plainly the track should have undergone a more rigorous test by more that two riders, who apparently had differing views, one saying that he rode it flat out and it was fine. And it also appeared that way at the start of the pre-meeting practice and the problems on turns three and four became more apparent as more riders went through the same areas. I did wonder whether it was suggested to the riders that if the offending areas, around the white line, were conned off that, given how wide and banked the corners are, there would still have been sufficient racing room. Some of those commenting here and elsewhere seem to be under the impression that the whole racing surface was wrong. It isn't. Probably less than 10 per cent of a huge track that promises to be as good as any racing strip in the world given it's width, long straights and banked corners. The obvious question that should be asked, and I understand has been asked, is why just such a small portion hadn't bedded in despite the poor weather when the rest of the track had done so. I fully understand the frustration of those who attended. Okay, I was an invited guest along with two MPs, the Lord Mayor of Manchester and a host of other dignitaries, and didn't pay for my seat but did incur other financial outlays and the embarrassment of speedway once again shooting itself in the foot when the spotlight, so rarely attained these days, was firmly on it. But, I reiterate, the National Speedway Stadium is a magnificent achievement, blighted on Saturday, but nonetheless a stadium of which all of us involved in the sport at whatever level can look upon with pride.

YOU'VE nicked a Speedway Star headline of decades ago...

THERE will be a statement but, as in Warsaw, there are a number of legal hoops to jump through. I honestly don't believe there is any intention not to provide refunds although, of course, this doesn't fully compensate people for travel costs, etc.

ARE you serious? David Gordon and Chris Morton have spent seven years of their lives bringing this to fruition. It's a hic-up, a big one admittedly, but if you manage to go there Steve you will marvel at what they have achieved and appreciate what a wonderful facility British speedway has at it's disposal. Do you honestly expect them to walk away and allow another promoter (Matt Ford?) to reap the benefit.

DEFINITELY shades of Warsaw here. As I now understand it the BV management had no direct control over the laying of the track as that fell within the remit of the contractors and until such time as the stadium is officially handed over that will remain the case. It was the contractors who arrived this morning to dig up the offending area and start remedial work with Colin Meredith only officially allowed to offer advice. The SCB licensed the track on Friday and it had been homologated earlier. It was only on Saturday night that the meeting referee became involved. But, and it's a big but in my opinion, all this still doesn't negate the fact that only a couple of riders (Ritchie Worrell and Max Fricke) had a go on the track before Saturday. Worrall, by all accounts, was going round full blast and thought it okay. One would have thought, for example, that Chris Morton with all his experience might have had doubts and even if the BV management were not allowed to do any work they could have got the contractors in to do so. The fact remains, however, that most of the track was fit for purpose and the rest will be sooner rather than later but in the short term that will be of little consolation to anybody who made the trip there and, indeed, for David Gordon and Morton.

PRETTY certain they didn't

INTERESTING press release due out from Belle Vue later (today or tomorrow) ... make that today!

AS stated before, I was sitting looking across the 3rd and 4th bends and while there were obviously some issues the riders didn't get into any great difficulty and most if not all seemed to be going at a fair lick. Hopefully what is after all only a very small area of a very large track can be sorted out fairly quickly. It is not as though the whole circuit is a problem, it's not.

YOU are right, this is not a temporary track, and the 10 per cent that wasn't right last night will be sooner rather than later. To be honest I was sitting at the end of the home grandstand by the third and fourth bends and although there was obviously an issue with certain areas none of the riders seemed to have any real problems while practising. And the fact remains that this is a magnificent speedway stadium that will, despite yesterday's debacle, do the sport proud in the future.

BEEN to quite a few ... has an open invitation.

DAVID Gordon doesn't do hangers on ...