teddy2706

We were told that the reds were on before Neilsen looped Dean, as Liam (I think) wasn't still at the start. This is another thing that robs spectators of enjoyment and damages riders pockets, if a rider anticipates the start, making a monkey out of the ref but not hitting the tapes, that isn't a good reason to stop the race. The referee is there to start the race, not find interesting ways to stop it! Scunthorpe would have been a good venue for that meeting, the Stoke track was rubbish for last years 4TT as well as this years. Look at old video's of Stoke and you will see that it hasn't always been the case, it was, not too long ago, one of the fairest tracks in Britain.

May I comment on riders pay rates and expenses please? Very few vans will be cheap to insure if a young rider or his young mechanic is driving it. Diesel locally to me costs around £1.39 per litre or £6.32 per gallon. If a rider is travelling for example 300 miles round trip in an average sized van, particularly with a young driver, he will be very lucky to exceed 40mpg. (yes I know you all have vans that do 197mpg, but I run a small fleet of mixed vans and rarely get much above 37mpg) That means the fuel will cost around £47 at 300 miles travelling, but the rider may only get £30 expenses, so he is £17 in the hole before unloading the bike disregarding insurance, wear and tear and excise license on the van. A tyre is £42, methanol £6.50 per gallon perhaps, oil may cost £10 per meeting, engine strips at 40 races for maybe £250 plus parts and the rider may well ony get £10 per point. Work it out for yourselves, NL riders at the bottom end of the points spectrum are not making anything, just the opposite. Before we get the old chestnut about apprentices getting low wages, they don't actually pay to be at work do they? Now consider where your entrance fee actually goes, in the case of the 4TT it certainly did not go on days of track preparation, it didn't go on buying too many burgers or hotdog sausages or chocolate because they ran out of those. Under no circumstances does it go on hospitality training at Stoke as spectators are treated by the promotion as a very unwelcome nuisance there. Yes, I am a Stoke fan, but it wears very, very thin.

You have our ear Vog (although we don't get much choice sometimes) Who else knows the rules, knows the averages, knows the statistics and corrects our programmes if not you mate? But by using possessive, objective and subjective personal pronouns (us, we, our etc.) you do let folk think you might be connected to the management at Stoke. This could get you into serious trouble when assembled hordes of vindictive Heathens are next baking to death for two hours at Loomer (for whatever hold up it is) on a sunny afternoon, or blundering into hard objects in the dark after the genny has gone to lunch yet again!

Simon Lamberts PL average was higher than 5 at the end of hostilities last season.

A very entertaining meeting, some spirited riding, some excellent passing. Ryan stayed glued to his seat for almost all of his races and, as always rode his guts out in all of his rides and at last has a proper reward for his efforts. Well done that man! Messrs. Lambert and Birks gave a great exhibition of their skills on a tricky but quite fast track. Both sides should be congratulated on a great afternoons speedway, thank you. Sadly, Ben hurt himself in a nasty crash and Buxtons number 1 for the day never showed his real potential. On paper it shouldn't have been good, in reality it was very good, one of those classic matches that stay in your mind.

It looked like a blue A4 folder to me, plainly I was wrong, I apologise.

Both teams rode very well on a track that was tricky at first. Gary Irving was incredible, Ashley Morris was good. Byron Bekker wasn't at his best, but stuck with it. It was an entertaining, nail biting match, more so because Ryan Blacklock managed to stay glued to his bike more often than usual and recorded a great score well deserving the Man of the Match award. The score didn't go Buxton's way, but they didn't really deserve to lose, but on balance Scunthorpe probably did. Mrs. Moss might like to be more careful where she is slinging books next time though and mind she doesn't have that gate off its hinges! It was worth £15 for that little exhibition of temper alone!

Quite right. Michael Lee repeatedly let down every English speedway fan on several occasions. I think BWD will find Robert was at Buxton, but could barely walk, plainly in a good deal of pain.

And help.

Did you mean ain't, or did you really mean to say bain't?

They may be noisy, they can be rude, but they are usually there supporting their team. Dudley fans (unless very upset by someone at Stoke) travel all over the country and give their support wholeheartedly. I support Stoke (it wears thin sometimes though) and following Stoke away can be heartbreaking because of their lack of travelling support, sometimes home support too. As an ex. Long Eaton and Cradley supporter, I will say this, visiting Loomer as a Long Eaton fan was far more intimidating than anything I have ever seen at any other track anywhere in the country. The Loomer faithfuls in the eighties were unbelievably partisan, far worse than I have ever witnessed Cradley/Dudley fans behave. But they do speak English at Stoke.....

Well done Buxton! Hopefully Ryan Blacklock's injury isn't serious and he will be back very soon. Even had Mr. Garrity been on the right side of the fence instead of spectating, it wouldn't have been enough to defeat Buxton. It was sad to see James Sarjeant having problems, one hopes he will resolve the machinery issues soon, he is a far, far better rider than yesterdays score suggests.

I suppose you're right.

In a season that isn't blighted by rain there appeared to be time for all sorts of challenges and meaningless matches. It is a great pity that the British Championship is dependant on seeding, it could be one of the best and most competitive competitions to watch. In reality it is as important as the F.A. Cup competition and could have an inter league team equivalent too. Stoke v Poole, now that really might get some more faces on Mr. Tattum's terrace!

I am not sure you are completely correct, a great many Hong Kong residents held British passports but were not granted residency rights in Britain when it reverted to Chinese rule.

It will be interesting in speedway in fifteen years time then, given the amount of Eastern European kids being born in Britain who are entitled to dual nationality. I for one would like very much to see Cameron Heeps' British passport.

We agree on something at least. Can Jayne fit him in?

So we have now reached the stage of no qualifiers whatever and seeded riders sent into a final which isn't really a final. May as well just call the bloke with highest average the British Champion and have done with it, that will save a lot of bother.

Please don't hold both semi's at Rye! British weather conspires to ruin everything and cannot be anticipated over months, but the semi's and the final dates should have been sacrosant. No other fixtures on those dates to avoid the nonsense of swapping riders around and pressure from clubs. The qualification system stinks too and needs complete overhaul to ensure fairness and opportunity for all interested riders and spectacle for spectators. In fairness to Mr. Machin, it was called off before most will have set out, the weather is not his field of expertise. As far as weather forecasts are concerned, the Met. Office have been endangering life for years with inaccurate forecasts and continue to do so today, they are pitifully inaccurate, a national disgrace. It would be far better and relevant to complain about the Met. Office than Mr. Machin, he is a promoter, not a weather forecaster, what would folk like him to do, run the meeting in the Church Hall if it rains?

That is such a shame! However, in common with other posters, I thought we were being denied the best line ups at each track. Qualifiers should have been held earlier in the season ensuring we saw the very best in the final and that every young rider had a chance. Still, what do BSPA know about entertaining the public?

http://cosgb.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/w-h-smith-son.html The above link shows that the company was called W.H.Smith as late as 2006 and I acknowledge that as an old fart I should move with the times. I apologise profusely and sincerely. However, one hundred and eighteen words, without any punctuation of any description is surely worthy of a solicitor?

I take your point about fast race times and leaders just clearing off and a boring race ensuing. The argument was about whether lap times could be trusted or not, some people think not it seems. The AMCA are an amateur organisation for MX and all of their riders must have a transponder fitted, they are simple to fit with a couple of zip ties, but need to be charged up and paid for. Road racers and race cyclists are thus equipped too. I advanced the argument for transponders, you don't agree for relevant reasons, it doesn't mean one of us is right and the other wrong. However, if the race time isn't relevant, why go to all the trouble of taking it and recording it and how will riders know that they are improving or otherwise on a particular track? Transponders could also actually determine response and start technique times, by showing how long from the official start of the race it took to pass the start line, a useful tool for young riders attemting to refine their start techniques.

If you are saving money by not attending Buxton matches, perhaps you could afford some full stops and a comma or two from W.H.Smith?

Never having been in the officials box I have no idea how races are timed. Why don't they fit transponders to the bikes like they do in other motorsports and even bicycle races, it's hardly rocket science and will do away with all of this nonsense of disputed timings. Or do they do this already?

I don't think I said that Buxton were on a hiding to nothing? They beat Stoke at home a while ago and on that occasion appeared strong and confident, but the previous night appeared lost at Stoke. The reason I am watching them is in the hope that they find their way and at least perform to their averages gaining some self confidence again. Like you, I can only admire Ryan, he falls so often, almost always in the same way, yet usually gets back on and keeps trying often picking a point up. No-one can doubt his commitment, but I wish that someone knowledgable would help him with his technique, he deserves to do well, because he is a brave lad and never, ever gives up. Robert Branford is among the best riders in NL, but at present seems a just little off pace, last nights heat 15 excepted. Buxton are capable of so much better, but batterings like they received last night and last week will only make it harder for them to pick their heads up.