teddy2706

Vog wasn't there either! On paper, 5.45 minutes per heat should be sufficient, in practise it proved not to be. Folks who are too dumb to learn from mistakes should not be in positions of influence, so one hopes that this nonsense will not be repeated anywhere, not just Stoke! I resent the implication that all the stoppages were due to riders reckless behaviour, it was an important event and they should and did ride to their best abilities.

Whilst cancelled meetings (for whatever reason) are very annoying, geezers like me will remember how distressing it was before super communications became part of our world. Telephoning a stadium to ensure a meeting was going ahead was frustrating with either no answer or an engaged tone, I hate to count how many times we used to arrive at a meeting to find a hand written cancellation note flapping about on the gate, having travelled for long distances, we couldn't even get in for a cup of tea. I believe I remember once attempting to attend a Test match against the USA at Owlerton and being refused the exit off the M1 by police who insisted we were flying pickets during the miners strike. At least now promoters do all they can to let us know that a meeting is cancelled in good time, in these times of ludicrous fuel prices it does save us a great deal of money. It isn't really fair to grumble!

Gas lighting would be a dramatic improvement at Loomer rd unfortunately, far better than no lighting which spectators enjoy now! Joking apart, that electrical system at Stoke will kill someone unless it is addressed and fast. Most of the Black Country was in Staffordshire and in my opinion still should be, although I have heard it said Staffordshire was a lot colder than West Midlands! So long as he was legally able to ride in the UK, no it wouldn't matter. I think that Rais Mustaphin was from Mongolia and he was a really exciting Ice Racer. Or am I deliberately missing your point?

Hello Rip van Winkle, did you have a nice sleep? Neither Cradley nor Wolverhampton have been in Staffordshire for donkey's years, we chucked you all out because none of you spoke English!

If Ollie Greenwood rides like he did on Saturday spectators are in for a treat, the lad was flying! He is English, not a dubiously legal Australian and it isn't going to affect league aspirations. What's the problem?

Dan Berwick rode for Stoke at Lakeside last Good Friday afternoon against Hackney Hawks in place of Ben Reade. He scored one point, falling later and hurting himself. He was signed out of the meeting as unfit, but appeared that same night at Oxford Stadium in a Dirt Riders meeting and won it. Tim Nobes rode for Stoke at Mildenhall and fell very heavily, suffering a nasty, painful injury. He re-mounted and finished the race. This demonstrates how hard speedway and grasstrack riders are. If these two were on my shopping list for riders, I would have no hesitation which one to choose for my team however.

Has anyone ever drawn up the tracks to scale and overlaid the drawings, it would be interesting to compare them? I wouldn't mind helping someone do this if anyone is interested and it hasn't been done before.

With regard to second halves, it baffles me why Sheffield who start at 7.45 are usually able to accomodate a second half, yet Stoke who start at 7.30 are frequently in danger of overrunning their own curfew. Perhaps some promoters believe tractor time is more important than riding time, certainly it seems to take a very long time to get less than 17 minutes of racing completed at certain tracks, this isn't helped by referee's and rules allowing too much time between heats. All tracks ought to be capable of holding decent second halves. However, NL is hugely entertaining and deserves a full meeting on a fresh track surface, so second halves are not the way forward for NL IMO.

I don't believe it is a very nice way to treat Tim, he did nothing to deserve what is effectively a sacking, he improved his average over the year but suffered some dismal luck including some crashes that were not his fault at all. I sincerely hope that Tim shows Stoke what a good man they have passed over next season and rubs their faces in the dirt. James Sarjeant is a brilliant young talent who may well make a world class rider if he is mentored correctly and supported properly, but he too has a part to play in that career path, he may sometimes not do himself any favours in my opinion. It would be great if he too showed Stoke what a good man they have decided to do without.

I should leave it Dean, some folk who aren't used to working long hours will never get it! For someone to say they don't believe you is just a piece of ignorance from someone who is probably a couch potato. The fact that you manage to fill your life to the extent that you do would be a cause for admiration anywhere else in the world, but sadly, not in Britain, the home of underachievers and dossers. I suggest that your detractors continue their couch potato habits and watch 'The World's Fastest Indian' and see what can be acheived by determined and resourceful people like Dean.

Why is this a good opportunity to have a go or mock Dean? He expressed an opinion and answered some questions from interested people. Most people involved in motorsport that have no real backers prepare their own machinery in their own time (usually evenings), just as Dean seems to. The fact that he doesn't pay people to do what he is able to do himself merely shows he is resourceful and doesn't waste money. He made the point about other riders not to belittle them, more to demonstrate that in his opinion it is possible to prepare an engine in NL one's self and be competetive, the fact that he has beaten other riders who do outsource their engine building re-inforces this and shows he is perfectly able to build competetive engines that suit him just fine. I have watched Dean on a few occasions this season and I am content that my gate money is, in part going to him and others like him and I admire him more now I know that he builds his own engines.

This is fascinating stuff indeed. Plainly the engines in use are simple, yet riders of my aquaintance are sending them in routinely for "servicing". It had occured to me that once the engine was in a particular state of tune and assuming that no damage or cam and follower wear was apparent, I couldn't understand why with fairly basic workshop facilities, they appeared unable to rebuild their own engines. Surely we are only talking piston and rings,cam chain, mains and big ends, valves springs and freshen up the seats and valves, then careful valve and ignition timing? Alan Belham told me ages ago there was no reason why a standard engine could not win races at NL level, but if you listen to Sam Ermolenko you need this length rod, these flywheels, that piston etc.

The sport is specialised and is thus expensive compared to MX or even road racing where at the lower levels riders pay to ride. Machinery is too highly tuned to be durable, the control tyre is far too expensive and is an environmental disaster due to it's high wear rate. The fuel is highly poisonous despite it's green credentials and carburettor cost is ridiculous. The frames and forks seem to be easy to bend, clutches expensive and high maintenance. Fuel costs to get to meetings from one end of the country to the other is massive. Short track, ridden on the some of the same tracks as speedway appears to be less expensive and has more action due to a higher number of riders and a greater number of laps per race. Maybe it is time to grasp the nettle regarding engines, perhaps using MX based units complete with silencers and running on petrol or insisting on power limits, it was acheived years ago in Ice Racing by restriction to the use of two valve engines albeit on safety, not cost grounds. Plainly, engines being tuned to higher and higher outputs with rear tyres spinning insanely can only lead to spiralling costs, thus endangering the possibility of NL clubs continuing profitably? The overheads to competing in the sport have to be brought under control and soon, introducing new silencers etc can only make things worse, not better. As for introducing foreigners into the NL, how can that possibly aid youth development in Britain or keep costs down? Buxton may be an aquired taste, but losing it would be terrible, crying shame. Having been treated to a miserable, uninteresting procession at Leicester on Saturday night, maybe more supporters might want to try the sheer unpredictability and excitment of NL racing? I don't think they will be disappointed!

Mr. Vasey may have many qualities, but getting inside riders and working them like a puppet isn't one of them, they do as they wish, sometimes with unfortunate consequences. He was not able to influence the injuries Stoke riders sustained last year, nor did he pick the squad. He was though, influential in selecting this years brilliant squad, but welding them into a team rather than a collection of individuals has proven difficult on occasion. One member of that squad is a brilliant young talent, who sadly lost an opportunity to win a youth title due to poor machine preparation causing a fall. Mr. Vasey was not at that meeting, so presumeably cannot be blamed for that failure at least? The blame for that lost title lies elsewhere, maybe in the workshop, maybe in a town that sounds like workshop?

It did seem to me that the rider in red was moving at the start and the referee should have stopped the race and that rider invited to stay still in the re-run. Had this happened, the racing incident probably would not have occured and the riders would have been unhurt. As for the loutish behaviour on the terraces and pits, this is certainly due to Chris Louis inflaming matters in the previous week with his comments in the press and Mildenhall Speedway club allowing spectators to become intoxicated, or worse allowing them entry to the stadium whilst already intoxicated. Any personal license holder will know that serving drink to intoxicated customers will bring the Licensing Authority down like a ton of bricks. Why Mildenhall single out Simon Lambert and call him a cheat is a mystery, he was declared at the beginning of the season without complaint and has improved through hard work. If Mildenhall Speedway have any issues to take up regarding Simon Lambert's eligibility to ride they should be addressed properly to the SCB.

A.Allott R.Brandford S.Lambert J.Garrity K.Howarth A.Morris S. Worrall R. Worrall Please?

Programme for September 2 2011 shows: Fastest Track Record : Andrew Silver (Arena Essex) 59.1 secs 8 August 1987 Current Track Record: Ty Procter (Redcar) 60.5secs 8 August 2009 & Steve Johnston (Somerset) 25 September 2009 National League Track Record: Jamie Pickard (Stoke) 62.6secs 21 May 2011 & Simon Lambert (Stoke) 24 July 2011 Conference League Track Record: Andrew Tully (Scunthorpe) 62.0secs 29 August 2007

I understand that the Stoke track record has been amended in the programme to reflect their NL status. Acknowledgement of previous record holders is still printed, but the race record for NL is shown as 62.6 seconds jointly credited between Simon Lambert and Jamie Pickard.