Vulcan62

'Is it safe'

I think it happened in the 70's when Leicester travelled to Belle Vue for a 'top of the table clash'. Belle Vue hadn't lost at home for ages but Leicester were leading 37-35 with one race to go. Heat 13 was stopped after a crash, with one of the home team excluded. A fracas ensued which ended up with most of the riders and mechanics etc. involved, along with various other people. The referee proceeded to exclude the other riders under the two minute rule and declared the meeting over! I wasn't there myself but I wish I had been. I believe there are differing versions as to why the last race didn't happen but the result was definitely 37-35 to Leicester.

Crashed at Peterborough tonight. Withdrew from the rest of the meeting.

I think the best chance of getting the refunds finally paid out is if Leicester race against Poole on Monday, get a good crowd and are able to 'bank' a bit of cash.

I've been watching speedway for over 40 years and tonight was the first time I have ever left before the end of the main meeting. A combination of getting stuffed and getting covered in clouds of dust from about the 4th or 5th heat made our minds up to go home. On a positive note the changes to the track appear to have made a difference, unfortunately tonight it meant that when we actually gated in front, the Lakeside riders were more able to get by!

City's last home game is May 7th and the new season starts in early August so at least 11 Saturdays where there isn't a clash. As for people working, as I said it was a compromise so there would be some gains and some losses. Anyway it's better than no Speedway at all and that appears to be where we could be heading!

Would a compromise be running on Saturdays but with a 3pm start time? I know there are issues with racing in the daytime e.g. keeping moisture in the track, but if it meant the top riders had more time to get to their flights to Poland, it might work for one season. The sun would be higher so no breaks while it dropped below the fence, more time for junior racing after the meeting.

A little optimistic me thinks! We might catch Wolves and possibly Lakeside but that depends a lot on what happens tonight. With their normal team I think we would beat Lakeside easily but with their guests it could well be a lot closer. Regarding next year, this week's Speedway Star reports that the transfer of Jason Doyle to Leicester has been shelved as the two clubs couldn't agree on a fee and that he is struggling with the busy schedule with home meetings on Saturdays. If this is true, a lot could therefore depend on if he qualifies for next year's GP's and wants to move away from a British Saturday night track. Personally, I would prefer to stay with Saturday night racing and if that means Premier League then so be it.

So when is the real statement coming out?

Boston - great little track and fantastic food, especially the mushy peas with mint sauce. My brother used to go just to have 5 or 6 helpings. That was one long journey home to Leicester!

Many years ago I was on holiday down south and managed to persuade the other half to visit Poole - which was a miracle. Probably bribed her with a visit to an old castle the next day! Anyway, I can't remember who the visitors were but I do remember one of the home team (Craig Boyce I think) doing a practice start and not noticing that the tractor had just gone by him, he ended up on top of the attachment that the tractor was pulling round. Very funny at the time especially watching him trying to extricate himself!

Nemo's average has dropped to such a low point that, assuming he is back to full fitness, we would be mad not to have him in the team (also assuming that he wants to come back but that is another story). David Howe said that he would struggle to ride for any Saturday track due to his other commitments so I doubt we will see him. I would also keep KD and MK and sooner or later Lasse will come good consistently. We then need to find the next super reserve which could mean giving James S another go. He was improving, just came in a bit late in the season. I'm not sure what that would leave us with but if we could end up with Jan at reserve with James then we would be pretty strong. Having said all that I doubt the leagues will look the same next year anyway!

Might I suggest that if Rye House can't fit the fixture in, a play-off to qualify for the play-offs is held!!! Leicester against Redcar over two legs next week.....It's no dafter than some of the other things that happen in Speedway.

Hopefully, the Redcar team will all get lost on route leaving the home riders to ride round for 15 5-0's!!! Sorted, play-offs here we come....

I'm sure that Rob at Scunthorpe makes almost as many gaffs as Chris Popple at Leicester but at least he makes a joke about it. Chris just takes himself too seriously and needs to get rid of the stupid catch phrases! Rob Sensicall is fine, although Craig Cook must have been the first non-Leicester rider that he has interviewed without asking if he would like to ride for Leicester. Even KK was asked that question, just a few days before Cov got rid!

It's a pity that the 'Guest Rider' rules don't extend to announcers! It would be great to have Rob Godfrey at Leicester rather than you know who. I've been to Scunthorpe twice and both times he has been a vast improvement on what we at Leicester have to put up with. Rob, keep up the good work and hopefully we will be back next year.

Don't forget that only a few week's ago Rob was top scorer at Edinburgh with paid 11. Normally,we should be able to win at home even with one low scoring rider but with only Jan and Kevin anywhere near full fitness, we just appear to run out of steam. Hopefully, if Nemo comes back somewhere near his best (and with the reshuffle of the riding order) and Alex comes back into the side we could still yet get into the play-offs! I know that means picking some points up away at Rye House, Scunthorpe, Redcar or Newcastle but you never know....... One other thing, if we don't make the top 6 would Coventry and Peterborough and possibly Kings Lynn be interested in some sort of East Midlands Cup to fill the gaps at the end of the season. Cov and Peterborough are not going to get in the Elite League play-offs so might be glad of the extra meetings especially with our travelling support. They could do without their number 1 or we could borrow one to even the teams up a bit. I'm sure it would pull in the crowds at our place as long as they brought something like their normal team.

Regarding Rob Branford and our previous young reserves, I have always thought that what they needed was an old fashioned second half to try to master the track without the pressure of league points being on the line. They have all been in good positions only to mess up one of the corners and I suppose this then plays on their mind the next time.

Really enjoyed last night. It's got to be the best racing I've seen at Leicester since it re-opened. Pity about the result but we just lost one or two points early in the meeting that turned out to be crucial. Having said that, Somerset might then have been able to use another tactical so who knows? My daughter took a friend to her first meeting last night and she really enjoyed it. Afterwards her first question was, can I come next week? I know that we have Flat Track next week but the next speedway isn't until July 13th! I hope Mr H can come up with a meeting before then, assuming he has calmed down that is! My daughter and friend thought it highly amusing when he gave the metal fence a good kicking!!!!

The problem is that we (the supporters) keep being told that the racing is great when it obviously isn't. If the promotion came out and said that they had made a mistake but that they couldn't fix it due to lack of finance, I think most people would accept it as long as they were given a possible timetable and maybe the costs involved. To be told that this would happen during the winter and then find out that what had actually been done was almost nothing just made things worse. Regarding Coventry, when Leicester closed I started going to watch them regularly (although they were the old enemy) but gave up as the racing was boring. I ended up just picking the odd meeting when the opposition was strong. I don't want this to happen at Leicester.

£6k-£8k to alter the track. Say £10k at the most and with approx 20 meetings left this season that means £10k divided by 20 = £500 per meeting needed to pay for it. £500 would be generated by 33 extra paying adults or 33 people going that have stopped. And that doesn't include programmes and refreshments.

I have watched Speedway since 1968 so have seen a few meetings here and there. My thought is, just think how many more people would go to watch if the track allowed half decent racing! I don't expect all 15 heats to be amazing but at least give it a chance. Please.