bignbeefy

Looking back on my post I was probably a bit harsh BUT like I said I brought 8 others with me, some speedway fans and some have been to about 2 meetings between them. We actually timed the track grades so teh 18 minute average is accurate! Try explaining to people why there is no food and only grog available whilst a 1950 tractor trundles round the circuit for 20 minutes. My impression that the racing was processional was due to the fact that the dirt was smoothed out after every round so there was no advantage from wider lines etc. In fact there was really only one genuine line, and with riders like Sullivan, Adams etc. once they were out and onto that line, it was bye-bye. I have to agree with you that the racing was fast. It was probably one of the fastest meetings I have ever witnessed outside of Exeter! I must admit I hadn't heard about Mick Poole. I apologise for my ignorance. I also know that Davey Watt and a few others elected to stay in the UK over the winter, but my point is that if this series of Aussie titles is to continue, then MA or another promoter should do more to ensure the best Aussie field is possible. If everyone is back then I dare say that a GP will follow. Make the non-qualified GP riders ride the weekend before for the Wild Card spots - only a suggestion. I would never have a go at Jason Crump as he rides the GC track when he can BUT surely MA could have done more to make him stay. I'm sure there'a bit more to this than face value, but I'm not having a go at Jason. This is one of the biggest things to happen to Aussie speedway for a number of years and I am positive that this will be the way ahead. Bring on the Ekka. I got there at 6.25 and was told at the gate then that they had already had 2000 through the door then, so I was really guessing that approx another 1000 came in through the gates. When I went to the toilet after the third round, there were a lot of people leaving at that stage. One of our group went during the 4th grade and he said there were still loads of people leaving. During the last round of racing we were able to dismount from the tyres (triple twist in pike position) to get near the 1st bend fence, where they were previously 5 deep. I hope that Mike Hatcher has been able to put money in the bank and buy a road grader or at least a bigger blade for the tractor. The question has to be asked though, would the floating supporter return? As we generally get 600 people to a normal meeting and approx 2,500 turned up, that means there are 1500 floaters (?????) as I guess there were a few from interstate. Will we see 2000 for a normal club meeting? Easy answer is no? Not when you spend over an hour and a half watching a tractor at 10kmh.

To be completely honest, the meeting was a joke. The racing was pedestrian to say the least and the club's planning was grossly inadequate for the crowd. I fully understand that it is a small club, and that they anticipated a crowd in the region of 1000 (double their normal). When 3,000 people showed up, it basically embarrassed the whole set-up. Programs ran out at 6.10pm. Seats ran out at 6.20pm. Food ran out at the first grade - after 6 heats. I brought 9 people with me and we couldn't see the home straight at all, untill some of us clambered up some tyres after heat 4. This meant that we were spread out and not a group any more which kind of defeats the object of going together. Now, track grades - The track was graded by the 1950 tractor 5 (YES FIVE) times. It takes on average 18 minutes to grade the track. Close to 100 minutes were lost to track grading! What a joke. People were leaving when the tractor came out for the third time. By the time the final came out there were less than 1000 people there! I have warned the club about this over the past 3 years and what has been done - absolutely nothing. Now the problem with grading after every round of racing (apart from wasted time) is that the track becomes smooth and perfect again. There is no drive for the bouys to use to gain advantage. There were approx 5 passing manouvres outside of the first bend action in the whole meeting, which to be honest is very poor! I asked a few of the riders about it and they said it just gave them more time to work on their bikes, but they would have preferred to get back out there sooner. There was a lot of waiting around which nobody likes. Saying this, I enjoyed the racing as apart from Jason Crump, we dont see the world class riders at all at the track. John Jorgensen was the surprise act of the night, although I had a sneaky suspicion he might do well. Sullivan looked the goods all night and deserved to win. Although if Leigh Adams hadn't had fallen in the first bend Todd Wiltshire may well have won it, as he gated from 4 and rode round the outside of Ryan to lead at the end of lap 1. I think more should have been done to get Jason to ride this one meeting. Where was Mick Poole, Craig Watson, Davey Watt and Craig Boyce? They are certainly better value than Leverington, Booth and Headley. Sorry to undermine what is a return to those heady days of the Speedway Masters series, and probably one of the best things to happen to Australian Speedway for a number of years, but Mike Hatcher needs to smarten up its act if it wants to host these meetings in the future. Many people would have gone away with a bitter taste in their mouths and probably wouldn't return due to the mismanagement of the event.