Daytripper

There is no next question because I didn't ask a first question. I simply made a factual comment. If I, or anyone else on here had a question about anything at all, you don't seriously believe we' d go to a nitwit like you for the answer do you ? (Unless we wanted to know Jerran Harts release date )

I am not in the know but my understanding is that Jawas are (or at least we're) faster but more difficult to set up right. If you remember in the early part of the season Lewis Kerr was falling off quite a lot, almost always on apex of the bend. Lewis Bridger said then that the Jawa engine rather than the rider was the cause of those falls. However the Revolution Team seem to have sorted that out and both riders are much smoother on their bikes now. I believe Revolution Speedwáy are the Jawa importers. They are certainly a very professional outfit.

Piotr Swiderski has never let Lakeside down because his Polish club demanded practice, and as far as I can recall Adam Skornicki and Magic Janowski haven't either,,to name but two.

I didn't say he wasn't there I said he didn't do the track. Be that as it may there is no doubt that there were underlying problems with the track rather than failures of the track staff.

Just for completeness I understand Gerald was indisposed and didn't do the track on Monday. I don't know who did, it but getting someone else to do it at short notice may have had something to do with the condition of the track. The underlying condition of the track is still poor but it is unfortunate that the regular track curator couldn't do it. Unfortunately these things happen from time to time.

My understanding is that the MC won't allow it. So we have Craig Cook an EL No:2 in the British Championship and with GP experience being allowed to double down , Lewis Bridger was out of the sport for 18 months has a much lower average not only than Cook but lower than the likes of King , Kennett and Lambert, yet he is not allowed to double down. Bridger, like him or not, would put more on the gate in any PL club but the MC in their wisdom won't allow it, apparently.

A curious anomaly is that Belle Vue currently have the second lowest combined average in the EL, only Leicester are lower . Conversely Poole's combined average is by far the highest in the EL , five points higher than Swindon and nearly eight points higher than B.V. Yet Poole have not won away yet. Can we read anything into those figures other than the fact that until Monday Poole had a massive home track advantage ( possibly because up to last night they knew where the holes were?)

A bit of an unexpected opportunity has arisen here because the GSA's at the start of the season meant that Ed and Richard had to share a d/u role but now that Lewis Bridger has dropped to a 4.68 they can fit both Rich and Ed in the 1-5 together as long as they do it before the averages change (assuming they go up not down ).

I don't know why. I could be down to money. Even Matt Ford isn't made of money. What I do know is that major track work often can't be done for 5p. I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I read posts from the keyboard warriors who sit on front of their TV screens and think a bit of blading or something is going to sort a track out and the track man/promoter is too dim to realise it. I don't know if it is down to money or some other reason, but the reality of modern Speedwáy is that good quality shale doesn't come cheap and good tracks don't come easy. I don't know why Poole is in the condition it's in but I very much doubt whether it's a simple matter to resolve. I am not Matt Fords biggest fan but I doubt whether even he sets out to have a poor track, especially for a TV meeting with sponsors present. There might well be a significant reason for it. That said, it could be the best track in the world, and we would still have the usual suspects on here moaning about it.

You are the one that's clueless, making such an idiotic post without knowing what Gerald wanted to do ages ago and what he was not allowed to do by Matt Ford.

From the Lakeside website :- Jon Cook moved swiftly to allay the fears of Lakeside's fans after the announcement that Lakeside track specialist, 93 year old Leigh Lanham will line up for Coventry on Saturday. Cook told the fans " I know Leigh has been around for a long time and must almost know his way round the inside line by now but the EDR scheme is designed to help up and coming riders like him progress through the ranks so he has to be given a chance, but I have had a word with him and told him to remember which side his bread is buttered if he he wants his usual invitation to the "Legends" table at this years dinner and dance. Anyway there won't be an interpreter in the pits so he won't have a clue what Gary Havelock is talking about and we'll put him in the pit next to AJ and he'll think he's back with the Hammers."

I remember that too. He did it all of his career. He was another one who failed to reach his potential. On the verge of world class when he suffered that terrible hand injury at Prestatyn and was never anywhere near the same again.

Nobody has mentioned Bjorn Knutsson yet. He broke into the world top ten rankings at 22 years old and was never ranked lower. Than fourth for the rest of his career. One of the "Big 5" along with Moore, Briggo, Fundin and Craven, so he had some tough competition in that era. He was under 30 years old when he retired so had a lot of potential left. He was a few years younger than the rest of the big 5 and coukd we'll have stayed at the top when they started to decline. Bjorn was also only about a year younger then Ivan Mauger and if he had continued into the 1970's he was, in my opinion the only rider who could have consistently challenged Ivan and, again in my opinion might well have taken some of the world titles eventually won by Mauger , Olsen, Michanek , and Szczakiel. We shall n ever know but he was certainly a class act and Speedwáy was the loser when he retired at such a relatively young age. In more recent times, Adam Shields. Every time he started to go well he seemed to collect a serious injury, and in the end a couple of head injuries finished him off. Not a world beater but could have made a much bigger impact than he did , if he had more of an injury free run.

West Ham came bottom in '64 and in the inaugural BL season '65 they did the treble, the League, the London Cup and the KO cup. Almost certainly the last club that will ever achieve that. I think you might mean Phileas Fogg was circumnavigating the world ! I don't think he was Jewish !

The story according to Len Silver ( if my memory can more or less bring up the facts) is that at the peak of Andrews career he started to have some sort of bike proble. I can't remember the details but it was something like exhaust gasses escaping through a hairline crack that didn't show when the engine cooled down and he was losing power. Because there was no obvious fault he began to think it was in his mind and lost confidence. Speedwáy is such a confidence sport that even when the problem was sorted (after several months) the confidence never came back. My memory is a bit vague but that's roughly Lens version I think. His return to Rye House was curtailed by a head injury that left him concussed and ar age 42 it was a bit later to make another comeback when he recovered 18 months later

Having been brought up at a big wide track myself and now watch most of my Speedwáy at two smaller tracks I woukd have to agree that a good meeting on a big wide track produces a special type of spectacle that smaller and medium size tracks do not seem to replicate. However as Stevebrum has correctly pointed out there is much more to than track size . A good meeting needs good track prep , two closely balanced teams , and a range of other things that need to click at the same time to produce a memorable meeting. I have to say it took me quite a while to get used to Lakeside, and never liked at all in the Ronnie Russell days, in fact I never really went until the present promotion took over and made big changes to the track and the team, but I do think it's a lot to do with where you watch Speedwáy on a regular basis and what you get used to. For myself , some of the most memorable meetings of recent years were at Lakeside in 2013 when the team were struggling a bit and it seemed that Peter Karlsson and Dave Watt , both track specialists at Lakeside were going out in heats 13&15 to secure the win, often with some terrific cut backs. I think most regular posters on here know there is no magic formula that produces exciting meetings week after week and many different factors have to click at the same time to produce a really good one, but it gets a bit tedious when we get posters like Stoke Potter rattling on with drivel that flies in the face of our own first hand experiences Well , now you have your remedy. Next time Lakeside or any other British track you don't like is on TV don't watch it. Find something more stimulating to do. That way you'll enjoy life more, we won't have to read your carping complaints and we'll all be happy. Problem solved

You are right in theory , but the bottom line is that he has to earn a living, otherwise he won't be riding in any league for very long. Having said that, there are riders of lesser ability than Craig who seem to get by with jobs in Poland and no PL , Max Fricke being an example of one. This is not a criticism of Craig, but I just wonder how some manage it and some don't. It is tough in Poland though, they are expected to turn up for practice etc and then don't get paid if they are not picked for the team.

EVERYONE knows ? How would they know that if they don't have your ability to know what a track is like without even being at the meeting?

Lakeside did a £10 meeting last year but still had to get a sponsor to underwrite the loss. Conversely there was a particularly good TV meeting 2 or 3 years ago, I think it was Wolves v. Poole, at a time when the Turbo Twins were at their most spectacular, and I was reliably informed that at Lakeside the following Friday there were an exceptional number of enquirers from newbies who had watched the TV broadcast and wanted to give it a go.

True. Part of the problem is that apart from F1 and to a much lesser extent Superbikes, motor sport in general is not even on the radar as far as the mainstream media is concerned. The days of massive crowds are gone forever. That's just the result of a changing world with so many alternatives available. However, within those constraints people will pay the price if the product is good enough.Speedway is broadly comparable with some stock cars, cricket and a number of others and as others have said soccer can charge twice as much a pull a huge crowd in, so there is no doubt that cost is not a major obstacle to most people who don't want to spend their lives in front if the telly.

1. How much are you going to pay this marketing team ? 2. Where are you going to get the money from? We have been through all this a million times before. Back of fag packet suggestions are never going to work unless you work out what the cost is going to be. The forum is full of great ideas but 99.9% fall down because they are uncosted.

Fair point. Anyone who preaches about track covers first of all needs to have a go at putting air fences up and down. It takes two people to fold one airfence section and 4/5 to lift it on to the truck. About 10 sections per bend. Very hard work and takes around 45 minutes to pack up, putting them up takes longer. Track covers are bigger, heavier and harder. You would need to get a team of voluteer track staff to have time off work to come in during the day and put the track covers down in probably in the pouring rain. In addition the track curator cant do his job while the covers are on. In practical terms track covers woukd only be of very very limited benefit.

It's now 7.15. It's been raining for 4 hours and no sign of it stopping. It would be madness to have the fans there for a meeting with zero chance of getting on

Moaning for the sake of moaning I think. 16 miles North of the track it has been raining here since 3o'clock. Rain is predicted until late into the evening. So what are they supposed to do, race on track covers ? Of course Jon Cook made the call, he is the promoter, it's his money down the drain. The rain off has just cost him around £5000 in stadium rent, medics, riders flights, and all the other fixed expenses that still have to be paid, which he won't get back through the turnstiles tonight. Hardly a decision to be taken lightly, especially as he has just spent thousands on a new air fence on bends 3&4. That won't get paid for by postponing meetings.