Shale Searcher

Think Weatherwatcher perhaps ought to modify the thread title, and admit to not reading the website thoroughly before steaming in with his posting.. Just a thought WW....

Yes, whisperer, I know, I was just trying to visualise race insurance and possibly why EL is more expensive than PL.... PL rider is Panda EL rider is Jaguar

Yes, you assume correctly.. And yes your are right about clubs not keeping its fans updated with info.. There's so much in speedway that is out of control, some you can take control of, and should.. Inc keeping supporters updated with team news, mind you, with the reactions you get on here, perhaps they can't risk losing 50+ to a meeting because their star rider is in some other way occupied abroad, and their best "7 rides, rider" is performing in a meeting a division or two lower down the leagues!!!

I can't answer that one, the days of the referee having the final say seem long gone.. Leicester didn't help the cause, none of them had changed, and that sends out the wrong message... Also, every man and his dog had been out onto the track on turn 2 (pits entrance/exit) and had kicked, heeled, scraped, stubbed their feet all over, and that made it look far worse than it was... In the old days, pit gates were shut, with signs up saying "Riders Please Keep Off The Track" until the pit gates were opened by the clerk of the course.. There are riders that just don't like riding on wet tracks, and its worse now than at any time I can recall, and the Elite League is far worse than the Premier League.. When you have adequate drainage, decent banking and clay to shale bias, if you pack it down with tyres, whilst it's damp, it forms a almost a skin, which will allow a lot of the falling rain to make it down hill to the drains. However, once the surface is disturbed, it will leech water down through the track. If rain is forecast, you need to moisten the surface, and tyre pack and tyre pack and tyre pack, then get off the track, and leave it well alone until the ref wants to look at it.. And most of all, keep the "track kickers" off until official pre meeting track walk..

When the call off decision was made on Friday Morning, the forecast for the remainder of Friday, and Saturday was really not very good.... However, I am staunchly against calling meetings off the day before, based on a weather forecast, for exactly how Saturday turned out!! Had it not been called off Friday, there is absolutely no doubt that the track would have been nigh-on perfect for the race meeting.. No rain at all, of any consequence fell race day, against a forecast of heavy rain during the morning, very windy, with then heavy blustery showers for Saturday afternoon and early evening.. You really can't win at this game, damned if you don't, damned if you do!!! This season has seen some horrendous speedwayless gaps, no wonder the sport loses supporters, they will and do find other things to do, and get out of the habit of going.....

A 2L Jaguar is more expensive to insure than a 1L Fiat Panda

Doesn't anyone have any information on this? Surely someone "in the know" must have an idea on Gerhard servicing and costs so far.... Compared to a GM. Also, has anyone "blown" a Gerhard engine up yet? You know, a real crankcase smasher....?

A friend was on one of the JAPS, and basically the track hadn't been tyre packed sufficiently to keep the rain out the shale, to allow the majority of it to "run-off" down the banking to the drains.....

Blimey! It's not just Leicester where this sort of fiasco has happened this year, didn't the same happen in the return? And a televised match an Kings Lynn this season, and Belle Vue last night!! No wonder theres hardly any away support now.. (anywhere)

The same happened at the Leicester v Kings Lynn match, big rain shower (over an hour) we swept all the surface water off, did a bit of grading, and I thought and so did a few others Inc Leicester trackman, that it was ok, after 3 or 4 races, the track would have developed.. but Kings Lynn wanted it blading, and once a blade is used, it usually only goes one way in the UK, and that's off!! And it was off!! UK track material is just not like the stuff they use abroad, and usually UK tracks don't have enough dry material, additional plant to resurface a bladed track quick enough....

Perhaps swap it with someone who is going? I'm not condoning trying to get your money back, but if a friend is going, it's a lot easier, and less hassle... Just saying..

If Harris has a broken rib/s, they take ages to heal, they restrict movement, breathing and hurt like hell, worse pain in world.. I fell off at Scunthorpe, broke 3 ribs and tore the pluritic lining (that's between lungs and ribs) it didn't finish me that afternoon (adrenaline) but from the next day, I couldn't breath, cough, laugh, blow my nose, eat and swallow properly for 3 weeks, before the pain even slightly improved.. Awful place to get a broken bone/s & the tablets I was put on for the pain, and to stop lung infection made me feel even worse!!!

I live 2 minutes from The King Power, we had no rain, but could see small rainbow over ground, smallest shower area ever!!!

Like I said, sorry, I based the thread on meetings registered on the BSF (Didn't include the National League) so perhaps I should have said in the top 2 divisions (missed the Lakeside v Cov because it was rolled into the Cov v Lakeside thread) There is not a GP tonight, are there any other International meetings on? (SEC or?)

No, I think the EL is about right, maybe it could be rounded down to £15, but that would make it cheaper than the 2nd Division!!!! So maybe it's the Premier League that's over priced!! Perhaps that is the £10 version, and the NL should be £5 in........ If the average pay per point in the Elite League was £200, you would need gate receipts to be over £18,000 just to cover the nights basic wages, so you would need minimum 1,000 fully paying adults @ £18 admission How many EL tracks have 1,000 adults paying £18 admission? Not many every week, and we've seen posts on here when crowds have been estimated as small as 700/800 and that wouldn't be made up solely of fully paying adults would it....? How is Speedway surviving?

Thank you very much Neil, that's all I wanted to know, jolly decent of you to clarify this situation.... Shale Searcher..

Sorry Guys, I was looking on the Elite League and Premier League threads on this forum, missed the Lakeside v Cov one, because of the way it was started (lumped in with the reverse fixture) And I could find no fixtures from the Premier League thread!! Shows lack of interest though, doesn't it (especially on here) Are the other ones from the NL?

Hi, I'm involved with track prep at another EL circuit, with the forecast for yesterday (Friday) being quite precise on the rainband exiting the Midlands, and NW saying the track had been prepped for rain (stated this at around 10:00) and then calling it off less than 3 hours later, I was surprised....... I was interested in what changed, because the forecast didn't.... That's all....

With Leicester v Poole postponed due to the weather....... Does anyone think this is not only depressing, but really says where speedway is in 2016, late summer, warm evenings, but not another single speedway meeting fixtured for tonight? Can anyone find out what speedway fixtures were inked in for the same Saturday date (nearest Saturday) for seasons in 2015 2010 2000 1990 1980 Just wondered, if I had fancied going to see some speedway on a Saturday night in previous years, this time of year, what were my options???? SCB, can you help??

Ashley who? Court? Less than what? Please expand?

Trouble is, the sport now is professionally disproportionate... Professional riders. Well paid, not to other sports levels, but we'll paid.. But, everyone else involved, bar the referee, and possibly the promotor/s who can make a little money, or not a loss, are about the only people who get paid!! (Some track curators get paid as well) but everyone else just about is a volunteer!!!!! Spectators expect it to be run professionally.. And it's not.. Perhaps the trackman, didn't get to the track until 7pm? He may well have a full-time job, as most other volunteers who make speedway happen.. And there is one of the problems... The top football/cricket/rugby/F1/etc at least have fully paid, full-time groundsman, and key staff, speedway does not, because there's not enough money, because not enough spectators, because it's a shambles most of the time, because there's not enough paid key staff, because there's not enough money....... .......... ....... .... .. . Do you see where I'm coming from??

If, the top boys, you know, the likes of Doyle, Holder, Zagar, Woffinden, etc cost so blooming much, if we lose them from the Elite (top) League, would that mean the Elite (top) League could knock off £4 to £5 off its admission?? Or, do the Premier League rip fans off by only charging the same as, or £1 to £2 less to get in than the top league???

I have mentioned this before, but never really had a serious reply... But here goes. Is there not something that could be sprayed onto a prepared and rolled/tyre packed track that would waterproof most of the racing surface? Even if it was a "pepper pot" finish, if it could prevent only 30% to 40% of the rain penetrating the surface, that would probably be enough protection....? Gordon Bennett, we can put people into space, transplant hearts... Surely we must be able to invent this???

I wasn't there, but they knew the rain would stop when it did... So, why did they not blade it then?? They could have bladed off the wet top, and then scarified what was below it, and then left it, so that would be then around 7pm (2.5hrs) to blade top off and remove most of it.. That would have given the surface that was left 45-60 mins of low Sun and a bit of wind... What they did do was possibly the worst thing they could have done... Why? They are supposed to be the Diamond of British Speedway, but behaved worse than the "John O Gaunt" Flyers!!!! (a few of us that raced pedal bikes on the corner of Parker Drive/Somerset Avenue) entrance to the old Leicester Speedway, it was 70% shale and 30% tarmac track in front of the turnstyles, but we organised it very well, Inc track prep when it rained!!!!!

Who were not there?