Shale Searcher

Why on Earth would you do that? A rider returning after a premature retirement, someone who has fragile temperament, who hasn't ridden a competitive race in 20 months or so! That has stuck a whole load of pressure on the lad straight away.. Terrible move in my opinion..!

Kai Neimi or Niemi, always used to get it wrong!! Top rider in his day....!

Sawdust seems out of favour these days as well. Remember when I first started watching speedway, if it rained all day but was ok by start time, bags and bags of the stuff was spread out on the wet racing surface, and I do mean bags of the stuff.. Can't remember the last time I saw it being used (pardon the pun!!) Think I seem to remember a Sky meeting from Eastbourne yonks ago, Bob covered the track and graded it in and it looked ok, but if I remember correctly, it was postponed because Nicki Pedersen said it was dangerous... Early 2000's I think.. So what is the reason for not using sawdust in the here and now on wet tracks??

Wolverhampton, Leicester, there's two tracks where viewing from turn 1 stroke turn 2 the public is not really catered for..... I'm sure there's more...

You'd think that clean castor based oil wouldn't do any damage to the environment.... But obviously, 2 year old, dirty black superlube out the tractor would be a different kettle of fish altogether though!!

So no insights yet from the shale alchemists... So I'll ask another question. How many different race surfaces are there available? You know, red shale, grey shale etc, etc... And which one is the best for UK tracks? And why?

Thought you signed S Lambert ages ago, then had to renage because of Peterborough fixture clashes? So you've signed him up again then?

iris123 Can you provide link/name to where I may find the kinetic energy (fence impact) discussion please?

I agree Gemini, a rider would surely like the smoothest, safest fastest surface available, assuming they are reasonably good haters.. Get out in front, pick and choose your own lines, and ride just fast enough to stay at the front for 4 laps. Cannot imagine why any rider would not want the above scenario, unless you just cannot put 4/5 good starts together..

A subject that crops up all the time.. Best material, track Shape, how much water, to rake back or not to rake back during meetings, the tractor racing myth, kerb or no kerb, adding clay, losing clay, shale depth, track wear and tear, holes, ruts, slick, to grippy, fairy liquid, best track type for fans, best track for riders... Most fans take on the role at meetings, at least in their heads, so let's have a debate on all things track, and hopefully get some input and info from fans, track staff, curators...

Hi Bellevueace, How many of these water storage tanks do you have? And do you know if there are gully pots, centre green side of the kerb?

Another problem with the big boys riding in the UK is there isn't even enough of them to distribute them amongst the EL! I personally think you need a minimum of 8 of them, then each EL club could have one each, so you get 8 GP standard no 1's..... As it is now, there's a huge imbalance of number 1's The EL teams should be built as follows: number one = A top GP rider numbers 3 + 5 top British riders numbers 2 + 4 top Prem riders number 6 Top tier fast track rider number 7 2nd tier Fast track rider Number 8 = under 21 New to EL rider, (understudy to numbers 2 to 5) Not sure what to do with understudys for 6 + 7 Number 1 absentee (guest) Any rider from anywhere or other EL number 1

Again bowing to the so called big boys, I wouldn't put up with it.. they should commit for a full season, or not at all.... Hiring one for a few engine testing at the beginning of the UK season, so they can test engines in readiness for Poland and/or Sweden, is just wrong.. in my opinion. Just a spelling correction, pressed quote instead of edit.. Doh!

Don't forget his aborted come-back last season for the Lions, sooner or later he'll run out of tracks to give him any more chances, if he blows out at Lakeside..

Yes, we have that as well, in fact 3 large tanks at each end... You probably have gulley pots just inside the kerb as well, these silt up with clay that settles at the pots bottoms.. Clay will also get to the big central storage tank/s as well, both are excellent for collecting the clay residue, stirred up by blowing back and mixing it with the water before "Sucking" it all out and spraying back onto the track...

Sounds promising, but you'll still lose clay with the rainwater run-off. It should collect in gulley pots if you have them, in which case it can be mixed with the rainwater and sucked out and sprayed back on..

Got to be good for speedway, GM pretty much had the market covered, which would allow them to price as they liked.. But now with a couple of alternative and maybe competitive engines on the block, it just may force prices down as well as give riders more engine options!

I don't know, most, if not all of us do jobs on race nights, from flag marshalls to tractor driving to machine examiners etc..

Bit worrying though, losing a heat Leader before a wheel has been turned in anger before the start of a season..

Oh! 😮

What does 'meh' mean?? Is it text speak for something?

I stand corrected then...

One of the issues with "state of the art" drainage, is that as well as taking water away, it also leeches the clay out as well.. You'll need a plan to put that back on....

If the right Mr Bridger turns up, then he surely (in my opinion) would outscore an ageing Bjarne Pedersen.....

Hopefully the weather will hold this week so we can get on with track work this weekend (from a volunteers point of view) only a little precipitation is in the forecast, let's hope it stays that way.....