Shale Searcher

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.....

Thought you had "run of the house" when the new stadium is finished.........?

What is the situation with potential sun breaks? Is the track protected against this by buildings or the way the track is placed in the stadium (which direction the straights face) Genuine question.

Fair play to the bloke for coming on here with a direct response, without losing his rag and having a real go back at people...

This could go one of two ways..... 1) He has matured whilst away from direct contact with speedway, hits the ground running, puts 2 points on his average and also wins the British Final and the ELRC... 2) He hasn't matured whilst being away from direct contact with speedway, he has a bad start to the season including EF's and a couple of niggling injuries and retires again by May.. What do you Lakesiders think?

Belle Vue do seem to suffer more than most with rain-Offs..... Obviously due the rotten weather up in the Manchester area? Or was the track as well as being well worn, did it have major drainage issues..? If it was down mostly to the inclement Mancunian weather, do Belle Vue have a plan to protect the new track surface from race day rain? If I remember correctly, the Aces did suffer from rain-offs quite severely on race days, and a possibly higher ratio than most tracks when the weather cleared up for meeting start time.. Serious question.

Any truth in the Troy Batchelor story (missing start of season) because his arm will not be ready? Would you be allowed a guest? (Could be named as your no 1) Would that be allowed?

Squabble, squabble, blooming squabble!! Nothing to read on this thread, as with many other BSF threads at the moment....!

If I remember correctly, Mitch Shirra never used his mirrors, and had a liking to depositing riders into the safety fence!!

Priceless!!!