OveFundinFan

There is always a demand for the "opening night" of most things..... its like "something special" That's what took me and the wife down to Bristol speedway back in 1977, when Bristol was making a comeback. The track was lousy, therefore racing was not too good either, even though the star riders were there. That's one of the reason why I have not got tickets for the BV opening. Having said that, the atmosphere is going to be really good, I'm sure, and it is for the Peter Craven Memorial Trophy - which would be really something to win. Great memories of a great rider.

I remember a few years back there was a road racing series with Yamaha 350/400cc water cooled bikes. All standard or at least tuned to the same level. Riders put there hand in a "hat" and pulled out an ignition key - that was their bike for the day. Racing was good, the best riders won, it was close racing but those with higher talant pulled gaps on the lesser talanted. It could work in speedway. I dont see how standard engines would prove dangerous just because they may be lower powered. JAP engined racing back in the 50's/60's wasnt dangerous because they were only 50bhp or so, 2 valve JAWA racing in the late 60's/70's was no more dangerous then a 4 valve JAWA or a Weslake etc. There will always be a demand for more power. Look at F1 today, the drivers demanding for more power. Regulations in recent years has reduced power and other characteristics of cars, so they maybe 4 seconds a lap slower, yet Mercedes duo still rule the roost somewhat easy, but still the drivers want more speed, its an ego thing. Give cars all the same engine and the top drivers will still shine brighter because of their talent. Give speedway bikes the same engine and the talented riders will still shine.

I would make an enquiry direct with the stadium admin office - telephone them.

Its a new track, tested beforehand or not, I would think the chances of getting top class RACING is iffy. Time will sort it and I do believe the track will produce quality racing.

Looking really good.

When talking about not seeing a new Coventry stadium, do remember BV is part of a sports village, its not just a speedway stadium but other sports all together on one site. That may interest councils like it did Manchester council and the new BV track. Just dont mention dog racing.!!

This morning Saturday 12th March @ 10:15am on Eurosport 2, world championship ice racing from Berlin, not live, think a week old.

If I remember right, methanol runs cooler then petrol, so can withstand higher compression ratio, which gives more "punch". Compression produces heat which is not good for engines (high temperatures that is), hence in moto x they have watercooled engines. Methanol running cooler even at higher compression (higher heat) is ok. Petrol engined speedway bikes would probably need radiators which will cause problems ie getting filled in with track dirt and overheating. Laydown engines mentioned in above post - just wish we could have the bikes from the 70's/80's back again. 4 valve uprights produced good racing (as does the laydown machines) but they look better in my opinion, and from what the general consensus is, they were easier to ride then laydown.

I think it is inevitable that with a new track, new stadium etc there will be problems. I hope they are minor and few.... but there will be problems. Just hope the race track is stable for that first meeting. I remember back in summer of 1977, me and the pregnant wife took the trip from north Cheshire down to Bristol for the opening meeting of Bristols "revival". It was a complete and utter shambles due to the track conditions - there was a big hole on the 4th bend still being worked on right up to the start of the meeting. Different circumstances to BV. I sincerely hope BVs first meeting goes well, but if it doesn't then I truly hope it is nothing near as bad as that evening in Bristol. I would love to be at BV for the opening meeting, the Peter Craven Memorial Trophy meeting, but I have deliberately stayed away because of Bristol 1977. Roll on the World Team Championship end of July - everything will be hunky dory by then.

The cinema that gets talked about is a few hundred yards away, nearer the old stadium, just of the main A57 Hyde Road

Before the start of this year I may well have agreed to "use the youngsters" purely because there wasnt any chance of Tai and CH taking Brit. to top honours, so give the youngsters experiance. Now things have changed. Cookie has turned the fuel tap on full, and Scotty is "making a comeback" (and I agree as to why he stayed away from the party, and his return if things have changed). So, yes, go with the team on form and riding BV well at the time of selection. If any rider is a bit niffed that Scotty is back in the frame for possible selection, then its up to them to perform better then Scott And its good to see a squad out practising, but more importantly, bonding together as a team.

Cant understand this Lots of grumbles about paying £17 (or whatever) for a dilapitated old stadium with toilets dating back to the 18th century and non existant creature comforts that 21st spectators demand then an enterprise supplies it all in a brand spanking new stadia, charges a few quid extra, and same peeps grumbling.

Personally, if the vote is for OUT, then I think somehow UK will stay in. EU is not going to allow UK to leave easily, it will probably start to much unrest in other countries. Ther will be new offers. Still important to have an OUT vote though

Under track heating! Is that a first? or has it been used before?

Thats the site I was looking on, and I still cant see speedway mentioned. If you seen it then it must be there, but seeing BT will have paid good money for the rights (anyone know how much) you would have thought they would splash it about a bit on their website at least. After all they still need people to support it by paying.

Just been on the BT Sport website - cannot see any mention of speedway at all. Does anyone know what BT Channel it will be on???

Well he has had a break. In my opinion Troy went off in the second half of the season. OK, not a brilliant year before but lets not forget he almost went through a GP unbeaten. Thats pretty good in my mind

I would think Darcys accident played a large part in Holders lack of top performance in the later part of 2015 same with Batchelor I think. Things like that do affect mental attitude with some more then others. We are all humans and not robots. Maybe the break from speedway of the winter will do both of them good.

and what about Russia. Has anymore been said if Emil and the Laguta brothers are riding?

Have motocross type starting gates, where the bar folds downward toward the rider. If the rider rolls and touches the gate as it comes down he will disadvantaged.

Interesting the fetish for bend 1-2. All the years I went to Hyde Road (late 50's to late 70's) I stood/sat mostly on the 3rd bend, very occasionally on the back straight, even less on bend 1-2 (was there when PC's leg hit the dislodged grid lid which ruined his chance to be world champ in '77), and I think only once on the start finish straight (and that was one night we spotted Bill Collins broken down [Peters dad] with Peters bikes on a trailer. We stopped, took the bikes to the pit entrance which got us into the stadium on the start-finish straight. Just wish we had walked round the track to our usual position. Last 3 years at Cardiff we sat on 4th bend and twice on 3rd bend. Booked tickets at BV for team Championship and guess where we picked - 3rd bend (in the specially erected stand).

Peronally I think Cookie rode well at Cardiff 2015 to get 7 points. Problem was he did duck out of some decisions but I put that down to lack of experiance/confidence riding at that level. GP racing is at a far higher level then what he is used to - GP's demand high speed racing and if the mind is tuned into that it will cause a problem. Cookie was racing in one GP, the others were regulars. The fact he got 7 points shows how much lacking some of the regulars GP riders were.

Take a look at the artist impression of the finished stadium on post #491 and comments on post #512, may help you understand the situation that BV didn't have a big piece of open land to develop a stadium, there were constraints due to the Sports Village concept.

i know its not a photo thats why I put "photo", which was quicker to type then saying "artists impression" which I did in an earlier post, but any time saved has been lost replying

Re "photo" on ~491 - Looks like there is a grass bank exiting turn 2, maybe a standing area? Think someone else has said turn 1 will be riders/mechanics viewing area, albeit limited.