Stoke Potter

You know! You need to tell most of the rest of them on here as most can't see it or are in denial. The only part I slightly disagree with is the last bit with the bikes not being adapted. The majority of tracks in this country have always been sub-optimal in terms of size, shape, space, etc. It is just even more apparent these days, with the bikes being even less forgiving around a typical tight, narrow British track.

At least 2/3 of the heats last night were boring processional rubbish. Barely 5 heats worthy of being called a race. Ipswich another on the long list of tracks that need improvement... Yes, we know, it can't be done for this, that, or the other reason and the racing is usually amazing anyway. Why doesn't anybody go to Speedway? The answer was on tele last night.

Thank you for the explanation regarding the landlords at the EOES, you appear to be the only one able to explain the changes over the years. I was looking for an answer and nobody else would provide it. However I completely disagree that all tracks were always fine, most of them have/had issues and produced generally poor racing. I.e. little to no passing. That is why the first out of the gate idea persists, because it is generally true. I would agree that you need riders of a certain standard to do tracks justice and that has always been the case. And in reply anyone who would want to silence my opinions because it is different to theirs, I will debate and pass judgement on various things Speedway related, including my opinion on tracks, and potential ways to improve them. The whole point of this forum is for discussion and debate after all. However, If you want me to be thrown off the forum then I invite you to put a request to the moderators to get me banned...

I'm not overlooking anything. I've observed that the track could be improved by adding width to the outside. At which point, various "homers" (people who defend their home track just because it's their home track) appeared, basically stating it's perfect and cannot be improved. It's far from perfect, when I've seen it on video/TV it's tended to be very fast gate and go and at least one other person on this thread as stated it can be like that. You seem to say that the landlords see the Speedway as an annoyance, why is that? (genuine question) Basically the situation appears to be that, within the rules, Peterborough could probably be widened but the landlords are likely to be against it. What you and various others need to realise is that if Speedway is to survive the product must improve. The main key to improving it is to make the tracks the best they can be. Most of them need to be bigger, wider and have significant improvement in track prep.

Sounds like it has potential... How many heats were processional with no racing? How many with close racing without passing? How many with multiple passes? Tempted to pay a visit next week.............

So there's room to move the fence and still be within the rules then? How close is the fence now and how close is it allowed to be according to the rules?

Thanks for the explanation, appreciated. I am surprised that there those fixtures are as close as they're legally allowed, it didn't seem particularly close to me. The exclusion/stop lights did seem rather close (and solid) to me though.

Back to topic; it needs (at least) 2 to make a race, and 2 men made that race. It's a shame Pedersen still hasn't found the missing engine "ingredient" that he's been lacking for approx 5 seasons and that the very top riders have sussed.

You can't make the bends wider because of the Grandstand? In answer to the other post about width being width. No that's completely not the case. Adding width by moving the inside line is completely different to moving the fence out. The reason Belle Vue is so good is because the relative dimensions, ratios, etc, of inside line, fence line, width, bend radius, etc. is as close to perfect as we have is this country (and possibly the world). Somebody else mentioned Stoke... When Stoke is prepared properly the racing can easily match what I witnessed at Peterborough on Monday. And yes I think the same should happen at Stoke, the circuit should be much wider - I reckon the NSS would easily fit within the confines of Loomer Rd. Shame it will never happen. The track is every promotions biggest asset. (or at least it should be, many of them are actually liabilities!) Most promotions don't seem to realise this.

Yes, think hard... It is one of the better tracks but most of the rest are pretty bad. It is not in Belle Vue's league but has the space for the increased width to allow it to become more like a B.V. Are you (and the rest) actually saying Peterborough wouldn't benefit from increased width? Very odd if so. Some said it was widened previously, was it done on the cheap by chopping away at the inside line? In short, it's a good-ish track but it could be considerably better with relative ease. All tracks should be looking to see how they can be improved.

My first visit to Peterborough and I was fairly impressed, good facilities, pretty good presentation but someone to interact more with the crowd would be helpful to get them going. It's one of the better tracks in the country but is crying out for increased width and that would help massively with the quality of the racing. There aren't multiple lines going into the bends and increasing width would also allow for some banking to be added. Time for some investment in additional track width. Plenty of space to do the necessary.

So the learned Mr Godfrey said: "We can let even them in for free..." (Not sure if he actually said that or it's a typo in the Star) ".......................But they don't come back the next week." So the obvious conclusion is people do not want to buy the product you are offering. Ask yourself why. Speedway has an image problem and a reality problem. The image is that first out of the start usually wins, most races have very little passing and for the most part nothing of note actually happens during a race. The reality is that first out of the start usually wins, most races have very little passing and for the most part nothing of note actually happens during a race. Once you fix the reality, you will have started the process of fixing the image but it won't happen overnight. You fix the reality by fixing the tracks. Comparisons with F1 are utterly spurious - an annual event in each country with millions of pounds invested by global corporations.

This is all about context - this is a good race because of what depended on it, England winning an international. A race like this, a good chase and 1 pass, should be pretty much a minmum for most heats at all tracks. It's not, and that's mainly (but not exclusively) because the tracks are no good. This is nothing compared to the classic at the NSS last year.

Sorry I'm not sure as I never actually went to Sun Street, it was before my time! The site became a Garage/Car Sales business and I think still does car repairs to this day. Not sure if you can get any clues from what you remember here: https://www.search.staffspasttrack.org.uk/details.aspx?ResourceID=35846&ExhibitionID=35849&SearchType=2&ThemeID=768 Not sure if the Greyhound track is higher than the Speedway Circuit??

That was Stoke Sun Street and it is long gone.

I've long thought this is something that should happen but the distance that gate 4 is in front of gate 1 should be unique to each track. I think 2 feet forward at most tracks would be way too much. All starts should be made to be as even as possible, there are enough boring races in Speedway without the starts giving advantages to certain gate positions.

Weren't Ipswich one of the few that weren't actually for sale?!!

I remember that meeting. I seem to recall Dugard bleating that his career could be over because he got excluded at the start. He jumped the start claiming a piece of the tapes flapping in the wind had put him off!

Thanks Dean. I think most agree that a more manageable engine is required. Hopefully those ideas work and the engine gets adopted. I imagine there are not many tyre manufacturers interested in making one for Speedway especially if the idea would be shift around half the amount Mitas currently sell, i.e. making them last twice as long.

In your opinion is it a genuine solution to the "technical" issues of the sport then? Lower costs, improved control, better racing?? Would anything else need to happen as well to sort the issues?

Is the idea that they will be easier to handle Dean?

Good on you for doing it, that's exactly how most Speedway riders should be in this country. If Speedway was year round that's damn good earnings for what amounts to part-time work, albeit with massive personal risk.

You didn't answer how many days work to get that 8 grand!

Yes there have. Crowds have been crap for years - Sky money has been bailing the sport out. Most races at most tracks are over by the back straight, if not the first bend. There is next to no racing - the reason for this is that most tracks are not conducive to proper racing/passing due to their size, shape, preparation, etc. In short, it's boring that's why nobody goes.

8 Grand in 4 and a half months! 1800 quid a month... How many meetings is that? We'll call a meeting a full days work and then add another day's work for meeting prep... So many "days" work to get 8 grand? On the bigger picture, I've not yet read this weeks Star cover to cover bit I've not yet picked up on anyone saying the tracks need to be fixed, apart from Andy Meredith wittering on about everybody getting decent shale - that won't help with the poor size/shape of most of them.