secretagentmole

On Sunday the National League team Mildenhall opens the doors for the Fen Fours, a challenge meeting. Then Easter weekend we have the first home league meeting with Kent paying us a visit! I am looking forward to it, from the inside of turn 4!

I ride, I took the wife's 125 to the track a couple of times last year (whilst my 500 was in it's death throes), now I have a 650cc V twin shaft drive to get the 40 miles there and 40 miles back to the track! I do have a speedway team closer to me than that (like 34 miles closer), but I am a Fen Tiger by birth so that is who I will follow, and incidentally stand on turn 4 with my red flag ready, as I am a flag marshal (liked it so much on the first visit that when I saw them advertise for a marshal on Facebook I applied and got the position, I get close to the action)! I think Speedway is proper motorcycle racing, more so than any other. The bikes are basically identical, only basic set up like cog sizes changes, it is down to rider skill and luck, proper racing, everybody basically on the same level so it is the rider not the bike that wins it!

Perhaps just promote it a bit more, I am sure most residents of West Norfolk are not even aware of the existence of the Lynn track for Banger racing let alone speedway (I am a Fen Tigers man myself). The events are hardly listed in bold print in the local newspaper, hell I think it is just an inside the pages job, not a back page special. When a meet is on I don't hear about it on the local radio, it is very much to the "them that know about it". They need posters in the town centre when a match is on, they need articles in the newspaper, on the radio, get them hooked. Emphasise the closeness of the competition. It is noisy enough, it does smell enough. There are families come at Mildenhall, heck there was even a young girl practising on the track after the Challenge meet! But Mildenhall should target the local air bases (Lakenheath and Mildenhall), let them know when the short track is on, hell the Yanks love speedway! A couple of quid off for serving personnel and there would be a good few more in there! Bored of no overtaking during a race? Want to hear a roar from the engines? Want to see shoulder to shoulder gladiatorial action? Want to watch someone drift a bike round a corner? Speedway!

Well at the last meet the Young Stars went to Mildenhall and they had to call the meet off after a Stars rider withdrew! The remaining races were run as "practises"....

If you can't smell the methanol in the exhaust, get the spatter of shale from the tyres, hear the roar of the engines as they wait for the tapes then get out of your car and take the ear defenders off! At my first meeting I could smell the exhausts, I got spattered, I was by the side of the gate in the stands. It was fantastic! Second meeting I was holding a red flag on corner 4! The bikes are not that much louder inside the track! Speedway needs it's own channel on one of the platforms, have a proper show like match of the day with people who can discuss with sense the results and meetings (and also laugh at some of the stupid things like a guy winning a race upside down), it could cover each league and development leagues so people could be kept abreast of the upcoming stars of tomorrow. Perhaps have a few open mornings where people can come in, have the sport explained, meet riders and watch a display of riding, before say a half price ticket for an afternoon/evening race, so they can approach a meet with some knowledge not just watch 4 blokes apparently falling off motorbikes and only going left!

One of the Fen Tigers got a chance in a premier league match, so he went for it! Jordan is a rider who is one to watch next season, he stood out in the MDL meeting so seeing him ride with the main riders is a chance and a half ahead of next season!

A great closely fought meeting with Mildenhall the winners by 4 points (I think it was, could not really tell as I was red flagging so could only keep a rough score in the noggin). Shame about the MDL meeting being cancelled due to a Lynn rider withdrawing, the rest of the heats were conducted as a "practise". Young Jordan is a rider to watch out for, he was in a class of his own in the MDL heat and looks to be a rider worth watching when he moves up to the reserves next year! It was my first race as a Red Flag Marshall so I got close to the racing and even closer to bits of knackered bangers! Only the challenge meeting left next weekend, then all quiet until March next year! Sigh, just get meself a new hobby and it goes away on me, like buying all the gear just before close season when you live in Stoke on Trent!

A great closely fought meeting with Mildenhall the winners by 4 points (I think it was, could not really tell as I was red flagging so could only keep a rough score in the noggin). Shame about the MDL meeting being cancelled due to a Lynn rider withdrawing, the rest of the heats were conducted as a "practise". Young Jordan is a rider to watch out for, he was in a class of his own in the MDL heat and looks to be a rider worth watching when he moves up to the reserves next year! It was my first race as a Red Flag Marshall so I got close to the racing and even closer to bits of knackered bangers! Only the challenge meeting left next weekend, then all quiet until March next year! Sigh, just get meself a new hobby and it goes away on me, like buying all the gear just before close season when you live in Stoke on Trent!

I have found out what the problem was (finally). Their menu on the phone system is not helpful and if you press the Speedway Option, instant nobody there, talk to the Office option, someone was!

Attended my first meeting nearly a fortnight ago at Mildenhall, hoping to do so again on Sunday, but I hope to be even closer to the action! How? I hope to become a flag marshall, saw an advert on Facebook for a flag marshall and decided to apply. So I get right up close and personal to the racing (though obviously I hope not too close). Bonus for the riders, I live a mile away from the local Speedway Service shop (called Speedway Services) so can bring down any parts the riders order! So let's hope all goes well and if it does there will be a story from Trackside after the weekend!

New Cross and Wembley are hardly the same distance apart as England and Poland!

Problem is trackers need a battery, precisely where is the battery on a speedway bike? Also you are only thinking of the national market for speedway bikes, don't forget this is an international sport, particularly popular in quite a few former Soviet republics and former communist countries, problem is now you can have the bikes in a van and halfway across Europe in a few hours, not days!

Well it was my first trip to a speedway meeting and though Mildenhall lost I thoroughly enjoyed the event. Some spectacular incidents including a rider and bike vanishing from view under the air fence and an Eastbourne rider winning on his backside not on his bike!

I am a new fan, well make that a middle aged fan who has never been to a live meeting before and only seen the Knights Of Old display team. Being a typical fussy individual I will not be supporting my local team (6 miles away King's Lynn Stars), but a team bearing the name of the area of my birth, Mildenhall Fen Tigers (being born in the shadow of the Ship of The Fens I claim to be orange and black and growl at sugar coated cornflakes). Now trying to get information from these people is like trying to get blood from a stone. Gates open 2pm, parade lap 3:30pm, first race 3:45pm, but what time is the average finish? This concerns me as I do want to be back home at a reasonable time so the wife does not feed my dinner to the dogs (all three of the hooligans). I try ringing the stadium, says office open on day of race, 10am, no answer, 11am no answer. When are they in? Office hours on day of meeting might help!