greyhoundp

Surely its not rocket science for promoters to get together in the NL prior to the AGM, Postphone bringing in the new Silencers, Scrap using Dirt Deflectors, only use the cheaper Carbs, only use the cheaper Clutch plates, Tyres dont seem to be a major issue, also this fashionable thing about sending engines away is very costly. I can see where a few thousand is wasted year on year, but i must Stress we are talking NL League only, and yes i can hear people saying, but what about if i am offered rides in the PL, my equipment isnt competitive, thats why i said have a pree AGM meeting to find ways round problems these ideas may create. The idea is "Survival" to reduce riders costs, therefore to reduce promoters costs, who then maybe then will be able to not only survive but possibly pass on a small saving in some way to the spectators, who are also having to take ever increasing household costs,and Travel costs, as we all know, etc,etc.

We have to remember this will be an Handicap meeting, and whilst we dont know the winner,much will depend on what they go off, but i guess there will be a Scratch Main and a Handicap main Finals, over to you Steve.

Yep, great value for money, fiver to get in.

I WILL be making the trip,but yes it would be nice to watch one of our own, come on Steve get one of um there. Danny, Darryl, Richie,surely one of them would want to ride.

I was under the impression going into the last heat, the USA needed a 5-1 to get a drawn meeting, maybe Mainman can clear up this point or should i say anomaly.

Darryl,Richie, even Danny, any of them.

So was Porky correct,he claimed the tapes were let up while he was mid-air, i think that was an excuse on his part .

Deanno, just love that post, from what you have posted it need not be so expensive, at least not in the NL. So as someone who is experienced in riding and how can we keep the costs down,its pretty obvious most riders keep trying to keep one step ahead, so how is that eliminated which is where the extra cost is brought in, what about tyres ??can any savings be made.? Can something be brought in similar to F1 where maybe a tyre has to be used for X amount of meetings ?. I have no idea on these things, but every avenue needs to explored to get costs down.

Cracking post Oldsparky, you have raised some valid and relevant points with regards cost, Travel costs there is not much that can be done about these they are mostly out of our control. Riders machinery, I am no expert on this matter, surely it is not beyond the realms of possibility that all riders have to use uniform standardised factory machines,anything that is NON Standard is not allowed, that is what Machine examiners are for surely?. Which machinery ?? whichever is a cheaper viable Option that has to be the choice, Fuel to run the machines on has to be taken into account. New Silencers, unless this is an FIM requirement then the cheaper Option should be used. Tyres, again a longer lasting Tyre has to be found and used. So in summary, Travel costs, Machinery costs, Fuel costs, Ancillary Equipment costs they all need to be brought down.I am discussing what i really have very little knowledge about, but to me an ordinary supporter, these things are something that are long overdue. The NDL, surely this is the League where changes need to be tested and implemented, some will work some wont work, but that is the nature of the beast, if we stay as we are, then things will continue to look grim for the smaller clubs.

Yes i realise i mentioned Football earlier, but in Football you can, money permitting go out and buy whoever you fancy <Man City> whereas in Speedway, especially NL Speedway, you have to be able to spot talent who is likely to improve on last seasons average,yes having a little money helps to attract riders, but then its down to riders,injuries, and a little bit of luck, without which nothing is won. I have no doubts my Team Dudley are already formulating there Team for 2012, and no doubt the backbone is already there, however there is a little bit of tweaking needed for 2012, but none of this can be done before the points limit is agreed, minimum average also needs to be looked at,etc,etc, I also think the points limit has to be tied in with how many teams are expected to compete in The NL in 2012, in my opinion if there are 10 teams then it should stay the same, but if it is 12 teams then it may need to be 38 ish.I am no great believer in points limits but there are only a certain ammount of riders of a certain standard available, and they have to be shared around for Teams to be competitive, until there is another better way to do this it is with us for the forseeable future. Having read my post through, minimum average could be misconstrued, i meant minimum individual riders average which is presently 3 points, there is no doubts riders like Adam Blacklock,Danny Stoneman,Adam Portwood and others are hampered at the beginning of there career by not being able to achieve this average, therefore Teams are less likely to offer them a team spot unless there is no other option available to them.

The meeting was much more interesting than seemed on the updates,could have gone either way, Kenny in a class of his own, Austin gave him good back up,shame about the fall in his last race, but he was going for the 2nd place that would have given The USA a draw., all the US riders chipped in with vital points. For GB was impressed with Tom Perry, and young James, Ash chipped in with vital wins, in fact if memory serves me right i think all the Young brits had a win except Brendon who blew a motor on the line in his first race. Good crowd for this fixture, i am sure both sets of riders enjoyed there support, the auction for the signed race jacket raised £200 must be close on a record, may be worthwhile considering doing a raffle for something similar at meetings, b.cuz lots of people may have a couple of quid on a raffle but cant afford £100 at an auction, Sandie can sell the Tickets at your Stall. sorry Sandie. Well done to all the guys, few bumps, few sick bikes, but nothing major...OH almost forgot you HAVE to buy the DVD. before the last race "Porky" mikeman was leading the Mexican Wave by running down the home straight, BUT,BUT he didnt jump high enough to clear the Tapes, went straight through them, and fell head first on his Belly, some WAG said it was like an earthquake, needed a lorry load of shale to fill the Hole

If you me and your daughter r the only ones there theres a pint on me However being as its the last Under 21/Heathen meeting of 2012 then there will be a 1,000 plus there tonight, we already have withdrawal symptoms, plus there are sure to be a few Wolves/Brum, and possibly stoke fans there.

If those are the two teams i can only see one winner. whilst it was possible for the Colts to cover for Byron with R/R there is no way they can cover for Adam as well. I realise Scunny have Irving out, but that is more than covered for by R/R. Scunny should be far to strong all round for the Colts despite Kyle and Jason trying there damdest to keep the scoreline close. Good luck to all the guys and stay safe.

There is a possible way to help financially struggling Clubs such as Newport,Buxton etc,etc. I gather at the moment the Home Team keeps all its gate receipts, is that a correct assumption. ?? What about if the Home Team took 75% or 80% of the gate monies, and the away Team received the other 20% or 25%, that figure could be whatever was decided to be reasonable, this would achieve two things. 1/ It would help out the poorly supported Teams. 2/ It would help with Cash flow when a Team has a run of away matches and costs still have to be met. I realise its easy for these gate figures to be manipulated, but as i understand it, In Football if i recall correctly in the FA Cup Matches the away Team receives a portion of the Gate monies, otherwise they would receive nowt if they happened to be drawn away all the time, which can happen and has happened in the past. Just an idea, i will duck down now while the bullets come firing at me.

Lets get this right,it aint about being Rich in the NL or any of the Leagues, its about being Smart, no-one knows this any more than the Buxton promoter, last year they spotted potential in Morris,Branford,Garrity and took a chance on them,added to some seasonally established NL riders, the result they won everything worth winning. If it was all about money Then The Heathens would win everything in the NL, but we dont,so its not. Yes it probably helps in attracting a certain type of rider, but at the end of the day its about spotting ability, talent, and nurturing this young talent. Buxton have proved over the years masters at this, but as they know its swings and roundabouts, to get a succesful Team year in year out is almost impossible due to the nature of the League, when the Team becomes succesful it means the riders improve so they move on up and have to be replaced, only for the cycle to begin over again. The only way occasionally to break this cycle is if you happen to drop on an exeedingly talented individual rider occasionally such as Cameron Heeps at Mildenhall. Any way back on Topic, if there are going to be new Teams in the Nl for 2012, such as maybe Lakeside, and perhaps 2 others such as maybe Sittingborne or Bodmin/Bristol with the anticipated loss of Newport that gives us a net gain of 2, if that does happen then two other things need to perhaps be done.1/ Points reduction to perhaps 38. 2/ The minimum points average needs to be 2.00 instead of the present 3.00 it currently penalises youngsters starting out in the NL such as Adam Portwood whose average is less than 3.00 but he has to start at a higher average than he can attain.

Hey, Hey, where did i put any criticism in my post ??. I merely pointed out that todays meeting had been lost and it hits the Tourists doubly hard in that obviously they are on a tight schedule. I was mostly complimenting Leicester on trying to help out by putting on another fixture at short notice. I always enjoy my annual visit up to Buxton 3 times last year, on the last occasion i brought four other fans non speedway fans at that , today would have been this years visit, i couldnt get up earlier this season,due to working down in Poole. I dont feel i need to regret any remark i made, but Jayne on the other hand So yes i understand Jaynes frustration, but dont take a hit at supporters, especially when they try to help out in a small way by taking the time to visit a Track that needs it. Thanks Sandie for not reading whats not there

If it does happen Steve, I would like to say thanks to the leicester promotion for putting this on at such short notice, I know it costs you guys a lot of money to come over here, and for you to get meetings called off <Buxton> is a big hit for you, and your guys need all the experience they can get, once again well done Leicester. Will catch up with the guys at Monmore Wood on Tuesday, and hopefully Leicester on the 9th.

Kev,thats what i mean, really these challenge matches are just fixture fillers, whereas a local League would hopefully draw in a few more spectators and the riders are racing for points. Neil, Thats where GB Speedway has fallen down, and now we having to pay for it, there are riders who have dropped out over recent seasons, ie Plymouth, Bournemouth, Weymouth, Sittingbourne reputedly wanted to enter the NL so there must be 28 riders around, relaxing the partriality rule 1 Commonwealth rider per team on an assesed realistic average, for 2/3 seasons only until we can get more coming through. so with the 28 who dropped out from defunct teams, 1 Commonwealth rider per Team, and the 1 Older rider per team we are not far away, add to this the Adam Portwoods,Paul Tyrers,James McBain,Adam? Greenwood,and similar others it could be done. I realise it is a development League, but sometimes we have to take a short term hit,for a longer term gain, and with additional PL/NL Teams testing the water, maybe 1 Commonwealth/American rider per Team is no bad thing as it will enable them to asses these riders under competitive conditions, rather than in after meeting laps.

There may be a need for a NL competition that is not a full fixture list of maybe half a dozen meetings, split maybe on a North/South/Midlands basis this will enable Teams who are unable to commit to a full fixture list to run a NL Team,such as maybe Lakeside,Birmingham Bulls who could then run half a dozen local meaningful meetings rather than fixture filling challenge matches. North. Another. Sheffield. Workington. Redcar. Newcastle. Berwick. South. Lakeside. Sittingbourne. Rye House. Ipswich. Eastbourne. Another. Midlands. Dudley. Birmingham. Stoke. Swindon. Coventry. Leicester/Buxton. There could also with a little re-jigging be an Eastern Regional League Trophy, East. Kings Lynn. Mildenhall. Scunthorpe. Leicester. Ipswich. Another. Straight away i can think of maybe a name being the Midlands League Trophy, Northern League Trophy, and Southern League Trophy,if they wanted they could also enter KO Cup Nationally. This would be an ideal way to test the water for Teams not 100% sure of commiting to a full seasons racing in the NL. Yes maybe there would have to be a watering down of teams in the Trophy meetings to get the riders needed ie points limit to be 36/38 only for Trophy matches, but there are also some older riders out there without Teams <max 2 per team> who would love this oportunity. Lots of local derbies in there thats what the public wants, What are your thoughts on this ??. Ommer um Cradley

Yep watching updates lastnight Michael "Rainman" Raines seems like he is the next live prospect on the American Dream Team, seemed very impressive.

There is no point in having one, i think it was decided there would be No No8,s in the NL, but not 100% certain, and we dont all have a Stefan Nielsen in reserve .

Doesnt matter,even if you have a number 8, he cant take the rides, happened to the Heathens earlier this season, may have been against Stoke,basically no point in having a number 8.