cityrebel

There is a dragons amateur meeting scheduled for rye on Sunday. As an unlicensed venue, it will be interesting to see if this goes ahead.

Probably changed to assist with track preparation in this heatwave.

That's the risk I take when I go to Kent. No curfew, no speedway at central park, it's as simple as that. Last night was the first time it has happened this season. A rider receiving medical treatment for a serious injury has to take priority over running three races.

Last night at Kent, they did a much better job at keeping the dust down than at Swindon. The water bowser is excellent at Kent, and was out virtually every heat. It chucks out a fair amount of water at speed, although the track itself still needs improving.

What a massive own goal for speedway. I thought the swindon track was bad last thursday. A shocking advert for a 'professional' sport.

Poor track preparation and doubling up are just two of many reasons why fans don't go anymore. The annual razzamataz at Cardiff still appeals to a lot of people as a one off event. I don't know if it would be as popular if it was staged on a regular basis.

I got conned at that one as well!

The whole package is poor value for money. At swindon last night I handed over £20 inc prog, to stand in a dump of a stadium, to watch 15 processional races on a dust bowl of a track. It's not rocket science is it.

Leicester did it a few years ago and Swindon last season, so it's nothing new.

Out of all of the new generation of young guns, Drew Kemp looks the best. He looks fearless to me. When I saw him cruise to a maximum on a big track like the IOW, from the gate and the back, he certainly looked the real deal.

Sourcing decent shale has been a problem for a lot of tracks this season. A promoter told me that the best stuff is in Scotland, and finding the funds to purchase and transport it, is proving difficult for some clubs.

The inability to produce a decent race track on a warm evening, was yet another own goal in this awful season for British speedway. The big pre cardiff crowd looked bored by the processional racing on offer, and I was one of them. Yet another missed opportunity for this fast declining sport.

A very enjoyable meeting as a neutral last night. What a ride from young Drew Kemp in heat 15 to clinch the win for the fen tigers.

We are now entering the last chance saloon for this once great sport. Lakeside v Peterborough will be my fith meeting in the South East to be called off for non weather reasons, within the space of a few weeks. An unbelievable state of affairs when we are enjoying our best summer since 1976. The powers that be, should hang their heads in shame, but they probably don't care.

There ain't been passing for fun at Swindon for years.

There was a good crowd at Peterborough yesterday. Yet everybody was squeezed into the centre sections of the main stand because there wasn't enough stewards. It was very hot and quite uncomfortable. It's these minor details that give fans the hump, and should be avoided if possible.

I agree with you, but len got out because of a shrinking fan base and a stadium that needed major investment. Crowd wise, the sport is in a lot worse state than it was two years ago.

You get good and bad meetings at all tracks. Today at the showground was an awful match with hardly any passing on a slick one line track. The closeness of the score kept it interesting, although there was very little to get excited about. There are no guarantees with speedway.

The shortage of riders and the curse of the the double uppers, will no doubt be cured when more tracks go to the wall. Maybe this is the BSPA master plan. Survival of the fittest and sod the rest. If lakeside can't run on Fridays, I can't see them running at all.

The tracks are too small and the bikes are too fast. Has anyone got a magic wand.

Without a doubt. For a lot of fans it's their only meeting of the year.

I said the same thing when travelling to a meeting on the IOW a couple of weeks ago. If you don't move with the times, you get left behind.

According to Jenson, crowds were poor in 2016, rye's last season in the middle tier. It's going to be a financial risk for rye to reopen at any level.

Decent line ups.

The meeting is off, I'm at Borehamwood v Arsenal instead. Roll on August 11th, let's hope there are no distractions that day. Hopefully something can be arranged before that date.