cityrebel

Despite a few teething problems i enjoyed yesterdays opener at central park. It was nice to sit in an excellent grandstand with good views and i reckon the track will produce some decent racing once it settles down. The main problem will be the curfew. the riders will need to be at the tapes for 6.30, otherwise i can see a few declared results at kent this season!

what about danny warwick or has he retired.

the thing is shads, len should have pulled the plug on it when he saw the USA line up. first impressions will count a lot for any newbies there tomorrow. if you want them to return next week, you need to stage a competitive meeting. i just hope some decent replacements can be found this late in the day, even if they are not american!

this seems to reflect the general lack of interest on this forum. some meetings have been staged with no topic started at all. my thread on the first ever meeting at kent tomorrow has had very few replies.

the opening meeting at central park is just over 24 hours away and yet there is still only 2 replies to my topic. is there no interest in this meeting, is anyone planning to go tomorrow.

it wasn't too bad last saturday shads. I was at eastbourne and the weather was nice and sunny!

Tomorrow evening at the launch pad uncle len is trying something different. Handicap racing does not interest me so i will give it a miss. Is anyone going to this meeting.

just a few days to go before the newest track in the uk opens. this coming monday sees the kent kings take on the 'american internationals'. i'm not a big fan of challenge matches or select sides and would rather have seen a proper team take on the kings in the opener. the weather forecast looks good and i think there will be a decent crowd.

in this modern era of the internet there are plenty of ways of informing the fans of team line ups etc. for the locals you could put a sign outside the turnstiles informing the public what riders are missing, they can then decide whether to enter the stadium or not. reading did this a few years ago when the then world champion erik gundersen failed to appear for cradley. it did not stop me attending the meeting. if i had travelled all the way to manchester on monday, i would rather have watched a match with weakened line ups than no speedway at all.

uncle len will be staging meetings at kent on both bank holidays.

how many people turned up at the fans forum last night.

living in london i have the same decision to make most saturdays, do i go to rye house or or eastbourne. in dodgy weather i always go to eastbourne, because i know that uncle bob will make every effort to get the meeting on if there is any wet stuff.

i agree, the BSPA should have sent a local referee to rye on saturday to check the state of the track.

len silver wont like that idea!

tomorrow evening weather permitting sees plymouth make a second attempt to visit the launch pad. we have had some overnight rain and the forecast for today and tomorrow is for heavy showers. if this fixture survives i'm going for a home win. the rockets look like an improving team to me.

i remember ellesmere port as a big fast track when i went there in the early 1980's. john jackson and the carr brothers used to really fly around there. will speedway ever return to thornton road, who knows. it would take a brave or foolish person to put money into speedway these days, when crowds are declining at most tracks.

meeting off according to BSPA website.

if this match survives an awful looking weather forecast for the south east tomorrow, i'm going for a home win. the more likely result will probably be an early call off.

i think it's an interesting read, a few more track records and average speeds from defunct tracks would be good.

dirt and dust are two different materials. three of my local tracks have a rock hard base with a little loose top dressing which dissapears after a few heats. this does not encourage good racing and will not help pull the punters in. it's pure fantasy to say that you cant put dirt down on a small track, you only have to visit monmore to see that. it's all about having the skill to prepare a decent track, if i wanted to watch speedway on concrete i'd move to japan!

most tracks in this country don't have enough dirt on to need grading every four heats!, two meetings i went to last week were raced on concrete, yet still the tractor came out grading invisible shale!.

after attending the ambulance marathon at rye house last monday, the starting gate fiasco at arena on friday followed by sun delays at rye last night, all in freezing conditions. long term i don't know how speedway can survive as a viable professional sport unless the promoters get their act together.

a mate of mine at rye house last night said, going to a speedway meeting was like watching a vintage pathe news film!. harsh but true.

a bit warmer!, it still felt bloody freezing to me tonight!

i was thinking the same thing. you would have thought it could be a money spinner for some tracks to run meetings on bank holidays.