IainB

Personally, for me, 90 mins is about the right amount of time, especially if I've travelled to a match as getting away at around 9pm means I can be on my way before the national road network closes down for overnight roadworks. 2 hours plus for 15 minutes of action is far too long. Why is the 2 minutes time allowance 2 mins? Because it always has been... make it a minute, 30 seconds... all too often it's left to whenever the ref decides to put it on, so frustrating when the time allowance doesn't go on until 1 rider actually enters the arena and then the 2 minutes goes on. Only time there should be 2 mins is when a rider has 2 consecutive rides (which possibly should be banned). The meeting should be run on a tight schedule not just left to drift along. There's far too much time when there's absolutely nothing happening, in fact I can't really think of another sport where's there's actually less of the stuff happening that you've actually gone to see. An Athletics meet would be an obvious comparison, an arena sport with competitors circling the track... but there's always field events going on to take a side interest in. And the track events are mixed up 100m, 110 hurdles, 200m, 400m, 400m hurdles, 800m, 1500m, 3000m steeplechase, 5000m, 10000m, that's 10 races and with the majority of them it's all about the last bend (not the first as in Speedway) and about 1 hour of actual track action. In reality it doesn't really matter what those that currently go want, they'll generally be there come hell or high water until health or death means they can no longer attend, it's those that don't go anymore that need to be quizzed to find out why not, there'll be many reasons, probably the main one being that it's too expensive for a family. For a "family sport" how many clubs actually offer a family admission package

... If it was being held at Lublin again. Sadly for him it's not. (I've posted this so you can ram it down my throat when he rostrum's again )

Surely one of the most important questions facing the sport today with merchandise and specifically caps is... Ears in? Or Ears out? Reminds me of the days when riders didn't know whether to wear their race suits inside or outside of their boots. I'm an ears out man myself

You should be a Speedway promoter

I'm glad she's not lost to the sport after one visit then. But surely that's the point of a night of "entertainment", you forget about your aching legs because you're that involved in the "action"! Anyway, I'm sure she'll love watching Porky in "action" at Wolves

No... you get a digger in to excavate the land

So I've got to start my own TV channel, showing a sport that I've re-invented myself, on a track I've got to prepare myself with riders riding machines that I've built myself... and while I'm at it I'll travel to this meeting on a road network I've built myself driving a car I've designed and built myself... etc. etc. If that's the only reply you can come up with, you may as well not bother

If it's down to sending the fans home covered in dust or the riders not liking the track watered, the fans should take precedence every single time. But you're right it shouldn't have been in such a state in the first place.

Can I get any Optrex from the Birmingham track shop?

Not sure where you got that quote from... but the answer is right there, whoever said it has answered it, you go out after every race if that's what it takes. If you are physically unable to work on the track because of access issues then if the track needs watering after every race, then water it after every race, don't send the crowd home covered in dust! Don't Wolverhampton have similar access issues? They serve up a perfect track every week (or at least they used to, I haven't been to Wolves in a few years). If they need to get the Wolves track man in as a consultant, get him in, they're only 15 miles down the road!

Sadly, and I hope I'm wrong, but I do think next weeks Berwick match maybe the last, unless there's some kind of miracle. Because anybody that witnessed this match won't be returning in a hurry, I certainly won't, I've done my bit. The track was, in a word, dangerous. Chris Harris spat off his bike going into turn 2, the same could easily have happened to Andersen a couple of heats earlier as he nearly lost it in the same place. Clouds of dust billowing from the track in much the same way as it was on my previous visit on the 21st of July, fortunately that night the wind wasn't blowing in the direction of the crowd. It was obvious there were problems with the track when the tractor appeared after heat 3, the watering throughout the night was on the very outside of the track while all the dust was being generated from the inside and then we were treated to more endless tractor racing after heat 13, just when the match should have been building to a crescendo... I'm sure the people that had paid for the "centre green experience" certainly felt they got value for money, they were stood out there for ages! This was Birmingham's bumper night and sadly they blew it... You're trying to attract new supporters or bring old ones back and that's what you serve up! There was a young girl with her dad stood near to me... she was asking her dad if they could go after heat 12... this was after heat 7... they stuck it out until after heat 13 then disappeared.

How about instead of awarding league points at the end of the night, you make EVERY race count towards the league, much in the same way they did with the GP's before they ruined it. So if you get a 5-1 you get 5 league points and the opposition get 1, maybe 10 bonus points for winning on the night or something like that... just thinking as I type Been to Brumb a couple of times this season and have been quite impressed with Ryan Guest, good to see some young blood coming up... not quite up to Porky standards yet though

You weren't at the Redcar reopening match then?

OK... was gonna charge you 50p lol

On my YouTube channel?

Bomber did walk away from his spill... in fact he's coming out for his next race now

No minutes tribute to Phil Rising either... disappointing

Bring 'em to Leicester... you'll nod off quite easily Zzzzzzzz

Can you imagine listening to Tai Woffinden and/or Chris Holder with open mikes... the kids would be going home crying

They'll be fishing for a replacement... just hope he doesn't ride in the British Leagues

Unfortunately a nice little setup is not enough to attract punters these days, if by some miracle you do manage to hear about Speedway outside of the Speedway bubble in Leicester after you've been to the nice little setup a few times and marvelled at the riders skills racing at speed you'll start to think hang on a minute this is a load of old crap! As proved by the steady decline in attendances over the years. It's like the Odeon cinema in Leicester, it's had a refit and has got some big comfy reclining leather seats that you could easily fall asleep on, but if they're showing a load of old crap on the screen you ain't going to bother going no matter how comfy the chairs are

Name that track? Leicester seems like a big Wolverhampton

Wasn't that the one that the Speedway Star ran some kind of fraud expose on?

For starters there's a hill on turn 2

So ......... 5h1t is what it is.