Unsatisfactory Starts !!

[goose]

in my humble opinion riders who persitantly creep always line up further behinde the tapes than others

 

to stop this i propose a second tap hel by a marshel behind the bikes at a set distance from the tapes to prevent riders lining up further away from the tapes than others if a rider is touching the rear tape it would be a tapes offence

 

just a thought

 

any comments

[SCB]

BORING.. Bring back tape touching! I still think it's a good idea.

[Nevs]

Have to agree with SCB on this one-much as it grates.

 

Gamesmanship and trying to get the upper hand has all but gone out of speedway at the moment.

 

Its just all too clinical and the laughs of years ago are long gone.

 

Everyone who remembers the laughs has been taken over by the Do good and politically correct brigade-Speedway is now too sterile and too serious.

 

Used to be a laugh-now if you f*rt out of place you go back 15 metres.

 

If you have never seen rolling starts then you wont have a clue what we are on about.

Edited June 4, 2005 by Nevsy

[Peter]

Bring back tape touching!

I can't agree with that. Having seen videos from the 1970s, I found it frustrating watching riders roll forwards and backwards all the time. Excluding a rider for tape-touching is one of the better rules that has been brought out, in my opinion. There's enough delays before the start of a race as it is, with riders gardening, turning around, adjusting their clutch, checking their cut-out and helmet strap several times over, getting the steam out of their goggles and adjusting their knee pads.

[HenryW]

BORING..  Bring back tape touching!  I still think it's a good idea.

If you haven't already seen it, get a video of the 1984 World Cup Final from Leszno....The Danes turned tape touching into an art form in that meeting!

[AndyM]

Have to agree that there are plenty of riders who draw back and roll at starts, and it's totally irritating. According to the rules, all riders are supposed to be stationary and should be excluded for persistent infringement. Trouble is, it's difficult to prove though some refs to their credit are warning riders and issuing fines.

 

The second tape idea was tried before in the 80s if I remember correctly. Evidently it didn't make the statute book, possibly for practical reasons.

 

If I'm convinced of anything, it's that returning to the era of tape pushing would be the biggest retrograde step in speedway, unless we could find tape that disintegrated on contact and therefore exclusions! All tape touching does is play into the hands of starting gate psychologists who aim to psyche out opponents before the start.

[Trees]

It's up to the referees to be tougher on riders.

[Robyn1972]

Oddly enough, I think that this season they ARE being tougher. There does seem to be a lot more races pulled back now for "unsatisfactory start" and you also hear the announcement that the ref is warning the rider in XX to keep still at the start. The truly annoying thing is when an opposition rider moves at the start and then one of yours reacts to it and gets excluded.....GRRRR!

[SCB]

The best one is when you need a 5-1 in heat 15 for the bonus point run off, your rider on gate one rolls, misses the start, the ref calls the riders back and in the re-run said rider flies from the start fairly and you get a 5-1 rather than the original looking 3-3.

 

Having seen old film and tape touching, I think it adds to the aticipation, most of the time when someone touched the tapes, as they were rolling back the ref let the tapes up anyway so they lost out.

 

Bring back rolling at the start!

[Tsunami]

Robyn1972

 

The referees are tightening up this year on unsatisfactory starts. There is more warnings being given for delaying the start, and moving at the start, and more £50 fines than I can recall.

 

[Daniel Smith]

My view is that if a rider doesn't touch the tapes, why pull it back. It's all about getting the jump first. A rider creeping back or forward doesn't always get the jump first. Touch the tapes excluded, miss the tapes let it go, simple as that.

[AndyM]

Persistent rolling seems a prime candidate for a yellow card offence, as and when it's introduced -surely this coming close season, though by the BSPA's usual standard it will be badly thought-through and will get to the 3rd or 4th variation before it's working properly.

[Vince]

I still think races should be started at 2 minutes, if a rider hasn't got himself on the line ready to go at 1 min 55 then he is excluded. The start marshall could then line the riders up and an assistant puts a block of wood behind the bikes to stop them pulling back. A laser line that indicated who broke it would be ideal but a lump of wood is cheaper.

Whatever happens I would hate to see the return of tape touching.

[goose]

the way i see it happening is that a rider rolls back then is able to roll forward and anticipate the start and have an easyer start as the two plates of the cluch are moving. this means he can pull away smoother than if staitionary

[stevehone]

There's enough delays before the start of a race as it is, with riders gardening, turning around, adjusting their clutch, checking their cut-out and helmet strap several times over, getting the steam out of their goggles and adjusting their knee pads.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

and allowing rolling and tape touching would eliminate most of that.

 

i used to like watching riders moving and rolling, it was all part of gamesmanship and it was certainly an art to getting it right ... the ref is the one with the button and it's up to him if he feels he should let the tapes go as someone rolls back.

 

 

with the rules as they are now, i think if someone touches the tapes, then penalise him, but if they're not touched it's a fair start.

anticipation is the modern day version of rolling ... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's up to the rider if he wants to try it.

 

what annoys me with the current rules is that someone will try 'jumping' the start and have to pull the clutch in (or not if you're Adam Allott ) so when the tapes do go they are the ones left at the back ... the ref then stops the race and gives them another chance!

[tarabanko]

Sometimes you really wonder if these riders will start at all, rolling back and fowards endlessy, shame to the paying public.

 

As a rider you should be eager to come away me thinks!