2006 - Rules ?

[T.N.T.]

WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN 2006

 

NEW FORMAT

 

Name the riders according to their averages and list them in the programme in order. Should a rider be replaced, the new rider takes up the number according to his average in the team.

 

Wolves v Ipswich 2005 as example

 

Mikael Max 1 Piotr Protasiewicz

David Howe 2 Hans Andersen

Steve Johnston 3 Chris Louis

Fredrik Lindgren 4 Kim Jansson

Ronnie Correy 5 Karol Baran

Krzysztof Pecyna 6 Robert Miskowiak

Magnus Karlsson 7 Daniel King

 

Riders in Red and Green are programmed rides while the team manager must give each of his team a nominated ride (Blue and Yellow) in each half.

 

Heat 15 is the usual nominated ride.

 

HT01; Howe ? Protasiewicz ?

HT02; Karlsson ? King ?

HT03; Max ? Andersen ?

HT04; Correy ? Miskowiak ?

HT05; Lindgren ? Louis ?

HT06; Pecyna ? Baran ?

HT07; Johnston ? Jansson ?

 

HT08; Karlsson ? King ?

HT09; Correy ? Baran ?

HT10; Johnston ? Louis ?

HT11; Pecyna ? Miskowiak ?

HT12; Howe ? Andersen ?

HT13; Max ? Protasiewicz ?

HT14; Lindgren ? Jansson ?

 

HT15;

 

TACTICAL BENEFITS

 

This will bring out the best in tactical moves by a team manager. Does he put a heat leader in with his number 7 or does he put out his number 5 ?

 

Does he leave his number one till heat 14 to give him the last three heats, thus ensuring a strong finish and possibly a tactical ride in 13 or 14.

 

Does he give the available inside gates to the lower numbers and leave the top riders with an outside gate, or vica-versa ?

 

FOREIGN RIDERS

 

Riders will be bought in on a 5.00 average instead of 4.50 and should a foreign rider have a 4.27 average, he must return on a 5.00 average. If he fails to reach this average after two seasons, he will not be granted a permit for the following season. If they are not good enough, dont let them in ! eg; Kroner, Swist, Smolinski, Baran, Alden, Johansson etc

 

BANS

 

Should a rider miss a League match for any reason other than an FIM meeting on the same day or injury, they will be banned for 8 days, thus missing the following weeks home match. Reserves can only be replaced by a number 8 while main body riders can only be replaced by any PL rider or EL reserve riders, averages applicable.

 

FIXTURES

 

All A fixtures must be completed by a set date. This is when a month is set by for the KO Cup and then the B fixtures are done by September 15th.

 

ELRC

 

Replaced by the British League Riders Championship where each EL team has ONE rider put foward and 6 Premier League riders make up the field from six teams.

Edited September 15, 2005 by TNT133

[AndyM]

There was a call some years ago for teams to be placed in any order a manager wants and for replacements to be made freely - so long as all members of his team ended up with the equivalent number of rides. Don't think it would be popular with fans, who would end up with much more scribbling to do, but I do think we're vastly over-regulated and need to give much more leeway to team managers to operate tactically without the need to find loopholes in the rules, deliberately drop points, manipulate averages etc. etc.

[Lanzilla]

I think that it needs people who are not involved in the promotion of the sport to work out the rules. The present situation is as stupid as the inmates at the scrubs formulating the prison rules based on them having a vested interest.

 

The rules need to be sorted out properly, right from the bike regulations through to guests, including everything inbetween.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I'm afraid that I don't agree with that at all. The Promoters need some input as they are the ones paying the Riders wages and risking many thousands of pounds in investment in their clubs.

 

You forget that all rules are made for a reason and you can't say that any Promoter is going to intentionally harm his/her business. The basic rules of the sport have remained fairly consistent for many years and it is a matter of progression that changes and tweaks ocurr before the start of each season.

 

Not everything works, granted, but people never moan about the positive changes that are made. Promoters aren't daft, and I'm sure that one or two of the changes from this year will be ammended or scrapped for next season.

 

On the whole, I think that the BSPA and SCB make a pretty good fist of things and if Sky call the shots on various issues then so what!

 

Speedway isn't perfect but then what sport is? and as Rabbit rightly says....a lot of Promoters etc do read this forum I'm sure, so any constructive comments addressed in a civilised and sensible manner may well be appreciated.

[12bore]

Problem is that the BSPA will have a stack of occasionally conflicting proposals designed to resolve the known issues, some relevant and many not; they will argue the toss and end up with a package which has not been thought through and but will be votied in by consensus. 

 

If they continue to bury their heads in the sand and think 5 minutes ahead, league speedway will have all but died within 5 years under the pressure of rising costs and reducing attendances.  |Stark but true! 

 

I really hope that what they choose to do this year is break the habits of a lifetime, appoint a subcommittee comprising management and speedway experts (eg. ex-riders), and give these people two or three months to conduct a complete review of all current circumstances in UK league speedway, including a vision of what the future will look like with and without change.  They must make a programme of recommendations for the short- and long-term (at least 10 years) to propose how league speedway can be made to continue, grow and flourish. 

 

Only then should the BSPA make decisions about where to go next and who should be responsible for its governance and strategic direction.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Andy good post but you forgot FANS we are the blood of the support when we cough our £14 each week we deserve to be consulted

[SwissPosition]

*SwissPosition dons an asbestos suit*

 

Let's be honest, are the rules *really* the core problem with speedway? I think not!

 

The problem is this...

 

Britain is becoming an increasingly "aspirational-middle-class" place. Speedway has a somewhat "pikey" image. There's no getting away from the fact that many (not all, I'm sure we know the ones, if we're honest) teams are forced to operate in conditions which don't sit easily with modern Britain. In short, they're dumps.

 

Why does this matter? Because what's needed to take speedway forward is good 'ol standard business stuff - more customers, regular customers, predictable income. Think about it...how much does it actually cost you to go to the bulk of home matches in a season? Well, it's a couple of hundred quid per person for entrance, and quite possibly about the same in petrol per car. It's not something you can do when penniless. Add in a couple of away fixtures (take the family on a 300 mile round trip plus entry, that's £100 gone per go) and it's not an especially cheap sport to follow regularly.

 

Why is it then that we're expecting to attract Britains young, image conscious, disposable-income-endowed, time-rich people to places which (not everywhere...yet again) look like abandoned building sites in which the dogs race? A number of people who've attended with me as newbies been put off by such simple things as being unable to stomach the toilets, and a failure find anything to eat other than fat with a burger garnish (after going straight from work, this *is* a problem)! Yes, it's "poncey", but calling it such doesn't change reality.

 

It's hard to blame (most...) promoters for focusing on what happens on the track. It is, after all, the good bit. It's the reason they're there in the first place, and the reason we show up week after week to watch. However, just for once, I implore the BSPA to take a long look at their facilities and decide whether it's worth spending a fortune on flying some barely average Swede in week after week, or instead using it on some paint\cleaners\bins\better food van\clearing up their site.

 

As much as I'd love the Speedway Fairy to wave a magic wand over our stadia and turn them all into clean, professional-looking facilities, it's not going to happen. More can definately be done though. A lot more.

[Lanzilla]

Good post SwissPosition and absolutely on the button.

Edited September 15, 2005 by Lanzilla

[Tsunami]

SwissPosition

 

Like Lanzilla, I just want to say that you are spot on with the core problems. With stadiums and the outlets being owned by others it is very difficult to improve on or comment on them. Owners feel that if it's good enough for their doggy patrons it should be good enough for you speedway lot.

Speedway will always be speedway, despite dodgy rules, and internally we all moan at the wrong things that new fans really aren't bothered with. If we all bring others and help spread the word, that is the must effective way of introducing and adding to the fan base. Let's all make an effort before the start of next year and see what we can do about it.

 

[Beowulf]

Swiss Position,

 

You have highlighted a problem, although it is not a new one. Some facilties are awful. Any male used the men's on the back straight at Swindon? Dark ages doesn't descibe it adequately enough.

 

However, the resolution to this problem does not lie in the hands of the promoters. The only ones who are capable of doing anything about it are those promoters that own their own stadiums. In the EL, I make that Coventry and Eastbourne. In the PL, I have no idea, maybe King's Lynn?

 

Back in 1996, the owners of Monmore Green wanted to change the greyhound track. We were very close to losing the speedway altogether. Sometimes these things are simply out of your hands.

[Smug]

Does anyone on this forum live in Exeter but work in Edinburgh, travel by road in your own vehicle and have to pay for the pleasure of doing so? I think riders should get the AA going rate.

 

It would be great if all tracks were the same size and shape as that would naturally make for closer fought races with no home advantage etc. However, that only happens on planet zog but here in the UK there should be an overseer of tracks and a track that doesnt come up to the grade on race day with the right amount of dirt, is pot holed, is so rutted that riders bounce instead of ride round or is generally a disaster zone, the promotion should be fined - There ya go, the fines will pay the rider's their extra fuel money! Joking aside, is there no regulation for the 'type' of material that is used? I am sure that would even the odds a little bit.

 

As for proper rules, yeah, get rid of the stupid TR rule and bring back the old TS rule. At least it gives the boys that are going good the chance to get more points and more money.

 

There should be TWO referees at each meeting at opposite sides of the track or at least on the blind spot [i.e., turns 3 and 4 at Reading] and a decision should not be made until each official have conferred with each other - Happens in rugby, football etc so why not speedway?

 

A guest facility should be used for your top 3 not just your number 1 but the facility should be confined to 6 weeks then its R/R or CL.

 

Get rid of the green helmet cover. As soon as a rider is on the far side of most gloomy stadiums the green looks blue anyway! However, if the rule does get changed for 2006, then the BSPA should provide all riders with new covers - hows that! [No I havent been watching the cricket].

[pug/206]

Personally i would like to see a change of race nights so that all the clubs ride on one night. It happens in Sweden and poland, so i don't see why it couldn't work over here. Personally scrap the play offs as yes they are ok but it might be that the best club doesn't win the league. As a cov fan i will quite happily say that Belle Vue have been the best team this season so deserve to win the league, but seen as i want coventry to win the league then this would not happen.

 

Another rule i would like to change is the way the KOC is run. I would like it to take place after the regular season. The format i would like to see is based on where you finished in the league, so it would end up like this.

 

1 v 10 match 1

2 v 9 match 2

3 v 8 match 3

4 v 7 match 4

5 v 6 match 5

 

then run over 2 legs to give everyone a chance, then

 

match 1 v match 5

match 2 v match 4

match 3 v highest place to be knocked out.

 

then finish off with a 3 team final.

[jill]

All of them should be scrapped and started again there should be NO * special dispensations * for any club/ promoter / manager. there should be NO chance for an opposing team to double points a result is a result in anyother sport so why not this one, would make it more sport like than micky mouse.

[BertHoven]

All of them should be scrapped and started again there should be NO * special dispensations * for any club/ promoter / manager. there should be NO chance for an opposing team to double points a result is a result in anyother sport so why not this one, would make it more sport like than micky mouse.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

With you on that, Jill. Rip up the rule book - officially this time. Start with a blank A4 pad and get down to devising a totally new tome that will destroy the third rate Barnum & Bailey type farrago we fans have endured since the advent of Sky Sports and, to a lesser extent, BSI.

 

All we ask for is that they give us back the s-p-o-r-t we know and love, speedway racing. The sport where the best team on the night wins.

 

Simple isn't it?

 

Stay well and stay happy, Angel Face.

 

Ron.

[Sullivan_and_Eagles_Fan]

Maybe the abolition of the three week league and a re-introduction of the 36 match system?!

[AndyM]

Andy good post but you forgot FANS we are the blood of the support when we cough our £14 each week we deserve to be consulted

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Too right. But what form that consultation takes and how the results are communicated is what counts. For example, let's say you're a Tesco shopper; you might feel you've earned the right to make comments on board decisions taken by Tesco by virtue of spending £200 there every week, but clearly it won't happen. However, if you take part in Tesco consumer surveys and express how you feel about their prices, stores, range of goods etc. there's a fair chance that some changes might come about if other consumers feel likewise - to prevent you taking your £200 elsewhere and to coax you to part with another hard-earned 50 quid.

 

That's the bit speedway promoters have rarely twigged - how to present the product to their core audience and how to win over more. More than that, how to add value to make the product worth more at the turnstile, to increase revenues as a safety net against rising costs while increasing attendances simultaneously. Quite a trick - needs skill and patience. Ian Thomas did it quite well this year, but then things at Belle Vue had fallen a long way, and a bit of success was always going to appeal to Aces fans. Can he do the same next year? Clearly that takes a lot more understanding of the average fan!

[Smug]

For example, let's say you're a Tesco shopper; you might feel you've earned the right to make comments on board decisions taken by Tesco by virtue of spending £200 there every week, but clearly it won't happen. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Excellent example. Promotors feel that you pay your cash for a 'product' not a say in how the club is run. However, I feel that some promotions are offering shabby products. Get the promotion right, get the track right and the riders will benefit and so will the fans.

[Kevin Meynell]

Personally i would like to see a change of race nights so that all the clubs ride on one night.

 

It couldn't happen here though unless they reduced the number of fixtures as there are only 32 weeks in the season. Polish and Swedish teams ride less than half the number of meetings.

 

In addition, a single race night would mean that guests couldn't be used. That in itself might be a good thing, but some sort of replacement system would be needed.

 

I think it would be more feasible to run the BEL on two race nights, which would provide teams with more flexibility and allow more than one match per week.

[AndyM]

Excellent example.  Promotors feel that you pay your cash for a 'product' not a say in how the club is run.  However, I feel that some promotions are offering shabby products.  Get the promotion right, get the track right and the riders will benefit and so will the fans.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The classic retort is that if you can do better, put some of your money into this venture! If we were all shareholders in speedway clubs, we'd understand the constraints far better. It's a falacious argument of course, since what holds back many clubs is lack of management and marketing expertise, effective strategic planning to determine what changes are required, resources in terms of people and funding, and often the basic imagination to see what could be improved. And this is where fans could help.

 

This is by the by - the thread is about rule changes, so my preference is to create rules which enable promoters to succeed and don't over-regulate them into submission.

[Vince]

Have a practice session before the meeting. It would allow the away riders especially to get set up and make for much closer meetings.

[T.N.T.]

RACE NIGHTS

 

SUN = POLAND

MON = ENGLAND

TUE = SWEDEN

WED = DENMARK

THU = ENGLAND

FRI = Open

SAT = GP's - FIM Events etc

 

With British Speedway riding double what they ride in any other country, I see England having to ride on 2 nights in the Elite League. The Premier League carry on as normal and should any rider miss a fixture due to riding in another countries league, no guest facility will be allowed and the rider will be banned for 8 days.

 

Teams would be able to fluctuate their race nights a bit (mon or thu) but each week each team would ride one home and one away match. All 10 teams would therefore be no guest facility, but there is another option.(see below)

 

MONDAYS; Belle Vue, Eastbourne, Poole, Swindon, Wolverhampton.

THURSDAYS; Arena Essex, Coventry, Ipswich, Oxford, Peterborough.

 

GUESTS;

Top riders would no longer have the guest facility and a manager/promoter has these options to replace a missing top man.

1= r/r

2= Replace a 9 point rider and your weakest rider, say 3.00 with 2 PL riders like Stoney, Wilson, Bird etc.

3= Redeclare the 1-7 with new signing(s)

 

Any reserve missing should be replaced by a PL rider averaging under 7 points a match while other riders (2-5) can have r/r or a PL rider replace them.

 

TACTICAL MOVES;

TAPES; If a team is 6 or more points behind, they can swap gate positions with the opposing team hoping to gain a better gate position. This cannot be used in conjuction with any other rule.

 

TAC RIDE and TAC SUBS; The TAC SUB can still be used if a team is 8 points or more behind while a TAC RIDE can only be used if a team is 12 points behind. Three TAC RIDES/SUBS can be used in a meeting with riders limited to ONE only.

 

SILLY OPTION; Instead of putting in a TAC SUB, a team can nominate one of the opposing team to go off 15 metres (without double points.)

Imagine your team (example= Belle Vue) is winning by 8 going into heat 13 against Eastbourne for Example. Norris takes gate one, Pedersen gate 3 with Bjerre off two and Crump switched to 15 metres back by Jon Cook. May seem a little silly, but what a race this would be !

 

RACE FORMAT;

This does need changing a bit and reverting back towards the older system. Near the end of the meeting it used to be 1 + 4 v 3 + 5 and vica versa, now heats 13 and 15 are very simular and helps top heavy teams.

 

I listed one option in a previous post which could be used in the KO Cup to try out or even the Craven Shield at the end of the season.

[AndyM]

On the latter point, the current race format artificially inflates the averages of reserves and second strings and deflates the averages of top riders. If we used the old system, the Crumps, Nicholls, Adams and Pedersens of the league might well be on 11+ averages.