British GP - An honest opinion

[GREDON]

Lovely weather on Saturday, Cardiff do seem to manage that anyway. Believe stadium roof was closed during the day, to keep the moisture in the track. Track as usual absolute rubbish, although it did take longer to start breaking up. Less people there and I think will be down again next year and by the time 2006 comes round (new contract signed till then) will probably be down to normal speedway crowd. As everyone seems to day lacking 'who let the dogs out etc', although atmosphere not bad. Again entire meeting ruled by Sky and it over ran in spite of everying being rushed through. Water truck break down did not help. Thought should perhaps be given to starting the meeting at 7pm when Sky start transmitting rather than 7.20pm

Biggest problem is still the 'man made' track, but it is impossible to make any sort of repairs in the limited amount of time available.

[Joanne]

Thought the racing was as good as to be expected. Heats 1-8 are always like that. It's not really the racing we go to Cardiff for, it's the atmosphere. And the organisers are to blame for the toning down of that. They didn't want it too noisey. I managed to jump and down a few times so the racing couldn't have been that bad, especially when I realised that Rickardsson had burst through the tapes (Sorry Gemini, hope I didn't give you too much of a shock )

 

Great views of the track and brilliant company with the Forum lot. Thanks FD

 

Nice to meet so many new faces at the two pubs.

 

On the whole, my kids and I have had a brilliant weekend. Only thing is I'm off work now sick with flu or something like that. I feel awful :-( Starting to think that Cardiff doesn't agree with me. First year I went on the bus and was a zombie for the week after and last year I had terrible toothache and ended up with an abcess :-( Still it's worth it, I'll be going back next year.

[triplem]

This is my 3rd gp at cardiff and I thought it was the best so far. Track was good, racing was good even if there wasnt a lot of overtaking. Atmosphere was out of this world as it always is. Many a beers were drank and no signs of trouble at all, had a great weekend away. Also had the added bonus of the streaker sitting right in front of me.

 

Quite shocked you think that,...

 

IMO this year the meeting itself wasnt as good as last year, poor track, poor racing, and quieter music and where was the dogs song?? Didnt see as many ppl dancing, no mexican waves and no heat winning music. Oh and did i mention poor ref as well as a boring announcer, fireworks were good though.

 

I agree with Dekkar 8) - admit this is my first GP and found the atmosphere zilch, boring announcer, no announcement of changes to the programmed riders before the introductions- what is the big screen for anyway. ref made some poor decisions and the Millenium Stadium must be the best kept secret in Cardiff as no road signs to indicate its existence. Not impressed with the racing and some of the gates were definately on and off for long periods all night. Sorry to say the GP looks better on sky which is why the numbers are getting lower. Also Ryan Sullivan had at least 3 meets this week - well he couldnt very well miss Ipswich again :!: . Get Well Soon Hans

[Guest Pocket Rocket]

I went to the British GP last year and in my opinion this years GP was lacking atmosphere.

It didnt seem to have the X factor as last years British GP had. The Blues Brothers were awful.

Did they really have only £25 to spend on pre meeting entertainment.

I though the track held together better than last year and i thought the racing got better towards the end of the night. The fireworks were good too.

 

The pre meeting entertainment must be better next year and hopefully the ticket prices will reduce slighty so as to bring the attendance back up. If not, another couple of years like this one and the British GP will be moved from Cardiff to a much smaller track. The warning signs are there :!:

[philfromcov]

well i for one had agreat time. Friday night at Sams, met Mark Loram and Scott Nicholls (not drinking!) fell over in the walkabout club, dropped a blonde girl on her arse (apparently?)

 

spent saturday in the sun, the track was good great tickets (tahnks steveb001) best view in the house, gollob deffinatly took the man out, and jonsson was robed!

 

All ill say is that if Tony R was not the world champion the refs decision would have been different!

got home by half one :roll:

 

oh the manaer of the Campanile was a right miserable bugger! , well he was french!

[batesie]

thought the track would of been better had there been some dirt round the outside, the atmosphere was ok.

 

Presentatuon left a lot to be desired, never really got going and the crowd had nothing to keep them entertained.

 

But part from that the weekend was ok.

[Guest Jules]

My first visit to Cardiff on Saturday, thought the meeting lacked in good racing and the crowd seemed as though they were bursting for more involvement than they got. A.J. was extremely unlucky to be excluded, and I was disappointed that Gollob went out so early. I know they were one off meetings, but this came nowhere near to the excitement and general buzz that I used to get on my many Wembley visits.

[HOTSHOT]

Well, it weren't too bad a day was it To be fair, it's gonna be a while yet before they get these one off tracks sorted, so I weren't surprised at the indifferent racing. The beer helped, lets say that Scotty made it for me and thank the lord he kept in there, else I reckon there would be a lot more disgruntled Brits on leaving.

 

I had quality seats too. Right in front of the SKY box where Ermo and Loram were doing the inbetween bits for TV with Keith. Got me photo done with Loram and Havvy, with the programme signed too

 

I enjoyed me self and to those who didn't, you must try harder

[Pantherman]

This was the first gp I had attended (I am Pantherman's partner), met some smashing people throughout the day, it was great to see people chatting and having a good time regardless of who supports who. But sadly in the stadium, the group sitting in front of us were intent on having a ball - even if it meant ruining everyone elses night. I have no issue with people having as much beer as they can hold, I'm partial to a few myself, but its a bit worrying when young people want to fight an older gentleman and abuse a father with his young son, because of the football shirt he was wearing. I totally missed the last race due to the 'almost' fight with the young men and older gentleman, I'd just like to say, 'well done!' to that group what a fantastic show you put on. But apart from that nonsense, well done to Scott - I think he did himself proud. Just wished Loram had been well enough to ride.

[Gemini]

I went to the British GP last year and in my opinion this years GP was lacking atmosphere.

So the general opinion seems to be covered by the above quote and I think this all boils down to the fact "someone" decided Cardiff should be quieter this year, with less emphasis on the music we have had at previous GP's.

Well I'm sorry but I think this was a huge mistake. I want more noise not less! One little snippet of "Who let the dogs out" and "Hey Baby" was not enough to encourage audience involvement and that was really missing this year.

Anyone know B.S.I's email address? Perhaps if we let our opinions be known to them they may reconsider next year.

[Wizza]

Great idea Gemini

 

There used to be a mailbox called speedway@benfieldsports.com

 

However, the only one I can find now is mail@benfieldsports.com

 

Let's all get on there and say what we think so that we can bring the house down next year

[shazzybird]

We set off from Dover @ 8am, stopped en route @ Reading Services to meet other family members and a spot of brekkie (£7.77 for a full English ) Arrived in Cardiff park/ride around about midday, off to the pub.....same haunt as ever right by the Slug & Lettuce (sounds nice!) excellent day there with the Polish fans and a few other Brit fans that we inherited on the way, left there @ 5:45 not wanting to miss too much of the build up inside the Millennium Stadium (was shocked to see that the security peeps took a (Plastic) bottle of water off of an old lady! Unless it was Gin )

 

Our seats were right by the pits entrance, surrounded by TR fans not a problem as we had one lady two rows in front that had a lovely Scott Nicholls banner which marred our view for a few races :evil: Only for the banner to change to Tony No1 when Scott was eliminated :roll: nevertheless the group of people all around us cheered for everyone someone during the meeting so it was pleasant for all whoever you supported. Did get a little angry when a few numpties @ the back cheered when TR went into the fence, didn't think this was very sporting seeing as he layed on the track for what seemed like forever fortunately he got up and was allowed back in the re-run hmmmmm dodgy decision ref!

 

Thought the idea of bringing the riders out on the back of the trucks was excellent the stadium seemed to explode with excitement. Have to agree with most regarding the music situation no "Who let the dogs out" "Another one bites the dust" (well not that I heard it, if it was played ) and just the one blast of "Hey Baby". The Blues Brothers Tribute Band hmmmmm not very loud where we were sat, perhaps the noise went straight up and out the roof!

 

Thanks to Nikki Pedersen I am now £'s up on the day @ 16/1 had a good result Also backed Todd Wiltshire @ 66/1 (worth a £1 of anyones money) unfortunately going out on his last British Grand Prix, nice to see him do a lap of honour. Scott Nicholls another good bet but very unlucky on the 4th bend.

 

Some good entertaining riding, felt sorry for Gollob as also had money on him! Only because of the Polish fans that I made friends with in the pub though as they talked me into parting with my money, gave them the address for the forum. (bit of advertising never hurts )

 

Arrived back in Dover @ 4:30am Sunday morning.

 

Fantastic day out as ever in Cardiff and looking forward to next years GP

[Gemini]

Let's all get on there and say what we think so that we can bring the house down next year

Thanks for the address Wizza. I have sent my email off now asking for our music back next year. If we all do this perhaps the people who decided Cardiff needed to be quieter will realise they made the wrong decision.

Those who have sensitive ears can always use ear plugs. Personally I find the noise does a great job in clearing my sinuses out for the next twelve months. ;-)

...was shocked to see that the security peeps took a (Plastic) bottle of water off of an old lady! Unless it was Gin.

Bet they never found Hipflask's hipflask.

[Concrete Cowboy]

I've taken a few days to consider this and view what others thought too.

 

Here's a few of my thoughts.

 

Food - £2.50 for a hot dog, about par for the course at this type of event.

 

Blues Brothers - If they have to have a 'band', at least have them playing live, there's nothing worse than miming to a tape-especially when you're not ready when the tape starts.

 

Track - very little passing, true, but apart from the rut on turn 4 i thought it held up well. Just think of the lack of passing at the Championship of G.B. last year ? Coventry have had how many years to prepare a good track, the G.P. team had 4 days. By the way that was NOT a pop at coventry it was just an example.

 

Music - yes, i agree with most of you, the whole atmosphere was lacking something and everyone responded to the one playing of 'hey baby' and 'who let the dogs out', could have been done a lot better. A fanfare before the start of each heat would have added something.

 

Announcer - I think Nigel is far better than T.Millard on T.V. but as stated by someone earlier he only really got excited when Scotty came out.

 

Parade -awful. If this is the showcase of the year for british speedway, why present the riders as if it's a premier league match.

 

Referee - A difficult job, i wouldn't want to do it but i do think he could have studied some of the incidents a bit more from different angles with all the technology available to him.

 

The crowd - what an atmosphere. This is why i would go again, you guys made the night, i just wish i had decided to go before saturday and booked with you. Shame about the swearing though. My daughter is 15 so she's heard it all before but the little kids in the row behind were clearly upset by the yobs behind them who shouted obscenities throughout -mainly at the ref.

 

This was my 1st time at Cardiff, would i go again ? - absolutely.

[Grachan]

Parade -awful. If this is the showcase of the year for british speedway, why present the riders as if it's a premier league match.

 

Interesting point. I never really gave much thought to the presentation at the time. It was my first time at Cardiff, so I had nothing to campare it to, and was carried along by the mass of noise when the riders appeared from the tunnel. If I think about it, though, the presentation was very similar to Sheffield - with the exception of the word 'Super' being omitted before the words Simon and Stead, which sounded strange coming from Nigel Pearson.

 

I did think the music was a bit of a poor choice - sounded like someone had dug out a CD of 'Classic 70s Rock' and just stuck it on for most of the time. I didn't get any negative feelings from it though, but maybe if I'd had been to a previous one I may have wondered why they changed it.

 

My mum went last year and spent the next 12 months complaining about the noice in the stadium - but that's my mum for you!! Maybe she wasn't the only one.

[jronayne]

Well

-lovely weather

-Good Atmosphere (not as good as 2002)

-Racing was 'Pants' imo. Only Karlsson & Sullivan did anything to excite me.

- One good thing to come out of the meeting was i'm a huge Scotty Nicholls fan now. He was superb, he was an great role model for Bomber, Steady & David!!

 

-The programme was terrible. £6 and i think i've found at least five mistakes and i haven't read it properly yet!! The funniest one being Lee Richardson's profile.

 

Married: Engaged

Children: No

 

Turn 19pages and there's Lee, with his Girlfriend and 2 yr old Joshua

 

For that price they could at least proof read it!!

 

James

[Jo_1515]

Married: Engaged

Children: No

 

Turn 19pages and there's Lee, with his Girlfriend and 2 yr old Joshua

 

2 yr old?! He was only born in January wasn't he?! :roll: :?

[jronayne]

Have a cookie Jo, 10pts for observation. Should read 6-months better go and change it. Now where did i get 2 yrs from. Must be the weather.

 

What was i saying about proof-reading

[Guest matty wigs]

I must admit, it was my third GP at Cardiff and next year I may well give it a miss.

 

The first year that the GP was held in Cardiff and I walked into the stadium, it gave me goosebumps....now that my awe for the building has gone I'm struggling to get past the appalling track, the lack of passing and I'm sorry (and I know I'll be slated for this - maybe it's 'cos I'm getting old) - the noise - it's just way too much.

 

I spent the entire evening with my ear defenders in and still came out with a headache..

 

Last year I went to Prague - the GP was held on a proper track, and although it's no Bydgozsz, there was actually passing. The crowd was around 20,000 - I would say 85% of whom were Polish - and believe me - when you listen to thousands of Poles singing and watching them jumping up and down in unison - you will re-assess your definition of atmosphere - Cardiff is just an almighty racket - give me singing, fireworks and a crowd which jumps up and down anytime over 'who let the dogs out'...

 

The programme this year was awful - whoever produced that without proof reading it needs sacking...

 

I spent £55 quid to sit on the first bend - and when all's said and done - that's a lot of dosh.

 

Don't get me wrong - I've spent many pleasurable hours in Cardiff over the last three years, but I think the time has come to invest my £55 in a flight to one of the European cities in order to sample the atmosphere over there..

 

Blue was working like a dream all night, with white and red comparaitive graveyards in comparison. Mr Crump must have been gutted to draw Blue in the final and end up second...

 

From my seat it looked like Gollob was very harshly done by - but if people with better views say he had Pedersen off - then I'm open minded enough to believe them...

 

Andreas' decision was borderline (from the view I had) but the minute I realised that it was TRick on the deck I knew it was goodnight Charlie for him too...

 

The band were utter tosh - as was mentioned before a male voice choir would fit the bill nicely.

 

It was interesting to sit directly above the pits entrance - watching the riders and their pit crews often afforded a more interesting option than the racing.

 

I've just read back over my mail and I'm worried I sound like a bit of a whinger - however, as those Forum members who know me will vouch, I'm hardly that - just passionate about Speedway as a sport moving forward...

 

I worry that it may be taking one step forward (in the short term) with two steps back on the horizon if the sport cannot get these temporary tracks right...

 

I'm off to Prague again this time - so 'bring it on'...

[rabbit]

The band were utter tosh - as was mentioned before a male voice choir would fit the bill nicely.

 

Please no!!! Anything but that.....