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Reading Tonite


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We could always prepare our track like Oxfords couldnt we,Zagar doesnt have problems with it every week-i think it could have been watered a bit more heavily because of the weather but whos choice was it- cannot please everyone seemed to be lacking a few track staff last night as well.Who was actually in charge of track prep last night Reading or Olsen.

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The track was a mess. Once the dampness had come out of it and it went all blue groove Team GB struggled.

 

As this event is being held in the UK, the track should be setup to suit us Team GB boys. Get a load of dirt down and make it a bit grippy. It will be our chance to have some advantage.

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Spot on Steve as others with a similar post. I keep saying thats the worst we have had it at Reading this season, why I don't know, maybe it is the Olsen factor. Just hope they learn, WE WANT DIRT all over, give us a racing track please

The track was a mess. Once the dampness had come out of it and it went all blue groove Team GB struggled.

 

As this event is being held in the UK, the track should be setup to suit us Team GB boys. Get a load of dirt down and make it a bit grippy. It will be our chance to have some advantage.

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Great point, all the track prep time is determind by Sky TV demands, there simply isnt enough. Two laps with the bowser is not enough. Track work had to stop by 7pm to facillitate the parade etc and then you have to wait until after heat 5. Over ah hour in searing heat without water. Then you get a couple of laps watering and have to get on with it again. Nigh on impossible unless you start with a very wet track it just aint gonna happen.

 

I think you also have to take into account that the Reading track is quite unique. In all my years of watching speedway I would have to say the Smallmead track is the best track in the country for getting wet meetings on, when almost all others would be called off. Take the recent Reading V Poole Sky meeting - it rained all day up until 5.30pm.

 

But unfortunately when it's hot and dry, we get last night's scenario.

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Maybe if we all bring a bucket of shale with us tomorrow night then we might get to see 4 laps of racing, rather than a first corner bundle followed by 3 and a half laps of procession.

 

Putting loads of dirt on a track is not always the answer, and doesn't always gaurentee good racing. Take a look at the Oxford track prior to the start of this season.

 

The big problem with the Smallmead track is that it is TOO DRY. The best racing at Reading is always when we've had a wet day on race day. Racing is then usually a bit sticky for 3-4 races and then after that it's as good as anywhere.

 

Track staff need to flood the damn thing for tomorrow's meeting.

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For once i agree with delboy.

 

It didnt help that the track was ripped to bits during practice,the trackstaff dont have enough time to do a proper job,being marshalled by olsen and sky as when they are allowed to water etc.

 

However it was safe,nobody got injured and the 2 teams that looked favs to qualify both did so.Apparently it was 37 degs in the afternoon around the practice time,it will be a lot better on saturday,especially if ole denmark gets stuck on the motorway.

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OO always wants slick tracks ... look at Bydgosz last year and it was slick !!! The best track in the SGP and they removed all the dirt from it !!

 

Hans Andersen said words along the lines of how OO likes the tracks - slick amongst other things ... as was bombed.

 

Everytime the riders are interviewed at SGP tracks they say it is usually grippy and has more dirt but it is slick ....... Cant recall them ever saying ... trtack is so different there is just so much dirt on it !! :D:D

 

Hope the track is not rubbishe Sat ... but then again from most on the forums the Reading track has been pretty dire all seaason ....

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Sod off! 

 

:o:cry:

 

Apparently it was 37 degs in the afternoon

 

I believe that they said it was 37°c in the pits, all those hot bikes nudging the temps up. The hottest place in the country was only 32°c.

 

Although hot weather may dry the track out I believe blaming hot weather for poor tracks is nothing more a convenient excuse. If there'd been any dirt on the track there would have been something there to hold the water that was put on. As it was the water was quickly drying off a slick surface.

 

Unless the track is more suited to our riders on Saturday I fear we'll be lucky to score 20. :(

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Everytime the riders are interviewed at SGP tracks they say it is usually grippy and has more dirt but it is slick ....... Cant recall them ever saying ... trtack is so different there is just so much dirt on it !! 

 

That's spot on. Double O has got to go. I think it's got a certain ring to it.

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I have never understood why the water truck waters the outside of the track near the fence on the bends where the riders never go, and the track gets graded from the outside near the fence and the middle strip of the bends but not the blue line that was so apparent last night. The riders never go out there by choice, only if their momentum carries them that far in the slide. This seems to have grown to be the norm at several tracks around the country and not just at Reading last night. Tracks I've seen prepared by Bob Dugard at Eastbourne are graded from the fence to the white line and look the same before each race.

As for lack of staff at Reading last night, three of them were more interested in wiping dirt off the sponsors banners than they were in track prep.

And the GB performance? They did better than I expected (Dad's Army, etc) Its a bit like football. We can't expect a great national team when we pay lip service to things like Youth development and then gleefully stock our national league teams with foreign riders who proceed to beat us on our own tracks. Unfortunately you can't have it both ways.

As they say on Big Brother - you decide - but it seems the decision has already been taken some while ago.

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Iam no expert on surfaces, but yesterdays track was really bad.

The actual amount of dirt was poor, they were down at the tracks base so fast. The blue groove came fast.

 

Really poor to pay quite a few £££££ to see the rubbish track. The riders cant do their best on it either I think..

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For once i agree with delboy.

 

It didnt help that the track was ripped to bits during practice,the trackstaff dont have enough time to do a proper job,being marshalled by olsen and sky as when they are allowed to water etc.

 

However it was safe,nobody got injured and the 2 teams that looked favs to qualify both did so.Apparently it was 37 degs in the afternoon around the practice time,it will be a lot better on saturday,especially if ole denmark gets stuck on the motorway.

 

What I don't understand is that when Wolves rode at Eastbourne a few weeks agao (the night England played Portugal!) Uncle Bob got out on his tractor during a 15 mins interval and virtually relaid the track so that what was dry and dusty before the interval was as good as at the beginning of the meeting afterwards! It CAN be done but the skill and willingness to do it is a big factor IMHO! :P

Edited by lupus
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What I don't understand is that when Wolves rode at Eastbourne a few weeks agao (the night England played Portugal!) Uncle Bob got out on his tractor during a 15 mins interval and virtually relaid the track so that what was dry and dusty before the interval was as good as at the beginning of the meeting afterwards!  It CAN be done but the skill and willingness to do it is a big factor IMHO!  :P

 

I agree lupus,but apparently there were many chiefs and few indians with regard to reading thurs pm.

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