10th Anniversary Meeting - Newport

[BigFatDave]

Heavens above --what was wrong with Rajkowski he didn't have 7 rides as usual!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He only needed 6! Why work overtime?

[tanya]

And he thoroughly deserved his win today, 3 great passes in two heats. Superb.

 

And I'm a happy lassy tonight, getting just what I wanted an Emil Lindqvist race jacket

[Dietbowers]

He only needed 6! Why work overtime?

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plus airfares to pay for

[greyhoundp]

plus airfares to pay for

 

I understood Michal was over here in his OWN mobile home "mate" so don,t know where the airaffairs came from, the guy deserves everything he gets, considering he drove all the way to the New Year Classic and back Twice just to showcase himself, he was prepared to get off his arse, and is now showing us his undoubted talent.

 

Please remember he was available to all Teams over the winter, but there was no great rush,be interesting if he was available now,especially on his current average.

[BigFatDave]

I understood Michal was over here in his OWN mobile home "mate" so don,t know where the airaffairs   came from, the guy deserves everything he gets, considering he drove all the way to the New Year Classic and back Twice just to showcase himself, he was prepared to get off his arse, and is now showing us his undoubted talent.

 

Please remember he was available to all Teams over the winter, but there was no great rush,be interesting if he was available now,especially on his current average.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Spot on, you old Heathen you!! Long-term planning here both on Rajek and Tim's accounts; hats off to both of them.

There seems to be a wealth of talent heading to Pommyland and not just from Oz, though I see Young Arlo Bugeuja (hope I've got it right) and the Herne bros are carving niches over there, Tyron Proctor due shortly and Mick Poole's son Taylor, Aaron Summers and Ryan Sedgeman due next year.

All them young Danes & Poles are lining up, with Klindt & Rajek being an inspiration for them. That Danish/World under-16 comp should be a must for scouts & spotters.

[Trees]

Still can't believe Wato wasn't in this meeting, makes a mockery of it really ............ he's been Mr Newport for how many years??

[tanya]

Still can't believe Wato wasn't in this meeting, makes a mockery of it really ............ he's been Mr Newport for how many years??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Craig was there but only in the capactiy of borrowing his bike to Emil Lindqvist to ride for the day, so he was Emils guest.

 

Craig watched on from the pits whilst the other riders were celebrating. There was no mention of him in any trackside interviews. Very disappointing. I'm sure plenty of Newport fans took the opportunity to speak to Craig and express our feelings about how things have worked out. I know I did.

[TheCedarMan]

Phil Crump's demo laps were the highlight of the day for me NOT!!

 

Why do people have to advertise these lies when It looked obvious he wasn't going to do any demo laps because he was wearing jeans!!!

 

To say I was looking forward to seeing our old legend in his gear again and riding again was an understatement

 

Not saying it was great to see him but why do people misrepresent the facts, I bet there is a good excuse for it though.

Edited May 7, 2007 by TheCedarMan

[philcrumpisgod]

Still can't believe Wato wasn't in this meeting, makes a mockery of it really ............ he's been Mr Newport for how many years??

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I didn't want to be the first to refer to this because I have had a lot to say on this matter but now that Trees and Tanya have mentioned it I will add my piece.

 

To have Craig dropped from the lineup was poor, to have other non Wasps in the original lineup whilst he was excluded was disrespectful, and to have other riders with absolutely no affiliation to the Wasps brought in as last minute replacements whilst Craig was in the pits helping out Emil was disgraceful. I mean no disrespect to Kauko Niemenen and Steve Boxhall who both turned in good performances but this situation was a slap in the face to many long suffering fans who have watched this man give his all and suffer apalling injuries whilst representing Newport Speedway over the 10 years this celebration was designed to recognise.

 

Maybe after all that has happened Craig might not have wanted to ride but we don't get an explanation do we. From the information that has been made available via these forums Craig wanted to ride, he didn't withdraw from the meeting. We must therefore deduce that it was Tim's decision to exclude him.

 

One can only imagine what Neathy must have asked him when they spoke in the pits before the meeting....."How come you aren't riding Craig?" "Ask Tim, I don't know"........ Of course, that's conjecture but without Tim giving us his side of the story and the reason why Craig was in his jeans and not his kevlars we'll have to guess.

 

No radio mic interview, no reference to him at all by Bob Radford or Jason Harrold that I heard (apologies if I missed it), hardly a mention in the programme and only one photo of him and that in a Welsh Open race jacket. Not one photograph of Newport's longest ever serving rider (probably all time record points scorer as well) and number 1 in the modern era in a Wasps racejacket.

 

This little vignette seems to accurately describe why Tim Stone has an attitude problem and why he has fallen out with so many people down the years. He can't even bury the hatchet and create a situation where the man who has often carried the team throughout the period we were celebrating can be allowed to ride and that we the fans can be allowed to honour and thank for his services.

Shameful, absolutely shameful.

[Pinstripe]

quite an enjoyable meeting...

 

nice to see anders and bjorn back. anders posted a time of 64 seconds in his first heat, me thinks if he got his own bikes over and became race fit he would still be a heatleader

 

bjorn wasn't as impressive, struggled to slide the bike properly but he hasnt rode here for 7-8 years. nice to see them back though.

 

emil started well with a couple of good rides, being on the pace and mixing it. his last rides though he didn't really look interested. was on a wato bike i think.

 

best rider on show was michal, what a ride in his last race to chase down chris neath and fly past him on the home straight, absoloutely brilliant.

 

tom hedley rode well as well which was pleasing.

 

a poor crowd though. but it was nice to see a few old faces back over there. a good afternoon

[philcrumpisgod]

Excellent to see Michal continue his great form around QM with a win yesterday and in such exciting style. It was fitting really that a Wasp won, I suppose the numerical odds of 3/1 in the final helped, and that it was Michal, who is such an exciting rider.

Credit must go to Tony Atkin who looked sharp all day and who seemed to have an endless supply of his machinery on show for the various "old timers" without their own equipment. Well done Tony.

Tom continues to show flashes of excellent form, indicating that we have another good rider for the long term. He needs a bit of good luck with his engines and some consistency but he's only a young lad so no problem there.

Phil was a bit up and down as was Schrammy but in these guys we have the nucleus of a team that can consistently win at home and that, I think, should be the key to seeing a gradual improvement in the crowds and atmosphere. More meetings like the Brum KO Cup win and more people will hopefully want to come and see what's going on.

[longlivefrankie]

well it wasnt just craig tho' was it to be fair

 

if this was intended as a celebration of ten years of newport speedway

 

where were the following besides wato

 

paul fry, martin willis, ben howe, andrew appleton, wilko et al

 

i know afew were riding yesterday at various oother tracks but then surely orgainising it when the majority were available is sensible (oops newport & sensible oh dear)

 

personally some sort of parade of ex wasps was called for

 

that included crumpie, streety, cyril, all there but not used to full

 

even the likes of glenn cunningham, steve masters,

 

and if you are talking a clelbration of past newport riders

 

toby, gote etc etc

 

having said that it was enjoyable and no gripes there from me

[Trees]

It's a pity that both Tim and Craig couldn't have put any issues they have aside for the sake of the fans on the day, two grown men tut tut!!

[philcrumpisgod]

It's a pity that both Tim and Craig couldn't have put any issues they have aside for the sake of the fans on the day, two grown men tut tut!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Trees, it goes without saying that we, the fans, don't know the ins and outs. But from what's been made available on these forums, it seems like the "blame" for this is firmly in Tim's court.

 

1- Craig was listed as riding

2- Craig's name was dropped as soon as Michal was revealed as the new signing

3- Craig's best friend and a family member both post that Craig wanted to ride

4- Craig ends up not riding although in attendance

5- Craig's place in Newport Wasps' history airbrushed from existence

 

Without anything to the contrary coming from the friends of Tim Stone, what other conclusion can we draw other than it was he who couldn't set aside whatever differences they had for the sake of the celebration and the fans.

[Anders`]

5- Craig's place in Newport Wasps' history airbrushed from existence

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Absolutely nothing like over-egging the pudding is there?

 

Keep to the facts old chap!

[philcrumpisgod]

Absolutely nothing like over-egging the pudding is there?

 

Keep to the facts old chap!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Will the word "virtually" placate you, old chap?

[Vince]

Without anything to the contrary coming from the friends of Tim Stone, what other conclusion can we draw other than it was he who couldn't set aside whatever differences they had for the sake of the celebration and the fans.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Perhaps as we don't know both sides of the story we aren't as quick to jump to conclusions and apportion blame. I am amazed that anybody thought Phil Crump was going to be doing anything other than exactly what he did. I guess that whatever meeting had been put on and whoever rode how it wouldn't be good enough for some. Disappointing crowd makes a mockery of claims that crowds would treble with a winning team in my opinion, they might increase slowly over time but to nowhere near the level some have claimed in the past. For Tim to invest more than the club can afford on such grounds would be a certain end of the sport in Newport I believe.

I thought it was a great day, Michal's move to round Neathy was as brave as anything you will see anywhere all year and Tony has got his bikes back to their best and his confidence grew with every ride and it was great to see him enjoying his racing so much. There seems to be a really good team spirit with the Wasps guys this year. Obviously I have no idea what the atmosphere was like in the stand but it was a relaxed and very enjoyable day in the pits.

[philcrumpisgod]

Flippin' heck Vince, I thought you were going to take me to task but I agree with (mostly) everything you said! Maybe your first sentence wasn't worded quite as you meant and you did mean to knock me back .

Never mind, it was an enjoyable day, I didn't expect Phil to don a set of Jason's kevlars and blast around the track on one of his bikes!!

The right man won, it was great to see the Swedes back, there was some exciting racing and the four guys on monkey bikes gave us all a laugh, young Sam giving us another overtaking manouvre even though he was being threatened with a hammering!!

Here's to the next 10 years and beyond

Edited May 7, 2007 by philcrumpisgod

[tanya]

Disappointing crowd makes a mockery of claims that crowds would treble with a winning team in my opinion, they might increase slowly over time but to nowhere near the level some have claimed in the past.

 

I can't see how you can justify that remark, and find it a little insulting to the supporters who have been there for the past ten years and seen the support dwindle beyond belief.

 

This meeting had very little promotion about it. We all knew it was happening, of course we did. We read the forums and follow the speedway intensly at Newport. But what about the old time fans that used to come over? If you didn't read the Argus you wouldn't have a clue that this meeting was happening. Not putting in the effort to get this meeting advertised was shooting it in the foot to start with.

 

I hate to be critical of Newport Speedway, it doesn't need me knocking it too. But...yesterday had the potential to be one of the best days we've seen over there. And it would of been fantastic to see the crowds well up and a great atmosphere to support some of our all time favourites, and credit where it's due to Tim for actually getting Anders, Emil and Bjorn over here for this meeting.

 

It did turn out for us regulars to be a bit special, mostly for the three Swedish reasons listed above But it's a shame we haven't seen more of them in the past.

[longlivefrankie]

yesterday was special in many ways and was very enjoyable

but as someone with experience in PR in the past, was there any for this meeting? and in my experience if you do a job do it properly not half hearted. organise it properly and promote and sell it properly

yesterday was a golden opportunity to promote newport speedway.

 

and i agree it was quite sad to hear both emil & bjorn wishing they had longer spells at the club