KyleMartinRacing Posted October 10, 2007 Report Share Posted October 10, 2007 (edited) Much has been written much has been said about the state of Britsh Speedway at Grass root's Level (ie. Under 15's and so on) Here's something to think about! This has been written from the heart (I have no alegience to any age group as my 11 year old jacked it in in June this Year!) Under 15's is classed in 4 groups as per Speedway rule 19.5 up to 8th Birthday - 80cc aged 9 & 10 - 125cc aged 11,12 & 13 - 250cc aged 14 & 15 - 500cc For 2008 Championships are for each class over 8 rounds! Everyone who enters takes (no rider is refused entry due to ability) part in a GP style British Under 8's, 10's,13's and 15's over the 8 rounds depending on their age. Each round for all the classes take place on the same day's! This is hypothetical but should be possible!! Round 1 - ******** March **th 2008 Round 2 - ******** April **th 2008 Round 3 - ******** May **th 2008 Round 4 - ******** June **th 2008 Round 5 - ******** July **th 2008 Round 6 - ******** August **th 2008 Round 7 - ******** September **th 2008 Round 8 - ******** October **th 2008 The rider with the most points from all the rounds is the under ?? champion for 2008 for each class, with riders progressing up through the ranks as they get older. Now the hard part, each round would be at a different track either EL,PL or CL as long as no meetings take place on the same track twice! I know in the Pl clubs have preference over other clubs for race days due to time in the league so that free's up some day's during the season! would imagine it's the same for EL & CL ? With this in mind I'm sure all 8 meetings could be accomodated over the season. Now I here you say who is gojng to travel the country to do this due to work etc and cost!! Here's the nitty gritty bit! Rider's could be paid 5p/mile (or to be decided) and have fuel/oil provided at the track courtesy of Sponsers who would be backing the younsters for the whole season to help with the cost! Entrance fee's (from the gate receipts) to each Round could go towards paying for the use of each track/medic cover etc and towards travel cost's of each rider! I would even go as far to run it with the correct commitee and backing from the BSPA and parent's of this countries future stars! Your Thought's would be appreciated? Regards Graeme p.s If anyone from the Forum, BSPA,Potential Sponsors, Parents or Fan's would like to discuss this more please feel free to contact me at graememartin30@aol.com Edited October 10, 2007 by KyleMartinRacing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopper Posted October 10, 2007 Report Share Posted October 10, 2007 Good post, as has been said something needs to be sorted before rather than later. Not saying what you have suggested is wrong but here is an example of the way it is run in australia. Nine to under sixteens can ride a 125 scaled down bike but this is really only good on tracks between 100 to 150 metres. From thirteen, they can ride on a full size track on a full size bike with up to a two fifty motor.This is ok, more to get used to the speed but on tracks over 300 metres they do struggle to break the back wheel.(only ever seen 250 hondas). From fourteen they can ride full size bikes with 350 motors which is really starting to take off over here, after a few years of running. Which brings me to a question does anybody know of any 350 lay down motors that they would be prepared to send to aus as they are in short supply second hand. Regards Chopper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morganbike Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 Chopper, I can supply as many 350's as you want but the shipping is intense,GLYN TAYLOR GT Tuning or any major dealer would jump on it but the shipping for 28 KG to Aus is expensive.I will quote you soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morganbike Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 Sorry KyleMartinRacing, You are way off the mark and what you have proposed is great in a wet dream but in reality : I had written a reply but deleted it as your dreams and requestsare way beyond recognition.It would be great to see it happen good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopper Posted October 12, 2007 Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 No probs Morganbike, would be interesting to compare the costs to a new one in australia. Regards Chopper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleMartinRacing Posted October 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 Sorry KyleMartinRacing, You are way off the mark and what you have proposed is great in a wet dream but in reality : I had written a reply but deleted it as your dreams and requestsare way beyond recognition.It would be great to see it happen good luck. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Why is it away off the mark?? License's are set in 4 age brackets as per the BSPA rules correct? So why can't there be 4 different age championships? (albeit if the numbers are there for each age bracket) Which request's did I make that are way beyond recognition? Regards Graeme Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Leslie Posted October 12, 2007 Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 Under 15's is classed in 4 groups as per Speedway rule 19.5 up to 8th Birthday - 80cc aged 9 & 10 - 125cc aged 11,12 & 13 - 250cc aged 14 & 15 - 500cc If you can ride 80cc up to the 8th Birthday, but can't ride 125cc until the age of 9, does that mean 8 year olds are banned and have to take a year out? Or could they perhaps break the rules and ride 80cc up to their 9th birthday? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 Surely there are nowhere near enough riders to make splitting them into four groups possible. There aren't even enough for two sensible sized groups this year it would seem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Central Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 And that is the nub of the problem - where are these riders and why are there not more of them. This has to be resolved, or we can say goodbye to British riders in Britsih speedway. Sorry to be dramatic but I can see there aren't the riders on the training tracks coming through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
771neil Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 Good post central but in season there are hardly any training tracks, only in winter when weathers is bad and its also expensive time of year for parents with xmas etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 (edited) Have to say that Sam was very lucky with the timing when he started Speedway. Firstly he first rode in September so then had a few months of regular training schools to go to (although it still meant driving a lot of miles). Then in 2004 there were enough riders about to give a good quality, year long U15 Championship that helped all the lads no end. However I should point out that we had to push pretty hard to get him into the Championship as he had done no competitive racing for anybody to know who he was. I accepted all along that it was up to us to chase for rides though as clearly it isn't going to be the other way round when they are new to the sport. Also he was 15 in the April and so able to go into the CL, which was a fair bit easier than it is now. Yet again we looked about at the different teams and which one would be most likely to give him a decent go. We then went and asked the Promoter for a place for Sam. It seems that so many people sit back waiting for the Speedway authorities or teams to contact them. The fact is that breaking into Speedway is difficult, invariably the costs and time needed for travelling make life hard and in my experience it gets harder as they go up the leagues. You will always need to chase after rides (or at least if or until you are in demand by teams). Second halfs are a pain with cancellations and one quick ride, they pretty much always have been. Personally and with the benefit of hindsight if I had a kid of 13 or under wanting to ride Speedway I would take him Grass Tracking instead. I would keep doing that until the winter when he was 14 when a cheap bike and Speedway training schools were a bit more available. Of course if money is no problem they can do both all along. I would also do everything I could to get some interaction between every Grass track club and the closest Speedway club. If the BSPA could use Grass Track as a breeding ground for the future perhaps they could be convinced to help the clubs with meetings, training etc. This in turn would hopefully see an increase in entries at Grass Tracks and an increase of riders progressing to Speedway. It's not a short term answer but at least it could be something practical to work towards. As for why the kids aren't coming through, the alternatives are so much easier. I can buy a MX bike for a similar amount to a decent Speedway bike. Then without ever travelling for more than an hour I can practice or race every weekend and some weekdays. I can get several hours of on-bike time for about £20 and ride if and when i want to. Or I could buy a Trials bike, practice all day for nothing and spend £100 a year on maintenance. Really it is more amazing that anybody commits to Speedway Edited October 17, 2007 by Vince Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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