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The 2009 National League Riders' Championship


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Well done to Craig, Kyle and Jay. My top three prediciton was one out and that one was Jerran who came fourth so not a bad guess imo.

 

Kyle was mighty unlucky. He had the race sewn up, Craig had raced well but was not going to pass Kyle round bend 4 unless there was a mechanical failure, which there was but at the end of the day the man who finished first was Craig Cook, so well done to him. I was rooting for the top two all evening, I just can't find any excitement watching Jerran Hart or Jay Herne race for some reason althought they are good riders no doubt.

 

Such a shame Cookie has been signed up for Worky as i'd have no arguments with seeing him in a Rye racejacket next year. He has proven he can ride big and small tracks too. He will go far in the sport. Kyle will hopefully be a Rocket next year, that I am looking forward to seeing.

 

I'm not sure whether on the strength of one bad NLRC meeting the event should be moved. The previous ones have always been very good. Maybe see how the 2010 event goes before rash decisions are made. Just another note, did anyone notice on the racecard inside the programme it said Conference League Riders Final, not National ;)

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Not the most exciting meeting but then again how many really exciting meetings have their been at Rye House this year?

 

Dragged on an hour too long but then again in such an prestige meeting riders seem to take more risks so the likelihood of incidents is higher.

 

Hughes desperately unlucky but sh*te happens in the sport and he can take heart that he outshone more experienced riders.

 

Cook looks an awesome prospect and has only been riding for year!

The boy needs to be fully nurtured by the BSPA like some of the foriegners are!

 

Herne looks very quick, surprised he hasn't done more in the PL.

 

Hart too looks a very good prospect with plenty of determination to boot as well!

 

These 4 were head and shoulders over the rest and look like possibly the only ones in the field who will go onto better things in the sport?

 

The tracks definately sorts out the good skilled technical riders out from the boys who've just got fast bikes and just winds them on, on tracks where you don't have to turn the bike hard.

 

As for Rye House holding the event - It has done the event proud in recent years, Len always puts on a good show and giving the event to Rye House is reward for the effort the club has put into producing young riders and regularly putting a team in the 3rd tier which most EL and PL don't.

 

Holding the event at a neutral non NL venue wouldn't work cause they wouldn't attract a viable crowd. This has been proved when the PL big events have been held on EL tracks and the PL attracts more fans in most cases than what the NL does.

Edited by 25yearfan
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Best move it to a venue where they don't have to control the throttle as much, because most of them haven't a clue on last nights showing.

 

 

Shadders has a valid point. What's wrong with holding a meeting for the top averaged riders of that league at a track that tests brains rather than balls? I would have hoped that it would be an opportunity to show their skill so that the best man would win.

 

Given the number of journeymen in the National League its good to see that the younger element dominated. I'd have thought that the 7 (minimum) old sweats on show would have used their experience to show the kids how it is done on a technical track, so well done to the talented kids.

 

Its a pity that the National League doesn't contain more young British riders. This successor to the Conference League is another missed opportunity for British Speedway.

Edited by Cheekee Raylee Monkee
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To me Cook shows up just how poor the talent is in this league - and sums up the UK's standing in world

speedway.

More this year a journeyman league and I think it doesnt work - it may have been set up

that way for the likes of Plymouth Weymouth and other 'stand alone' tracks but the initial

idea of a training league has now sadly gone.

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Not sure what to make of last night's meeting. It all went a bit Pete Tong when the track grading got out of sync with the riders taking two on the bounce which added extra pauses in the running. It never really got going - add in the crashes and I have to agree with most other posts that it seemed to drag.

 

Having said that, there was some good racing in there, particularly towards the end. Herne looked as if he might dominate at the start but fizzled. Well impressed again with Cook though - despite my Bournemouth allegiance I wanted him to lift the title, but felt so badly for Hughes to lose it on that last bend, and for Cook to win it that way. A mark of both riders' maturity in the way they handled it though. Fair play to both.

 

Can someone comment on the Hart/Cook prang when they met in the heats? It was hard to see from our angle how far out Cookie took Hart - was there room? Was it unfair for Cook to stay in? Someone probably had a better view of it closer to that bend, just interested to know how it played out.

 

Highlight of the trip as always, chips n curry sauce. That's the real reason I go to Rye House... ;)

Edited by rabbit
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We were begining to wonder if Len had started doing a breakfast menu.......... :wink:

 

Nice one that, Bob. :D

 

Second only to my old mate Norwich Kev's dreadfully sexist but somewhat accurate and undoubtedly hilarious ' get in the kitchen and do the washing up' after one of several indifferent refereeing decisions.

 

To me Cook shows up just how poor the talent is in this league - and sums up the UK's standing in world

speedway.

 

Rubbish.

 

Have you seen Cook ride at PL level ? I watched him ride at Workington a couple of weeks ago and show his back wheel to several established second strings - pretty good for someone who a year ago had never been near a speedway bike.

 

Can someone comment on the Hart/Cook prang when they met in the heats? It was hard to see from our angle how far out Cookie took Hart - was there room? Was it unfair for Cook to stay in? Someone probably had a better view of it closer to that bend, just interested to know how it played out.

 

First of all, Sue, good to meet you. I have long regarded you as one of the best posters on here so I should have stayed for a chat. Apologies.

 

I was on the first/second bend and I'd have excluded Cook without a doubt - I am not sure how you can have 'first bend bunching' when there were only two riders involved and the one off the inside gate (Cook)had his back wheel on the fence on the second turn, leaving the rider off the outside gate (Hart) with nowhere to go but into it. Not only that, I am pretty certain there was no contact. Cook caused the fall, he should have been out of the re-run.

 

The track was (to use the words of one NL team manager) 'terrible'. It was like an ice rink to start with and the falls and lack of control were nothing to do with the riders themselves. After that, it was pretty much a gaters paradise with first out of the second bend, first home. In my view, absolutely no excuse for that whatsoever :angry:

 

Added to the unusual length, the meeting was distinctly below par and the attendance wasn't much better.

 

I agree with a lot of the comments about moving the meeting elsewhere. I'd say that the venue should not be who bids the most (and hence what suits the BSPA) but who will put on the best show (and hence whats suits the paying customer). The PLRC at Sheffield in 2004 (when, in full view of Sky cameras, the riders staged a strike because of the condition of the track) should have meant that Owlerton would not be chosen for future years based upon the simple reasoning that you don't employ someone to do a job again when its clear that they have done a crap one before. The careless and sloppy track preparation at Hoddesdon on Saturday should rule them out next year, too.

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To me Cook shows up just how poor the talent is in this league - and sums up the UK's standing in world

speedway.

More this year a journeyman league and I think it doesnt work - it may have been set up that way for the likes of Plymouth Weymouth and other 'stand alone' tracks but the initial idea of a training league has now sadly gone.

 

There are sometimes postings on the BSF which totally baffle me... :shock: One can understand people sitting down at their PC and typing out all sorts of views - many differing from ones own.

But this posting has lost me completely and utterly..

What on earth do you mean...??!!! :blink:

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I was on the first/second bend and I'd have excluded Cook without a doubt - I am not sure how you can have 'first bend bunching' when there were only two riders involved and the one off the inside gate (Cook)had his back wheel on the fence on the second turn, leaving the rider off the outside gate (Hart) with nowhere to go but into it. Not only that, I am pretty certain there was no contact. Cook caused the fall, he should have been out of the re-run.

 

Very nice to meet you too. Next time we'll have a good chinwag! :approve: Thanks for the view on the Cook incident. I know only too well that perception of angles can make one incident look completely different depending on where it was viewed from. It seems on this occasion, that most peoples' take was the same from wherever they were stood. Still, there was a title at stake and I'm sure it won't be the last time young Jerran is squeezed out. There wasn't a lot between either rider at the end of it other than luck...both going in Craig's direction this time. But fair play to him, you need that in sport.

 

Interesting comments about moving the NLRC. I did say to Bob and Chris yesterday that it would be a good meeting to hold at Poole. The base crowd for NL is decent and I think you'd get a lot of travelling support with so many teams quite close. There must've been around 1000 there for our play-off semi on Thursday so the interest in this level is there. My only worry would be that I personally enjoy this level more on the smaller tracks - the racing can get a bit strung out on the larger ones, but perhaps my view is a bit biased there from having such a home team advantage this year. Still food for thought, and much as I enjoy my trips to Uncle Len's, yesterday didn't quite deliver on all fronts.

Edited by rabbit
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I was on the first/second bend and I'd have excluded Cook without a doubt - I am not sure how you can have 'first bend bunching' when there were only two riders involved and the one off the inside gate (Cook)had his back wheel on the fence on the second turn, leaving the rider off the outside gate (Hart) with nowhere to go but into it. Not only that, I am pretty certain there was no contact. Cook caused the fall, he should have been out of the re-run.

 

spot on ... was in the same place between first and second bends ... and to me ... for Cook to come off the inside gate ... and of what i think is possibly the widest first bend in the country ... have the outside gate rider so wide he couldnt turn by the second bend .... deserves an exclusion. it was purely intentional what he was doing and the referee bottled it !

there was no contact ..... but what infuriated me was Cooks little cocky gesture after winning the re run ... a "bye bye wave" to Hart after surviving an exclusion ... and producing a good win in the re run.. bad sportsmanship... got a lot to learn has the boy.

 

the evening was blighted by far too many bad refereeing decisiions..... and a surprisingly very low attendance ... shame .. was always one on the calender to look forward to at this level .. maybe Rye has done its time with this meeting .... the powers to be will be the ones who decide ... we the fans never get asked!

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Lots of views on here, and some fairly even ones too, Hart/Cook?, well must admit I thought Red excluded, but worth hearing the views of Luke Bowen on the dvd (he did a great job as co-commentator). but did think some of teh decisions were not too good! And yep it dragged, but sometimes this happens and by the end of the night I was frozen!

Some good racing though and a dramatic (sad for Hughes) final. The crowd was bigger than Sundays!!!

Edited by KenB1
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Shadders has a valid point. What's wrong with holding a meeting for the top averaged riders of that league at a track that tests brains rather than balls? I would have hoped that it would be an opportunity to show their skill so that the best man would win.

 

Given the number of journeymen in the National League its good to see that the younger element dominated. I'd have thought that the 7 (minimum) old sweats on show would have used their experience to show the kids how it is done on a technical track

Especially the likes of Cockle and Evans who must have done hundreds of laps of the track in their time.

 

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