Classic At Newport

[colincooke]

I wasn't being critical , i was merely asking the question - is speedway in the winter months really feasible ?

If people went yesterday or at Scunthorpe and enjoyed themselves , then fine . But i've just read so many negative comments about both meetings .

 

 

See what you're saying Paul, but i think that as with in the era of The Late Tim this meeting is very crucial to Newport's finances for the season, the crowd was quite large, if this meeting was to be lost it's possible that Newport could be lost also, is that something we'd welcome? Frankly not.

Edited January 4, 2010 by colincooke

[Steve Shovlar]

Before I start I will say I wasn't at the meeting yesterday.

 

But from reading through the thread, it seems the meeting was a duffer, which was a shame.

 

I attended last years meeting at Poole and it was a thriller right down to the 4th bend of the final. A strong field on a wel prepared track played out in front of a good to excellent crowd.

 

These meetings need a bit of luck with the weather and Newport couldn't have had it better yesterday, with a dry week up to the meeting so no excuse there.

 

The problem is the class of field. With no disrespect intended, the field didn't entice me to drive 90 minutes to watch this meeting in freezing conditions. Late drop outs are a pain but what was really needed was a better quality field. Poole last year showed that a good lineup can be acheived in the winter months.

 

lets be brutally honest here. Pole last year was a different ball park to yesterday. Its time for this meeting to get passed around the clubs. Newport don't have some god given right to hold it, and when they do all I read on here is "boring", "one pass all meeting", etc.

 

Let aother club run this next winter. Be it Wolverhampton, Poole or Peterborrough. One yer an EL club, the next a PL club. Mix it up a bit, otherwise if it is like yesterday, the winter meeting will become less supported and die.

 

I wasn't being critical , i was merely asking the question - is speedway in the winter months really feasible ?

If people went yesterday or at Scunthorpe and enjoyed themselves , then fine . But i've just read so many negative comments about both meetings .

 

 

Last year after the Poole meeting fans were buzzing. Still, its back at its rightful home now. Good, eh?

[Sandie]

All i've read here , was the same in the aftermath of the Scunthorpe meeting , is how people were freezing - the track was poor - the entertainment value was nil .

Is it worth carrying on with these types of Winter meetings if they are so bad . I'll be honest , i find March bloomin cold enough and there is nothing or nobody who will get me to stand and watch speedway at the beginning of January unless it's in Australia .

Just wondered , on the back of loads of critisism , are these meetings worth the effort ?

You raise valid points and if you were going for 'pure speedway' I would agree.

But we all just like moaning. Its like Telford and Brighton, the pureists would say its not real speedway or icespeedway so why bother.

 

It wasnt a brilliant meeting but that doesnt mean I regret going. Yes, it was cold but you dress accordingly. Although its really difficult filling out a programme with mittens on!

 

The track again, wasnt brilliant and Nick Mallett apologised for that but you couldnt have asked for more considering the conditions leading up to the day.

 

I guess the only thing that Newport 'could have done better' and was within their hands was food and drink. More staff and seperate queues for DRINKS ONLY. But thats a lessson that they may learn from.

 

Ask those who attended would they want their money back and I reckon most would say No, just heated pads for fingers and toes please!!!

 

 

[Pinny]

Before I start I will say I wasn't at the meeting yesterday.

 

But from reading through the thread, it seems the meeting was a duffer, which was a shame.

 

I attended last years meeting at Poole and it was a thriller right down to the 4th bend of the final. A strong field on a wel prepared track played out in front of a good to excellent crowd.

 

These meetings need a bit of luck with the weather and Newport couldn't have had it better yesterday, with a dry week up to the meeting so no excuse there.

 

The problem is the class of field. With no disrespect intended, the field didn't entice me to drive 90 minutes to watch this meeting in freezing conditions. Late drop outs are a pain but what was really needed was a better quality field. Poole last year showed that a good lineup can be acheived in the winter months.

 

lets be brutally honest here. Pole last year was a different ball park to yesterday. Its time for this meeting to get passed around the clubs. Newport don't have some god given right to hold it, and when they do all I read on here is "boring", "one pass all meeting", etc.

 

Let aother club run this next winter. Be it Wolverhampton, Poole or Peterborrough. One yer an EL club, the next a PL club. Mix it up a bit, otherwise if it is like yesterday, the winter meeting will become less supported and die.

 

Steve, I usually agree with most things you say on here.

 

But it does not matter one iota about the dry week, it has been absoloutely freezing in Newport for the past 3 weeks.

 

How exactly are you meant to keep the track in fine condition in such cold weather?

 

Football matches have been called off here, rugby too. The ground is rock solid. I think the track staff done a good job to create a rideable surface yesterday.

 

As for the meeting, when Tim Stone run it, I believe he was one of the only ones to apply for it to be run most years. Most promoters don't have the balls to put on such event due to weather.

 

Each year when Tim Stone held the event, the track was always like a billiard table. The racing is never the best but the track always receives good reports from the riders. OK yesterday it probably did not but as I said previously, that was by far the coldest meeting I have ever been to.

 

Also with Newport, if it absoloutely "pisses" down, even right up until an hour before the meeting, you still have more than a likely chance of getting the meeting on which is more than can be said for most tracks in this country.

[colincooke]

Before I start I will say I wasn't at the meeting yesterday.

 

But from reading through the thread, it seems the meeting was a duffer, which was a shame.

 

I attended last years meeting at Poole and it was a thriller right down to the 4th bend of the final. A strong field on a wel prepared track played out in front of a good to excellent crowd.

 

These meetings need a bit of luck with the weather and Newport couldn't have had it better yesterday, with a dry week up to the meeting so no excuse there.

 

The problem is the class of field. With no disrespect intended, the field didn't entice me to drive 90 minutes to watch this meeting in freezing conditions. Late drop outs are a pain but what was really needed was a better quality field. Poole last year showed that a good lineup can be acheived in the winter months.

 

lets be brutally honest here. Pole last year was a different ball park to yesterday. Its time for this meeting to get passed around the clubs. Newport don't have some god given right to hold it, and when they do all I read on here is "boring", "one pass all meeting", etc.

 

Let aother club run this next winter. Be it Wolverhampton, Poole or Peterborrough otherwise if it is like yesterday, the winter meeting will become less supported and die.

 

 

Elite League Snob

Edited January 4, 2010 by colincooke

[betts]

how can someone say it was a duffer if they were not there, and as to the track, any idea what the conditions at newport have been for the last week?

not that good.

 

 

[Najjer]

how can someone say it was a duffer if they were not there, and as to the track, any idea what the conditions at newport have been for the last week?

not that good.

 

Nicky Mallett has us led to believe it's been glorious and the track was looking perfect...

[colincooke]

You know something amongst all of this nobody has mentioned the perfectly composed minute silence for" The King".

Well done everybody.

[NWS]

You know something amongst all of this nobody has mentioned the perfectly composed minute silence for" The King".

Well done everybody.

 

Nearly true! By the entrance to the grand stand there was a group of 3 talking all the way through it more or less. Very irrespectful behavour.

[superguest]

The problem is the class of field. With no disrespect intended, the field didn't entice me to drive 90 minutes to watch this meeting in freezing conditions. Late drop outs are a pain but what was really needed was a better quality field. Poole last year showed that a good lineup can be acheived in the winter months.

 

lets be brutally honest here. Pole last year was a different ball park to yesterday. Its time for this meeting to get passed around the clubs. Newport don't have some god given right to hold it, and when they do all I read on here is "boring", "one pass all meeting", etc.

 

I do agree with you Steve, it would be good to see this meeting on different tracks. However, the class of the field was pretty pathetic for the amount they charged- 15 quid. I don't think many people were happy paying that and watching Ben Hopwood fall off 4 times in 2 races.

[Shadders]

No criticism of the line up, the track or the promotion, but it was a poor spectacle yesterday ... I can't see how anyone can think of anything positive to say about it, apart from the fact it didn't rain and no rider was injured ... I'm sure a good majority spectators were there purely because it was a speedway meeting in the middle if winter, a good chance to see some competitive action and catch up with a few old and new speedway buddies ... I must admit I was expecting a little more from the likes of Iversen and Mads K.

[uk_martin]

Wanna, I looked out for someone wearing T-shirt and shorts, but couldn't see you.

If that's his style then he must be related to that young lady who was walking around in the lowest cut top ever worn on a freezing cold January afternoon (in the northern hemisphere, anyway). No amount of draught exclusion could have protected her belly button, I'm sure!

 

It wasnt a brilliant meeting but that doesnt mean I regret going...The track again, wasnt brilliant ...

I'm with HeyJude on this one, just to witness the bikes, get a whiff of the speedway aroma, and to hear those engines again was enough, and it beats what was on telly! And as for the track, I think that the staff did an excellent job in the circumstances. I'd seen it in a worse state on a couple of occasions in the last couple of summers.

[BigFatDave]

BFD responds to all these apparent whingers yet has no response to my reply to the deliberate personal dig in the 1st of these quotes.

Obviously knows i am correct to berate.

 

My apologies, Col, I didn't spot your response to my witty aside; probably swamped by the outpourings of Bile from the usual suspects. Could you put a link to it? Save me having to wade through the garbage again.

 

Ta mate.

I wasn't being critical , i was merely asking the question - is speedway in the winter months really feasible ?

If people went yesterday or at Scunthorpe and enjoyed themselves , then fine . But i've just read so many negative comments about both meetings .

There's no pleasing some folks, Paulco, 2000 people turning up means they are feasible surely, more than most tracks get in your so-called 'Summer'.

I'm with HeyJude on this one, just to witness the bikes, get a whiff of the speedway aroma, and to hear those engines again was enough, and it beats what was on telly! And as for the track, I think that the staff did an excellent job in the circumstances.

..............and that's what its all about.

 

Sounds like the Craic was excellent .

[zlata prilba]

If that's his style then he must be related to that young lady who was walking around in the lowest cut top ever worn on a freezing cold January afternoon (in the northern hemisphere, anyway). No amount of draught exclusion could have protected her belly button, I'm sure!

 

 

Now now UKM you be getting called a Perv next

[stressed]

Nearly true! By the entrance to the grand stand there was a group of 3 talking all the way through it more or less. Very irrespectful behavour.

 

Yes they were very ignorant to say the least, my friends who I had driven up and myself were disgusted by their attitude

 

But a big well done to everyone else who paid their minutes respect to Emil in the correct manner.

[arnie]

Yes, in Hopwood's case the figures don't quite tell how bad the performance was, He fell twice in his first ride, remounting after the first tumble only to come a cropper half a lap later. And no, he was left way behind at the gate and was well off the pace all the time that he wasn't well off his bike.

 

However, (very) young British "Talent", was on display aplenty. Only problem was that mixing kids who look like they are still strangers to a speedway bike, with the Iversens, Boxall's and Doolans of the world, doesn't make for competitive racing. It also peeves a lot of people who, with reruns included, had to endure over 30 races in cryogenic conditions, because the novices kept on falling off, causing race stoppages. Not that all fallers were novices as Messrs Roynon and Mills will admit to, but on the whole it was the kids wot did it.

 

However there are plenty of people who would support riders like Hopwood, Tom Young, James White Williams and Daniel Henderson being given their chance...maybe they could do a good job in the Rye House team that is crying out for 3 more riders? Come to that, I wonder if former Rockets skipper, Brent Werner could have ridden his way to a new Silver-plated contract?

 

yes tom young had to restart 3 times in heat 4, nl rider, only iversen and tom finished the heat

[Diesel]

These meetings need a bit of luck with the weather and Newport couldn't have had it better yesterday, with a dry week up to the meeting so no excuse there.

Regardless of the rest of the post, which others can make their own minds up about, this single line is utter BS.

 

Heavy snow on Tuesday, followed by constantly freezing temperatures does not constitute 'couldn't have had it better'.

 

People need to remember that Dorset has it own micro climate with average Winter temperatures higher than elsewhere in the UK. Newport doesn't enjoy this luxury and has been extremely cold for the last 3 weeks, including a fair bit of snow. The grassed area outside my house hasn't thawed since the beginning of December.

[cityrebel]

i tend to give most winter speedway a miss. i attended 89 meetings last season and i need the winter months to recharge my batteries for the new year. i go the the high beech event in february to blow away the cobwebs and get ready for the start of the new season.

[startline sid]

my first visit to Newport since the track was relaid - one concern I have is the high raised kerb on the inside of the bends certainly looks a potentially dangerous hazard to me - I certainly would not like to fall onto the edge of it if I was walking along let alone at speed - well done Steve Boxall easily the best rider on show - still plenty of good years riding in him and would be a great asset to9 some club - I would love to see him back at Rye but I know it wont happen

[colincooke]

That's a big ask, lisa-colette, getting colin cooke to put his money where his mouth is!!

 

 

My apologies, Col, I didn't spot your response to my witty aside; probably swamped by the outpourings of Bile from the usual suspects. Could you put a link to it? Save me having to wade through the garbage again.

 

Ta mate.

 

it's this one BFD .

The reason you never spotted it is that some of it has been deleted, tutty me , something about a

BF A**e if i remember right. .

To be fair even though it was good to get out & see some racing & some freinds the meeting itself with all intents & purposes wasn't as good as it has been. It doesn't mean though that it should be scrapped or banded about between other clubs like has been suggested, this is Newport's life blood meeting for god sake.

Not only that this was Tim's meeting & in honour of Tim, Newport is where it should always remain.

Edited January 5, 2010 by colincooke