Scottish Open

[spin king junior]

Well done Pepe , seems his form has really improved over the past couple of week.

[BongoBrian]

OK here we go (I have to get this off my chest!)

 

My view of the ‘last chance’ heat (ie. Heat 21) goes something like this… First of all, when Ryan went down on the second lap (4th Bend), both Joe Screen and Chris Slabon, for all intents and purposes, stopped racing.

 

In my opinion, they were completely right to stop. The main reason I say this, is that Ryan significantly damaged the fence when he went into it. (Note: The track staff had to work on the fence before the final was run).

 

For reasons of riders safety, I have never seen a race continued after the fence is damaged. I would even go as far as to say that the Referee was negligent in their duties and completely failed to take appropriate action to ensure that their decision was first and foremost to protect the safety of the riders in this instance.

 

If we look at the Elite league where they have air fences, if a section of air fence is punctured, then the meeting stops and the section is replaced before any racing commences… this is bearing in mind that there is usually also a plywood fence (as existed in this instance, as in the Premier League generally) behind the air fence also.

 

Lets speculate the hypothetical scenario where Joseph Franc had carried on as he did, but then hit a divot in the track and came off exactly where Ryan took the piece of fence off its’ hinges! One of two things could have happened… 1. He could have passed straight through the fence endangering those on the outside of the track as the section of fence was no longer in a sound condition… or 2. The fence could have been sideways on to him and could have caused him serious damage/harm/injury instead of arresting his crash as intended. Both of which are un-acceptable risks.

 

From where I was standing, pretty much everyone around me was expecting the red lights when Ryan went down… that was indeed, no different to what Joe and Chris thought would happen (and I would say that I would certainly have stopped had It been me in their shoes). I also do not think Chris should have returned to racing once he stopped, but I would not hold that against him at all… It was the farcical confusion which eminated solely from the referee and both Chris and Joe looked completely confused by the situation... as did most of the folk around me.

 

Lets suggest for a minute, a hypothetical scenario where Joseph Franc had also stopped? Would the referee have put the lights on with the remaining 3 riders pulling up? Put it this way, if the referee didn’t, then how rediculous would that have looked with 3 riders basically looking round at each other wondering what the heck was going on!!!

 

The final point I have to make is the manner in which Ryan was ‘assisted’ off of the track by the opening up of the entrance to the pits and allowing him to exit into the pit area. First, I do not hold anything against Edinburgh IMO (before anyone gets tetchy). however, It does raise the question whether the same would have been done for Slabon or Screen had they been in the same position? It may indeed have been, however the general issue of external interference still stands. I would like to see the rule on removing yourself from the track after a fall as It was pointed out to me by someone, that they suspect that a rider should only be permitted to exit the track specifically onto the centre green if they manage to get themselves and their bike up.

 

The crunch is though, that complete indecision by the referee created an un-necessary hazard to the riders and also managed to turn the race into a farce for the spectators.

 

Ps. Don’t anyone bother to suggest that I am just saying this because it was Joe Screen. The Truth is that I would take the same stance had it even been Joe who went down and Ryan who stopped. Indeed, I fully support Chris Slabons’ initial decision to stop racing, as well as Joe Screens.

 

The beef I have is with, by far, the worst refereeing decision (or lack thereof) that I have witnessed in my Speedway following career to date.

 

I'm only glad I can say that it didn't completely ruin the evening, cos I had too good a time with loads of folk to let that happen

 

Nice to meet Bongo Brian tonight, glad to report he still had his re-admission ticket at ht 15! Sorry to falkirk bandit, maybe the pub would have been better? My thoughts from the Chatzone, sorry I can't be bothered giving a full report!

 

I lose interest at indivual meetings and tonight was no exception! With the track and tyre problems and numerous stoppages I was pleased to see 22 heats in the end.

 

Well done to Franc, after a slow start he was flying from the gate, took advantage in the semi. Fish blew it - just too anxious I guess, Slabon impressed. Andy rode well all night, just missed out on 1st bend in the final.

 

Felt so sorry for Mr Screen who was flying too after starting slowly, but as Merlin said - it ain't over till the fat rider crosses the line! Amazed at a rider of his experience didn't keep going as he wasn't impeded and there was no need to stop the race - maybe he was practicing for his league visit with the average cheating chickens?

 

Fireworks were good though

 

Manzares did ok, took a real thump into the fence though, hope he is ok!

 

 

Was a pleasure to meet you too mate

 

Yup, the Tyre thing was a bit of a strange one... I'm not sure experimentation of this sort was prudent at this meeting, given that a large crowd all paid £18 bucks of their hard earned cash?

 

With regards to your query on why Screen and Slabon stopped though, refer to my above post.

 

Catch you soon mate,

 

o6uoq

 

Not at all...The sight of bongo's face as the realisation dawned on him as Pepe raced off into the distance while the fat lad flapped his arms in the air in the "last chance" race was worth the £18 on it's own

 

I aim to please mate

 

Oh! I almost forgot... One last thing...

 

Other than Joe's first heat when he came off, after that, it was an absolute pleasure seeing all the Monarchs fans jaws hitting the deck when The Screen Machine started flying! Pure class

 

Well done Joe mate ...and remember dude, the best way to get back is to get even!

[Paulco]

Reading these posts only justified my decision not to go . Why tracks continue to inflict these individual meetings on the paying public is beyond me , we love speedway watching two teams racing against each other over 15 heats - not this nonsense.

[John Hannibal Thomas]

Pepe must have sussed the trick to the trick track, gate and go buddy!

[george.m]

Why is it that the Scottish Open meetings always takes an eternity to run? The Monarchy do a good job with regular team meetings, so

why is it year in, year out, does this meeting take so long? My main reason for not going.

[BongoBrian]

Why is it that the Scottish Open meetings always takes an eternity to run? The Monarchy do a good job with regular team meetings, so

why is it year in, year out, does this meeting take so long? My main reason for not going.

 

Come on now George! At least give them some deserved credit

 

...at least last night's meeting got done in an evening, The 2009 event took about 9 months to finally get to a conclusion

 

By my calculation's, that's considerable improvement

[ChrissySW]

Come on now George! At least give them some deserved credit

 

...at least last night's meeting got done in an evening, The 2009 event took about 9 months to finally get to a conclusion

 

By my calculation's, that's considerable improvement

 

 

I agree with what you said about the Semi-Final. 99 times out of 100, probably even 100 times out of 100 the race would have been stopped. I'm not entirely sure that was the exception. Can't say I'm too dis-pleased it wasn't stopped though - I had Screen in the sweepstake, but I'm not sure I actually wanted him to win!

[BongoBrian]

 

I agree with what you said about the Semi-Final. 99 times out of 100, probably even 100 times out of 100 the race would have been stopped. I'm not entirely sure that was the exception. Can't say I'm too dis-pleased it wasn't stopped though - I had Screen in the sweepstake, but I'm not sure I actually wanted him to win!

 

From your Monarkish point of view, I guess that's a perfectly fair and understandable position to take

[Young51]

From your Monarkish point of view, I guess that's a perfectly fair and understandable position to take

Bongo you actually made a few good points about the meeting last night......aaaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhh Nurse nurse i'm no feelin too.........

Edited July 24, 2010 by Young51

[Young51]

Reading these posts only justified my decision not to go . Why tracks continue to inflict these individual meetings on the paying public is beyond me , we love speedway watching two teams racing against each other over 15 heats - not this nonsense.

Paulco, as i've pointed out to Bongo....Please stop making sensible points ! It's too much to take! Is the med trolley on it's way round nurse? It was a duffer of a meeting though and has kinda lost it's mojo the past few years.Oh for the days when Peter Carr carried all before him and had wee Shane Parker in his back pocket.. happy days indeed sigh

Edited July 24, 2010 by Young51

[DavyH]

Why is it that the Scottish Open meetings always takes an eternity to run? The Monarchy do a good job with regular team meetings, so

why is it year in, year out, does this meeting take so long? My main reason for not going.

 

Agreed George, my back is killing me today after all the hanging around.

 

However with 22 heats to run it's always going to take a fair bit time. Throw in a break after every 4 heats as a rider always has two races in a row and it takes longer still. Plus there seems to be more crashes than usual - maybe a combination of a few riders new to the track plus we often get 4 riders of heat leader ability going for the same spot with the ineviatble all four back resulting.

 

The above will happen at any indivdual meeting not just one's at Armadale! - throw in problems with the track last night and the tyre fiasco and I am amazed it finished at all.

 

By 8.45pm we had only seen 8 heats so they did well to get all the racing completed by 10pm.

[Midnight_Lady]

Why tracks continue to inflict these individual meetings on the paying public is beyond me ,

 

Usually individual meetings are a way to help a club's finances.

 

I see posts moaning about how long the Scottish Open "always" takes and I disagree with that. As Davy says there has to be intervals to allow riders extra time when taking two on the trot and considering there are twenty two heats I don't think the Open usually drags on apart from last night of course. Some tracks take nearly two hours to complete a normal fifteen heats!

[Paulco]

Usually individual meetings are a way to help a club's finances.

 

 

But are they these days ? I wasn't there last night so i don't know what the crowd was like , but i'd imagine it wouldn't be anymore than an important team match . These things are at best boring , with only the final being of real interest . I would love to see these things binned and maybe a Scotland international against Germany , the USA or an England PL side taking their place .

Edited July 24, 2010 by Paulco

[ylinenhare5-1]

But are they these days ? I wasn't there last night so i don't know what the crowd was like , but i'd imagine it wouldn't be anymore than an important team match . These things are at best boring , with only the final being of real interest . I would love to see these things binned and maybe a Scotland international against Germany , the USA or an England PL side taking their place .

 

I agree, Paulco. Crowd last night was not bad - probably up slightly on a the usual PL match.

 

Wasn't going to go last night, but we changed our mind at the last minute - kind of wish we hadn't!

 

A Scotland International would be much more appealing to me.

[Paulco]

I agree, Paulco. Crowd last night was not bad - probably up slightly on a the usual PL match.

 

Wasn't going to go last night, but we changed our mind at the last minute - kind of wish we hadn't!

 

A Scotland International would be much more appealing to me.

By the way i'm not having a go at the Scottish Open or Armadale , it's individual meetings in general . The Ashfield Classic is generally the least interesting meeting of the season at Glasgow .

The PLRC at Sheffield is good , it's also a good social occasion , the Cardiff GP is a good piss-up . But apart from those two , you wouldn't have enough wild horses to drag me to one of these things .

[Ellesmere Gunner]

By the way i'm not having a go at the Scottish Open or Armadale , it's individual meetings in general . The Ashfield Classic is generally the least interesting meeting of the season at Glasgow .

The PLRC at Sheffield is good , it's also a good social occasion , the Cardiff GP is a good piss-up . But apart from those two , you wouldn't have enough wild horses to drag me to one of these things .

Paulco The Handicap Bordenapolis Meeting at Berwick last October won by Chris Harris was a bit special!

[george.m]

Agreed George, my back is killing me today after all the hanging around.

 

However with 22 heats to run it's always going to take a fair bit time. Throw in a break after every 4 heats as a rider always has two races in a row and it takes longer still. Plus there seems to be more crashes than usual - maybe a combination of a few riders new to the track plus we often get 4 riders of heat leader ability going for the same spot with the ineviatble all four back resulting.

 

The above will happen at any indivdual meeting not just one's at Armadale! - throw in problems with the track last night and the tyre fiasco and I am amazed it finished at all.

 

By 8.45pm we had only seen 8 heats so they did well to get all the racing completed by 10pm.

 

Thanks DavyH, every Scottish Open I've been to takes an age and there always seems to be waits between heats longer than league meetings. Usually meetings at Armadale run smoothly, it just seems the Open takes an age. If they did it after 8.45pm last night, why not every Open?

[george.m]

 

 

Yup, the Tyre thing was a bit of a strange one... I'm not sure experimentation of this sort was prudent at this meeting, given that a large crowd all paid £18 bucks of their hard earned cash?

 

 

A serious point, and not one of my usual mickey takes about Embra.

 

All the goings on of the semi final seem to have over shadowed this point about tyres.

 

The Scottish Open should be one of the premier meetings in Scotland every season, in theory. Even if some of us are not too keen on individual meetings.

 

Punters pay more at the gate and hopefully see a stronger field of riders than normal.

It might even attract a few new spectators and some existing ones from further afield.

 

This begs the question, who made the decision to test tyres at the meeting?

 

This was a high risk strategy. Testing of any nature involves a degree of uncertainty.

 

I'm amazed that anyone would risk this meeting and at the potential downsides to test some tyres?

 

Just why would anyone do it?

 

Does anyone know who agreed to it and why?

 

P.S. Reported by Mike Hunter on the Edinburgh website as:

 

"There were tyre problems".

 

Reads like economy with the truth to me!

Edited July 24, 2010 by george.m

[cyclone]

A serious point, and not one of my usual mickey takes about Embra.

 

All the goings on of the semi final seem to have over shadowed this point about tyres.

 

The Scottish Open should be one of the premier meetings in Scotland every season, in theory. Even if some of us are not too keen on individual meetings.

 

Punters pay more at the gate and hopefully see a stronger field of riders than normal.

It might even attract a few new spectators and some existing ones from further afield.

 

This begs the question, who made the decision to test tyres at the meeting?

 

This was a high risk strategy. Testing of any nature involves a degree of uncertainty.

 

I'm amazed that anyone would risk this meeting and at the potential downsides to test some tyres?

 

Just why would anyone do it?

 

Does anyone know who agreed to it and why?

 

P.S. Reported by Mike Hunter on the Edinburgh website as:

 

"There were tyre problems".

 

Reads like economy with the truth to me!

 

A lot of us were asking the same thing last night regarding the identity of the individual who imposed these "Gold" brand tyres on the unsuspecting riders

 

imo the falls in the first 8 heats and subsequent withdrawal of Busch due to injury, appeared to be caused by using these prototypes.

 

We then had a further delay when the riders lobbied their complaints about this issue and were justifiably given time to refit conventional tyres. I would also imagine that switching back would also affect the riders subsequent performances.

 

There's no doubt that the tyre fiasco adversely impacted on what should have been a showpiece event, given the field assembled, and hopefully lessons will be learned not to conduct such "experiments" in front of the paying public in future.

[BigFatDave]

By the way i'm not having a go at the Scottish Open or Armadale , it's individual meetings in general . The Ashfield Classic is generally the least interesting meeting of the season at Glasgow .

The PLRC at Sheffield is good , it's also a good social occasion , the Cardiff GP is a good piss-up . But apart from those two , you wouldn't have enough wild horses to drag me to one of these things .

I'm sure if Santa stuffed a couple of tickets to Oz for the Solo Championships in your xmas sporran you'd be here like a shot; braces, rolled-up trousers, socks in sandals and knotted hankerchief on yer head an' all!