New Year Classic 2012

[Diesel]

The main stand was pretty full from what I could see.

 

CMO, I misread your post originally, but I still don't think Lemon got too much stick at the time. Doesn't mean we can't dislike him for mugging us off.

 

I don't think you will find a single Newport fan with a problem with Alex, disappointing that he didn't fulfill his potential with us but it was not down to lack of effort.

[billybikespeedway]

The mainstand looked Full ( Due to the weather ) but also the back Straight was swelled By visiting Supporters and Locals We all got on well , and the racing is what you would expect at this time of year, Full marks to the Riders and Everyone involved in getting this meeting on For anyone to Critisise is a travistry

[Denis99]

Main stand looked pretty full to me, quite a good crowd considering the weather conditions. I've seen more supporters at previous seasons, but we've had an awful lot of rain building up to this meeting.

 

The track staff did an excellent job of getting this meeting on, track got better as the heats progressed.

 

Just on a positive note, considering all the negative responses about the format.

 

The organisation are trying to stage an out of season event - all the riders know the format beforehand, some will be glad of the competitive racing, others have a chance to try some new equipment without too much pressure.

I for one look forward to this meeting each year, well done to all the riders and Newport speedway for a bit of speedway action in the close season.

[oldwaspfan]

Always good to get a shot of speedway in the middle of winter. Given the conditions it was never going to be a classic but I think most fans know this before going. It started in slapstick condition with riders slipping and sliding everywhere but as the track dried the racing improved. Can’t really see what’s wrong with the format. It is after all a run out for all 12 riders and keeps things open until the end. The best 4 riders on the day made the final Did feel a bit for Lemo who looked the best rider until getting bogged down on bend two in the final . Well done to all riders and track staff for making it happen. One of the better NYC I’ve been to

[BigFatDave]

The mainstand looked Full ( Due to the weather ) but also the back Straight was swelled By visiting Supporters and Locals We all got on well , and the racing is what you would expect at this time of year, Full marks to the Riders and Everyone involved in getting this meeting on For anyone to Critisise is a travistry

Great to hear the ,meeting went off as planned and the full meeting was run. As for the Armchair Critics that abound on here: we know who they are, and treat their snide comments with the lack of respect they deserve.

Thems as can - does, thems as can't - criticize.

[Shadders]

Metcheck has rain clearing and sunshine. Met office has similar with the possibility of a shower whilst BBC Weather --which is invariably wrong!! --showers.

I think you may want to look into which forecaster you use in the future... BBC forecast rain early on clearing, then more rain around midday which is exactly what happened!

 

As for the meeting.. a couple of good races on a ploughed field of a track. Plenty of fallers early on when the track was at it's wettest and a farcical result... How the winner can qualify for the final with only one win and 3 finishes to his name from 5 races is beyond me!

Some scary moments, mostly involving Chris Schramm, who can't have done his chances of a team place any good, and some determined riding from Ricky Ashworth were the highlights.

 

Can’t really see what’s wrong with the format. It is after all a run out for all 12 riders and keeps things open until the end.

The same two riders met three times in the qualifiers... You think that's ok?

 

Is it any Different to The GP's where a rider can score a 15 point max and get beaton to the GP Final by a rider who scores 8 And Wins It, .I see No Difference

The difference is that Howe only completed half of his qualifying rides!

Edited January 2, 2012 by Shadders

[Madison]

Chris Schramm rode his heart out and would be a welcome addition to any team. Sure he kept falling off, but that was probably down to trying too hard on a wet track.

 

I think the crowd was down on previous years. Probably partly due to the weather and partly due to the line up. It was good to meet up with old friends during the close season. Role on March!! (I wish the catering stand was quicker. I missed 3 races whilst waiting to be served. how would they cope with a big crowd?)

[Shadders]

I think the crowd was down on previous years. Probably partly due to the weather and partly due to the line up. It was good to meet up with old friends during the close season. Role on March!! (I wish the catering stand was quicker. I missed 3 races whilst waiting to be served. how would they cope with a big crowd?)

Unless they reach another KOC final they won't have a bigger crowd this year!

[billybikespeedway]

Oh ye of Littte Faith ,Shadders Lest Just Wait and See,

[gkp413]

Our first visit to Newport and thought as a pure Speedway stadium (until this year?) it was a tidy set up. Given the time of year and the weather I would defy anyone to have put on a better racing surface and it caught out everyone at some stage, Chris Schramm a few times and even Lemmo in the final, who despite what I read on here about past activities did look the class act off the start which is where it mattered today. The fans were all as you would expect at a Speedway meeting friendly and of good banter, disappointed there were not more supporting some of the travelling riders, must have been a long hall for the likes of Tulley! But enough stayed to show appreciation to the winners which was nice. Catering has lots of opportunity to improve, early afternoon mtg with chance of a fair crowd, don't think I would be cooking to order but filling those grill plates with burgers ready for the hungry hoards, and with two ends why not one for drinks only, in/out quick, count the cash!

As it was the only winter event I though a bit more could have been made of the build up, rider parade, intros etc, few flags etc. But track looked a good shape for racing when conditions improve in the spring and most of the riders were in it for points and did try to race when staying on was difficult at time, my awards,

1) Track staff, promoter, SCB officials for getting the meeting on

2) Riders 1-12 and reserve for giving it a go and giving the supporters some racing

3) David Howe for showing it's not over until the fat lady sings

4) Suporters for turning out for what most knew would be a Gaters meeting in the main given the weather conditions

[Heathen1984]

Gp not many fans from other tracks. Well me and many other heathens fans were there and we are in nat league with no riders in the 12. And I could see lots of fans from other teams, u ain't seriously tryin to say the majority was Newport, haha.

 

Feel sorry for lemon, best rider on the day and deserved to win it. Format ain't the best is it but least it's a Meetin to go too

[MattK]

I thought is was a decent meeting. All the riders gave 100% in what was clearly very difficult conditions. Kudos to the Newport staff for their hard work which allowed the meeting to go ahead.

 

Mark Lemon was definitely the best rider on show. Kevin Doolan also looked fast, as did Ashworth and David Howe came good in the end.

 

Another plus was that it definitely wasn't as cold as last year!

[novelis]

Agree mattk, lemo was the best rider on show very unlucky not to win this one, he deserved too , bar for that a great job by the track staff for getting this on, also hats off to all riders ,good crowd considering the weather, they were a great bunch of hardy supporters,it was nice to see so many fans from all over the country, well done all ,lets hope that we all have great speedway to watch this year.

[Main Man]

Our first visit to Newport and thought as a pure Speedway stadium (until this year?) it was a tidy set up. Given the time of year and the weather I would defy anyone to have put on a better racing surface and it caught out everyone at some stage, Chris Schramm a few times and even Lemmo in the final, who despite what I read on here about past activities did look the class act off the start which is where it mattered today. The fans were all as you would expect at a Speedway meeting friendly and of good banter, disappointed there were not more supporting some of the travelling riders, must have been a long hall for the likes of Tulley! But enough stayed to show appreciation to the winners which was nice. Catering has lots of opportunity to improve, early afternoon mtg with chance of a fair crowd, don't think I would be cooking to order but filling those grill plates with burgers ready for the hungry hoards, and with two ends why not one for drinks only, in/out quick, count the cash!

As it was the only winter event I though a bit more could have been made of the build up, rider parade, intros etc, few flags etc. But track looked a good shape for racing when conditions improve in the spring and most of the riders were in it for points and did try to race when staying on was difficult at time, my awards,

1) Track staff, promoter, SCB officials for getting the meeting on

2) Riders 1-12 and reserve for giving it a go and giving the supporters some racing

3) David Howe for showing it's not over until the fat lady sings

4) Suporters for turning out for what most knew would be a Gaters meeting in the main given the weather conditions

 

Many thanks for this . The michrophone in the box packed up just as we were ready to start so I had to rush the roving mich back to the box so was unable to do interviews etc and the parade was , at the last moment , changed to a quick one with riders going from pits rather than traditional centre green one with a few black clouds still around.

But what a great final --and full marks to David Howe on bouncing back from two ducks and almost out of the meeting after his first ride fall to take it after a brilliant pass on Ricky Ashworth .

Thanks for the constructive points made and we will take these on board.

 

I know that the formula for the event is not to everyone's liking and I have spent hours trying to see if a different one could be achieved and will continue to work on this.

 

As expressed by many the riders know what the meeting entails , how the weather will always affect things ...but all just get on with it for the enjoyment of the fans starved of their methanol fix since October.

My thanks to all the riders for their efforts and for not giving me last minute panics trying to find replacements as has happened in past years. Hopefully I am still on their christmas card lists and when I call them next year if we do the classic again will get the same response to riding in the meeting.

 

Laurence Rogers

Edited January 3, 2012 by Main Man

[NIGE9359]

I came up with an alternative formula with 13 riders, 13 heats, top 2 direct to final and 3-6 to a semifinal, so still 15 races on the cards

 

The order of the heats still needs tweaking as it's a bit unbalanced, the other problem is every heat there's a rider with two rides in succession so a lot of waiting around

 

anyway, here's the format

 

1,10,4,2

2,11,5,3

3,12,6,4

4,13,7,5

5,1,8,6

6,2,9,7

7,3,10,8

8,4,11,9

9,5,12,10

10,6,13,11

11,7,1,12

12,8,2,13

13,9,3,1

 

everyone meets everyone else once and everyone has one ride from each gate

[semion]

Did you need a calculator to work that one out Nige ? I bet it wouldnt come out the same if Mainman Rogers did it on his

[NIGE9359]

No calculator - never use one, as I've always been brilliant at mental arithmetic lol

[gkp413]

Not sure why everyone gets wound up by the format? to run a meeting in January in the UK is always going to be to some extent a "display". The track is very unlikely to be in 1st class racing condition, what we got yesterday I would think is a good "average" track for the time of year, some years it might be a bit better, some a bit worse but similar if the meeting can run at all. Getting 12-15 good standard riders to sign up is difficult with the number of foreigners who ride in the UK there are bound to be many names back home wherever that is and except for the likes of Shrammy who was obviously using it as a demonstration of being back, still sharp and keen and looking for a team place the others will never give it 110% with the season only 10 weeks away, many still using older "practice" bikes or trying new things in preparation for the season like Lemmo. I think there are many fans who see it as a day out, chance to catch up with others in the off season and see some good guys giving a pretty committed go to putting on a race meeting, it is never going to rival Cardiff!

Perhaps a thought for next year, invite all the Tracks in the Leagues to attend with a display of their new season merchandise and a sale bin of all the stuff from the prior season they want to sell off, might just add to the atmosphere and encourage some supporters who are in a couple of hours driving range to attend as most clubs have a website and if they advertised some special deals only available at the Classic it could help them get shot of old stock prior to the new season and boost numbers a bit?

Spoke to Mark afterwards, he was pretty sanguine, "hit a hole and got pushed into the sludge which killed momentum, bit of a downer given the first 5 rides but that's Speedway, still gave me chance to sort out some teething problems with the engine so not that bad a day" - think that about sums it up! Lets be grateful someone is committed enough to put on any meeting of any format at this time of year!

[A ORLOV]

Very good idea about holding a speedway fair with the option to show new merchandise and get rid of last years, each club could also offer any DVDs of meetings at their track.

[Main Man]

I came up with an alternative formula with 13 riders, 13 heats, top 2 direct to final and 3-6 to a semifinal, so still 15 races on the cards

 

The order of the heats still needs tweaking as it's a bit unbalanced, the other problem is every heat there's a rider with two rides in succession so a lot of waiting around

 

anyway, here's the format

 

1,10,4,2

2,11,5,3

3,12,6,4

4,13,7,5

5,1,8,6

6,2,9,7

7,3,10,8

8,4,11,9

9,5,12,10

10,6,13,11

11,7,1,12

12,8,2,13

13,9,3,1

 

everyone meets everyone else once and everyone has one ride from each gate

 

Thanks for that Nige ..will see if I can tweak it a bit to get less two on trots .....and Semion you are a wit (or something like that!!)