Message To The Leicester Promotor

[mrcts]

 

 

Tina, please dont talk about how riders ride a bike unless you have done it yourself as it looks silly to those who have raced on here.The problem at BP is down to the shape and NOT the riders.

why oh why do you have to include the word silly in every post you make,to you everyone is either silly or makes silly comments.

You silly git!

[Leicester Lion]

I love the high quality of the debating on the Leicester threads.

[Gemini]

Me too. Just popped in here to get away from all the moaning and whingeing on the Coventry threads but it's even more depressing in here.

[lionstigersnotbearsohmy]

So what is the best option with what we have? The common consensus is that the straights are too close together which makes the bends too tight. I'm assuming the position of the straights can't be altered now. So will pulling the apex of the bends in by, say, 2m create another racing line that can actually be that? Or will it be too tight a line to get round without losing speed and therefore not giving the riders a usable option to the current quickest line around BP? Be nice to have some constructive comments please.

[jackson2]

Just wanted to ask have any riders said what they think of the track not just Leicester riders

[neb]

Just wanted to ask have any riders said what they think of the track not just Leicester riders

i think simon stead said recently it was the best track he has ever ridden or something on those lines when interviewed.

[Leicester Lion]

i think simon stead said recently it was the best track he has ever ridden or something on those lines when interviewed.

I think he also said he'd never seen so much passing in every race as he'd seen at Leicester. Or something on those lines.

[Gemini]

No good asking riders as they will just say what the management/fans want to hear. Never know what is round the corner and they may ride for the Lions one day so best not to upset the apple cart.

I do wonder what Jason Crump really thought though as I think he was one of the first to try the new track out.

[Vince]

I managed about 10 laps of Leicester last April before setting myself up for a few weeks in plaster! Admittedly on a flattrack bike and not especially fast. My thoughts at the time were initially the same as most at first look, long straights and really tight bends and it just looked wrong. However it didn't ride exactly as it looked and the problem for me was the surface more than the shape. These days without the oil going into the track it seems to take a lot longer to get a good surface and I felt that a couple of years down the line it could be a decent track that allowed overtaking by riders running in deep and cutting back. For that to happen I would think you need consistent grip rather than ripping up certain areas of the track and that is going to take time.

 

The shape might not be ideal but I think things can improve and Glyn knows a lot more about tracks than most of the people complaining. Huge track changes by bringing the inside of the bends in 10 yards or whatever might produce the desired results but then again they might not and the money spent be the end for the club.

[wandersome]

So what is the best option with what we have? The common consensus is that the straights are too close together which makes the bends too tight. I'm assuming the position of the straights can't be altered now. So will pulling the apex of the bends in by, say, 2m create another racing line that can actually be that? Or will it be too tight a line to get round without losing speed and therefore not giving the riders a usable option to the current quickest line around BP? Be nice to have some constructive comments please.

 

I'm not saying this is correct but the gist of what understood was going to happen was that the straights we're getting shortened by 6 metres, the apex's by a couple and the entrances opened up a bit. I personally think something like that might have worked.

[LionsDen]

I'm not saying this is correct but the gist of what understood was going to happen was that the straights we're getting shortened by 6 metres, the apex's by a couple and the entrances opened up a bit. I personally think something like that might have worked.

 

 

I agree. However, the problem is there are three rather large pieces of drainage dug deep into the ground on each of the two bends so shortening the straights will necessitate digging them out again and replacing further back. No doubt this is a costly and disruptive exercise, and presumably the reason why it's only been a minimal effort so far. Beaumont Park has a strange combination of great drainage and crap track.

[Skodaman]

Just wanted to ask have any riders said what they think of the track not just Leicester riders

 

The Redcar team manager said how good the track was even after the heavy loss inflicted by his team the other week.

[jenga]

have you tried sending the Leicester promoter a RECORDED letter, then you know he has received it.

[Tsunami]

I managed about 10 laps of Leicester last April before setting myself up for a few weeks in plaster! Admittedly on a flattrack bike and not especially fast. My thoughts at the time were initially the same as most at first look, long straights and really tight bends and it just looked wrong. However it didn't ride exactly as it looked and the problem for me was the surface more than the shape. These days without the oil going into the track it seems to take a lot longer to get a good surface and I felt that a couple of years down the line it could be a decent track that allowed overtaking by riders running in deep and cutting back. For that to happen I would think you need consistent grip rather than ripping up certain areas of the track and that is going to take time.

 

The shape might not be ideal but I think things can improve and Glyn knows a lot more about tracks than most of the people complaining. Huge track changes by bringing the inside of the bends in 10 yards or whatever might produce the desired results but then again they might not and the money spent be the end for the club.

 

I have similar views to you Vince. There are plenty of tracks that have long straights and tight corners, namely Newcastle and Belle Vue. BV has stocks but Newcastle doesn't. Our track is fairly consistant and enjoys good racing on a smoothish grippy track. Even with little banking on either bends, riders know they can pick up the dirt and ride both outside and inside and gain an advantage. Like all tracks, gaters are fancied to win but there is the chance inside or out to pass.

At Leicester, there is little wrong with the shape, and it has the great advantage of good banking. In my visits to it, there is an inability to stop drift coming out of the bends and riders need to shut off a little to save drifting into the fence. Berwick, Worky, Redcar, etc, suffer from the same characteristic. My solution would be to increase the shale and clay in it, to make it grippy and neutralise the chippings which seem to be the majority material used and is the prime cause IMO of the drift due to lack of grip. It does not need any major surgery, the shape is NOT that different from many other tracks. It is certainly a better shape than some of the current and past square or trick tracks where home fans raved about the standard of racing at their track. Get the material mix right, add some water and you will get decent racing and yes from the riders that are in the current team.

I have tried to post as a neutral, but unfortunately some posters on here are totally unable to, and seem to only want to seek remedies that are not or cannot be delivered.

Change the clay./shale mix, not the Promotor or the track shape. Newcastle has proved what can be done with a grippy track which has long straights and tight turns. Leicester can do it as well.

[Leicester Lion]

I have similar views to you Vince. There are plenty of tracks that have long straights and tight corners, namely Newcastle and Belle Vue. BV has stocks but Newcastle doesn't. Our track is fairly consistant and enjoys good racing on a smoothish grippy track. Even with little banking on either bends, riders know they can pick up the dirt and ride both outside and inside and gain an advantage. Like all tracks, gaters are fancied to win but there is the chance inside or out to pass.

At Leicester, there is little wrong with the shape, and it has the great advantage of good banking. In my visits to it, there is an inability to stop drift coming out of the bends and riders need to shut off a little to save drifting into the fence. Berwick, Worky, Redcar, etc, suffer from the same characteristic. My solution would be to increase the shale and clay in it, to make it grippy and neutralise the chippings which seem to be the majority material used and is the prime cause IMO of the drift due to lack of grip. It does not need any major surgery, the shape is NOT that different from many other tracks. It is certainly a better shape than some of the current and past square or trick tracks where home fans raved about the standard of racing at their track. Get the material mix right, add some water and you will get decent racing and yes from the riders that are in the current team.

I have tried to post as a neutral, but unfortunately some posters on here are totally unable to, and seem to only want to seek remedies that are not or cannot be delivered.

Change the clay./shale mix, not the Promotor or the track shape. Newcastle has proved what can be done with a grippy track which has long straights and tight turns. Leicester can do it as well.

On any of your visits to Leicester, have you offered this advice to the promoter?

[Elmo]

After the Scunny shale was put on last year, the surface was definitely the better for it and there was some excellent heats at the end of the season (Workington and Newcastle spring to mind).

This year the track appears to have gone back to its old red colour and despite some encouraging signs in the first couple of meetings when there appeared to be an outside line developing round 3 & 4, the Redcar meeting really was a borefest.

I know it has been said elsewhere, but I would like to see someone at least try a wider entry into 3 to cut back coming off 4.

[speedflash]

We are currently running 70% clay

[Tsunami]

On any of your visits to Leicester, have you offered this advice to the promoter?

 

No, why should I. You all seem to be giving him it but none of you have got it right. I visited Leicester in April and had a good look at what has been done. There obviously had been a change to the inside line, and I watched Joe Screen ride flat out, for the youngsters in the British Championship, and he rode the inside line never leaving the new part of the track. I was there to see it, but you would have thought it hadn't been done or happened according to the bile on here by the usual few. Your attitudes and inflexibilty to serious discussion about what might be done to improve the situation, will always get in the way and DH will always be the villain regardless.

Don't worry, the folks on here on the protest will eventually have their way, but I wonder if Coventry will be around then in their search for the perfect speedway.

 

We are currently running 70% clay

 

Hi Glyn. Why then is the top surface nearly all chippings and allowing drift coming out of the bends, particularly the 4th bend. I accept in April the track was very dry and could have had more water on, but it was chippings not shale on the top.

 

 

NB Feel free to PM me if more appropriate.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Tsunami

[wandersome]

I have similar views to you Vince. There are plenty of tracks that have long straights and tight corners, namely Newcastle and Belle Vue. BV has stocks but Newcastle doesn't. Our track is fairly consistant and enjoys good racing on a smoothish grippy track. Even with little banking on either bends, riders know they can pick up the dirt and ride both outside and inside and gain an advantage. Like all tracks, gaters are fancied to win but there is the chance inside or out to pass.

At Leicester, there is little wrong with the shape, and it has the great advantage of good banking. In my visits to it, there is an inability to stop drift coming out of the bends and riders need to shut off a little to save drifting into the fence. Berwick, Worky, Redcar, etc, suffer from the same characteristic. My solution would be to increase the shale and clay in it, to make it grippy and neutralise the chippings which seem to be the majority material used and is the prime cause IMO of the drift due to lack of grip. It does not need any major surgery, the shape is NOT that different from many other tracks. It is certainly a better shape than some of the current and past square or trick tracks where home fans raved about the standard of racing at their track. Get the material mix right, add some water and you will get decent racing and yes from the riders that are in the current team.

I have tried to post as a neutral, but unfortunately some posters on here are totally unable to, and seem to only want to seek remedies that are not or cannot be delivered.

Change the clay./shale mix, not the Promotor or the track shape. Newcastle has proved what can be done with a grippy track which has long straights and tight turns. Leicester can do it as well.

 

blooming eck Tsunami. Why don't you attempt typing something of substance more often when you're on the Leicester threads. You've been following the Leicester threads for 3 months and yet here you are finally making a point about the track that doesn't come accross as just trying to be clever with it. I'd love you to be right and something could be done. All i want is to be entertained. Welcome to the debate. I'm afraid as someone pointed out earlier, you have to be sceptical of anyone claiming neutrality, but i won't hold that against you this time!

 

I would make a point that whilst you are correct in the number of tight tracks out there such as Belle Vue and Newcastle, can you , or anyone else, name the ones where the riders are carrying anything like the speed they do when entering the bends at BP.

 

Not to be seen as a leading question in any way but how many times have you been to BP?

 

cheers,

Mick

Edited May 1, 2013 by volty

[Tsunami]

blooming eck Tsunami. Why don't you attempt typing something of substance more often when you're on the Leicester threads. You've been following the Leicester threads for 3 months and yet here you are finally making a point about the track that doesn't come accross as just trying to be clever with it. I'd love you to be right and something could be done. All i want is to be entertained. Welcome to the debate. I'm afraid as someone pointed out earlier, you have to be sceptical of anyone claiming neutrality, but i won't hold that against you this time!

 

I would make a point that whilst you are correct in the number of tight tracks out there such as Belle Vue and Newcastle, can you , or anyone else, name the ones where the riders are carrying anything like the speed they do when entering the bends at BP.

 

Not to be seen as a leading question in any way but how many times have you been to BP?

 

cheers,

Mick

 

Yes Newcastle, Wembley. It is, or was, more noticeable when teams like Sheffield used to come to Newcastle and just go straight across the corner, and have to ride the fence line, doing more distance, when the likes of Stuey Swales. Kevin Little,etc, used to cut to the line and sneek around the kerb and getting ahead of the faster rider. It's down to the rider how to ride it, it's not the tracks fault.

 

BTW I obviously haven't been to Leicester as much as you have, but so what. Does that make you a more neutral, and better judge to decide what needs to be done cos you have been there more times. It's not logic. Perhaps listening to neutrals who regularly talk to track curators, might introduce something to the table instead of carrying on with the same old, same old.

 

BTW I have following and debating on the Leicester project for all the years since the P & P was first granted. Check the archives. I am no newcomer on here, just ask the original protagonist speedibee, who thankfully has left this thread some time ago.