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Eastbourne 2014


bennyr

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Yes I'd like Eastbourne to stay in the top league but if comes down to premier racing or no racing then will take PL any day.

Question I have is why do clubs have to pay for rider's flights most working people don't have their travel costs paid for is this the price we have to pay to have riders race over here? Do the foreign clubs they ride for pay for any of the travel costs? If not why don't they?

If dropping to PL means we don't have to pay for things like this then maybe we'll have a chance to survive along with reducing the admission costs.

Don't forget that UK based riders receive a (pathetic) mileage allowance for travel, so it's not just for foreign riders

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Don't forget that UK based riders receive a (pathetic) mileage allowance for travel, so it's not just for foreign riders

 

 

 

Thanks didn't know what riders got for travel expenses, just interested to know how much it costs the clubs on top of the 'wages' for the riders.

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Bob Dugard is in my view correct in todays Speedway Star when he says that dropping into the Premier is not the answer as in his view crowds would drop off further. Peterborough being an example.

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Bob Dugard is in my view correct in todays Speedway Star when he says that dropping into the Premier is not the answer as in his view crowds would drop off further. Peterborough being an example.

Bob Dugard is rarely correct with his comments in Speedway Star. Constant threats of pulling out of the EL unless they devalue the product to his satisfaction is one of the reasons the league is in its current state. I can't see anyone wanting to take on the promoting rights knowing they won't be left alone to do it their way.

 

Peterborough is a poor example because there is the added problem of a change in race night which, judging by comments on various Peterborough threads, is a major cause of concern.

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Bob Dugard is rarely correct with his comments in Speedway Star. Constant threats of pulling out of the EL unless they devalue the product to his satisfaction is one of the reasons the league is in its current state. I can't see anyone wanting to take on the promoting rights knowing they won't be left alone to do it their way.

 

Peterborough is a poor example because there is the added problem of a change in race night which, judging by comments on various Peterborough threads, is a major cause of concern.

You may be right about Dugard and there may well be concern over race night at Peterborough which in my view whilst improving the crowd would not do so greatly. Crowds have dropped to the levels they have at Peterborough because of Premier League. Those that are left in the main prefer Premier League, the rest just don't come anymore.

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Bob Dugard has kept speedway at Arlington for many years, paying out of his own pocket, and for that supporters should be grateful.

Many on our forum wish for a return to PL and Sundays, whether that happens is in the lap of the gods.

 

Eastie in the Elite League is what his late father wanted, and can anyone fault someone carrying out their fathers wishes?

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I think Bob got it wrong this time, Premier would probably mean closer home matches and some away success which added to a Sunday Afternoon race time must surely generate more interest. To start with they may lose some support from the usual arch critics but if they really love Speedway they will soon get over it.

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Eastbourne have been their own undoing this year.

Not agreeing to change dates when heavily depleted teams visited esp with NL riders at number 1 was always going to have a huge loss to attendances.

Another thing that puts people off is the endless grading, nobody wants to see more of the tractor than the racing.

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Eastbourne have been their own undoing this year.

Not agreeing to change dates when heavily depleted teams visited esp with NL riders at number 1 was always going to have a huge loss to attendances.

Another thing that puts people off is the endless grading, nobody wants to see more of the tractor than the racing.

 

Pointless comment really, With ever increasing Individual Events and Qualifiers plus World Cup and GP's on a Saturday it has been impossible to fit in another 4 Home League matches this year without clashing with some National events let alone cancelling fixtures, which would have been two already as Swindon were in a similar boat. No good switching fixtures to another night as that would also be a disaster as has been tried and proven. I doubt whether there is a viable extra Saturday to be had let alone two I believe they saved one for rain offs but that might well be needed and no doubt would have caused another round of arguments and conspiracy theories as to which of the two clubs got a postponement whilst the other did not. We would probably finish off with more double headers, great for Eagle fans but a box office loss at reduced prices and another round of criticism from away fans only wanting to watch(or should I say pay) for one match.

As for the NL riders replacing No 1, Don't lay that at Eastbourne's door, there were 10 promoters making that rule including Coventry,

 

Your final comment on grading is a simple extension of the perpetual attack on Bob Dugard and his tractor. He tries very hard to keep the track smooth for every race and grades in between races to level the track, a standard practice at all tracks I visited in the 40's & 50' which was a lot of tracks. And of course he is alleged to fix the gates to get home advantage, a remarkable achievement considering that for 2 or 3 minutes before each race four riders undertake all manner of digging and scraping to change it all anyway, I wonder how he manages to anticipate the effect of that?

 

As for your use of the word 'Nobody' how presumptive to think you reflect the views of everybody! Grading is done in between races when riders are getting themselves ready so all the time 'seeing the tractor' would be spent seeing what instead? However much time we see the tractor, or just nothing, is not going to change the amount of time we see racing.

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Eastbourne have been their own undoing this year.

Not agreeing to change dates when heavily depleted teams visited esp with NL riders at number 1 was always going to have a huge loss to attendances.

Another thing that puts people off is the endless grading, nobody wants to see more of the tractor than the racing.

 

Pointless comment really, With ever increasing Individual Events and Qualifiers plus World Cup and GP's on a Saturday it has been impossible to fit in another 4 Home League matches this year without clashing with some National events let alone cancelling fixtures, which would have been two already as Swindon were in a similar boat. No good switching fixtures to another night as that would also be a disaster as has been tried and proven. I doubt whether there is a viable extra Saturday to be had let alone two I believe they saved one for rain offs but that might well be needed and no doubt would have caused another round of arguments and conspiracy theories as to which of the two clubs got a postponement whilst the other did not. We would probably finish off with more double headers, great for Eagle fans but a box office loss at reduced prices and another round of criticism from away fans only wanting to watch(or should I say pay) for one match.

As for the NL riders replacing No 1, Don't lay that at Eastbourne's door, there were 10 promoters making that rule including Coventry,

 

Your final comment on grading is a simple extension of the perpetual attack on Bob Dugard and his tractor. He tries very hard to keep the track smooth for every race and grades in between races to level the track, a standard practice at all tracks I visited in the 40's & 50' which was a lot of tracks. And of course he is alleged to fix the gates to get home advantage, a remarkable achievement considering that for 2 or 3 minutes before each race four riders undertake all manner of digging and scraping to change it all anyway, I wonder how he manages to anticipate the effect of that?

 

As for your use of the word 'Nobody' how presumptive to think you reflect the views of everybody! Grading is done in between races when riders are getting themselves ready so all the time 'seeing the tractor' would be spent seeing what instead? However much time we see the tractor, or just nothing, is not going to change the amount of time we see racing.

 

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I used to really look forward to watching Sky meetings at Eastbourne as the racing was so exciting. Riders knew they could overtake in the grip around the outside or cut back up the second bend corridor. Is that the case any more? Nowadays it feels to me that overtaking is more dependent on mistakes. Dust also seems to be an issue more than in the past.

I really want to see Eastbourne survive. Maybe the declining attendances can be reversed by preparing a great overtaking race track again like Bob used to. Give it a go Bob - there's nothing to lose.

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Last home match was the best racetrack I seen in ages there, and sadly there was no bob dugard all day and all night! The inside dirt lasted all 15 heats where as normally u get down to the concrete after heat 6, so yeah it can be done.

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Last home match was the best racetrack I seen in ages there, and sadly there was no bob dugard all day and all night! The inside dirt lasted all 15 heats where as normally u get down to the concrete after heat 6, so yeah it can be done.

Well Bob Dugard is going on a permanent holiday at the end of the season, so it must all be looking good for the future??!!!!!

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No serious interest as far as we can tell. There have been offers to buy for re-development which have been turned down. Some fans are looking at forming a consortium but it would need a really good response.

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