An Open Letter To David Hemsley

[proud panther]

nightshift, without meaning to, you have just summed up perfectly everything that is wrong with DH & Leicester Speedway. Surely with a very loyal fan base, you would do your best to give them full entertainment ?

[justathought]

nightshift, without meaning to, you have just summed up perfectly everything that is wrong with DH & Leicester Speedway. Surely with a very loyal fan base, you would do your best to give them full entertainment ?

 

I know what I have written.

 

I didn't say it was right. But, that is the state of affairs and it is the way things will continue until if and when numbers drop sufficiently that he feels he needs to act upon it.

[proud panther]

Why not make the track more productive to good racing, & increase the fan base ? I would go at least 6 times a year,& travel with 3 other adults who would do the same if the track was altered to enable riders to have a chance of passing. Just to add that I am very impressed with the rest of the set up at Leicester, & i'm very frustrated that DH appears to think the track is good, & it produces good racing. If another 100 people felt the same, the alterations would be paid for out of the extra gate receipts. Surely that's a win win situation for DH ?

[stevebrum]

Steve, agree with you up to a point. But isn't it a question of how many are happy to pay over £16 for a visit to the speedway in order to fulfill mainly social needs, and for the speedway to be more or less some moving wallpaper in the background. As against how many are looking for more than that, when it comes to the track action.

I'd guess that for the majority, the word "enjoyment" consists of various things, but if you're going to something called "speedway", call me old-fashioned but I'd be expecting the racing to supply a large aspect of my enjoyment. Otherwise you may as well just go to the pub/club!

 

 

Perhaps its me but there seems this myth perpetuated by some on here that Leicester are shedding supporters by the bucket loads so that is the reason why some moan.

In reality Leicester crowds are the envy of some long established clubs and it is the minority that moan about all things wrong with Leicester.

Watching live Speedway IS an enjoyment. Watching a match full of drama, good racing and superb battles is the dream which not all matches and tracks offer on a consistent basis.

 

I agree the track IS and should be the centre piece of your business in Speedway. Get that right and most important of all the preparation and you are likely to have a match with several great heats in.

 

As i have said before my experience of Leicester Speedway has always been a favourable one.

Of course to the moaners that likely means i haven't been often enough to have a valid opinion or that i dare say the racing has been OK on my trips isn't of any worth either.

 

It seems some seem quite happy for Hemsley to pull out and potentially lose their Speedway just to make a point.

 

Anyway it seems they are doing enough for the majority as they seem to keep coming back to support there track!

[mrcts]

Perhaps its me but there seems this myth perpetuated by some on here that Leicester are shedding supporters by the bucket loads so that is the reason why some moan.

In reality Leicester crowds are the envy of some long established clubs and it is the minority that moan about all things wrong with Leicester.

Watching live Speedway IS an enjoyment. Watching a match full of drama, good racing and superb battles is the dream which not all matches and tracks offer on a consistent basis.

 

I agree the track IS and should be the centre piece of your business in Speedway. Get that right and most important of all the preparation and you are likely to have a match with several great heats in.

 

As i have said before my experience of Leicester Speedway has always been a favourable one.

Of course to the moaners that likely means i haven't been often enough to have a valid opinion or that i dare say the racing has been OK on my trips isn't of any worth either.

 

It seems some seem quite happy for Hemsley to pull out and potentially lose their Speedway just to make a point.

 

Anyway it seems they are doing enough for the majority as they seem to keep coming back to support there track!

Are you actually being serious or are you being "controversial" just to get a reaction?

I've been to every home meeting since we reopened and no genuine supporter would want us to shut down....how dare you suggest that in the light of whats going on at Birmingham,shame on you!

As a season ticket holder I am fully entitled to my opinion on the situation at Leicester and am very surprised that a so called speedway fan with over 20,000 posts can't see anything wrong with track....bizarre.

It's not moaning mate it's having an opinion!

[stevebrum]

Are you actually being serious or are you being "controversial" just to get a reaction?

I've been to every home meeting since we reopened and no genuine supporter would want us to shut down....how dare you suggest that in the light of whats going on at Birmingham,shame on you!

As a season ticket holder I am fully entitled to my opinion on the situation at Leicester and am very surprised that a so called speedway fan with over 20,000 posts can't see anything wrong with track....bizarre.

It's not moaning mate it's having an opinion!

 

 

Im going on the constant doom merchants that seem to put everything to do with Leicester down.

There are fellow Leicester supporters moaning about the track and what Hemsley is doing is ruining it.

You best have a word with your fellow supporters then as can only go on what has been discussed on here.

Shame on you for ignoring what some of your fellow Leicester supporters are moaning about!

 

If you can point me to a post where i have said there is nothing wrong with the track then please do - you wont find it.

Or do you just make stuff up to suit an argument?!!

[jim the whipper]

Leicester isn't losing supporters hand over fist, the gates are still very good at Leicester.

 

Do you honestly think that DH wouldn't do something about it if it was the case. The fact of the matter is DH and Leicester speedway are making money, make no mistake about that. From his point of view, he doesn't need to change anything. He is getting good crowds paying at the turnstile. Why spend money on the track the majority of the support obviously have no problem with it. They still turn up every week.

What do they turn up every week for ? at best elite league is only every fortnight , Hemsley gave up the regular weekly income and doubled his wage bill when he made the shrewd move to go Elite league .Haha he was going to have huge crowds with more local opposition and have the best riders in the world every week , and the racing was going to be top notch . have you seen any of that through your rose tinteds ?

[Big Al]

 

I know what I have written.

 

I didn't say it was right. But, that is the state of affairs and it is the way things will continue until if and when numbers drop sufficiently that he feels he needs to act upon it.

......which in the long history of business failures, is a major failing point. A good business doesn't wait around until things get so bad that changes have to be made (deckchairs, Titanic etc). A good business senses a decline, even a small one, and makes changes well in advance of any melt-down point.

[1 valve]

What do they turn up every week for ? at best elite league is only every fortnight , Hemsley gave up the regular weekly income and doubled his wage bill when he made the shrewd move to go Elite league .Haha he was going to have huge crowds with more local opposition and have the best riders in the world every week , and the racing was going to be top notch . have you seen any of that through your rose tinteds ?

So Jim,

if nightshift had said "they still turn up when there is a meeting at BP" you would have been in agrement with his post? The other points you make are conjecture on your part. I belive the promotion is making money, the business plan includes the building of a perminent stand (planning now approved) and yes the sport in Leicester goes from strength to strength which is something we should applaud given the sad state of some clubs (which I hope improve) rather than slam!

Oh and by the way..I think the straights are too long for the bends and the track shape should be ammended when it is possible to do so. This will provide better racing although not such an increase in passes as some people would like to believe just more in line with what is seen at some tracks

[weatherwatcher]

As I have said before and will say again. Most of the racing in the EL follows the same follow me fashion. Yes we get some real great meetings but they are very far and few. It is a case of away from the tapes and get to the front and stay there with the other 3 following on behind. The way the tracks are set up these days and the speed that the bikes go do away with a lot of close riding. Plus the fact that the EL league riders are so far apart from each other in skill levels that you are always going to get this follow me type of racing. DH has based his track on some of the tracks on the continent, you only have to go to any Polish or Swedish track and you will get to see where he got some of his ideas from. The only problem being that the track is far to narrow and the centre is also to narrow. The centre should have been at least another 5 metres wider and the track at least another lane wider if not a little bit more. With a wider track and longer radii bends then you could have lived with the longer straights. But there is no way you can do that now without bulldozing the whole lot and re-starting again.

The whole track area has been built on two small a footprint to do very much with, without major work, to the stadium.

I can't see anyone even contenplating taking on a masive restrucuring of the track. Ok you can shorten the straights and make the bends wider, but you are still left with a narrow track, if you widen it any more you will then end up with a centre green area, like a strip of grass at the side of the road.

It needed to be a larger footprint to the whole stadium when it was built.

[Big Al]

So Jim,

if nightshift had said "they still turn up when there is a meeting at BP" you would have been in agrement with his post? The other points you make are conjecture on your part. I belive the promotion is making money, the business plan includes the building of a perminent stand (planning now approved) and yes the sport in Leicester goes from strength to strength which is something we should applaud given the sad state of some clubs (which I hope improve) rather than slam!

Oh and by the way..I think the straights are too long for the bends and the track shape should be ammended when it is possible to do so. This will provide better racing although not such an increase in passes as some people would like to believe just more in line with what is seen at some tracks

I think you'll find that the planning permission for the stand was granted back in 2010, along with all sorts of other proviso's agreed-on between Leicester City Council and Beaumont Sports Complex Ltd as part of the latter being granted the leasehold on the land.

So to claim that planning permission for the stand has just been approved, is being somewhat economical with the truth!

The recent planning permission, is in part a retrospective adjustment to the 2010 permission, and partly the Council giving "fresh impetus" to the extensive development work (of which the stand is just a part), a lot of which has not taken place, and which is going to cost a fair bit of money to carry out. This isn't speculation by the way, it comes from public documents.

So I'd be wary of drinking-in what David Hemsley says in the media, he is probably putting a large spin on things and naturally is not going to divulge the full extent of matters. There have been many cases of businesses talking themselves up, and drawing attention to how things appear on the surface, whilst what lies underneath is less than healthy!

It also means that the necessary cost of remedying the terrible track, is probably beyond the current means of Leicester Speedway Ltd or Beaumont Sports Complex Ltd. Another reason that DH insists publicly, that the racing is great.

[Leicester Lion]

As I have said before and will say again. Most of the racing in the EL follows the same follow me fashion. Yes we get some real great meetings but they are very far and few. It is a case of away from the tapes and get to the front and stay there with the other 3 following on behind. The way the tracks are set up these days and the speed that the bikes go do away with a lot of close riding. Plus the fact that the EL league riders are so far apart from each other in skill levels that you are always going to get this follow me type of racing. DH has based his track on some of the tracks on the continent, you only have to go to any Polish or Swedish track and you will get to see where he got some of his ideas from. The only problem being that the track is far to narrow and the centre is also to narrow. The centre should have been at least another 5 metres wider and the track at least another lane wider if not a little bit more. With a wider track and longer radii bends then you could have lived with the longer straights. But there is no way you can do that now without bulldozing the whole lot and re-starting again.

The whole track area has been built on two small a footprint to do very much with, without major work, to the stadium.

I can't see anyone even contenplating taking on a masive restrucuring of the track. Ok you can shorten the straights and make the bends wider, but you are still left with a narrow track, if you widen it any more you will then end up with a centre green area, like a strip of grass at the side of the road.

It needed to be a larger footprint to the whole stadium when it was built.

A lot of well made points, a lot to respond to, but here goes...

 

A lot of races at all levels are indeed won from the gate. But at BP the races are almost always strung out after the first half lap. At many other tracks, even if there is no passing in a race, the riders are often at least on the same part of the track as each other, not 30m apart.

 

DH seems to have based the track on the Leicester cycle speedway track. The distances between the straights, and the distances between the corners are in exactly the same proportions. Swedish, and especially Polish tracks are longer than BP, but the straights are invariably much shorter compared with BP.

 

The track appears to be narrow. In fact, it is regulation width (the FIM regulations say 10m minimum). The dimensions of the track severely limit the usable parts of the straights, so they appear narrower than they are. I agree that the centre green is too narrow, and the sharpness of the bends would be significantly reduced if the centre green was 10m wider (back straight to home straight). Were that the case, the track would be remarkably similar to King's Lynn (it's almost as if the track was wrongly marked out at the outset, and the outside of the home straight should have been the inside line instead - no-one could make such a fundamental mistake, could they?).

 

I absolutely agree that the footprint was too small. Sadly, it had to be in order to get the planning application through because the other activities that were supposed to be sharing the "sports complex" required much of the space. The application relied heavily on the multi-use resource that BP was going to provide to the local community. Given the choice, no-one in their right mind would have set out to have standing areas on the corners and back straight less than 5m deep, would they?

 

One of the most highly rated tracks for good racing was Trelawny, sadly now lost forever. In the available space at BP, it would be possible to move one or both of the corners to create a track of similar dimensions to Trelawny (which was just 230m long). This would give an added bonus of much more potential space for spectators on one or both corners. The expense of moving the drainage system at BP would appear to be prohibitive to any changes which involve significantly shortening the track.

[1 valve]

 

It also means that the necessary cost of remedying the terrible track, is probably beyond the current means of Leicester Speedway Ltd or Beaumont Sports Complex Ltd. Another reason that DH insists publicly, that the racing is great.

I think you are spot on - If he came out and said he needed cash and or vounteers I think the problem could be solved as most of the cost would be labour related and we know there would be plenty of volunteers.

[Skodaman]

They are ..there not going anymore and telling him why on Forums like this ...When people moan about a business then the owner does something about it .

He has told me personally that he does not use any personal media sites such as this forum , Facebook or Twitter.

[mrcts]

He has told me personally that he does not use any personal media sites such as this forum , Facebook or Twitter.

Maybe not,but surely he can't be blind can he?

[Big Al]

I think you are spot on - If he came out and said he needed cash and or vounteers I think the problem could be solved as most of the cost would be labour related and we know there would be plenty of volunteers.

In which case, it is his pride/ego stopping him from acting? Or possibly hoping that, by continuing with the denial, it will somehow improve any possible sale price he aspires to achieve?

[weatherwatcher]

Can't see him selling

[mrcts]

Can't see him selling

Edited July 15, 2014 by mrcts

[Triple.H.]

If i was CEO of the team sponsor i would be asking why the Team Manager is wearing a cap that hasn't got our bloody logo on it.

[weatherwatcher]

MAYBE CAN'T GET ONE THAT IS BIG ENOUGH