gee jay Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 with the return , most would say spectacular return, to these shores of daniel spiller following on from adam ellis and rob lambert in pretty similar circumstances is it now time to bring the age for competing on a 500cc down to 14 especially after all that morris and vatcher have done with the youth championships only for 14 yr olds to be stopped in their tracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teaboy279 Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 Bang on!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny the spud Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 Adam didn't Ride 500cc till he was 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catinthehat Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) Yep but Vatcher wants to drop the age but the BSPA and ACU say no , lets take in for example Anders Rowe and Jack P Blackburn Bickley Dicken Brennan should all be able to ride a 500cc bike now, They can apply for licence which allows them to ride a 500cc but only againsts under under 16 youth riders,What a joke that is as they are then only going to race against themselfs again weather is a 125, 250, 500, They need to get out there with the second half boys so they can get some track time and race against better riders to improve. Need to up the game so they are not left behind for another year. Edited August 18, 2015 by catinthehat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander15 Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) Jack P. is 14 and riding a 500cc in the MDL! There needs to be an age limit somewhere and if we think about it 15 year olds are still kids, let alone 14 year olds. So if the BSPA don't hinder those that can genuinely handle a 500 like Jack P. by actually assessing individual cases on their merits then I think it shouldn't be lowered further. Edited August 18, 2015 by Islander15 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sings4Speedway Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 Personally I think it should be left where it is. There is an obsession with bringing youngsters into the sport asap rather than letting them develop until they are ready and perhaps prolonging careers. There are already too many wind it flat out and hang on riders in the league already without encouraging more by dropping the age limits. Then there is the legal and moral issues. On track all riders are adults. If for example a 23 year old rider dives under a 14 year old and knocks him off is the reaction going to be worse than a hard dive under another 23 year old? What if it was the other way round? Inevitably somewhere tempers will flare. I remember on the grass a few years ago there was an incident where an adult rider and a 15 year old had words after a race and the police were called due to threatening a minor I believe? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex2000 Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 Personally I think it should be left where it is. There is an obsession with bringing youngsters into the sport asap rather than letting them develop until they are ready and perhaps prolonging careers. There are already too many wind it flat out and hang on riders in the league already without encouraging more by dropping the age limits. Then there is the legal and moral issues. On track all riders are adults. If for example a 23 year old rider dives under a 14 year old and knocks him off is the reaction going to be worse than a hard dive under another 23 year old? What if it was the other way round? Inevitably somewhere tempers will flare. I remember on the grass a few years ago there was an incident where an adult rider and a 15 year old had words after a race and the police were called due to threatening a minor I believe? I totally agree with this and think that the age limits should be left alone it will only cause problems.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex2000 Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 They seem to manage successfully abroad. Why cant the UK. As I read in another thread, the junior riders do not ride against seniors in the German league. No but spiller rode against Ayres, Morley, Shanes and Baseby yesterday - he is our reserve where a 15yo would ride so he would have to ride against seniors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawk127 Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 Is it more about the skill of a rider and the ability to learn his/her craft and then proceed through the ranks in terms of engine size/power. As I see it and I am no expert whatsoever but we see far too many riders who are simply not in control of a 500 cc bike on the current range of tracks. Speed and lap times are not the be all and end all. Few if any of the current crop of riders in the existing three leagues can team ride and many are gate and go merchants and the skill or art of racing seems to have been lost. My view is learn the track craft needed to race on small circuits, and graduate when it is clear that as a rider you have some creditable skills and can handle the bike. No need to push any youngster further or harder then they are really capable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catinthehat Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 The other thing to take into consideration that there is a lot of 500cc engines around rather then 250cc engines and the cost of a 500cc second hand is more tempting then holding onto a 250cc for longer or up to the age limit. I think personally they should be allowed at the age of 14 so they have time to practice on them and then they can go into the NL being use to a 500cc at the age of 15. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee jay Posted August 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 there seems to be a lot of common ground on this subject even though some say yes and some say no. the biggest fear in the no camp seems to be that most 14 yr olds wouldn't be ready to race men with 10/15 yrs of racing behind them so what could be done so the few are not held back by the many. 1 a second half championship involving the top few 14 yr olds only, or added to the youth championships 2 international challenges 3 move them to germany Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sings4Speedway Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 Patience. If they are ready at 14 they will definitely be ready at 15. Its not as if any rider will be over the hill at 15. There are still the youth rounds, amateur meetings and practice to be done. If any rider (riders parents) aren't willing to wait until they are 15 to get them into a NL team then they are not the type of people the sport needs anyway however talented they may be. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete cc Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 once it was said the learning to walk before learning to run, now its learning to ride before learning to race. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee jay Posted August 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 Patience. If they are ready at 14 they will definitely be ready at 15. Its not as if any rider will be over the hill at 15. There are still the youth rounds, amateur meetings and practice to be done. If any rider (riders parents) aren't willing to wait until they are 15 to get them into a NL team then they are not the type of people the sport needs anyway however talented they may be. no-one is talking about over the hill though, what is being talked about is the fact that 2 riders in particular have raced 500cc in germany and then come over here and looked 'a cut above' shall we say , coincidence ? maybe. perhaps if and when young ethan comes over and makes it 3 out of 3 my question might have a few more fans wondering. interesting to read your comment on robert lambert and his parents not being welcmed by you as they weren't willing to wait were they ? once it was said the learning to walk before learning to run, now its learning to ride before learning to race. just to make it clear i am in no way advocating getting cattle prods out and forcing 14 yr olds to race. i don't want to see a & e's any busier than they already are either. just wondering if, and to use pete the cradley confucius' line, if they've learnt to ride already then why not let them learn to race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete cc Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 the need to stem the flow of trips to A & E is an important point. When a 14yo was killed stock car driving it made the national news. I'm not sure that is what our sport needs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben91 Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 the need to stem the flow of trips to A & E is an important point. When a 14yo was killed stock car driving it made the national news. I'm not sure that is what our sport needs. If a 15 year old was killed on a speedway bike it would cause just as much of a stir. Len Silver tried to get permission for Rob Lambert to race for the Raiders when he was 13/14 but it was denied despite the fact he was clearly ready for NL racing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnieg Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 Danes often stay on 85cc bikes until 16 or even 17 - has that harmed their development? Germany are the exception here, I can't think of any other countries that allow 14 year olds to compete against grown-ups, and it hasn't led to German domination in the World under 21s. This debate is a red herring. Getting more riders into the sport and giving them more opportunities is the key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teaboy279 Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 (edited) the need to stem the flow of trips to A & E is an important point. When a 14yo was killed stock car driving it made the national news. I'm not sure that is what our sport needs.If you are on about Keir Miller who got killed at loghgelly a couple of months back, he was in fact 11 years old. Edited August 20, 2015 by teaboy279 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex2000 Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 If you are on about Keir Miller who got killed at loghgelly a couple of months back, he was in fact 11 years old. That doesn't help the case. It's worse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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