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Peter Craven/grand Opening


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if speedway wasnt already dead in britain, its now certainly on a life support machine!!....

can you imagine the amount of media, who would of been in attendance tonight?

Sometimes being a 'Mickey Mouse' sport has its advantages in that no one outside the 'die hards' will actually give a toss..

 

Imagine the ridicule the sport would get should the day ever dawn that the wider sporting public ever take any notice of it??

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Where to start....arrived early as advised by the promotion only to find nobody directing traffic into car parks and the gates on the overflow car park at the school being locked with nobody able to find the key. No worries, teething problems happen and after sitting in the car going nowhere for 30 minutes we were finally advised to turn around and use another entrance to the school car park.

 

Very impressed with the stadium itself and the ease of entry with the barcode scanners at the turnstiles making entrance nice and simple. Stood in the back straight stand (South Terrace - entrance S3) and noticed almost immediately the lack of speakers in the middle of the stand....could not hear a bleedin thing! The track shape is superb, great banking on the 1st/2nd bends although it appeared to me to be not as much (although still more than most tracks) on the 3rd/4th bends, and you are really close to the track itself which will generate a great atmosphere. I am not sure what the capacity is for the SWC but It did seem to me that not many more could fit into the stadium unless there are substantial stands erected on the 3rd/4th brands - the backstraight was packed so cannot see any more squeezing in there.

 

Watching the riders on their track walks there was more attention paid to the 3rd/4th bends which made me wonder if this was the reason for allowing all the riders 4 practice laps when it was intimated that heat 1 would be the first time the riders would take to the track? It was noticeable that riders were lifting entering the 4th bend on the practice laps and with it appearing to be a fast track any softness could be an issue. The practice laps finished at around 6.40 and then there was nothing. No bike noise, no riders in the pits and most importantly no announcement to the paying public. I jokingly said to my friend that the riders were probably moaning about the track.....many a true word spoken in jest. At around 7.15 we saw Chris Morton and Dave Gordon walking out of the pits and we looked at each other and said it's off. We could barely hear what was being said due to the lack of speakers where we were stood but the chorus of boos confirmed our worst fears.

 

Once the majority of the crowd had departed we decided to walk round the stadium to the main grandstand and what was very noticeable was how spongey the ground was in the spectator areas around turns 3 and 4 - if the track was the same as this then I can understand the riders reservations.

 

If all of the rumours of the promotion knowing the track was not right are true then I have no sympathy for them whatsoever - call the meeting off early saving people the expense of travelling. Yes there would have been annoyance but not the feeling of being conned which will have been felt by many tonight. The set up is absolutely first class but surely the first thing to sort is the track, practice on it to make sure it beds in and then build up the stadium around it.

 

Such a great shame as this should have been a night of celebration - a top class stadium opening with a high quality field and a huge crowd. What could possibly go wrong........

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Why ?

Because they have worked their socks off for the last 9 years to get this fantastic stadium built.Whoever or whatever is to blame for tonights call off as two fellow human beings i am gutted for them.After all the time and effort they have put into this stadium i bet there is not a fan that attended tonights meeting that is more upset and pd off than Chris and David.

Yes tonight was a disaster.But the track will settle and in time will be awesume and as a Belle vue fan i will always be greatful to them for giving our club a future and a stadium to be proud of when so many other clubs are having problems.

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Harris, the only rider to express an opinion to the fans present stated that the track was rideable and never described it as dangerous or unsafe.

 

The management did not blame the riders, have you even bothered to read the official statement?

 

Why come on here and make things up?

Deleted because I cannot be bothered to get involved in petty arguements when I know what I am talking about.............

 

RP

Edited by Red Panda
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if speedway wasnt already dead in britain, its now certainly on a life support machine!!....

can you imagine the amount of media, who would of been in attendance tonight?

 

Don't they say "any publicity is good publicity"... well that statement will be well n truly put to the test after this latest fiasco.

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Hopefully Speedway will be the winner.

 

Well. that didn't turn out to be the case - and the BBC Sport web-site has reported tonight's events already:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/speedway/35854581

 

(At least Jason Crump being inducted into the Australian Motor Sports Hall of Fame in Melbourne today saved him from a wasted trip over just to walk the track and do a few practise laps.)

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Ah, you must have got round to reading the official statement then.

 

Track not 'unsafe' and management blaming the weather, not the riders.

 

Pity you didn't read it before shyt stirring.

When did they say in the statement that the track was safe ? I think you need to read .

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It's absolute garbage to use the old "NL riders wouldn't have refused", the crux of the matter is the management ballsed it up. Either you build earlier or you start later, it's only mid-March, wait a week or so. The last people that need blaming is the riders, it's the chuckle brothers in charge.

 

They were told by numerous sources that it wouldn't be ready this week. Call the meeting off on Thursday or Friday ffs, would everyone have been pissed off? Yes. As much as last night? No.

 

From the parking when first arriving through to the rubbish show on track it was a complete screw up. At least they got everyone's money though eh? Coniving bastards.

 

Hopefully it puts BV on very shaky ground in future but I doubt it. Speedway Star will brush over it, fans will give it another go and everything will move on.

 

Pains me to say it but I'm upset it's the last speedway meeting I'll ever attend. This could've revolutionised speedway but it's still rubbish.

Edited by SavalasCloutingU21Champ
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