Jump to content
British Speedway Forum

What Went Wrong?


Recommended Posts

A lot of people seem to think the sport is what they see on television or pay to watch at a track. The sport is more than that. Most of the rot is because it's nigh on impossible to take part at a grass roots level. The British Motocross championship isn't the highest level or in the greatest of health yet there are thousands of people getting out and taking part in amateur racing, practice and Enduros every weekend on brand new bikes with a massive aftermarket industry supporting them.

 

The sport is supported by companies selling bikes and parts to people like me with the disposable income to buy them. The sport helps promote them yet it shouldn't be the be all and end all. Really, now, the industry only sells to the few who take part in the sport at the highest level. Without the grass roots then there is no real way the sport can continue to support itself. With more amateur events clubs can drawn on a greater pool of talent when it disappears overseas, or even permanently replace it. And even if the clubs disappeared the sport should still survive without them, people getting out and having fun at the weekends riding at their local tracks. How many people really get out and do that?

 

From my house the nearest tracks where I could run a bike are at least 2.5 hours away. The local amateur club only runs races at Kings Lynn which is nearly 3 hours away. There are 20+ MX tracks and 6-7 MX and Enduro clubs within an hour and half radius. Why should I drop £9k on a new Jawa, that I have to struggle to get a chance to ride, when a new CRF450 is £7k and I can ride it every day of the week. The sport is suffering because it hasn't made itself easily accessible to newcomers.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

tv has killed off speedway at a local level.

midweek meetings for the sake of tv air time, whats that about? attendances would be far higher with saturday/sunday meetings. just who has spare time and energy in the week to travel miles to watch speedway? but no, sky made teams change the day of home meetings to fit in with sky's schedules.

now for the BSPA. wheres the tv money gone? nice bulging back pocket you have there mr promoter. no wonder clubs are folding left right and centre. years of history down the pan. as previously said promoters don't promote.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One solution likely to be taken up by the BSPA - to satisfy riders, promoters and most people except the supporters?

I suggest that the same riders are used for both leagues who race on different nights ( if the powers that be insist on having two leagues ) and a small pool of other riders are used for injuries / retirements etc The troupe of would be league riders should tour as a UK based GP tour to as many tracks as possible. The reduction in costs with less riders should satisfy the pockets of the BSPA and as everyone is doubling up, the furore over that issue vanishes.

 

NO riders who wish to race in Europe should be permitted to race in the new set up. Those who wish to race here will be the first to benefit and riding in two leagues will give them the income level they claim they need. It's no crazier than the system we currently operate and New "stars" would emerge as they do at every level. Clubs could even be linked who run the same 7 riders in two leagues! Say Leicester and Ipswich.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The BSPA has to take a lot of responsibility for whats happened outside of the GPs, despite the fact that not many British riders are good enough to get to that level these days.

Firstly the promoters do whats best for them for that season, then they do whats best for riders, and finally they do whats best for fans. Doubling up/down has to STOP, the riders are our Teams the Teams are what we have an affinity with, thats been lost with the doubling up/down ruling, Im sorry guys our No1 is not riding tonight, he is riding for his other Team, Im sorry mate im not going to watch tonight Im going to watch my "Other" Team... thats a big part of one of the many problems with British Speedway, if we HAVE to have doubling up/down then the Leagues have to have different race nights, but thats never going to happen because every season we struggle to even complete the league program, yet Iv noticed over the last few weeks of mid summer there has been very few meetings ridden, but in April/October when we all freeze our B**lls/B**bs off we are expected to stand there watching our so called summer sport..

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What went wrong is the sport is being run for the riders not the fans and the gap between the two is wider than ever , it's trying to be something it isn't like a poor mans F1 and it's roots are in the garden shed and as TWK said on another post it has lost its soul

Edited by THE DEAN MACHINE
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What went wrong is the sport is being run for the riders not the fans and the gap between the two is wider than ever , it's trying to be something it isn't like a poor mans F1 and it's roots are in the garden shed and as TWK said on another post it has lost its sole

Steel or leather?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the SWC has shown that another issue we have is the tracks in the UK.

Tonight at Leszno will show another great Polish track, but in the UK we only have a handful of what I would call 'proper' racetracks - Peterborough, Somerset, Belle Vue, Sheffield (if it was prepared how it used to be years ago).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Event 2 at Vastervik and the Race Off in the World Cup showed us that the thrilling, exciting core "heart" of speedway can still be offered up to fans and that could bring some back and new fans too if the BSPA find a way to move into the 21st century. Good tracks are at the centre of making racing more than processional.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Event 2 at Vastervik and the Race Off in the World Cup showed us that the thrilling, exciting core "heart" of speedway can still be offered up to fans and that could bring some back and new fans too if the BSPA find a way to move into the 21st century. Good tracks are at the centre of making racing more than processional.

Making the best of current tracks would be a start, Poole and Kings Lynn used to be much better than they are now.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the SWC has shown that another issue we have is the tracks in the UK.

Tonight at Leszno will show another great Polish track, but in the UK we only have a handful of what I would call 'proper' racetracks - Peterborough, Somerset, Belle Vue, Sheffield (if it was prepared how it used to be years ago).

I agree ,what it shows is there is only a handful of British tracks that can cope with speed a pace of modern day speedway.Majority of GB tracks are to narrow in this regard,when a rider gets into trouble there is not enough room to correct errors compared with most Continental tracks,where you see as many mistakes but riders "getting away with it"because of track area to recover.There has been a lot of injuries again this season in GB. Would like to see a comparison of number of crashes and rider injuries between Continent and GB.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree ,what it shows is there is only a handful of British tracks that can cope with speed a pace of modern day speedway.

In tonight's WC Final, the British team appear to be slower than their rivals. Can the riders not cope, or do they have a collective bike problem?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy