Club Owned Speedway Sealed Engines...

[balderdash&piffle]

As someone else said on another thread...some people will only look to find reasons why something won't work, and never offer up alternatives or find a way for things too work.

 

For me...British Club Speedway needs a complete overhaul and to start again.

 

We can't compete with the Poles, and it seems we are getting further apart.

 

We need to go in our own direction.

 

If it means losing riders to the sport in this country because they don't like it, then so be it.

 

I'm sure there would be many enthusiastic riders from other sports like MX...think Bewley...who would love to make a living from riding Speedway for a Club and not having the expensive of having to own and maintain engines.

 

If it meant the 'quality' of riders went backward for a while then so be it...it already is as it stands, and gets weaker every year.

 

Weaker leagues, less top riders, less fans coming through the gate...yet still the same spiralling costs of maintaining speedway engines. Madness.

 

I'd much rather see British Speedway go to two nights a week racing...preferably weekend...for all tracks. Riders have other jobs during the week...or ride abroad, but not for another British Club.

 

No money for points...just a basic weekly wage. Then bonuses given out at the end of the season depending on how they have scored and finished in the league...that would keep them focussed and not just 'turning up'. That already happens with some riders now...so it's nothing new.

 

British Club speedway doesn't fit in with 'Joe Bloggs International Speedway Rider'.

 

It's a garden shed sport in this country...of which the riders think they are the F1 equivalent. Far from it.

 

The money and facilities just don't go hand in hand with what they are trying to portray.

 

Time for massive change if Club Speedway is to continue in this country imo.

Possibly leave Premiership at professional level with the other 2 tiers at amateur level, with no in between as a rider you are one or the other. Amateur levels to have sealed engines

[Gresham]

Possibly leave Premiership at professional level with the other 2 tiers at amateur level, with no in between as a rider you are one or the other. Amateur levels to have sealed engines

I'm not sure tbh...Personally I think it's needs to go whole hog, as the Prem and Championship, bar a few riders is practically the same thing.

 

I could imagine some riders leaving Britain...with then enough left to combine the Prem, Championship and some NL riders into one league. Then keep the NL/Development leagues going.

 

I look at some riders riding in the Prem who don't have rides abroad, who ride for two teams in the UK and wonder how they keep going and keep competitive. Most are middle order riders, who tbh, are the one's I see as the main stay of British Speedway.

[moxey63]

Never really interested me , the machinery side of the sport. It has a maximum team limit but doesn't seem to matter what sort of cash is spent on machinery by riders who cannot afford it. I know I am probably wrong, but Is money spent on machinery tuning etc doing nothing other than going out of the sport when it could and should be staying in it? In a way, is it much like privatising a public utility so that shareholders make the bucks and not the taxpayer, when the sport really should be aiming at keeping maintenance cost and tuning costs to a minimum? Maybe... maybe not.

[Gresham]

Never really interested me , the machinery side of the sport. It has a maximum team limit but doesn't seem to matter what sort of cash is spent on machinery by riders who cannot afford it. I know I am probably wrong, but Is money spent on machinery tuning etc doing nothing other than going out of the sport when it could and should be staying in it? In a way, is it much like privatising a public utility so that shareholders make the bucks and not the taxpayer, when the sport really should be aiming at keeping maintenance cost and tuning costs to a minimum? Maybe... maybe not.

I agree...the people getting a very decent living from this sport, are tuners.

 

A bit like Agents in football... a necessary evil.

 

I think the majority of Speedway fans aren't interested in engines and bikes perse. Unlike a lot of other motor sports.

 

Most, I would say, like to be affiliated to a Club rather than an individual rider.

 

Although....Fans I would say, also like it when a rider becomes 'one of their own'. For example...Lee Adams at Swindon amongst others.

 

This should be encouraged as well...as it helps with continuity in the sport.

 

The merry go round of riders each season, each week almost, is a farce.

 

A grading system of the averages would help imo.

 

For example...In a team.

 

Two riders with an average of 8+

Three riders of 5.50 to 8.00

Two riders of 5.50 and below.

 

That way riders will have more leeway with averages and team managers less hassle when building a team. It should also reduce manipulating averages.

[moxey63]

I agree...the people getting a very decent living from this sport, are tuners.

 

A bit like Agents in football... a necessary evil.

 

I think the majority of Speedway fans aren't interested in engines and bikes perse. Unlike a lot of other motor sports.

 

Most, I would say, like to be affiliated to a Club rather than an individual rider.

 

Although....Fans I would say, also like it when a rider becomes 'one of their own'. For example...Lee Adams at Swindon amongst others.

 

This should be encouraged as well...as it helps with continuity in the sport.

 

The merry go round of riders each season, each week almost, is a farce.

 

A grading system of the averages would help imo.

 

For example...In a team.

 

Two riders with an average of 8+

Three riders of 5.50 to 8.00

Two riders of 5.50 and below.

 

That way riders will have more leeway with averages and team managers less hassle when building a team. It should also reduce manipulating averages.

 

Agree with everything you say. Football can afford (least at top level) money filtering out of it. Speedway is akin to non-league football. I recall a Chris Manchester interview, almost 20 years back now, in which he said he left British speedway with a debt to what amounts to the current average wage in the UK (£26,000). He spent more than he had earned and got out of the game before it went higher. Somebody must have pocketed that money...

Edited August 9, 2017 by moxey63

[Eastville Bulldog]

Agreed.

1 Best engine picked by the worst rider, the best rider will be claiming his doesn't work, and will be borrowing the reserves engine.

2 Best rider has a poor night, he will blame the engine, and will want his points money topped up to compensate him.

This would be exactly what happens! There would be chaos in the pits. Top riders will walk out if issued 'a bad engine'. A low points earner could end up with a good one. It would be a lucky dip and the top boys would not tolerate this. Top riders will not jeopardise their ability to win races. It would cause divisions and kill the sport IMHO.

[foamfence]

This would be exactly what happens! There would be chaos in the pits. Top riders will walk out if issued 'a bad engine'. A low points earner could end up with a good one. It would be a lucky dip and the top boys would not tolerate this. Top riders will not jeopardise their ability to win races. It would cause divisions and kill the sport IMHO.

Sounds a bit like Kings Lynn is now.

[Gresham]

This would be exactly what happens! There would be chaos in the pits. Top riders will walk out if issued 'a bad engine'. A low points earner could end up with a good one. It would be a lucky dip and the top boys would not tolerate this. Top riders will not jeopardise their ability to win races. It would cause divisions and kill the sport IMHO.

With respect...this is exactly what is wrong with the Sport.

 

If the 'Top guys' as you put it, don't like something, they throw their toys out of the pram.

 

You are thinking as Speedway is now.

 

If you read my comments...I suggested riders would be on a wage...not paid per point. But they would get bonus's at the end of the season depending on results.

 

Some riders are already being paid like this now.

 

Surely in Club speedway you want a level playing field?

 

You want to see a riders skill on a bike...not who has the most money, best tuned engines, most sponsorship etc.

 

Yes...no engine would be completely the same...but drawing lots over a season would even out. The difference wouldn't be that much.

 

No more different to a rider weighing a stone more than another.

 

The idea, is to create more of a level playing field, reduce costs in tuning and maintenance, and bring more of a club feel, rather than 7 individuals turning up with their own gear. The have and the have not's.

 

Surely this is better...than say for example, a rider turning up and having to ride borrowed equipment, because he can't afford new engines because he's blown a few up in recent weeks, which has happened this season and previous.

 

That's a bit like having a footballer turning up and having to borrow some boots and playing with a hamstring problem.

 

You have to think outside the box and ignore what is going on right now. It has to start again imo.

 

Tbh...I can imagine most of the 'Top riders' as you put it, not wanting to partake...but so what. Let them bugger off. Most of them aren't interested in British speedway anyway.

 

Do you really think British Club speedway can continue the way it's going, with how it's set up now?

 

How do you for an example, think it's normal...for a rider like BWD, to blow up four engines in a month, ask for help on social media, and expect the lad to score points for you in a meeting? The whole scenario is nuts.

 

How do you explain to a newcomer, that the rider riding for said team, is normally better than this, but he can't afford new engines, so he's having to borrow? In a professional sport?

 

Think about that for a moment...it's madness.

 

Teams are completely reliant on riders providing their own equipment, and if they can't because of blown engines and cost...the rider, Team and paying public have to suffer, watching a talented rider try his hardest, but knowing full well he won't score because of the machinery he's on.

 

How is that normal?

 

It's only normal in Speedway, because that's how it's been allowed to evolve.

 

It needs to change.

Edited August 11, 2017 by Gresham