Use of Stadium/Speedway and it’s failing to win support

[Baldyman]

The drivers also pay to enter the events.  

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

1 hour ago, *JJ said:

Not really true ...

Really , then why won’t they ride for £10 pp in national league ? It is true , some people might not like it cause it’s a little to close for comfort but doesn’t make it not true ,.it has never been easier to get a national league place and once they are in they start demanding alsorts 

Edited December 28, 2017 by THE DEAN MACHINE

[Gambo]

In the ACU Sidecar series, (at Leicester, Somerset, King's Lynn & Belle Vue) the entrants all paid a fee to race, and were paid a set amount per point gained during the meeting.

[Hawk127]

On 27/12/2017 at 12:26 PM, MattK said:

Just out of interest, how often do Ipswich and Kings Lynn host bangers/stockcars and what kind of crowds do they attract?

There was a track near where I used to live (Standlake) which hosted bangers every week and the few times I went there couldn't have been more than 100-odd spectators. The vast majority of the people there were involved in the meeting in some way (drivers, mechanics etc.)

I think people  may be cherry picking the attendances to once-a-year top stockcar meetings and comparing them to weekly league speedway, but I may be wrong.

At Ipswich it is roughly once a fortnight except for speed weekend.

It is not just bangers but a range of cars from stock cars, hot rods etc.

To get an idea of attendances at Ipswich, take a look at the face book page for Foxhall Stadium. I think it may also depend on who is running the meetings. Spedeworth run Birmingham, Arlington, Ipswich, Mildenhall, Great Yarmouth, Northampton and Aldershot. They run at a few other venues. Ipswich speedway would certainly like the level of punters that turn up for the four wheeled motor sport and given the number of speedway meetings likely in 2018, attendances on a like for like basis based on frequency of meetings will be easier to judge.

I am not comparing one sport against the other but was simply saying if you look at the numbers turning up for the four wheeled sport they seemingly are generating greater revenue than speedway hence from a business perspective why would you battle with the way speedway is run with dwindling numbers through the gate when you can probably derive greater benefit with less aggravation from running stocks, hot rods and bangers.

[RobMcCaffery]

I've already recounted the story of a former speedway promoter handing out the fivers to his stock car racers so won't bore the forum with a repeat. I had to get involved in stock car racing (banger racing is popular but often minor aspect of the sport, depending on location) in the early 80s and it was clear that crowds were quite superb for it, despite the lack of media coverage, and respect from the outside world. I'd go to speedway tracks and see them full for the car racing : Belle Vue, Coventry, Long Eaton for example.  Even the smaller,. more remote locations like Aycliffe, Taunton, St Austell and Newton Abbot had crowds that would have been the envy of speeday promotions, even then. 

Speedway is torn apart by some for lack of credibility yet I lost count of the number of World Finals I would meet in oval car racing. It seemed every promoting group had its own World Championship for its various formulae, although at the higher levels BriSCA and Spedeworth managed to keep their world finals unique.

Okay, so crowds were higher and costs lower, despite often 50-60 cars racing, many of which cost five figures to put on track. By contrast some other 'Banger' meetings featured cars dragged off the scrapheap, only to return after a few crashes. One other key difference from speedway was the lack of foreign racers. In fact in the cheaper formulae such as 'Stock Rods' or 'Saloon Stock Cars', outside championship events the drivers would all come from roughly a 40-50 mile radius. Even the 'World Finals' would often include just a handful of foreign racers, a few from the Dutch tracks and drivers from South Africa or Australasia imported for the event to drive loaned cars built to a different formula than their cars back home.  As you can imagine the World Champions tended to be British.....

So we have a sport with limited credibility, little international competition, almost zero media coverage, but with minimal costs attracting huge crowds.

Why?

I expect much of the crowd just wet to watch crashes and ignored the race order, nigh-on impossible to follow without lap charts and a commentator with access to them (I certainly didn't). The public didn't seem bothered by results. 

There was a following for 'names' on a national scale with both BriSCA stock car formulae and Spedeworth's Hot Rods having a troupe of travelling stars but I do suspect the attraction was simply action and entertainment. A society that drives far more cars than rides motorbikes is perhaps inevitably attracted more to four-wheeled racing.

You could see though that this was a sport that simply got on with it outside the media spotlight, didn't waste a fortune attracting 'names; in from all over Europe, with competitors tracing for the fun of it, not the money, put the saved money into advertising, and one that stood no nonsense and just put on what the crowds enjoyed.

There was one shining example of this. I went to Crewe just after the speedway had folded. Stock cars crashing on that track tended to stay crashed. The promoter had a way to deal with the mayhem after each of the several races. He had effectively a truck with a fork lift on the front with which he just picked the cars up and dumped them on the old cricket pitch and got on with the racing as soon as possible. It was astonishing to watch. No messing about and no taking the paying customers for granted by having a huge gap between races. 

Perhaps instead of sneering at Stock Car Racing or treating it as a destructive cuckoo in the nest speedway might find it useful to take a look at what it gets right. If they need to know when the next meeting is try the local paper which may well have a full page colour ad in it to inform them......

It made me realise that importing up to about a dozen riders from all over Europe and Australasia to race for big money in front of a crowd as small as a minor non league football club was insanity. It still is. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2017 by RobMcCaffery

[martinmauger]

I wasn't knocking bangers / stock cars BTW, I realise there are different classes i.e. 'demolition derby'-type events v different classes of racing with different rules & regs.   I meant folk wanting to see crashes and smashes are virtually guarranteed this action, wheras with speedway there is not guarrantee of the quality of racing, though personally I'd enjoy watching one rider going round a slick track on his own.  Been meaning to check the stox out, a pal went to Scunny once, forget why I coudn't make it last minute, but he said "it was difficult to follow at times, but boy was it entertaining and the big Chevy V8's (?) were brilliant, the sound of those big engines was awesome"....

[*JJ]

20 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Really , then why won’t they ride for £10 pp in national league ? It is true , some people might not like it cause it’s a little to close for comfort but doesn’t make it not true ,.it has never been easier to get a national league place and once they are in they start demanding alsorts 

Well, my own experience has been helping a rider in the development leagues (you may have seen me in Geoff's) and I suspect that we would have accepted anything ... the fact is, that the gap between MDL and NL is just as big as the gap between NL and CL, and just as difficult to cross. What I meant previously was that I didn't agree with your starement that anyone who can last four laps will get into the NL. You have, in fact, to be pretty good to go professional.

[waytogo28]

12 hours ago, RobMcCaffery said:

It made me realise that importing up to about a dozen riders from all over Europe and Australasia to race for big money in front of a crowd as small as a minor non league football club was insanity. It still is. 

 

And that is the reality of GB Speedway when you think that only three clubs did not make a loss in 2017.

[Sotonian]

7 hours ago, martinmauger said:

I wasn't knocking bangers / stock cars BTW, I realise there are different classes i.e. 'demolition derby'-type events v different classes of racing with different rules & regs.   I meant folk wanting to see crashes and smashes are virtually guarranteed this action, wheras with speedway there is not guarrantee of the quality of racing, though personally I'd enjoy watching one rider going round a slick track on his own.  Been meaning to check the stox out, a pal went to Scunny once, forget why I coudn't make it last minute, but he said "it was difficult to follow at times, but boy was it entertaining and the big Chevy V8's (?) were brilliant, the sound of those big engines was awesome"....

This is so true. I still wonder how they are allowed be so loud when speedway bikes have to be muffled to death. Grrr.....

[iris123]

On ‎26‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 11:29 PM, Hawk127 said:

. Even Ice speedway appears to get better support if you watch some of the Russian qualifying meetings.  Time to wake up and see what is wrong and stop tinkering with the irrelevant. Speedway deserves better.

Todays 1st leg of the Russian Final in Togliatti was pretty poorly supported.Very sparse crowd there

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

If you define riding in the national league as proffessional then you don’t have to be very good at all but they are not supposed to be professionals in the NL but they are asking for deals like they are 

[Baldyman]

Thought it was a max of 10 a point? 

[Bald Bloke]

On ‎27‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 12:26 PM, MattK said:

 

Just out of interest, how often do Ipswich and Kings Lynn host bangers/stockcars and what kind of crowds do they attract?

There was a track near where I used to live (Standlake) which hosted bangers every week and the few times I went there couldn't have been more than 100-odd spectators. The vast majority of the people there were involved in the meeting in some way (drivers, mechanics etc.)

I think people  may be cherry picking the attendances to once-a-year top stockcar meetings and comparing them to weekly league speedway, but I may be wrong.

I've been to a fair few banger meetings at Lynn.The crowd varies a lot.A run of the mill meeting in cold weather may attract 1000-1500.A bigger event like a world final and the place is packed 4,000 or so.Theres a lot of " Finals" and "championship" meetings in bangers that see a good 2-3000 attend in good weather..

As far as I know the race/meeting winners get a trophy and pay to race.A mate of mine used to race bangers.They put a lot of time and effort  and some spend a bit of money as well to prepare a banger.My mate would pay about £100-£200 for the car.Spend a whole weekend getting it ready to race inc altering the suspension,welding the car up to make it tough at the front(illegal i think).He used to race a lot of Honda's.So he had a lightened flywheel,changed cams etc,all illegal,just to get a win.

The car might last 1 meeting.Meeting last from 4-6 hours.Not been for a few years,if I remember entry was between 10 and 15 quid.Compared to speedway,these a lot of action for your money.

Check it out.

http://www.stockcar-racing.co.uk/

 

 

Edited December 29, 2017 by Bald Bloke

[*JJ]

On 29/12/2017 at 11:30 AM, adonis said:

Anyone  can get a place in NL as long as you fit the criteria ,  1. under 18 years old and are related to a former rider , 2. been riding motocross and full of your own Shirt , 3. have your tongue down the back of the right persons pants  4. are related to the last British world champion , 5. have a mate who happens to be a rising star of the Nl .  6.  have previously ridden part of a season In NL before, quitting before you got sacked , or spitting the dummy / faking an injury so you can go off on holiday with your mates .. . if you think riding in the MDL showing your dedication and reliability , improving your skills , and showing a general willingness to wish to take part at a higher level  is going to help get you a place in the NL ,then sadly my friend you are deluded , word of advice for you and your charge , assuming he has reached a decent level in MDL and has still had no offers , get used to getting kicked in the teeth , or get out and go back to the terraces , before you become disillusioned with the whole sport .

Your last sentence is only too true!

[*JJ]

17 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

If you define riding in the national league as proffessional then you don’t have to be very good at all but they are not supposed to be professionals in the NL but they are asking for deals like they are 

I meant 'professional' as meaning receiving at leat some payment, not making a living at it.