Cardiff 2019 Saturday September 21st

[BWitcher]

This thread shows just how out of touch some members of this forum are.

All they can do is moan, moan, moan.  

Every year you get the same folks whinging about the racing.

Every year you get the same folks declaring how they don't go to Cardiff and most people they know don't..

Yet every year we get a crowd of nigh on 40,000 which no other stadium can even dream of obtaining, let alone having the capacity to do so.

 

[Rob B]

There was a lot more Poles this year, most I've seen since the Gollob days. Presumably as Zmarzlik on the verge of becoming World Champion, attendancecould have been quitr a bit less if they hadn't been there.

[OveFundinFan]

It’s rare in speedway to get top racing all the way through a meeting. Hyde Road racing was top notch at times, but there were boring races as well.  The only GP this season that really excelled was the one in Poland - Wroclaw. That was full of excitement from pretty much race 1.  By comparison Cardiff was pretty poor, but compare Cardiff to most of the other meetings this year and it’s probably in the mix. I have seen better at Cardiff, this year going round someone seemed a difficult thing to do, attention needs to be put into sorting that.  

Thing with Cardiff I now fed up with is the rider introduction being held in the dark..... so much so you can’t see what’s going on and it didn’t come across well on TV. I know where the “darkness” comes from. Speedway racing in the evening under track lights is more spectacular then racing in the afternoon. It was the same call back in the 70’s when continental finals were held at White City in the afternoon. I have no problem with speedway racing under track lights, it does look spectacular... but let’s see the introduction of riders. Of course, venues will try to put on something different for the fans, but too extreme is too much sometimes.

Edited September 24, 2019 by OveFundinFan

[Chadster]

I watched Cardiff on TV and was underwhelmed. Those who went give a different impression; no surprise, really; a lage crowd, good atmosphere and what was at stake will all contribute to a sense of occasion. I was lucky enough to attend a couple of world finals at Wembley. Few of the races stand out in my memory but occasion and the prize on offer more than compensated.

I've seen good racing at Cardiff. This year the track almost seemed too good, with no ruts. Once you got on the fast line you were away an anyone trying to pass usually ended up going backwards.

[djr]

21 minutes ago, BWitcher said:

This thread shows just how out of touch some members of this forum are.

All they can do is moan, moan, moan.  

Every year you get the same folks whinging about the racing.

Every year you get the same folks declaring how they don't go to Cardiff and most people they know don't..

Yet every year we get a crowd of nigh on 40,000 which no other stadium can even dream of obtaining, let alone having the capacity to do so.

 

Some of what people are saying is just moaning , but a lot is constructive criticism , and if you paid to attend ( I did )  you have every right to comment 

Cardiff is a good event , but not perfect .

Although 40, 000 keeps getting quoted ( is that official ? ) , I could see a lot of empty seats from where I was sitting  and with a better track maybe you could fill some more seats, 

the most positive thing is that,  for one day a year   - UK Speedway looks  like a big-time Sport again

 

[BWitcher]

14 minutes ago, djr said:

Some of what people are saying is just moaning , but a lot is constructive criticism , and if you paid to attend ( I did )  you have every right to comment 

Cardiff is a good event , but not perfect .

Although 40, 000 keeps getting quoted ( is that official ? ) , I could see a lot of empty seats from where I was sitting  and with a better track maybe you could fill some more seats, 

the most positive thing is that,  for one day a year   - UK Speedway looks  like a big-time Sport again

 

Constructive criticism is fine.

Calls for it to be axed are insane.

[IainB]

1 hour ago, Rob B said:

There was a lot more Poles this year, most I've seen since the Gollob days. Presumably as Zmarzlik on the verge of becoming World Champion, attendancecould have been quitr a bit less if they hadn't been there.

Attendance could have been quite a lot less... If a lot less people had turned up... Well I never

[chunky]

21 minutes ago, iainb said:

Attendance could have been quite a lot less... If a lot less people had turned up... Well I never

Dammit... You beat me to it!

[bruno]

And the attendance could have been a lot better if more people had turned up

[cityrebel]

5 hours ago, djr said:

Some of what people are saying is just moaning , but a lot is constructive criticism , and if you paid to attend ( I did )  you have every right to comment 

Cardiff is a good event , but not perfect .

Although 40, 000 keeps getting quoted ( is that official ? ) , I could see a lot of empty seats from where I was sitting  and with a better track maybe you could fill some more seats, 

the most positive thing is that,  for one day a year   - UK Speedway looks  like a big-time Sport again

 

Hard to argue with that. I was at the Emirates tonight, where over 53,000 turned up to watch a league cup tie featuring two weakened teams. Football's popularity in this country shows no signs of declining.

[Sidney the robin]

10 hours ago, BWitcher said:

This thread shows just how out of touch some members of this forum are.

All they can do is moan, moan, moan.  

Every year you get the same folks whinging about the racing.

Every year you get the same folks declaring how they don't go to Cardiff and most people they know don't..

Yet every year we get a crowd of nigh on 40,000 which no other stadium can even dream of obtaining, let alone having the capacity to do so.

 

Yes there are alot of positive's and this meeting is great for speedway but i don't hear two many moans on this thread most of the points raised are valid.

[Sidney the robin]

2 hours ago, Sidney the robin said:

Yes there are alot of positive's and this meeting is great for speedway but i don't hear two many moans on this thread most of the points raised are valid.

Also Cardiff is a great advert for speedway and long may it continue  but does all of British speedway gain financially out of the event??.Was British speedway properly compensated at the time when the WC swapped to the GP series system.!!!!

[PHILIPRISING]

22 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said:

Also Cardiff is a great advert for speedway and long may it continue  but does all of British speedway gain financially out of the event??.Was British speedway properly compensated at the time when the WC swapped to the GP series system.!!!!

DON'T forget the World Championship is the property of the FIM not the bSPA or for that matter the ACU, who are the GB authority affiliated to the FIM. 

Edited September 25, 2019 by PHILIPRISING

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said:

Also Cardiff is a great advert for speedway and long may it continue  but does all of British speedway gain financially out of the event??.Was British speedway properly compensated at the time when the WC swapped to the GP series system.!!!!

I sympathise with your thoughts Sidney the robin. But why should British speedway have been compensated because of the change?

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

DON'T forget the World Championship is the property of the FIM not the bSPA or for that matter the ACU, who are the GB authority affiliated to the FIM. 

Here's your answer Sidney the robin! It came om screen while I was posting my previous comment to you. Adequately explains world championship 'ownership' as I see it.

[djr]

31 minutes ago, gustix said:

I sympathise with your thoughts Sidney the robin. But why should British speedway have been compensated because of the change?

I am probably wrong,   but seem to remember something about British speedway getting a share of any profit from Wembley world finals ?

 

[PHILIPRISING]

6 minutes ago, djr said:

I am probably wrong,   but seem to remember something about British speedway getting a share of any profit from Wembley world finals ?

 

IT probably did but there was no third party involved. The FIM determined which countries would stage a World Final and when. But like other motorcycle disciplines (Moto GP, etc) the commercial rights were later sold and the FIM banked the money. 

[racers and royals]

13 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

IT probably did but there was no third party involved. The FIM determined which countries would stage a World Final and when. But like other motorcycle disciplines (Moto GP, etc) the commercial rights were later sold and the FIM banked the money. 

I`m sure there is a story to be told about when the Grand Prix series started - British speedway were promoting the rounds  at Hackney 95/96 - Bradford 97 Coventry 98,99,2000. Terry Russell "found" Cardiff for 2001  yet  i think JP took over the "promoting" from then.

Edited September 25, 2019 by racers and royals

[Guest]

The quoted 40,000 attendance for the 2019 GP at Cardiff was excellent. But how many attending were actually British speedway supporters?

How many were the type of person who just likes to attend major sporting events?

How many of them were from other countries?

It has been quoted elsewhere several times that the basic overall attendance each week for all British speedway tracks averages about 20,000.

If the Cardiff attendance was - and I doubt it was - 40,000 British supporters why do the balance 20,000 not attend tracks on a weekly basis?

[crazysue]

1 minute ago, gustix said:

The quoted 40,000 attendance for the 2019 GP at Cardiff was excellent. But how many attending were actually British speedway supporters?

How many were the type of person who just likes to attend major sporting events?

How many of them were from other countries?

It has been quoted elsewhere several times that the basic overall attendance each week for all British speedway tracks averages about 20,000.

If the Cardiff attendance was - and I doubt it was - 40,000 British supporters why do the balance 20,000 not attend tracks on a weekly basis?

In 2015 (the last Cardiff I attended), I had two people with me who don't attend speedway every week. One was because at the time he was at uni but also because he fell out of going when he had to start paying a full adult entry cost when he was still in his GCSE years and that was unaffordable week on week. The other was because he struggled to cope with normal meetings due to his autism but somehow (could be the extra space a wheelchair and carer bay allowed), could cope better with the GP set up.

If I do go next year, it will probably be with the above two people plus one other who also does not attend week on week for the same reason as the first non attendee and hasn't done since they turned 16 (23 next month)....cost week on week.