Steve Shovlar Posted August 10, 2018 Report Share Posted August 10, 2018 Interestingly at Poolelast night the countdown clock is by the tapes. Gardening was done, and the usual faffing about, but as the clock got to ten seconds all came to the line and the tapes went up within a couple of seconds of zero. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redlead Posted August 27, 2018 Report Share Posted August 27, 2018 I can't understand why after a false start, riders are given another 2 minutes, surely 1 minute should be enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted August 28, 2018 Report Share Posted August 28, 2018 (edited) On 8/10/2018 at 8:59 PM, Steve Shovlar said: Interestingly at Poolelast night the countdown clock is by the tapes. Gardening was done, and the usual faffing about, but as the clock got to ten seconds all came to the line and the tapes went up within a couple of seconds of zero. It happens instinctively I think. they have one at Swindon sometimes and as it gets to 0:00 they are all there and ready to go. It's Pavlov's dog. Edited August 28, 2018 by Grachan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackadder Posted August 28, 2018 Report Share Posted August 28, 2018 These are the current rules covering starts. 15.2.1 In normal circumstances the time from the finish of a heat to the start of the next shall not exceed 4 minutes (including the 2-minute time allowance). 15.2.2 If there is a Re-run, without disqualification, the 2-minute allowance shall be given immediately and no rider may leave the Track Circuit (i.e. must remain on the track). 15.2.3 If there is a Re-run, where a disqualification is ordered, the 2-minute allowance shall be given following a 1-minute delay. 15.2.4 Where there are valid reasons (e.g. track maintenance, interval or a re-run requiring repairs to motorcycles or track, then the Referee shall determine the period before the 2-minute allowance is given: This 2-minute time allowance is signaled by an audible siren and flashing amber lamp and if present (mandatory at a TV Meeting), be shown on a Countdown Clock. 15.2.5 Riders must at the expiry of this time allowance, be on the track, under power, proceeding without stopping towards the Starting Gate. 15.2.6 Only if a rider is at the Starting Gate with sufficient time remaining of the 2-minute allowance, be permitted to prepare their Start area, provided they remain in full, personal control of their motorcycle, have the Cut-Out Lanyard attached, and remain astride their motorcycle facing the direction of racing 15.2.7 Riders must then come under the control of the Start Marshal and be ready to race. 15.2.8 The Start Marshal, shall bring the riders to the Starting Gate, in the order as determined by their gate position, i.e. a, b, c then d, ensuring all parts of the motorcycle and rider’s limbs are within the marked Grid (NB: lines are neutral and do not form part of the Grid), and when satisfied the riders are correctly positioned, that their motorcycles are stationary and the rear wheel is in contact with the track surface, s/he shall signal to the Referee to illuminate the Green Start light and walk well clear to the rear of all motorcycles. 15.2.9 When the Green Start Light is illuminated, no movement of the motorcycle is permitted, nor any additional time allowance or outside assistance can be given. 15.2.9.1 After a pause of not less than 1.5 seconds, sufficient to enable the Riders to spin their engines and focus attention, and provided all riders are stationary the Referee shall release the Tapes to signify the start. 15.3. A Starting Offence is considered to have been committed in the following circumstances: - Gate Preparation after the expiry of the 2-minute allowance. When a rider’s motorcycle or any part of their body or equipment touches or breaks the starting tapes whilst the green starting light is on or prevents the raising of the start gate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle Posted August 29, 2018 Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 On 8/1/2018 at 10:56 AM, mike1944 said: Watching Polish speedway on FreeSports I am getting increasingly impressed with their 2 minute timer for the riders to be ready at the tapes. The timer countdown can be seen on screen and the riders always appear to be ready on time. Any restarts get the 2 minutes too. Can we please adopt this Polish timer system as it is annoying to see four riders at the tapes after lots of delay and then one turn round and go back to the fourth bend and returns and then some more shuffling, gardening and clutch adjustments from the others too. Of course this can happen without the countdown clock but at least supporters know that the moment they get the go-ahead to leave the pit gate there is a time they have to adhere to and they have 2 minutes to be ready at the tapes to race. I am getting increasingy impressed by the polish start girls. nice camera shots to. bring them over here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarracudaAce Posted September 3, 2018 Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 On 8/1/2018 at 10:56 AM, mike1944 said: Watching Polish speedway on FreeSports I am getting increasingly impressed with their 2 minute timer for the riders to be ready at the tapes. The timer countdown can be seen on screen and the riders always appear to be ready on time. Any restarts get the 2 minutes too. Can we please adopt this Polish timer system as it is annoying to see four riders at the tapes after lots of delay and then one turn round and go back to the fourth bend and returns and then some more shuffling, gardening and clutch adjustments from the others too. Of course this can happen without the countdown clock but at least supporters know that the moment they get the go-ahead to leave the pit gate there is a time they have to adhere to and they have 2 minutes to be ready at the tapes to race. I attended a match in Gdansk a few weeks ago when Rybnik were the visitors. In one of the heats the two minutes were counting down (the ‘grand prix’ style clock was positioned alongside the start line) and, with three riders already at the gate, the fourth rider entered the track from the pits (pits gate on 3rd / 4th turns) with time still remaining. Time expired, though, when he was literally just two or three metres from the tapes. As he then moved right up to the tapes, the red lights came on and he was immediately shown the black exclusion flag and his helmet colour disk. The referee then started the race within a very short space of time with no reserve substitution for the excluded rider. Also, having been at three Polish matches in the last couple of months, I don’t think the total amount of time spent gardening from all three matches combined would be any longer than we see during one match here in the UK!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharpenRake Posted September 5, 2018 Report Share Posted September 5, 2018 Have to agree that 2 minutes should mean up at start and ready to race. Last night at Glasgow with all 4 riders sitting back from the tapes and the clock ticking down to zero, the ref turned of the clock and riders from both sides but mainly Ipswich kept on gardening and in young kemps' case he was even off the bike, much to the annoyance of the crowd. Riders also tended to ignore the start marshall who tried to get them up to the tapes, again young kemp being a culprit. Some seemed to think I'm not going up to the tapes until the rest do! Why the ref didn't phone the team managers and sort it out who knows, maybe he did and still they ignored him? Having said that it was a great meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shovlar Posted September 6, 2018 Report Share Posted September 6, 2018 The rule should be strengthened. As the clock hits zero, all riders must be ready for the green light. Gardening in any shape or form will result in a disqualification. The fans will appreciate this, and the riders will soon get used to it. Gardening delays are one of the banes of the sport. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_martin Posted September 9, 2018 Report Share Posted September 9, 2018 On 8/1/2018 at 6:15 PM, f-s-p said: All you currently lack is refs with a backbone to start excluding riders for 2 minute rule violations. When they start doing that, problem solved in a week without any fancy clocks. If a referee is going to start excluding those not ready, he'll have to exclude ALL those not ready. So, as per the Tai Woffinden incident in Krsko, what happens when instead of one exclusion, there are 3 or 4, because at the point when Tai was excluded, none of the other riders were ready to race either. Does a race with 4 excluded riders end up with a repeat of Heat 2 with all 4 reserves employed? And in and individual meeting, if 3 or 4 had been excluded, there wouldn't have been enough reserves to fill their places. Or does the referee, seek to punish everyone by just making an example of the highest profile rider in the race? Or just the one that's not his nationality? Or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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