Sheffield's Track Woes

[4thbender]

Sheffield's track woes were once again to the fore in today's Top Gun event. The stadium was reduced to a dust bowl for the second week in succession, the resulting slick state of the track making competing almost impossible and spectating equally difficult.

I fear this is just one more unintended consequence of afternoon racing. With the sun still high in the sky, the aerosol effect causes any moisture in the track to evaporate as soon as the surface covering becomes airborn under the impact of tyres. At 4.00pm this afternoon the track looked well watered and perfect for racing, but after three heats it was bone dry with dust clouds swirling around. The benefit of evening racing is that the sun is lower in the sky and the latent heat in the ground is dispersing, allowing any remaining moisture to retain the particulate integrity of the track surface for a much longer period. On Thursday nights, only in the very hottest weeks of the year was dust a problem but I fear this will not be the case in the afternoons.

I predict that unless we have a particularly damp summer (in itself a problem for racing), dust and drying out of the track will become a recurrent problem.

Incidentally, can anyone shed light on the reasons for the removal of the edging stones from the inside of the track?

[Tsunami]

31 minutes ago, 4thbender said:

Sheffield's track woes were once again to the fore in today's Top Gun event. The stadium was reduced to a dust bowl for the second week in succession, the resulting slick state of the track making competing almost impossible and spectating equally difficult.

I fear this is just one more unintended consequence of afternoon racing. With the sun still high in the sky, the aerosol effect causes any moisture in the track to evaporate as soon as the surface covering becomes airborn under the impact of tyres. At 4.00pm this afternoon the track looked well watered and perfect for racing, but after three heats it was bone dry with dust clouds swirling around. The benefit of evening racing is that the sun is lower in the sky and the latent heat in the ground is dispersing, allowing any remaining moisture to retain the particulate integrity of the track surface for a much longer period. On Thursday nights, only in the very hottest weeks of the year was dust a problem but I fear this will not be the case in the afternoons.

I predict that unless we have a particularly damp summer (in itself a problem for racing), dust and drying out of the track will become a recurrent problem.

Incidentally, can anyone shed light on the reasons for the removal of the edging stones from the inside of the track?

Flood it earlier then. It gets into the base so is wet for the meeting.

[ProudtobeaBrummie]

Threads with titles like this  are only damaging to  speedway in this country . Maybe bring it up in the Sheffield 2019 thread ? 

I am sure all the above is correct but the way i see it is dont bother going there its rubbish . which i am sure is not your intention.

[bribry]

1 hour ago, 4thbender said:

Sheffield's track woes were once again to the fore in today's Top Gun event. The stadium was reduced to a dust bowl for the second week in succession, the resulting slick state of the track making competing almost impossible and spectating equally difficult.

I fear this is just one more unintended consequence of afternoon racing. With the sun still high in the sky, the aerosol effect causes any moisture in the track to evaporate as soon as the surface covering becomes airborn under the impact of tyres. At 4.00pm this afternoon the track looked well watered and perfect for racing, but after three heats it was bone dry with dust clouds swirling around. The benefit of evening racing is that the sun is lower in the sky and the latent heat in the ground is dispersing, allowing any remaining moisture to retain the particulate integrity of the track surface for a much longer period. On Thursday nights, only in the very hottest weeks of the year was dust a problem but I fear this will not be the case in the afternoons.

I predict that unless we have a particularly damp summer (in itself a problem for racing), dust and drying out of the track will become a recurrent problem.

Incidentally, can anyone shed light on the reasons for the removal of the edging stones from the inside of the track?

Another pointless post.... 

The day and time have absolutely nothing to do with Sheffield’s track at the minute as you have no clue about what’s going on i’ll inform you. Sheffield are having issues at the minute with machinery such as they managed to get water down before the meeting which was substantial enough for a few heats but obviously they couldn’t get anymore down due to equipment failures. So bare with them they are trying to fix the problem so the racing will be up to your standard. 

[Halifaxtiger]

Belle Vue had two meetings over Easter, both 12pm starts. It was hot and breezy on both days yet with the exception of one race on Monday there was very little dust. Same at Scunthorpe on Good Friday. If they can do it, so can Sheffield.

[Charlieboy]

Once it was announced that we were going to Sunday racing I said on here that track prep was going to be a big issue and it's proving already. I've heard a lot of people moaning and saying they won't be coming for much longer if it doesn't change,so all the hard work the promotion have done will have been for nothing.We used to have rakes and hose pipes as well as the tractors and we had a good race track.Once the meeting started yesterday I didn't see any water put down on the track.The tractors only did mid to outside lines yesterday never touching the inside ? I don't understand why but I'm no track expert.At the gp all the track is graded,I know they have 4 tractors but it used to be done with 2 previously.Weve got an exciting racing team but not a track suitable for them. If we don't address this problem soon we won't have any speedway so I hope our promotion can sort this out a s a p.

[OveFundinFan]

Why do track management seem to drive fans away. Dry dusty tracks are a nightmare for fans. Imagine a family of four going home with clothes and hair just full of track dust. What a nightmare. Is it bad management ie not knowing best way to curtail dust but still provide a race track for riders, is it high cost of water.  As already said, dust management is effective at other tracks, so why not Sheffield. Looks like uk set for another hot dry weekend. Sheffield has to get on top of this issue quickly or loose their source of income. 

[Motox92]

Would like to put a couple of things into perspective for people on here. When turning up at the track at 8 in the morning when aloud to get in the stadium, bends 1/2 and the back straight going into bend 3 where completely underneath water, which took 3 hours to clear with a pump. Then on track prep when actually being able to get a tractor on track, we had a wonder wheel which snapped while trying to air the track out so that was one of the many issues we had to deal with in the day. Next issue was one tractor while on track the hydraulics went so was unable to fit any proper grader on the back of it. Just another one of many issues we had to deal with. But the biggest of once actually being able to dry the track out and getting it level and being lucky to even have a meeting on, the water boweser broke so we was unable to fill it with water as water was coming out faster than we could fill it. But considering we didn’t get any dust till about heat 12 and there as only 14/15 in the meeting I don’t think it was to bad. Also on the grading part if you keep grading all the time and pulling the dirt over the slick it drys it out move and without a water bowser we could only do so much so hopefully that puts and end to alll this slating with all the hard work we put into getting a meeting on for you yesterday. Come next week the issues will all be sorted and you will see a great race track. Thank you all and see you next week 

thanks a member of track staff!

Edited April 29, 2019 by Motox92

[The Third Man]

19 hours ago, Tsunami said:

Flood it earlier then. It gets into the base so is wet for the meeting.

We were saying the same last week and this.

Frank Varey would have been on the track at 8am to give it a good soaking and then work on it.

Someone who was there early yesterday said the track was bone dry at 1pm, result, dust bowl and gate and go for two weeks running.

how much longer before supporters find something else more cleaner and more entertaining on a Sunday in summer?

 

[Halifaxtiger]

21 minutes ago, The Third Man said:

We were saying the same last week and this.

Frank Varey would have been on the track at 8am to give it a good soaking and then work on it.

Someone who was there early yesterday said the track was bone dry at 1pm, result, dust bowl and gate and go for two weeks running.

how much longer before supporters find something else more cleaner and more entertaining on a Sunday in summer?

 

12pm start admittedly, but Andy Meredith told me he started at the NSS at 6am on Bank Holiday Monday.

[The Third Man]

25 minutes ago, Halifaxtiger said:

12pm start admittedly, but Andy Meredith told me he started at the NSS at 6am on Bank Holiday Monday.

So not far off the same time

[Moranboys]

22 hours ago, 4thbender said:

Sheffield's track woes were once again to the fore in today's Top Gun event. The stadium was reduced to a dust bowl for the second week in succession, the resulting slick state of the track making competing almost impossible and spectating equally difficult.

I fear this is just one more unintended consequence of afternoon racing. With the sun still high in the sky, the aerosol effect causes any moisture in the track to evaporate as soon as the surface covering becomes airborn under the impact of tyres. At 4.00pm this afternoon the track looked well watered and perfect for racing, but after three heats it was bone dry with dust clouds swirling around. The benefit of evening racing is that the sun is lower in the sky and the latent heat in the ground is dispersing, allowing any remaining moisture to retain the particulate integrity of the track surface for a much longer period. On Thursday nights, only in the very hottest weeks of the year was dust a problem but I fear this will not be the case in the afternoons.

I predict that unless we have a particularly damp summer (in itself a problem for racing), dust and drying out of the track will become a recurrent problem.

Incidentally, can anyone shed light on the reasons for the removal of the edging stones from the inside of the track?

good post from someone with some sense.i have followed sheffield ,give or take a few years, for 43 years except now, if we keep to sunday afternoon, then I am afraid my spectating days at sheffield will be numbered.having not been this season i will admit that i don't know what the attendances have been like but it appears that things have gone downhill with track preparation especially since grahame trollop stopped doing it.this together with the dust issue plus the poor start to the season does not bode well.i don't think the team is as strong as last season and look what happened.as much as i like danny king he is not an out and out number one like josh g was.losing charles wright was a big loss after only one season and the same goes for josh bates and todd kurtz.i like ty as a rider but fear he is way past his best form and the same with kyle.kemp has time on his side as does zaine.broc nicol is too inconsistant and not sure about kasper.it has been mentioned that danny doesn't team ride which is important in speedway but he's not the only one.not a lot of fixtures left now we are out of the shield comp.the ko cup looks iffy too on paper.just glad i didn't renew my season ticket.

[spin king junior]

14 hours ago, Motox92 said:

Would like to put a couple of things into perspective for people on here. When turning up at the track at 8 in the morning when aloud to get in the stadium, bends 1/2 and the back straight going into bend 3 where completely underneath water, which took 3 hours to clear with a pump. Then on track prep when actually being able to get a tractor on track, we had a wonder wheel which snapped while trying to air the track out so that was one of the many issues we had to deal with in the day. Next issue was one tractor while on track the hydraulics went so was unable to fit any proper grader on the back of it. Just another one of many issues we had to deal with. But the biggest of once actually be able to dry the track out and getting it level and being lucky to even have a meeting on, the water boweser broke so we was unable to fill it with water as water was coming out faster than we could fill it. But considering we didn’t get any dust till about heat 12 and there as only 14/15 in the meeting I don’t think it was to bad. Also on the grading part of you keep grading all the time and pulling the dirt over the slick it drys it out move and without a water bowser we could only do so much so hopefully that puts and end to alll this slating with all the hard work we put into getting a meeting on for you yesterday. Come next week the issues will all be sorted and you will see a great race track. Thank you all and see you next week 

thanks a member of track staff!

Glad to see someone come on here to clear the air. Does help the fans to give an understanding of what you're dealing with and hopefully with the right time and equipment behind you we can see owlerton back to what it once was 

[Bagpuss]

Should it be down to a member of track staff two days later to explain things though? If there were issues then the promotion could have cleared things up on the day with punters. 

[mikebv]

27 minutes ago, Bagpuss said:

Should it be down to a member of track staff two days later to explain things though? If there were issues then the promotion could have cleared things up on the day with punters. 

Very, very basic business practice.....

If something is wrong, give some factual explanation as to why (don't for one moment use it as an excuse), and then apologise..

Maybe even make a gesture of goodwill if you see fit....

But don't ever do or say nothing....

As that makes it look like you either don't care or you are taking your punters for granted...

And neither is a great way to be perceived in business..

Edited April 30, 2019 by mikebv

[Motox92]

1 hour ago, Bagpuss said:

Should it be down to a member of track staff two days later to explain things though? If there were issues then the promotion could have cleared things up on the day with punters. 

If you look at my post it was posted Monday morning but had not been approved until yesterday evening. Think some people out forgetting that the promotion our not taking things lightly and  our working hard to try and fix things, yes they may not be posting things or keeping people greatly informed but with all the problems they have encountered I don’t think they have to many spare minutes to spare while trying to sort out the problems, but when they are working so hard to get things done right and sorted and you get people on here just slating them all the time is it a wonder why you then have on another thread, that’s someone has herd they have put the club up for sale. Just need to be careful  and realise that speedway is not in its strongest state at the moment and we can’t aford to let any more clubs close. So why don’t we actually get behind the club and the sport and get it back to where it should be instead of moaning all the time. They put on Facebook for helpers to help out so why not sign up for that and help the club out so it can thrive again. 

Edited April 30, 2019 by Motox92

[semion]

If a track is not fit for purpose then why run the meeting ?  Seems more like sod the public let’s get the money through the turnstiles.   People have a right to a certain  level of acceptability, which doesn’t include being covered in shale dust. 

[Sings4Speedway]

On 4/29/2019 at 7:39 AM, Motox92 said:

Would like to put a couple of things into perspective for people on here. When turning up at the track at 8 in the morning when aloud to get in the stadium, bends 1/2 and the back straight going into bend 3 where completely underneath water, which took 3 hours to clear with a pump. Then on track prep when actually being able to get a tractor on track, we had a wonder wheel which snapped while trying to air the track out so that was one of the many issues we had to deal with in the day. Next issue was one tractor while on track the hydraulics went so was unable to fit any proper grader on the back of it. Just another one of many issues we had to deal with. But the biggest of once actually being able to dry the track out and getting it level and being lucky to even have a meeting on, the water boweser broke so we was unable to fill it with water as water was coming out faster than we could fill it. But considering we didn’t get any dust till about heat 12 and there as only 14/15 in the meeting I don’t think it was to bad. Also on the grading part if you keep grading all the time and pulling the dirt over the slick it drys it out move and without a water bowser we could only do so much so hopefully that puts and end to alll this slating with all the hard work we put into getting a meeting on for you yesterday. Come next week the issues will all be sorted and you will see a great race track. Thank you all and see you next week 

thanks a member of track staff!

I guess the follow on questions to this are is the track equipment sub standard and in need of upgrading or are those operating the equipment not sufficiently qualified to do so? (its certainly a big coincidence that the wonder wheel, bowser and hydraulics all broke on the same morning). Im certainly not digging at the hard working volunteers but if people need more guidance that is down to the club to ensure it is supplied.

[Motox92]

3 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said:

I guess the follow on questions to this are is the track equipment sub standard and in need of upgrading or are those operating the equipment not sufficiently qualified to do so? (its certainly a big coincidence that the wonder wheel, bowser and hydraulics all broke on the same morning). Im certainly not digging at the hard working volunteers but if people need more guidance that is down to the club to ensure it is supplied.

Unfortunately it’s nothing to do with people not being qualified you can’t help the bearing in the wonder wheel snap and while the tracker drove off it lays in the middle of the track. And a hydraulic hose busting. And obv being a Sunday no wear being open and the bowser springing a leak 1hour before the start of the meeting you honestly couldn’t believe it but the most frustrating thing is knowing how good things could be if it wasn’t for bad luck but as I said will be a different track all together on Sunday 

[Motox92]

35 minutes ago, semion said:

If a track is not fit for purpose then why run the meeting ?  Seems more like sod the public let’s get the money through the turnstiles.   People have a right to a certain  level of acceptability, which doesn’t include being covered in shale dust. 

I think Sheffield would of been at a loss for Sunday’s meeting it’s not one I would expect there earn any money from and track was fit for purpose but as posted you can’t help the bowsers breaking and hour before the start of the meeting