Championship Pairs

[BobC]

My only complaint was the stupid parking arrangements for the coaches.

I got there early and parked right next to the roadway for a quick exit. Got out only to find a rows of coaches parked along the only road.Total madness.

Luckily for me, I had a space next to me and behind that. With the help of Rory Schlein I managed to reverse out, and used the contractors/farm road to get out,followed by Rory!

Well done Glasgow,thoroughly deserved win. Great Final race.

[ragdoll64]

10 hours ago, Cliffeboy said:

Great meeting with lots of passing, only boring thing was Cook and Jensen head and shoulders above everyone else. 

Boring?........Did they not contribute to some of the passing in this great meeting?  Can’t please anyone these days. 

[bigcatdiary]

3 hours ago, Mike.Butler said:

that's a bit harsh

Why is that harsh

i said the racing was good because generally Somerset is a good racing track but facilities for big events need numerous toilets, fast food establishments and good seated accommodation with roofs.

 

[geoff100]

1 hour ago, BobC said:

My only complaint was the stupid parking arrangements for the coaches.

I got there early and parked right next to the roadway for a quick exit. Got out only to find a rows of coaches parked along the only road.Total madness.

Luckily for me, I had a space next to me and behind that. With the help of Rory Schlein I managed to reverse out, and used the contractors/farm road to get out,followed by Rory!

Well done Glasgow,thoroughly deserved win. Great Final race.

Suspect the coaches parked where they were told, have been plenty of places where "total madness " car drivers have made it impossible to get out with the coach

[Ovalman]

Well done Cookie and Rasser. Zummerzet is a great track.

[Buttons]

18 minutes ago, bigcatdiary said:

Why is that harsh

i said the racing was good because generally Somerset is a good racing track but facilities for big events need numerous toilets, fast food establishments and good seated accommodation with roofs.

 

The first set of toilets are situated , by the track shop on the fourth bend, the second set in the clubhouse both including disabled loos, and temporary ones put on the back straight I believe.I

[ShyTalk]

6 hours ago, Buttons said:

The first set of toilets are situated , by the track shop on the fourth bend, the second set in the clubhouse both including disabled loos, and temporary ones put on the back straight I believe.I

Hope the last set were removed before racing commenced. Would be inCONVENIENT riders having to go round them.

Edited September 21, 2019 by ShyTalk

[Racin Jason 72]

I always enjoy the pairs at Somerset but I do agree the facilities need improving for big meetings. 

Whem I first went there was a hog roast and cider was dispensed by rucksacks by people going into the crowd but both those have disappeared. 

A couple of years ago I purchased a awful overpriced burger and the can of cider was warm. So I’ve never purchased anything in the stadium again. The queue for the clubhouse food always puts me off as I want to watch the racing. 

The lighting around the stadium needs improvement too especially as the ground is uneven. 

I thought the programme was excellent and good value too and the racing was outstanding which for me is the most important thing.    

[Bagpuss]

The racing is the most important thing but we are in 2019, poor facilities is one of the reasons British speedway is struggling. They don’t have to be Premier League football stadium standard but the basics shouldn’t be hard to get right ie proper and safe lighting, adequate toilets and food/drink outlets etc. However good the speedway might be you are unlikely to keep newbies coming back with poor facilities. 

[Racin Jason 72]

I guess as the hancocks own the catering and enjoy the profits they are loathe to getting outside caterers in for one night only. 

Pretty short sighted imo

[Paulco]

What a wonderful evenings entertainment , different gravy to the drivel we had to sit through 24 hours later in Cardiff . Almost every heat had superb racing , culminating in a pulsating final , though I did fear Rasser had blown it , but he fought back to pip Nicholls on the line , sparking wild celebrations among the substantial Glaswegian travelling support . We even had Cookie and Rasser travel with us to Cardiff , on our bus , after the meeting . Poor Rasser was a sorry looking sight at 7 o clock the following morning haha . Best Pairs meeting , not just because we won , for many a year . And who cares if you need to queue for a slash when you get a track and racing like that .

[eric i]

Did Scunthorpe miss out on the semi finals due to some sort of count back?

[Normski]

8 hours ago, Paulco said:

What a wonderful evenings entertainment , different gravy to the drivel we had to sit through 24 hours later in Cardiff . Almost every heat had superb racing , culminating in a pulsating final , though I did fear Rasser had blown it , but he fought back to pip Nicholls on the line , sparking wild celebrations among the substantial Glaswegian travelling support . We even had Cookie and Rasser travel with us to Cardiff , on our bus , after the meeting . Poor Rasser was a sorry looking sight at 7 o clock the following morning haha . Best Pairs meeting , not just because we won , for many a year . And who cares if you need to queue for a slash when you get a track and racing like that .

Cracking meeting Paulco. Good crowd, good weather. Top marks to the bar staff in the clubhouse for doing an excellent job. Hopefully they connect the wires on the speaker on the 2nd bend for 2020.

[SteelShoe]

I was a bit negative on where this meeting was being held toward the back end of September . This was due mainly to the lack of peripheral lighting and no seating facilities with a lots of fans having to stand on a grass bank. Fortunately the weather gods shone down on the event which meant climate and ground conditions were nowhere near as poor as they could have been. The track was good helped in no small part by the cool conditions that quickly ensued when the sun went down. Some of the racing was top drawer as it usually is and the best pair by some margin won on the night, well done Cookie and Rasser two riders close to Comets fans hearts and just reward for Glasgow who are trying to drag this great sport into the 21st century.

Like other people I do believe the back straight facilities could be better, first thing we were met with when we went to the catering van was there are no chips because the fryers are not working ! , we didn't bother eating as the queue at the clubhouse catering outlet results in a wait spanning too many races. There is no excuse really for the faulty PA system on turn 2.  I do believe Somerset do not try as hard now to make  sure all the bases are covered  because they get this meeting without doing anything extra or special. Personally I thought the presentation was also only average with multiple errors re riders names etc.

The quality of racing made this an exciting spectacle and from that point of view it was an enjoyable spectacle played out in front of a very decent crowd. However like speedway in general the ancillary stuff could have easily been better which would have been appreciated.

Edited September 23, 2019 by SteelShoe

[SteelShoe]

2 hours ago, eric i said:

Did Scunthorpe miss out on the semi finals due to some sort of count back?

I was wondering on the night how they decided this.

[Paul Johnson]

28 minutes ago, SteelShoe said:

I was wondering on the night how they decided this.

yes, sheffield got through as they had two 7,2s to our zero

[NeilWatson]

34 minutes ago, Paul Johnson said:

yes, sheffield got through as they had two 7,2s to our zero

On the night, a tie was to be decided:

1 Who beat who

2 The team that had the highest heat score (7-2, 6-3, 5-4)

3 By ballot

Sheffield had two last places to Scunthorpe’s one, in a tournament based on team-riding, I wonder if ‘least last places’ would be a fairer way of deciding a tie.

[Spiderman1]

On 9/23/2019 at 11:48 PM, NeilWatson said:

On the night, a tie was to be decided:

1 Who beat who

2 The team that had the highest heat score (7-2, 6-3, 5-4)

3 By ballot

Sheffield had two last places to Scunthorpe’s one, in a tournament based on team-riding, I wonder if ‘least last places’ would be a fairer way of deciding a tie.

Race off for a tie 

[bigcatdiary]

On 9/23/2019 at 1:35 PM, SteelShoe said:

I was a bit negative on where this meeting was being held toward the back end of September . This was due mainly to the lack of peripheral lighting and no seating facilities with a lots of fans having to stand on a grass bank. Fortunately the weather gods shone down on the event which meant climate and ground conditions were nowhere near as poor as they could have been. The track was good helped in no small part by the cool conditions that quickly ensued when the sun went down. Some of the racing was top drawer as it usually is and the best pair by some margin won on the night, well done Cookie and Rasser two riders close to Comets fans hearts and just reward for Glasgow who are trying to drag this great sport into the 21st century.

Like other people I do believe the back straight facilities could be better, first thing we were met with when we went to the catering van was there are no chips because the fryers are not working ! , we didn't bother eating as the queue at the clubhouse catering outlet results in a wait spanning too many races. There is no excuse really for the faulty PA system on turn 2.  I do believe Somerset do not try as hard now to make  sure all the bases are covered  because they get this meeting without doing anything extra or special. Personally I thought the presentation was also only average with multiple errors re riders names etc.

The quality of racing made this an exciting spectacle and from that point of view it was an enjoyable spectacle played out in front of a very decent crowd. However like speedway in general the ancillary stuff could have easily been better which would have been appreciated.

Spot on

[NeilWatson]

1 hour ago, Spiderman1 said:

Race off for a tie 

If the teams hadn't met earlier in the tournament that would be the fairest way.