Poole Pirates Vs Birmingham Brummies 29th August 5pm

[Steve Shovlar]

Just got in and jumped into the shower for the second time today. 
 

Well what can you say? Quite a bit actually. I got into the stadium an hour before tapes up and the track looked like a battlefield. A tractor was working on bends three and 4 and you could see it had taken a big watering. But with 25 mins to tapes up the Birmingham team we’re not happy with the track going into bend 3 and the tractor spent 15 minutes sorting it out, removing dirt. The track looked rough and patchy but as heat one took place it wasn’t bad as it looked. Heat 2 was no issue either but heat 3 was a different story. A hole appeared, invisible to the fans in the grandstand but James Shanes went through it and his wheel buckled under him throwing him almost over the handle bars before he landed in a heap on the 4th bend. 
 

The 2 minutes for the rerun were cancelled and riders, management and track staff went and had a look at the issue. The interval was called at this stage. But ten minutes later everyone was still standing looking at this hole, what was described as the size of a kitchen table. Lots of kicking at shale and shaking of heads. I thought this has abandonment written all over it. The trackman then drove off to the tractor pits and changed to the blade. He came out and took off a huge pile of dirt in a trench down to the base. The track staff and Danny King then packed and smoothed out the hole. Again everyone stood about gawping but Rory Schlein went and got his bike, everyone ran off to the safety of the infield and he blasted around 3 laps with no issues. Riders as we know have a tendency to shake their heads, come out of racing mode and want to clear off home. The ref said all good and on with the meeting. Of course all this delay meant the track had dried out so we got several heats in dusty conditions before another short break when the bowser came out. Throughout the meeting the area of concern was dealt with between each heat and the meeting concluded without further issues.

We have to thank the riders for not refusing to ride as that would have been catastrophic.

As for the meeting, a one sided affair.
For Poole Danny King was untouchable. Superb 15 point max. Backed up by Cook, Worrall and Schlein. Basso was unluckily not to score paid 3 in heat one but his bike played up when we’ll clear in second. 

For Brum, the standout rider for me was Jack Thomas, who was criminally under used. 9 from 5. Both Morris and Cartagena had 4 rides when they deserved 3. 

Not a great meeting and not a great advert for the sport. After the meeting Danny Ford said they would be working in the track before the Glasgow meeting on Friday.

[old bob at herne bay]

Keep on digging Danny - you will get to the bottom of the hole by Friday.  

How about some traffic cones around the hole ?  .

[ray c]

I hate to say this I'm  glad we never went do other things on a sunday anyway 

Edited August 29, 2021 by ray c

[Trackrat]

11 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Just got in and jumped into the shower for the second time today. 
 

Well what can you say? Quite a bit actually. I got into the stadium an hour before tapes up and the track looked like a battlefield. A tractor was working on bends three and 4 and you could see it had taken a big watering. But with 25 mins to tapes up the Birmingham team we’re not happy with the track going into bend 3 and the tractor spent 15 minutes sorting it out, removing dirt. The track looked rough and patchy but as heat one took place it wasn’t bad as it looked. Heat 2 was no issue either but heat 3 was a different story. A hole appeared, invisible to the fans in the grandstand but James Shanes went through it and his wheel buckled under him throwing him almost over the handle bars before he landed in a heap on the 4th bend. 
 

The 2 minutes for the rerun were cancelled and riders, management and track staff went and had a look at the issue. The interval was called at this stage. But ten minutes later everyone was still standing looking at this hole, what was described as the size of a kitchen table. Lots of kicking at shale and shaking of heads. I thought this has abandonment written all over it. The trackman then drove off to the tractor pits and changed to the blade. He came out and took off a huge pile of dirt in a trench down to the base. The track staff and Danny King then packed and smoothed out the hole. Again everyone stood about gawping but Rory Schlein went and got his bike, everyone ran off to the safety of the infield and he blasted around 3 laps with no issues. Riders as we know have a tendency to shake their heads, come out of racing mode and want to clear off home. The ref said all good and on with the meeting. Of course all this delay meant the track had dried out so we got several heats in dusty conditions before another short break when the bowser came out. Throughout the meeting the area of concern was dealt with between each heat and the meeting concluded without further issues.

We have to thank the riders for not refusing to ride as that would have been catastrophic.

As for the meeting, a one sided affair.
For Poole Danny King was untouchable. Superb 15 point max. Backed up by Cook, Worrall and Schlein. Basso was unluckily not to score paid 3 in heat one but his bike played up when we’ll clear in second. 

For Brum, the standout rider for me was Jack Thomas, who was criminally under used. 9 from 5. Both Morris and Cartagena had 4 rides when they deserved 3. 

Not a great meeting and not a great advert for the sport. After the meeting Danny Ford said they would be working in the track before the Glasgow meeting on Friday.

Keep paying your money ginge, nothing will get done, closed at end of season.

[daz9100]

17 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Just got in and jumped into the shower for the second time today. 
 

Well what can you say? Quite a bit actually. I got into the stadium an hour before tapes up and the track looked like a battlefield. A tractor was working on bends three and 4 and you could see it had taken a big watering. But with 25 mins to tapes up the Birmingham team we’re not happy with the track going into bend 3 and the tractor spent 15 minutes sorting it out, removing dirt. The track looked rough and patchy but as heat one took place it wasn’t bad as it looked. Heat 2 was no issue either but heat 3 was a different story. A hole appeared, invisible to the fans in the grandstand but James Shanes went through it and his wheel buckled under him throwing him almost over the handle bars before he landed in a heap on the 4th bend. 
 

The 2 minutes for the rerun were cancelled and riders, management and track staff went and had a look at the issue. The interval was called at this stage. But ten minutes later everyone was still standing looking at this hole, what was described as the size of a kitchen table. Lots of kicking at shale and shaking of heads. I thought this has abandonment written all over it. The trackman then drove off to the tractor pits and changed to the blade. He came out and took off a huge pile of dirt in a trench down to the base. The track staff and Danny King then packed and smoothed out the hole. Again everyone stood about gawping but Rory Schlein went and got his bike, everyone ran off to the safety of the infield and he blasted around 3 laps with no issues. Riders as we know have a tendency to shake their heads, come out of racing mode and want to clear off home. The ref said all good and on with the meeting. Of course all this delay meant the track had dried out so we got several heats in dusty conditions before another short break when the bowser came out. Throughout the meeting the area of concern was dealt with between each heat and the meeting concluded without further issues.

We have to thank the riders for not refusing to ride as that would have been catastrophic.

As for the meeting, a one sided affair.
For Poole Danny King was untouchable. Superb 15 point max. Backed up by Cook, Worrall and Schlein. Basso was unluckily not to score paid 3 in heat one but his bike played up when we’ll clear in second. 

For Brum, the standout rider for me was Jack Thomas, who was criminally under used. 9 from 5. Both Morris and Cartagena had 4 rides when they deserved 3. 

Not a great meeting and not a great advert for the sport. After the meeting Danny Ford said they would be working in the track before the Glasgow meeting on Friday.

That's a pretty fair summing up of the meeting.
The hole was certainly something which they'd never seen before and thankfully after it was bladed the track seemed fairly smooth though 3 & 4. Worrall even said afterwards that the track much improved as the meeting went on.

It was a bloody annoying start to the meeting and something they definitely need to sort out before Friday.

[cityrebel]

I was tempted to go today, but with Brum due at Kent tomorrow i gave it a miss. The ongoing track issues at Poole definitely influenced my decision.

[Col]

28 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

For Brum, the standout rider for me was Jack Thomas, who was criminally under used. 9 from 5. Both Morris and Cartagena had 4 rides when they deserved 3.

Brummies team manager always seems reluctant to make changes, at Perry Barr even when Castagna is having a good night he rarely gets more than one extra ride. Grobaur & Thomas (and less often but Morris) often have poor nights when they could be replaced. That said Brummies don't exactly have allot to ride for, no chance of making the playoffs.

[woofers]

Seems a bit harsh to exclude Shanes in heat 3 when clearly it was a problem with the track that caused him to fall.

Edited August 29, 2021 by woofers

[Diamonds85]

I'm guessing the racing at Poole isn't that bad every week, judging by the size of the crowd? And I don't mean the problems with the 3d and 4th bend which were obviously going to arise looking at the state of it before the meeting even started... Wasn't the most entertaining meeting ever...

[Steve Shovlar]

4 minutes ago, Diamonds85 said:

I'm guessing the racing at Poole isn't that bad every week, judging by the size of the crowd? And I don't mean the problems with the 3d and 4th bend which were obviously going to arise looking at the state of it before the meeting even started... Wasn't the most entertaining meeting ever...

The racing at Poole is usually very good with lots of passing. This year it’s been very good up to the last three meetings where the track has been underwatered and today when this hole appeared.  

[Diamonds85]

3 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

The racing at Poole is usually very good with lots of passing. This year it’s been very good up to the last three meetings where the track has been underwatered and today when this hole appeared.  

Shame as I was really looking forward to my trip down, decided to get this meeting in on the way down to Plymouth to watch the Diamonds on Tuesday, make a weekend of it... I expected a lot more from the supposed biggest club in the country, but I guess every club has their bad days... I've heard a lot about the track at Poole but was astonished about how bad it looked when I first came in... Looks like something desperately needs done... Would have been interesting to hear what Matt Ford was saying about the future of the club but the loud mouthed drunk woman in front of me clearly doesn't like him and shouted over everything he said... Hope the club survives

[Arthur54]

2 hours ago, BobC said:

Matt Ford is here. Soon disappeared when problems started. 

That's funny,, I'm sure that was him on the centre green doing an interview 

[Petecc]

25 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

The racing at Poole is usually very good with lots of passing. This year it’s been very good up to the last three meetings where the track has been underwatered and today when this hole appeared.  

Is that the same hole that opened up in 2019?

[Steve Shovlar]

Just now, Petecc said:

Is that the same hole that opened up in 2019?

No.

[Petecc]

A new hole then.

[Steve Shovlar]

3 minutes ago, Petecc said:

A new hole then.

Yes

[lisa-colette]

10 minutes ago, Arthur54 said:

That's funny,, I'm sure that was him on the centre green doing an interview 

Plus it's down to Dan now to sort it out. 

[Arthur54]

3 hours ago, Trackrat said:

Where? In the hole on Poole's track glug glug. Keep paying your money stupid 

5pts clear now, that will do nicely glug glug 

[Steve Shovlar]

1 minute ago, Arthur54 said:

5pts clear now, that will do nicely glug glug 

You shouldn’t feed the troll.

[lisa-colette]

37 minutes ago, Diamonds85 said:

Shame as I was really looking forward to my trip down, decided to get this meeting in on the way down to Plymouth to watch the Diamonds on Tuesday, make a weekend of it... I expected a lot more from the supposed biggest club in the country, but I guess every club has their bad days... I've heard a lot about the track at Poole but was astonished about how bad it looked when I first came in... Looks like something desperately needs done... Would have been interesting to hear what Matt Ford was saying about the future of the club but the loud mouthed drunk woman in front of me clearly doesn't like him and shouted over everything he said... Hope the club survives

Are you on twitter? A Poole fan has put on there what Matt said. First talked about the track, then about Dan doing the day to day running of the club and that he is doing really well but Matt still does all the riders contracts. Also about wanting to keep Benjamin Basso for next year and he thinks in 18 months time he will be a 'superstar' but he also predicted Brady would be a GP winner, so we will see! Also said about landlords and something about possible legal action and council on our side(I think, not 100% on that as I missed a bit as I was being asked what the score was at the time) and how he will need everyone's support in next few weeks/months and not to panic. Also thanked the fans for all their support. 

Edited August 29, 2021 by lisa-colette