chunky Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 1 hour ago, RebelDan said: first and foremost the racing has to be right Why? It never has been! World Finals were never chosen because of the quality of the racing, were they? Wembley was chosen because of the occasion, the capacity, and the location. Amsterdam, Munich, and L.A. were all temporary tracks. Norden certainly wasn't chosen because of occasion or location... There really is a lot more to take into account than the racing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellevueace Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 Well done Dan great to see him win but the meeting overall was a terrible advert for the sport, no doubt the powers that be were praying for Dan to win, makes it easier to deflect away from all the negatives. The novelty of Cardiff wore off for me some seasons ago, thought it was played out then this proves it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mc131 Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 2 hours ago, P T Preece said: Who does kemp think he is, dump your bike and walk off, tithead. Thinks he's better than he his Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post iwright71 Posted August 14, 2022 Popular Post Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 Just back from Cardiff. I have done every Cardiff GP but this will be my last. Cardiff has become too difficult, too expensive with little given back. Whether its getting there, hotels, buying tickets, downloading tickets ,ticket apps etc, all that hassle to be rewarded with an awful track producing an awful GP. And guess what my ticket app would not load when I got to the gate. Had to pay a visit to the ticket office with a lot of tetchy people with the same problem. Discovery have taken the GP back 20 years, 20 years ago we had a 30 thousand crowd and an unfit track dito 2022. When will they stop making mistakes ,SON in the same country comes to mind, BSI learned that lesson years ago. For me the Cardiff GP has run its course, maybe with a sub 30 thousand crowd it has also run its natural course anyway, how do they expect to sell tickets for next year on the back of what we have seen this year, they won't be getting my money I'd be surprised if they are making any money on this event with the costs involved, can't see discovery sucking this up for ever. Over and out 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepturningleft Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 Some of the comments on here are extraordinary. Cardiff is not just about the racing and neither was Wembley which rarely produced racing to remember as other posters have highlighted. The occasions however were fantastic but Cardiff, a track smack in the middle of a vibrant modern European city, is even better. Cardiff has grown into an event on its own, quite separate from the domestic scene and for most people its a fantastic day out and its evolved into something quite special. Thats actually fairly obvious. Stepping out of Belle Vue into the evening sunshine of Gorton just isn't going to be the same. There isn't even a pub that close. The status of the GP would be diminished although I agree it would be nice to have BV for a 2nd GP. If you don't buy into the idea of Cardiff as an event, an occasion, then you are missing the point of Cardiff. Although the crowd may have been down this year, it is still by far the biggest crowd pulling event in British speedway. 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebelDan Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 48 minutes ago, chunky said: Why? It never has been! World Finals were never chosen because of the quality of the racing, were they? Wembley was chosen because of the occasion, the capacity, and the location. Amsterdam, Munich, and L.A. were all temporary tracks. Norden certainly wasn't chosen because of occasion or location... There really is a lot more to take into account than the racing. There shouldn’t be. If you can’t put the ‘entertainment of the racing product first’ then you will never continually grow the sport as the spectacle won’t be there. It’s all well and good picking these nice stadiums in City centre locations, but if the track and racing are garbage the TV audience won’t be attracted. There lies the problem with the organisers, their picking good cities/locations but they’ve completely compromised the racing which won’t attract many back or support growth in global TV numbers. It needs a balance of stadia/racing quality. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepturningleft Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 The track last night was no worse than 2007 when Harris won, however there have been good Cardiff tracks in the past which have produced great racing which people find convenient to forget about. Clearly something has gone wrong this year so the main emphasis has to be making sure it doesn't happen again. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric i Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 1 minute ago, keepturningleft said: The track last night was no worse than 2007 when Harris won, however there have been good Cardiff tracks in the past which have produced great racing which people find convenient to forget about. Clearly something has gone wrong this year so the main emphasis has to be making sure it doesn't happen again. Its the 30 degree plus heat that dries the track out. Need to hold the GP latter in the year. Cardiff can be a good track..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullbore Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 8 minutes ago, eric i said: Its the 30 degree plus heat that dries the track out. Need to hold the GP latter in the year. Extremely rare for prolonged temperatures that high in Cardiff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R87 Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 3 hours ago, fullbore said: Have they finished rebuilding the city centre? Last time we were thereit was a demolition site and Arndale was run down and decrepid with only about 50% occupancy. Cardiff is a much nicer city centre. Then the stadium itself. Asides from a good track it has nothing to reccommend it for large international events: the catering and hosptiality are not sufficient to handle anything more that a league match crowd and it's miles out in the middle of suburbia with virtually no hospitalitynearby so one needs to get back to the city centre and there is only an evening bus service that is incapable of handling a full capacity crowd. I repeat, speedway fans could not care less about how many pubs are in the area, how many museums are close by, what the catering and hospitality is like. They go to watch exciting racing. You haven't had that it this dump in two decades. Bin it. It's pants. Belle Vue MUST be granted the GP next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazysue Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 5 hours ago, R87 said: More fool you then. Respectfully, in what way? Why? For running a Speedway related website or because I wanted to go or because I enjoy the social side alongside everything else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbw Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 23 minutes ago, RebelDan said: There shouldn’t be. If you can’t put the ‘entertainment of the racing product first’ then you will never continually grow the sport as the spectacle won’t be there. It’s all well and good picking these nice stadiums in City centre locations, but if the track and racing are garbage the TV audience won’t be attracted. There lies the problem with the organisers, their picking good cities/locations but they’ve completely compromised the racing which won’t attract many back or support growth in global TV numbers. It needs a balance of stadia/racing quality. Very well said. You have to think of speedway fans who haven't been to Cardiff and the racing & attendance on TV and then from that they decide if they should go. It's also extremely important to attract NEW fans to the sport & again avin seen that last night would it attract them? Imagine your watching for the first time & seeing riders wobbling around & Dudek just flopping over! You look then at crowd level & you would think.....no wonder not many go to this....wot is it called ermmmm wobbleway, slowway, am I going? NOWAY! Seems the SGP2 was a total cock up as well today. New people won't care about reasons about the heat or wotever they would just think wot a load of do da! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ovalman Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 (edited) Out of the 10 GP's I've been to the meetings with Pete Kildemand involved have been best for me. Fans go to Cardiff more for the experience than the racing. Perhaps the crowd was over 10000 down from 2018/19 because of 1. Train strike 2. The heat 3. Holiday season 4. Nowhere near the number of Polish fans 5. Dominance of eastern Europeans/ absence of Russians 6. Football season 7. Hassle of obtaining tickets and price increases? The racing at Oxford the previous night was no better. Edited August 14, 2022 by auntie doris 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullbore Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 10 minutes ago, R87 said: I repeat, speedway fans could not care less about how many pubs are in the area, how many museums are close by, what the catering and hospitality is like. Yet more people turn up each year than the Belle Vue can accommodate even with temporary stands... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 There is a difference between being at a meeting and watching it on tv. Everyone should admit that. I have been to a number of Vojens meetings which i quite enjoyed and then got home to read almost everyone here has slated it. No problems with that, because in the crowd people are enjoying themselves maybe more for the ocassion, soaking up the atmosphere, having a good time, mybe because we have invested the effort, time and money in making it there and are determined to enjoy it and get our money's worth.... Having said that, it would have been hard at the recent Vojens meetings with hardly any crowd and no atmosphere..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullbore Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 10 minutes ago, Turnip said: It's also extremely important to attract NEW fans to the sport & again avin seen that last night would it attract them? Bit like the farce of a British final the, where was that held? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OveFundinFan Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 No speedway track in the uk can hold anything near what Cardiff holds. So maybe we should be happy sticking with Cardiff. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagpuss Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 3 minutes ago, fullbore said: Bit like the farce of a British final the, where was that held? Which had nothing to do with the circuit itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TINYS Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 3 hours ago, RebelDan said: A truly dreadful meeting of follow the leader on a crap track. I took two newbies to their first meeting and was royally embarrassed. The Bewley win saved the show - well done Dan. I don’t buy all the razzmatazz of “yeah but it’s Cardiff”, first and foremost the racing has to be right, and time and time again we’ve seen if you give these boys a decent track they will put on a spectacular show. The organisers really need to sort this out as it’s been happening far too long - sort the bloody GP tracks out. The crowd looked at least 10,000 down on the usual Cardiff crowd which was a shame. Totally agree with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TINYS Posted August 14, 2022 Report Share Posted August 14, 2022 2 hours ago, Dodger Blue said: Second bend .... Sweat box !!! Definitely the most uncomfortable I have ever been in a sports stadium. Also had the joy in paddling in spilt drinks !! We sat on bend 3 middle tier and we didn,t feel any air con in fact one of our group had to go out for air because she felt faint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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