Kent 2022

[FromBendThree]

10 minutes ago, flipper11 said:

Plenty of parking, they are opening up a field on the left as you drive into the 'stadium'.

Other tips. Bring a chair if you want to sit down. Bring an extra coat if its cold and try the burgers the one I had at p & p was lovely. 

Thanks very much and the bring a coat tip--reminds me of my times at the much missed Lakeside. 

[hammer1969]

Anyone have any ideas re the teams etc for the meeting on 17th as I can't see much on the kentroyals website

[Sings4Speedway]

So far announced i believe its Ablitt, Hagon, Spencer, Trigger, Foord and Kingston. Heard rumours of Jenkins but nothing confirmed as yet. Strong looking side but thats the benefit of fantasy speedway teams.

[Islander15]

9 hours ago, Sings4Speedway said:

So far announced i believe its Ablitt, Hagon, Spencer, Trigger, Foord and Kingston. Heard rumours of Jenkins but nothing confirmed as yet. Strong looking side but thats the benefit of fantasy speedway teams.

Jack Kingston back is an intriguing one! Will he want a full-time return I wonder? 

[Sings4Speedway]

12 hours ago, Islander15 said:

Jack Kingston back is an intriguing one! Will he want a full-time return I wonder? 

From what ive seen around the amateur meetings hes done over the past couple of seasons no. Certainly quick enough and looks to be enjoying himself which is probably more than could be said when he was league racing. Would need a hefty sponsor to come on board i think to mount any serious full time return to a sport in such a precarious postion.

[Racin Jason 72]

Decided to go the Kent v Thurrock today as I’d not been to iwade for 25 years. 
found my way there ok and plenty of signs of speedway which were helpful.  Very friendly staff on car parking duty and on the admission gate. 
going into the stadium it looked no different than it did 25 years ago but the track looked immaculate and super smooth 

we ventured onto the back straight as the home straight was fairly full even at 11am. Unfortunately there wasn’t any music to keep us entertained and the pa was inaudible. Once the racing started we saw some decent racing but the delays between heats were so long especially with no background music. 
By heat 6 we went to get some food and were quickly seen and our order taken.  I chose a sausage in a roll as they don’t do hot dogs !!!

25 minutes later I finally received my food but to be fair all the staff were working flat out and and were very apologetic and polite 

yet another delay for the air fence and then a electrical problem was enough for me. Two hours in and 8 heats completed. So back in the van we got and returned to Ipswich 

now I know this is a new promotion at a newly reopened league venue and you have to make allowances but honestly this is exactly why speedway is in the state it’s in

 

[hammer1969]

Our first time at Iwade found the track with the help of satnav. We sat on first bend, pa system was fine there, could have done with some background music, but not as deafening as it used to be at Eastbourne.  Delays between races need to be sorted.  It's a new venture so hopefully as weeks go on things will improve as we definitely need some speedway south of the river as the only other two tracks in the South are Poole and Plymouth much too far for us to travel.  Didn't try the food outlet so can't comment on that but toilet facilities definitely need improvement which hopefully will also happen in time. 

[flipper11]

26 minutes ago, hammer1969 said:

Our first time at Iwade found the track with the help of satnav. We sat on first bend, pa system was fine there, could have done with some background music, but not as deafening as it used to be at Eastbourne.  Delays between races need to be sorted.  It's a new venture so hopefully as weeks go on things will improve as we definitely need some speedway south of the river as the only other two tracks in the South are Poole and Plymouth much too far for us to travel.  Didn't try the food outlet so can't comment on that but toilet facilities definitely need improvement which hopefully will also happen in time. 

Planning restriction says no music allowed!

[hammer1969]

12 minutes ago, flipper11 said:

Planning restriction says no music allowed!

OMG, as long as its not blaring out who would it disturb the tracks in the middle of nowhere.  Someone parked in the field had their car radio on which we could hear occasionally, what is it with these planning departments it's obvious they all hate speedway and people enjoying a day out. Oh well next time we visit I'll take my ipod.

[Sings4Speedway]

Iwade is definitely basic but functional and has its own charm much as Buxton did (except the Iwade track is smooth).

Delays yesterday were tedious, air fence constantly deflating can happen but the ref and the starts! Green lights not working and taking an age to come on after the starter walks away, then engines screaming with big waits until the tapes go up, someone gets twitchy and its red flag again. The ref can dictate the pace of the meeting and he did a poor job. 

For the rest as a first venture and with improvements clearly planned its certainly a decent starting point and the racing on track was decent too. 

[marko]

Feel sorry for any Hammers fans who went.

Staved of speedway for 4 years and you get a long drawn out meeting with six riders and rider replacement.

All the things that we used to detest about the sport.

 

 

[Nikko]

Have not been  on here for years but was interested in views of this first league type meeting back at Iwade.

The new owner of the Kent Royals needs to be given time. He came in and saved the club, to his credit after the club lost Central Park.

With no choice but to run at Iwade, there will be serious limitations.

It's not a league venue by any standards, but it's all they have for now.

If you go, and I hope people do, accept you are seeing 2022 speedway at it's most grassroots in terms of venue, but support the young riders, and the club, and hopefully in years to come the club can move onto to better things.

Edited April 18, 2022 by Nikko

[HGould]

It's hard to work out what goes through the minds of some people.

When Len retired and Central Park was no longer available or affordable (not sure which) the bravery of Si Kellow and his supporters in trying to make this solution happen deserves massive praise and credit not moaning and whining.

The South East for various reasons has become a desert for Speedway in recent times and with no options south of Mildenhall, east  of Poole or Oxford it may be sensible for people to be grateful for what they have.

Hopefully Lakeside will find a track soon and Eastbourne will reopen next year; but until they do if you want Speedway in the South East its at Iwade! 

Music or lack of, toilets, food you'll have to give it a chance to improve and surely it will. The Air Fence apparently came from Central Park and is not a bespoke fitting?. Bags leak and need time to be properly set up and it may be they need more powerful blowers. 

The site as far as I'm aware is a long standing Training facility with various planning constraints but a decent track and like Buxton and Berrington Lough and lets not forget Somerset in those early days is what it is, a speedway track in a field where facilities have to be built as and when required.

Hopefully Mr Kellow wont be disheartened by the moans and whinges and will create a long term home for Speedway in the area.

Edited April 18, 2022 by HGould
corrected to "east" of Poole

[Bagpuss]

30 minutes ago, marko said:

Feel sorry for any Hammers fans who went.

Staved of speedway for 4 years and you get a long drawn out meeting with six riders and rider replacement.

All the things that we used to detest about the sport.

R/R for a challenge match is odd. Seems unnecessary. Clean and functional toilets are a basic and should be straightforward to provide.

I think we all understand that somebody has stepped in to save the club and credit to them for that but there is a balance and constructive criticism is healthy and helps mprovement. People are entitled to expect a certain level of satisfaction as customers.

[waco]

Some problems with the air fence generator and the green light . but the main problem was with the ref failing to keep the meeting moving at a decent pace, which does nothing to maintain the support of the fans,who turned out in decent numbers to watch some reasonably decent racing at this level but the meeting took 3hrs to run,...Bowtell has improved hugely from a few seasons ago,has pace and now smooth round the bends,,Morley is,a top performer at this level,so we have great strength at the top end,,solid afternoon from Verge whos gating was excellent..Alcock was slow to get going today but judging by his performance at Plymouth could soon become a heat leader The lower order performed better at Plymouth so perhaps the track will take time to get used too ..For the Hammers Ablitt was impressive,as was reserve Ben Trigger and young Vinnie Ford battled hard all afternoon ,,So a decent start for the promotion ,but the presentation needs to be much slicker and a lot of that is down to the Referee,,......

[Guest]

From the various comments I have read about Iwade it reminds me of the old California-in-England track (near Wokingham). We used to 'enjoy' similar happenings there in the early 1950s. And the 'stadium setting' appears to be very much the same.

Edited April 18, 2022 by Guest

[brianbuck]

Clearly, there were a few annoying teething problems throughout this opening meeting and were the cause of innumerable delays, but surely people understand that this isn't uncommon, especially at a new venue?

The promotion will recognise this and will doubtless work hard to put things right so please stick with them Kent fans. They surely deserve your backing.

[crescent girl]

If the volunteers can work away on little things in and around the venue, and fans see a small improvement to early difficulties each time they visit, support will develop.   

No music being allowed is something that means ingenuity is required to make sure there are other ways of filling the 'dead air' between races.

Edited April 19, 2022 by crescent girl

[edmon]

22 hours ago, Racin Jason 72 said:

Once the racing started we saw some decent racing but the delays between heats were so long especially with no background music. 

 

17 hours ago, hammer1969 said:

Delays between races need to be sorted.

Much of this must have been caused by the leniency of the referee.  There should only be a maximum of four minutes between the end of a race and the start of the next.

[Old Crusader]

On 4/8/2022 at 11:40 AM, Sings4Speedway said:

From what ive seen around the amateur meetings hes done over the past couple of seasons no. Certainly quick enough and looks to be enjoying himself which is probably more than could be said when he was league racing. Would need a hefty sponsor to come on board i think to mount any serious full time return to a sport in such a precarious postion.

Jack I see has signed for Mildenhall.