Pre Meeting Practice - Why not?

[Najjer]

All too often in British Speedway, you hear reports of tracks not being up to scratch at the beginning of a meeting and riders unhappy with conditions - whether this be poor prep, weather conditions or any other factors. 

I notice from today’s match at Redcar, riders were given a chance to spend 1 minute out of track according to speedway updates. 

Before the start of every league match in Poland, every team can nominate 2 riders to go out on track to check out track conditions etc. Why are we not doing this over here? This can help to eliminate a whole host of potential issues on the horizon (like Peterborough the last week with heat 1 and riders not being happy with the exit to turn 2) and give riders a chance to get on track before heat 1. This adds abit of a tactical element too - do you send out your experienced guys to pass on knowledge or send out a junior to get some much needed track time before their first ride?

There is no shame in following in the Poles footsteps if it helps to solve problems and benefits the beginning of meetings. How often do we see matches where the first 4 heats are follow the leader around the inside until the track starts to bed in and dirt moves wider?

This one seems abit of a non brainer to me and can only be a good thing. 

 

[steve roberts]

8 hours ago, Najjer said:

All too often in British Speedway, you hear reports of tracks not being up to scratch at the beginning of a meeting and riders unhappy with conditions - whether this be poor prep, weather conditions or any other factors. 

I notice from today’s match at Redcar, riders were given a chance to spend 1 minute out of track according to speedway updates. 

Before the start of every league match in Poland, every team can nominate 2 riders to go out on track to check out track conditions etc. Why are we not doing this over here? This can help to eliminate a whole host of potential issues on the horizon (like Peterborough the last week with heat 1 and riders not being happy with the exit to turn 2) and give riders a chance to get on track before heat 1. This adds abit of a tactical element too - do you send out your experienced guys to pass on knowledge or send out a junior to get some much needed track time before their first ride?

There is no shame in following in the Poles footsteps if it helps to solve problems and benefits the beginning of meetings. How often do we see matches where the first 4 heats are follow the leader around the inside until the track starts to bed in and dirt moves wider?

This one seems abit of a non brainer to me and can only be a good thing. 

 

I'm sure I recall this initiative was once tried sometime during the nineties or did I just imagine it?

[BuxtonTiger]

The idea is good but by the time riders have been out and the track regarded how long will it take. Meetings drag on long enough already.

[rusky]

In the Swedish league in the mid to late 90's, the visiting team were given an opportunity for a short practice (I seem to remember 10 minutes but I may be wrong) at Elite League meetings, I'm not sure about the allsvenskan though. This used tto happen an hour before the scheduled start and it seemed to work quite well.

[Triple.H.]

1 hour ago, steve roberts said:

I'm sure I recall this initiative was once tried sometime during the nineties or did I just imagine it?

You might be thinking of the flying lap competition Steve Purchase tried at Oxford

[LisaColette]

Promoters will be worried about home track advantage being reduced. Poole have always had practice laps after the parade. Actually only time they might not is dodgy weather. 

[steve roberts]

26 minutes ago, Triple.H. said:

You might be thinking of the flying lap competition Steve Purchase tried at Oxford

Yes that sounds familiar!

Going back many years I'm sure that the Italian Touring Team got in some pre-match practice at Cowley?

Edited April 3, 2023 by steve roberts

[Najjer]

21 minutes ago, lisa-colette said:

Promoters will be worried about home track advantage being reduced. Poole have always had practice laps after the parade. Actually only time they might not is dodgy weather. 

Well that’s short sighted - as by that own admission it’ll work in their favour when they visit an away track. 

[Najjer]

54 minutes ago, BuxtonTiger said:

The idea is good but by the time riders have been out and the track regarded how long will it take. Meetings drag on long enough already.

Start at 7:15 with the practice and then first race scheduled for 7:30 - that’s that issue solved.

[chunky]

42 minutes ago, Najjer said:

Start at 7:15 with the practice and then first race scheduled for 7:30 - that’s that issue solved.

I've often said that the GP's usually start to liven up after 8-10 races - once the track settles in - and they could easily send juniors out before the meeting to get it in shape from the start. There is no reason at all why they couldn't do that at ALL meetings - and EVERYBODY would benefit.

Edited April 3, 2023 by chunky

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

1 hour ago, chunky said:

I've often said that the GP's usually start to liven up after 8-10 races - once the track settles in - and they could easily send juniors out before the meeting to get it in shape from the start. There is no reason at all why they couldn't do that at ALL meetings - and EVERYBODY would benefit.

The reason not to do this is juniors are generally used to less dirt and may struggle on a fresh surface

This makes a crash more likely which could mean medical delays or fence repairs which actually delay or even jeopardise the main meeting

[chunky]

23 minutes ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said:

The reason not to do this is juniors are generally used to less dirt and may struggle on a fresh surface

This makes a crash more likely which could mean medical delays or fence repairs which actually delay or even jeopardise the main meeting

I get where you're coming from, but I'm not talking about races - or even going flat out. Just getting them out there doing laps would help break up the surface, and they'd be getting valuable experience.

[stevehone]

Kings Lynn did the flying lap thing before the meeting a few years ago, didn’t last long though, don’t know if the riders didn’t want it or the authorities, but it gave all riders a chance to try out the track which isn’t a bad thing

[longlivefrankie]

From memory they had practice laps in The Conference League in either 1997 or 1998, worked well from memory.

[Tsunami]

Its nice to see that a go ahead promotion are trying something that pleases the riders and the fans.

[Robert Lee]

Normal procedure at the late lamented Coventry was for both teams to bring out their bikes and be presented in front of the main stand. When the intros were over, they would all get on their bikes and do as many practice laps as they wanted until the CO (or later Colin Pratt) appeared on-track to signal the end of practice. Usually 5-10 minutes. Strictly no practice starts on the bends or the CO would have your wotsits for garters.

[Ray Stadia]

18 hours ago, Robert Lee said:

Normal procedure at the late lamented Coventry was for both teams to bring out their bikes and be presented in front of the main stand. When the intros were over, they would all get on their bikes and do as many practice laps as they wanted until the CO (or later Colin Pratt) appeared on-track to signal the end of practice. Usually 5-10 minutes. Strictly no practice starts on the bends or the CO would have your wotsits for garters.

Or your wotsits for gaters!