Witches v Lynn May 6th 2.15pm

[hasta la vista]

4 hours ago, Arch Stanton said:

before the rain made it a bit of a lottery in his final two

I'm confused as plenty on here have said the track was fine and there was hardly any rain and it was safe to get to heat 10. Which one is actually true?

[GeneralMelchett]

50 minutes ago, iainb said:

2 out of 67 ain't bad! That's very nearly a 3% success rate 

Higher % than footballers that make it!

flippant i know but you can add others to the made it list its just those 2 are the best examples i can think of right now

[kevin bass]

1 hour ago, GeneralMelchett said:

I did worry his injury last season would hamper his progress, seems not to have which is great - He and Brennan and great examples of the R/S working really well.

He did the right thing last season when injured and didn't come back to early, yeah he missed pretty much t remainder of the season but came but fully fit and has carried on this season where he left off before his injury

[GeneralMelchett]

1 minute ago, kevin bass said:

He did the right thing last season when injured and didn't come back to early, yeah he missed pretty much t remainder of the season but came but fully fit and has carried on this season where he left off before his injury

yes it was a nasty crash on a tricky track - dislocated shoulder i seem to recall which can cause all sorts of problems for riders I imagine

[kevin bass]

14 minutes ago, hasta la vista said:

I'm confused as plenty on here have said the track was fine and there was hardly any rain and it was safe to get to heat 10. Which one is actually true?

Track was fine up to heat 6 when rain started and got gradually heavier, it then got worse after heats 7/8, heats 9/10 were pretty much from the gate and spread out 

[IainB]

16 minutes ago, GeneralMelchett said:

Higher % than footballers that make it!

flippant i know but you can add others to the made it list its just those 2 are the best examples i can think of right now

Seriously though, there are far many more football clubs, Football doesn't rely on doubling up to keep their domestic leagues running and also doesn't "rely" on foreign talent

[IainB]

8 minutes ago, kevin bass said:

 pretty much from the gate and spread out 

We get that at Leicester when the track is perfect! No excuse to abandon a meeting 

[Arch Stanton]

48 minutes ago, hasta la vista said:

I'm confused as plenty on here have said the track was fine and there was hardly any rain and it was safe to get to heat 10. Which one is actually true?

Others can have their say obviously and I won’t speak for them, but the last few heats leading up to 10 were farcical. There was one heat where you had two riders in front, and the two at the back half a lap behind struggling to get around. 

[Aries]

1 hour ago, hasta la vista said:

I'm confused as plenty on here have said the track was fine and there was hardly any rain and it was safe to get to heat 10. Which one is actually true?

https://speedwayupdates.proboards.com/thread/22475/kings-lynn-premiership-06-2024
 

Reading the comments on the updates site from heat 6 onwards, as well as the heat times compared to the first 6 heats, I’d say that’s completely accurate. Anyone saying conditions were fine and there was nothing wrong with the track, are either trolling or need an urgent visit to specsavers. Riders were giving up on track, some weren’t even attempting to slide their machines and were free wheeling around the bends. 

Edited May 8 by Aries

[GeneralMelchett]

46 minutes ago, iainb said:

Seriously though, there are far many more football clubs, Football doesn't rely on doubling up to keep their domestic leagues running and also doesn't "rely" on foreign talent

I would suggest that whilst 'rely on' maybe the wrong phrase take out the non UK players even down to League 1 and some teams would be struggling to field their best sides for sure! However it would be fun to see Harlaand in the Prem for City on a saturday and then flying out to France for PSG on a sunday night match!

However back to the 2 from 67 i'd say you can add 3-4 more which makes it nearer 10%

[SPEEDY69]

53 minutes ago, kevin bass said:

Track was fine up to heat 6 when rain started and got gradually heavier, it then got worse after heats 7/8, heats 9/10 were pretty much from the gate and spread out 

Agree with that but it never really rained that much at all, until after there was a delay for 15 minutes.  What it did highlight really clearly to me was the difference in ability of riders to cope with a wet track where the bald bits go like ice and the deeper bits can be much better but occasionally really grippy.  Standouts as not coping well were Klindt, Jenkins, Thompson & Basso.  Those who coped really well and rode smoothly were Iversen, Doyle, Nicholls, Ellis and MPT.  Could have easily got the remaining heats in if they were quick, in my view.

I remember seeing Andy Smith in a world championship round at King's Lynn many years ago show all the others how it should be done when it was very wet, has was superb that day.

[IainB]

1 hour ago, GeneralMelchett said:

I would suggest that whilst 'rely on' maybe the wrong phrase take out the non UK players even down to League 1 and some teams would be struggling to field their best sides for sure! However it would be fun to see Harlaand in the Prem for City on a saturday and then flying out to France for PSG on a sunday night match!

However back to the 2 from 67 i'd say you can add 3-4 more which makes it nearer 10%

Take out the foreign players from football and there's hundreds ready to take their place, can you say the same about speedway? And isn't Haarland a league 2 player anyway 

For me our "youth system" just isn't producing enough riders for the few teams we have left and is probably part of the reason while there are so few clubs left

[hasta la vista]

1 hour ago, SPEEDY69 said:

Those who coped really well and rode smoothly were Iversen, Doyle, Nicholls, Ellis and MPT.

Massive difference if you are in front or behind.
Track was flooded in Gdansk on Sunday after a storm and NKI scored 0,0 whilst Klindt score 3,3 against Huckenbeck etc.
It's never as black and white as you think and just about 'an ability to cope'

[JamesB]

1 hour ago, Aries said:

https://speedwayupdates.proboards.com/thread/22475/kings-lynn-premiership-06-2024
 

Reading the comments on the updates site from heat 6 onwards, as well as the heat times compared to the first 6 heats, I’d say that’s completely accurate. Anyone saying conditions were fine and there was nothing wrong with the track, are either trolling or need an urgent visit to specsavers. Riders were giving up on track, some weren’t even attempting to slide their machines and were free wheeling around the bends. 

I was the Texter, so I’ll put my two penneth into the debate;

The rain just prior to and during heat 7 was heavy. At the completion of heat 7, the rain then eased back, however it made the track difficult for the subsequent heats. The better/more experienced riders were generally speaking (apart from Klindt) able to cope better with the track but the less experienced struggled.

In my view, it was touch and go whether the track was fit to ride, however racing on it was virtually impossible. 

I guess it depends on whether you want to watch 4 riders racing on a track or riding around it.

Edited May 8 by JamesB

[Gavan]

1 hour ago, SPEEDY69 said:

Agree with that but it never really rained that much at all, until after there was a delay for 15 minutes.  What it did highlight really clearly to me was the difference in ability of riders to cope with a wet track where the bald bits go like ice and the deeper bits can be much better but occasionally really grippy.  Standouts as not coping well were Klindt, Jenkins, Thompson & Basso.  Those who coped really well and rode smoothly were Iversen, Doyle, Nicholls, Ellis and MPT.  Could have easily got the remaining heats in if they were quick, in my view.

I remember seeing Andy Smith in a world championship round at King's Lynn many years ago show all the others how it should be done when it was very wet, has was superb that day.

Can’t agree with what you say about riders coping with it …. Iversen, Doyle , Ellis and MPT all led their races and much much easier from the front … Nicholls just rode safely behind Ellis …… Emil had no answer to MPT due to the track not ability as the track almost threw him off on bend one and as he said afterwards to us he couldn’t see anything 

The riders you mention are all experienced absolutely but they did all lead…. For example if Dan had of led I’m sure he would have been fine 

[GeneralMelchett]

27 minutes ago, iainb said:

Take out the foreign players from football and there's hundreds ready to take their place, can you say the same about speedway? And isn't Haarland a league 2 player anyway 

For me our "youth system" just isn't producing enough riders for the few teams we have left and is probably part of the reason while there are so few clubs left

Scottish football is probably a better example right now - excluding the big 3-4 clubs the rest are largely staffed by UK home nation players - we could argue in my time watching speedway never has produced enough the old NL tried with the no foreigners rule but by 1989 that had been challenged and gone.

the R/s aint perfect but its produced for me two riders of real potential note in the last 3-4 seasons one being Tom and other is DanT right now. I actually had this debate with a few people a few years back i said at the time there were too many clubs and we'd have to lose a few for the sport to keep going and the old speedway any night of the week would be a thing of the past.

[cowboy cookie returns?]

I know this topic has gone left field talking about football & speedways reliance on guests and doubling up.

The issue is that the sport in the uk hasn’t shown any imagination or desire to grow and become strong in the last 30 years at least. If truth be known it probably didn’t in the heyday of the 70s & early 80s either.

I dearly want to see speedway become a sport that is taken seriously & one that has its rightful place as a decent spectator sport. I know that it won’t ever be like Poland here but I’d be happy with decent media coverage and the remaining tracks we have being secure. However to much that goes on now makes that impossible!