Speedway Thread

[Murphy]

Not sure how many of us here actually like/watch Speedway, know myself and Aber do but other than that, is there anyone hiding?

Anyway, the British finals were eventful tonight, took them an hour and a half to get 5 heats completed with the number of crashes, Ben Barker in particular having a really nasty one. Needless to say Woffinden came away with the title once again, although Jason Garrity looked very good.

Also disappointing with Team GB last week, came so close but yet so far to qualifying but yet so far Plenty to build on though.

 

[Aberstone]

No surprises with Woffy claiming his third British title, I do feel for Craig Cook though who was mugged thanks to Jason Garrity's fall. I'm not quite sure what's up with Chris Harris at the moment, he's gating well but the bike is so slow, whether it's the set up of the bike or him himself I don't know.

Robert Lambert impressed me at the race-off, he couldn't do much at King's Lynn due to the track having no grip on the outside. If you didn't gate well then there was no chance of victory as everyone was following the inside line. However at Vojens, some of the lines and manoeuvers he was pulling off were classy, something I'd expect from a veteran, not a 17 year old. He's got a big future ahead of him.

With Jarek Hampel's broken leg, Pete Kildemand will take his place in the World Championships for the rest of the season. The latter should have been in there from the get go imo, classy rider who made the Danish Grand Prix final as a Wildcard last year, he also scored 14/15 in the World Cup on Sunday.

Also a congratulations are in order to Sweden for winning the World Cup, I nor anyone else saw that coming.

 

[Gulliball]

Yeah, I am another Speedway fan. I grew up watching the now defunct Exeter Falcons, and am now largely an armchair fan.

It was a fairly typical British Final, I really hope they move it next year to a track where overtaking is possible. Cook had the final won until the crash, although with the jump in quality between Woffinden and everybody else, anyone else winning would have been a reflection on the format and track.

Tai's 21 points in the World Cup was a phenomenal performance, and Lambert did as well as he could be expected to. Harris and King didn't perform as they could have and we were rightly edged into second in both events. 5th in the world is about right for us though, as we don't have enough quality at the top level. Harris is sadly on the way down, Nicholls isn't riding for GB and the rest aren't of the required standard. More coming through like Lambert is very much needed.

Going to Cardiff again in July. It's normally a good day out, and with his form this year Woffinden must be in with a great shout of winning it.

 

[Krazy8]

Well finding this thread has made my day

 

[Krazy8]

You've probably seen this already but had to post it

 

[Aberstone]

You've probably seen this already but had to post it

Fucking brilliant isn't it? Go on Greg! I don't blame him, Pedersen cuts people off on straights all the time and seems to get away with it.

 

[Krazy8]

Had a tweet retweeted by Tai Woffinden, possibly the happiest moment of my life.

Anyone going to Cardiff for the Grand Prix?

 

[Aberstone]

Had a tweet retweeted by Tai Woffinden, possibly the happiest moment of my life.

Anyone going to Cardiff for the Grand Prix?

I was hoping to get to Cardiff but unfortunately I'm stuck in work on Saturday. Went for the first time last year and really enjoyed it.

 

[Murphy]

Darcy Ward's finally back from a ban as well, they reckon there's 4 teams at least chasing him over here with Swindon the most likely option, although they'd have to bump off two riders to get him in (Which is probably worth it for a rider of his quality).

Looking forward to a bumper weekend of British motorsports with this Speedway and F1 to come at the weekend.

 

[Gulliball]

I am going to Cardiff on Saturday. Our family happened to be in Cardiff about 2 months before the first GP was going to be held there in about 2000 and saw a poster for it. My dad is a speedway fan and we had been to watch Exeter a few times, so bought tickets. Since then, I think he has been to all 14, and my mum has just missed one. I went to them all from 2000-20010 ish but since moving to Scotland have only been to 2 of the last 5. My brother's stopped going regularly too, as he works in hotels so usually works Saturdays.

My parents bought two tickets as usual this year, but my brother and I are going to surprise them by turning up in Cardiff. We've got 2 seats sat 13 rows behind them. Haven't see any of them since February, so it will be a nice day out in Cardiff as well as the Speedway.

Even if Woffinden wins it would not top Bomber in 2007, but I hope he does, on his way to becoming World Champion again.

 

[Murphy]

Anyone catch the end of the Kings Lynn/Poole meeting last night? Absolute quality stuff right down to the very end, Kings Lynn rider made a vital pass on the penultimate lap to secure a point and ensure they retained their home record - love it when Nigel Pearson goes garrity in the commentary box.

Brilliant sporting drama - frustrates me that more people don't enjoy Speedway.

 

[Gulliball]

I don't watch any form of motorsport - F1, bikes or whatever, and I'm really not a 'car person' at all, but I love the drama of speedway. The format is excellent and it's exciting to follow. If my dad had never taken me to Exeter when I was young, or to Cardiff year after year as I was growing up, I can't think of how I would have ever discovered it through.

 

[Aberstone]

Anyone catch the end of the Kings Lynn/Poole meeting last night? Absolute quality stuff right down to the very end, Kings Lynn rider made a vital pass on the penultimate lap to secure a point and ensure they retained their home record - love it when Nigel Pearson goes garrity in the commentary box.

Brilliant sporting drama - frustrates me that more people don't enjoy Speedway.

Robert Lambert, what a talent.

 

[Murphy]

Great for Lambert to get an opportunity tonight, even if it was only one race, but he still scored points as well. Disappointing for Woffy to lose out in the final, but he extends the overall lead which is the most important thing. Pederson had a crash as well, who'd have thought

Fantastic crowd as always, great watch.

 

[Murphy]

Two cases of drivers having to walk the bike round to the finish line tonight on the last lap in order to get a point - never seen it before and then you get two in a single meeting!

Good seeing Darcy Ward back though, some awful crashes tonight mind.

 

[Aberstone]

Track was superb though, grip everywhere which made for some very entertaining racing. I fancy Swindon to go on now and pip Belle Vue to that 4th spot.

 

[Aberstone]

Latvian Grand Prix this evening. The track is sadly awful at Daugavpils, fancy Nicki Pedersen to win tonight.

 

[Murphy]

Lakeside nicking a draw tonight on the last heat, sensational last couple of corners. Some bad crashes as well, good turnout though which is great to see, especially so many youngsters.

Woffinden had a decent time of it on Saturday as well, maintains his advantage over Pedersen. Barring injury I can't see him letting it slip.

 

[Aberstone]

Yes Pete Kildemand!

 

[Krazy8]

Horror crash for Darcy Ward in Poland last night.

http://www.skysports.com/speedway/n...ard-badly-injured-in-horrific-crash-in-poland

 

[ccfctommy]

Hooray a speedway thread!

I'm only just getting into the sport so I am still clueless. Cov Bees fan here. Got beat by the Poole Pirates on Monday

 

[Tom_CUFC]

Offseason bump, another Speedway enthusiast here, Birmingham supporter, was just out in Melbourne for the last GP a couple of weeks ago, absolute belter of an event in a fantastic city, and I got to meet Jason Crump, which was cool.

Next year's World Cup race off and final announced today to be at the new Belle Vue track, hotels booked already, should be a great weekend and really excited to see the new stadium. Hopefully that'll be the catalyst to get some respectability back to top flight speedway in this country but with the clowns that run the sport here I'm not banking on it.

 

[Aberstone]

Excellent news today regarding the World Cup Final. I'm assuming that GB will automatically get a place in the final then?

The Melbourne track was essentially an oval which really did restrict overtaking. I couldn't believe in 20+ years of being on the Grand Prix that it was Greg Hancock's first ever maximum, but I'm delighted for him.

New ownership down at Rye House, there had/have been plans to get into the Elite League but clearly nothing has come to fruition yet.

 

[Tom_CUFC]

I thought the track at Melbourne was the best temp track they've done and thought it was a really good meeting actually, far better than what Cardiff has generally served up the last few years, with it being a bigger stadium in terms of size of the field they were dealing with it allowed them to build a more Polish style track than the very short ones you get at places like Cardiff, Copenhagen and Stockholm, and I think that generally produces better racing. Was a decent attendance too, they'll be really tested next year though, AFAIK it's on the same weekend as the MotoGP at Phillip Island.

GB will be seeded straight into the final, you'd imagine to be joined by Poland, Denmark and Australia, but then who'd have seen Sweden winning it this year. Race off is on the Friday too rather than the Thursday which will make it really good for a weekender. Hopefully it stays dry...

There was chat about Kent going Elite too this season (possibly at the expense of Lakeside) along with Rye but obviously that never came to fruition either, they may have just been contingencies with concerns over Lakeside, Swindon and Leicester this off-season (and Coventry next). 8 teams is fine for the top division, but there are too many fixtures (not helped by the fact hardly any teams own their stadiums) and there needs to be a fixed race night, maybe two at a push, but I can't see there being any improvements in the reputation of the top flight this year, looks like same old same old.

 

[Gulliball]

I have never really understood the limit behind the averages - not an average itself but why it is so slow. You want even racing, but you want the best riders riding in the elite league. A few years ago Coventry had to decide between Scott Nicholls and Chris Harris, at the time the number 1 & 2 English riders, because they couldn't fit both into the averages. In what other sport to teams have to discard world class talent? With 8 elite teams, you could quite easily get 4/5 top quality riders into each team, with a few youngsters at reserve and still have an average system to maintain equality. At the moment it just seems like the quality of the elite league is being kept artificially low, whilst many of the top level riders (including our very own world champion) are put off riding here.

I went to my first live club speedway match in many years last month, my new local team Edinburgh vs Rye House. It was nice to watch live speedway again, and even though it's out of town I will try to get to a few races next season. Edinburgh won the Premier League for a 2nd successive year and also a cup, although Craig Cook has just left so that's a huge blow.

 

[Tom_CUFC]

But you can't get the top riders into the Elite League teams because they don't want to ride here, that ship sailed well over a decade ago in reality, we don't pay as well because the attendances aren't as good and no-one owns their own stadium, we ride basically every night of the week, and let's be honest, getting to Britain is a pain in the arse. You significantly increase the points limit and you wouldn't get any extra world class riders over here, but you'd get Poole winning the league at a canter with probably 5 of the 10 best riders in the league in their team, it's bad enough as it is with them cheating their way to the title every year, let alone if they did it by being legitimately better than everyone else!

Fixed race nights and investment in facilities and young riders are the key, the latter seems to be happening and we've got 2 brand new stadiums coming to the EL this year, with fixed race nights supposedly for 2017, so it's a start, but it's not going to happen overnight.

 

[S2_Blade]

Another big speedway fan here Go Sheffield without fail providing work does not get in way and also venture across to Belle Vue & Buxton.

We have a good team for next season so cant wait, also got my ticket for opening meeting at Belle Vue's new stadium and tickets for World Cup final

 

[Aberstone]

The National Speedway Stadium's grand opening last night had to be postponed due to an unfit track.

Rockets start their season with a 50-40 win over Plymouth in the League Cup. New owners, new colours (orange & black) and plenty of renovation works being done on the track.

 

[Tom_CUFC]

Just when you think speedway can't take itself any lower, and you know there's worse to come yet! If it wasn't ready then that's relatively acceptable, building delays happen in every walk of life, but it should've been postponed days, if not weeks before, not let people in and go through all the ceremonial stuff before testing it and calling it off, feel terrible for everyone who went up there and spent a lot of money. Sounds like they're going to cancel all meetings there for the next month to try and get it fixed.

The statement from the BSPA this morning was an absolute embarrassment as well.

 

[Aberstone]

Just when you think speedway can't take itself any lower, and you know there's worse to come yet! If it wasn't ready then that's relatively acceptable, building delays happen in every walk of life, but it should've been postponed days, if not weeks before, not let people in and go through all the ceremonial stuff before testing it and calling it off, feel terrible for everyone who went up there and spent a lot of money. Sounds like they're going to cancel all meetings there for the next month to try and get it fixed.

The statement from the BSPA this morning was an absolute embarrassment as well.

And people wonder why there's less and less interest for Speedway in this country. Piss up and brewery spring to mind here...