Well an
early start for rain offs I mean matches this season. I’m not sure it’s such a
good idea to start the season earlier. The weather was better for the New Year
meeting at
What
else then, more controversy, the Matej Ferjan incident. Lots of posts on the
Anyway
a whole new season to look forward to and the prospect of some new rules to
contend with, some we know about and no doubt some we don’t until it is
tactically the right moment for them to be revealed ! Which brings me to a post I
noticed on the net about the use of guests. We are led to believe that
guests are only available for an injured no.1. Any other injured riders have to
be covered by rider replacement apart from the reserves. What is the situation if you have more than
your number one injured ? Well according to one
contributor who presumably has a new rulebook it’s like this - apparently.
More than one injury including the number 1 and you can use a
guest for the no.1 and Rider Replacement for 2nd injured rider with guests for
rest.
If it is not the number 1 who is injured Rider Replacement is to be used for
the highest average/graded rider, guests for lowest. I’m not sure on the use of
the word “guest” in this context for the lowest average riders – maybe this
means a rider from the premier league, who knows ?
Maybe the “Star of Saransk” will know, that’s if he’s
invested in a rule book this year, even then it may be open to interpretation !
Interestingly the contributor of this information goes on to say “there
are other complications but I'll leave it for a while if that's OK ?” are we surprised? - Don’t think so, this looks like
one of those rules that may well prove the theory of evolution.
There were also a good number of posts
about the new tactical rules, not surprisingly they still don’t seem that
popular. I notice a full description of how they can be used does appear in
some programmes and it was in the Speedway Star a few weeks ago, so, no need to
dwell on this touchy subject anymore – we’ll see how the season develops.
Another
topic of discussion was the recent “Star” interview with Michael Lee. As one
contributor stated it was interesting to read his point of
view after all this time, and thought that Michael was still annoyed about the whole thing even now. The post went on to say Michael had
similar views to many on the fans forum website. It was backed up by the
following comments.
·
“He didn’t like the sport being
"run" by a bunch of cowboys - this is still the case.
·
There was no "promotion" of
the sport - this is still the case.
A great opportunity was lost- look at the crowds now.”
The contributor also made the point
that in his view “the sport is still ‘run’ by a very few with their own
interests not the sport first - this time I assume they are sucking all the sky
money away. After almost 30 years the same problems persist.” Pretty strong words but they do unfortunately
have a ring of truth about them. I am sure that some promoters are doing what
they think is best for the sport but they never ask us – the supporter what we
think, we just turn up every week and sometimes get in the way! While its pretty obvious that some supporters don’t want change in
any shape or form the sport has to move forward. In reality however all that’s
happened over the last 20-30 years is that the sport is still here, there have
been some petty rule changes and we have a GP system that looks likely to
implode.
One other discussion topic stated,
“Racers prefer more dirt”. I had to look at this one because the last time I
went to Smallmead there was more dirt on the car park
than on the track - ooooh bit controversial there !
Anyway it was the age-old argument of
slick tracks versus deep tracks and racers v gaters.
The general conclusion being that slick tracks suit gaters.
It was felt that deeper tracks on the other hand generally give racers more opportunity
for passing and provide more entertainment - more dirt equals more passing.
Maybe it’s not quite that simple, not all riders can ride on dirt and as one
ex-rider did point out patchy inconsistent tracks are the worst of the lot.
In closing I would like to mention and
dedicate my piece this time to the memory of my great friend Keith Lovatt, who
sadly passed away recently after a short illness. We travelled together
to numerous meetings over the years, both in this country and abroad. He was a
regular supporter at both Stoke and
Many
supporters will remember Keith as the bloke with the bag of sweets who sat on a
fishing box on the terraces. Keith was well known to a lot of people and loved
his speedway. He was a supporter in Stoke’s old Sun
Street days. In the last couple of seasons his travels became more restricted
due to the severe arthritis he was suffering. Even though he was no doubt at
times in considerable pain he never complained and was an entertaining and
humorous character to be with.
He will
be sadly missed by all those who knew him.
The
speedway terraces have lost a great character; I’ve lost a great friend.