Crunch Year

Well we’ve all heard about the credit crunch but this could be a crunch year for speedway.

Given the present financial climate and the chances that people are going to have less disposable income means it looks like tough times may lie ahead.

While is sad to see that some of the sports top riders won’t be competing in Britain if tracks can’t afford to pay them we will have to live without them. Quite how they can turn down the opportunity to ride is a bit of a mystery though. I don’t think either Sweden or Poland are exactly flush with money and it seems that the Russian golden goose has been cooked. Motor sport generally looks like it will have a tough time, so speedway, minority sport as it is needs to be careful.

However so far we have some brilliant ideas to liven things up ! Look at the new scoring system that’s a good one! How complicated is that? Even better when you try to explain it to someone outside the sport - something that’s very simple – 4 riders racing round a track over 15 races suddenly gets quite complicated. Why do the BSPA think that that is going to make the sport more attractive? It won’t necessarily alter what’s happening on track and it’s the quality of racing and presentation that new supporters will notice most. And what about the idea of not declaring the riding order until it’s too late to be printed in the programme – what’s that all about then ? I suppose it could more easily make the programme re-usable for the rain-off .

When I first started watching speedway – which is quite a long time ago now! My first impression was that of the speed, smell and sound of the bikes. I think we have to accept that nowadays prospective new supporters are maybe looking for a little more. Although anecdotal evidence and I suppose more concrete evidence in the lowering of track records tells us that bike speeds have increased, it doesn’t always seem that way. One of my most profound memories was my first BLRC at a packed Hyde Road. The presentation of the riders and then the first four coming out for heat 1 tweaking the throttle and doing practice starts up to the line. Then a bloke in a commissionaire’s uniform waves them to the tapes and the stand lights are dimmed as the track lights brighten. Engines begin to rev, several green lights illuminate, a sudden release of sound from engines under strain and from a pall of blue/grey smoke the riders emerge and enter the all important first turn. The supporters down the back straight lean over the fence to get a better view of the riders jockeying for position as they come out of the second turn and jump back as they approach to avoid the flying shale. By the time the riders enter the second lap the smoke still hasn’t fully cleared. In actual fact at that point in reality a lot of races were effectively over, but you don’t remember that bit.

Now with safety zones and quieter bikes etc you cannot recapture that. In fact at the time and I’m talking 1978/79 – I thought that Hyde Road was a bit of a museum piece but I have to say that nostalgia has always appealed to me but the reality is that unless you are Doctor Who time goes only one way. We are all probably guilty of romanticising the past but speedway does seem to be particularly hung up about it.

What does the future hold ? – a question often asked at the start of a new season and I have to say that if we finish with the same number of clubs this season we will have done good. It’s hard to imagine any great advances in the sport being made this season. However long term plans have to be made about where the sport is going how its going to attract new fans.

Mind you it’s alright attracting new and potential fans to come and see a speedway meeting but what they see has to be memorable and exciting otherwise they won’t return. The racing and presentation is paramount. Speedway is never going to rival football for supporters and you have to wonder why some people who appear to live a normal life the rest of the week take an afternoon off to act like a yob singing and shouting obscenities at the opposing supporters. While we don’t need that in speedway we do need to attract new supporters and the BSPA needs to look at other sports and see what they do to attract people. As unpopular as it was in some quarters last season, promotion and relegation certainly works in football, our local team has doubled its gate following last years promotion even though it may only be for one season !

I have in the past suggested handicap racing like the Olympique that’s held annually at Wolverhampton and I am still convinced that this would provide more of a spectacle for supporters; it also seems to work well at Costa Mesa and Auburn.

Without new ideas and some fundamental changes it’s hard to see speedway growing in popularity ultimately the sport has to thrive not just survive.

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