Glasgow Tigers Speedway

Glasgow is the golden example of how investment and professionals can turn the sport around, one of the best tracks and facilities in the country.

Date Visited
Sunday 1st May 2022
Fixture
Glasgow Tigers v Edinburgh Monarchs

My hotel in Leicester was your bog-standard motorway offering, air-conditioned and structured to block out the overnight hum of the M1. I woke up sceptical after the rain moved in the night before. I just about got away from Leicester speedway before the heavy rain moved in, but the bike was left to suffer the elements. I peered out across the services to find it was grey but dry, Result! Thankfully the weather would hold out as I journeyed across the A1 and up the country. I was 115 miles closer than I would be at home, but I still had 315 miles to cover before I would reach Glasgow's Ashfield Stadium, only 30 miles less than my journey from home to Berwick.

I made good time, stopping at the beautiful Annandale Water, where my hotel was based. I did the usual stop off to freshen up, drop off the gear and then continued north for one more hour. I should mention I met up with my wife and kids at the hotel, who would also make the journey north in the car to Glasgow for the afternoon's speedway offering!

It had been a few years since I visited Ashfield. The last few times have been when I'm on holiday in Scotland and made the journey south from Pitlockery. You know the drill. "Darling, seeing as we are up here, I might pop down to Glasgow on Sunday. They are at home to (Insert team name), and I think it'll be a cracking match". 'I'll see you when you get back. What time will you materialise" my wife replies? To be honest, I think she's resigned herself to the fact my love of speedway is on par with my family, although I stopped one short of missing my wedding because 'Peterborough were at home to Ipswich' that day.

When you arrive, you have a few options for parking. The stadium car park, I remember, is now the 'VIP' parking area. This is where I sent my wife to park, not realising it's £5 per vehicle! Most tracks allow bikes to park round where the riders are, but at Glasgow, I was sent round to the other car park, situated a minute down the road from the stadium. You've got a short walk back to the stadium; then you're good to go. There was a good crowd, as you would expect for the Scottish Derby!

It's safe to say the facilities at Glasgow have improved, it's the same stadium I remember but it's run to a far higher standard. The entrance is now situated on the first turn. Next to the ticket office, you'll find the track shop in a portacabin. The track shop is outside the stadium. I've never seen that at a permanent speedway venue before! After you've paid up and got your programme, you make your way through the bar and onto the pathway by turn 1, which is protected by some perspex sheets.

There is a small amount of viewing on the first bend, but it's low, and you can't see a great deal. The home straight has an elevated stand with seating overlooking the start gate. There's also space to stand in front of it.   Then there's a covered terrace on the fourth bend leading into the home straight. This leads into a VIP set of portacabins on bend 4. It looks like they are for commercial partners and corporate guests. On bend 4, there's another good elevated stand to get a good view of the track. If you continue round, you'll come to the backstraight where there's plenty of terracing available. The pits are situated behind the stand on the backstraight, but again you can't see a great deal because there are advertising hoardings in the way. The viewing on the backstraight is my preference as you're close but still elevated enough to get a good view of the circuit. There are food outlets on both sides of the home straight and one on the back straight, with plenty of options if you're feeling peckish.

Glasgow is 1 metre larger than Newcastle, but it's a far better shape. The track has a 55% width-to-- length ratio compared to Newcastle's 41%. This means the riders can carry the momentum built up on the bends into the next turn as the track has a 'circular' race line. Ashfield is the seventh largest track in the country at 298 metres, 2 metres longer than my last stop, Leicester. The straights are nice and wide at 12.2 Metres, and the bends are 14.1 metres, giving the riders plenty of room to pass. Glasgow is one of the quicker tracks, the riders averaging 51.8 mph.

Glasgow hosted their local rivals, Edinburgh Monarchs, and the Monarchs were out for revenge. The Tigers turned them over on home soil, taking a big 51-39 win at Armadale! The nerves were already showing when the match got underway with a tapes offence from Lasse Fredrikson. Sam Master showed no such nerves, gating on the inside of Craig Cook and disappearing into the distance. Glasgow soon got in their stride, picking up a 5-1 and 4-2 before Josh Pickering stopped the rot for the Monarchs with a 3-3. Glasgow extended their lead in Heat's 6 and 8, opening up a 12-point lead to make the score 30-18. Craig Cook made an excellent pass on Josh Pickering in Heat 6, edging the Aussie off the line and powering away. Suddenly the Monarchs looked lost at sea, the chances of revenge slipping away, or so we thought. The unbeaten Sam Masters came in as a tact sub and got a much-needed 5-1 for the visitors with Josh Pickering. Kye Thomson did brilliantly to hold Craig Cook back in Heat 10 to share the spoils, and the Monarchs clawed another 2 points back in Heat 11. Surely they couldn't?

During the interval, Glasgow has a foot race on the centre green for the kids, which my two little monsters thoroughly enjoyed. It was great to see the club engaging and getting the youngsters involved. They loved having a run around on the track, and it made the sport all the more appealing, with no on-costs to the club. The food outlets at Glasgow were very efficient, I got some chips and a drink from the food outlet on the backstraight, and it only took a few minutes.

When racing resumed, Ostergaard steadied the ship in Heat 12, keeping Castagna at bay whilst Bailey was trying everything to pass Jacob Hook. Craig Cook had no answer to Sam Masters in Heat 13, but he kept Josh Pickering out, settling for a 2-4 reversal. Only two heats left, and the gap was just 4 points. Suddenly an away win was plausible! Kye Thomson took the flag in Heat 14, but the Monarchs had to use William Lawson for his last ride, and he couldn't contribute, the Monarchs having to settle for a share of the spoils.

One Heat remaining, four points between the two sides. Monarchs need a maximum to steel a draw, and Glasgow need a maximum to send Edinburgh home empty-handed. Masters gates and gets across Brennan, but Pickering can't get around Cook. Masters leads the race with Cook in second. Pickering threw everything at Cook but couldn't get past. The Monarchs restored some pride and took a hard-earned point, but Glasgow held on for bragging rights.

It's pretty unusual to see a match change so rapidly. Glasgow took four heat advantages in the first eight heats, with the other races shared. The Monarchs claimed four heat advantages in the second half, with the remainder shared. Sam Masters was by far the stand-out rider. He rode to a flawless 18-point maximum and never looked troubled. Even the king of Ashfield, Craig Cook, couldn't get near the Australian.

If you've never been before, I highly recommend you check out Glasgow. It's one of the best racing tracks in the country. The circular shape and heavily banked bends make for a natural fluid circuit. The Grand Prix Challenge is at Glasgow in August. If you can make it, I highly recommend you do. Seeing the best riders in the world at this track would be magic!

It was time to make my way back to London, although I wouldn't be tackling the 400-mile journey straight away. I stopped off at Annandale Water services to rest for the night, where I saw non-other than Sam Masters with his family and a very unwell-looking Josh Pickering. He was on form at the track but looked purple at the services. I wasn't the least bit surprised when the Australian pulled out of King's Lynn's match at Wolverhampton the next day.

The next day I had a stroll around the lake with my wife and kids before they made their way back to London. I was tempted to stop at Belle Vue on the way back for Peterborough's visit but opted to get home. I'm glad I did because the Panthers were torn apart, and the match was all but over after six heats. With Glasgow, Berwick and the recently closed Newcastle all visited, I only had Edinburgh and Redcar to go before completing the Northern tracks. Before I worried about those, I opted for a more local trip to Ipswich. Just the 154-mile round trip this time, piece of cake!

Parking
The best option is just down the road at a charge of £1. If you park in the stadium car park it's £5 so avoid that if you can! I've had my car broken into before on the street so i would avoid that if you can, stick to the secure parking offered by the club.

Admission
Championship - £18 for Adults, £12 Students and 12 to 17s. Under 12 go for free. The Grandstand cost's an additional £2 per person.

Programme
£3 for the programme. Interesting read and has well presented front cover. Slightly smaller than other programmes but no less worth picking up.

Viewing Facilities
The main stand is seated for an additional £2 per person. You can stand in the terranced section at the back of the homes straight or infront of the grandstand. The fourth bend is good and high up, but I would still recommend the backstraight. It's close but you're looking down on the track, it still gives a good overall view wherever you stand. Bends 3, 4 and 1 have limited standing space but it's low and doesn't give a great viewpoint.

Catering
There's a bar on bend 1 and fixed catering outlets at the bend 4 end of the home straight, and the bend 3 end of the backstraight. The catering outlets were busy but getting through customers fast so you won't wait long for your food. 

Escaping!
No problems, the road is busy but the traffic filters quickly. 

Fancy a Day out at Glasgow Speedway?
 
Check out the Tigers website for the latest fixture and news, Glasgow's regular race night is Friday night and some sundays.

http://www.leicesterspeedway.com/

2022 UK TOUR STATS

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Ipswich Witches on Thursday 5th May 2022