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As a first time visitor to Ashfield, I have to say that it was an enjoyable evening. The promotion have clearly devoted a lot of time, money, effort and love in bringing the stadium into the 21st Century. Signing the stadium all the way back to the motorway junction made it far easier than expected to find the track. It would be fair to say that the racing got better as the meeting went on, with some cracking races e.g. Iversen v Lambert and Covatti v Aarnio. My impression of the riders; Berge - V. poor. Not interested and comfortably beaten by Bickley in Heat One. Tungate - Three exclusions and one point. Enough said. Andersen - Evidently took a chance on his shoulder, but after struggling in his second heat, he wisely decided to withdraw. Cook - 15 point maximum. Not quite as electric from the gate as I expected, but controlled and super quick when behind or in front. Smektala - Biggest disappointment of the meeting for me. Apparently didn't practice and rode like a novice in his first two heats. Two heat victories and a last - another Polish gating tart? Aspgren - Biggest surprise of the night but a deserved qualifier - comfortably held off Iversen, Lambert and Holder in his first three heats. Aarnio - Battled hard all night, with great races against Covatti, Nicol and Thorsell, but not enough speed to trouble the top scorers. Iversen - Controlled and ruthless. Got better as the meeting progressed - cracking race against Lambert in Heat Fourteen. Nicol - Impressive. Looked quick and took a deserved third to first victory in Heat Eighteen. Moi - Pleasantly surprised. Only one point from his first four rides, but he looked better than expected. Took Iversen from the back in Heat Seventeen before being repassed. Probably needs more meetings either in Sweden or UK to progress. Lambert - Two comfortable heat victories and three second places. Looked quick and deserved to qualify. Niedzwiedz - V. poor. Still surprised he was selected by the Polish federation. Never got to grips with the track. Easily passed by Moi in Heat Three. Covatti - The best of the non-qualifiers in my opinion. Attacked the track and looked quick. Not afraid to mix it - e.g. race against Aarnio. Holder - Not quite enough. His bikes didn't look quick enough - held off Aarnio in Heat Thirteen, but comfortably beaten by Cook and Lambert in Heat Twenty. Riding his brothers bikes as at the SoN? Smetana - Decent UK debut. Went somewhat backward as the meeting went on and the track produced better racing. Thorsell - Disappointing. Gone backwards since I used to regularly see him ride for Wolves. Comfortably passed by Nicol and Aarnio in Heat Eighteen. Biggest positive of the night - having the pleasure to speak to a range of speedway fans over the course of the evening; especially the two elderly Glasgow fans sat next to meet in the grandstand. Genuinely nice people, welcoming, knowledgeable and very tolerant of my over excited five year old!

That was a very enjoyable meeting especially as I got to see speedway with my brother who is no longer the regular he used to be. He'd not been to Arlington since the Elite days there and was very impressed as was I with the whole show. Some decent racing on a well prepared track, plenty of passing with Kennett and Lawson especially impressive. Bukhave deserved more points for Diamonds and looks worth persevering with. The announcer and meeting presentation there is top notch and I was told by locals the Cardiff GP guy Kevin Coombes. Parade at 7.25 sharp and first race at 7.30, some over fussy referring and a few falls delayed things but no tractor races and they go on with it pretty well. A big crowd by modern standards it looked like as big if not bigger than their Elite days my brother reckoned; and on a par with crowds there when I've been with brummies this season especially after the rain and it was cold. Decent grub and the only minor quibble is the 1950's toilets but you can't have everything. The best thing there though is their Community work, looked like 100 + kids there tonight being shown round and then having pictures taken before the meeting, mascots. which I had not seen in earlier visits and the impression this is a Club that is grasping the Championship and trying to make speedway popular and accessible to new fans. Well done to the promotion there and lessons others could learn. "We'll be back"

Seems this is quite a common occurrence at speedway. The last time I was at Kings Lynn they announced a bank card had been found on the terracing. The owner was forming an orderly queue at the speedway office as we were leaving the stadium.

Well done Lambo, Cookie and NKI. I add him because of his loyalty to the Stars Always next year Holder

Kus is still riding I believe but it seems Czech only, he has other interests away from the track now.

Not sure I agree with that unless Jake is back 100% fit and back to pre injury form, KP steadily improving at Foxhall and haven’t been able to find a suitable guest for Jake yet....

We should’ve signed Grajczonek from Poole, he comes with ready made Ipswich kevlars

Thank you moomin man 76. A thoroughly illuminating report on a meeting of great interest to many fans. I wish I'd cancelled my other commitments and gone now. The nerdy analysis shows that there was no significant advantage to any of the gates and the race times were quite comparable to the track record. Despite the obvious speed of races generally, your report and others show that there was a goodly amount of overtaking. It sounds like Glasgow deserve a huge pat on the back. The importance of this meeting cannot be overstated in world championship terms. Riders career aspirations can hinge on track preparation alone. I'm sure the FIM won't have missed the quality of this presentation and will hopefully assign future meetings to the same promotion.

Congrats to Cook, Lambert and Harris on getting through, hopefully at least 1 will qualify from the challenge.

Shame not to see Holder get through imo ....

Great too to have Kevin Coombes back on the microphone tonight - missed him over the last few matches - the man is quality and the whole product and experience steps up a notch or three when he is presenting

To be fair to chunky, I'm sure we've all seen crashes look a lot worse where the riders just walk away. The fences also aren't as hard as they used to be. They now have to have more give in them. It would have been worse the a few years ago. It seemed to me like Laguta expected his team mate to let the bike run rather than continuing to turn to keep a low line off the corner, scrubbing a bit of speed in the process. A minor misjudgment and misunderstanding that obviously had terrible consequences, but Laguta wasn't doing anything that doesn't happen regularly in top level speedway.

Obvious, you'd miss out on the usual fixture pileup at the end of the season instead of running on what would hopefully be a nice June evening unlike today , can't have that.

i have yet to meet any poor gypsies .

Excellent well presented meeting Ran almost 100% smoothly and a decent PA system unlike many

Christ alive. if you've lost your card, get it reported as lost...

According to the powers that be kid had another venture in his home country and doing well so I think speedway is the last thing on his mind & he'd be a big risk to bring back in so it's Tommy to stay for me

Dandes i think Max is up there as the current number 2s in this league go . Far to good to be at reserve . If Clegg is your reserve you wont have enough bit hitters imo. The problem is obvious you have the worst 2.00 pointer in the league .

Yes I don't disagree. Always room for improvement in everything in life but I go back to the fact that if you drop Harris who replaces him?. Seems a real good team spirit at Ipswich at the moment and that counts for hell of a lot. Team spirit got us over the line at home to Wolves when everything looked like we we were going to drop points. Give the boys a chance as this is definitely one of the best teams in the league. Ok we don't have top end power in heats 13 and 15 but over two legs of a play of I fancy us every time

Scored 9 from 4 rides so should be back thurs for this meeting.

He isn’t good enough anymore simple as that basically Must be a good 10-15 riders more worthy of a place then Chris now but he still has been there and done it and now time to move on

Our player Siergiej Łogaczew, who has been seriously injured in the first race of the match with the Gdańsk Coast, is still awake, but remains in the local clinic under the care of doctors. Currently, Sergey is in the Intensive Care Unit, but the state of immediate danger to life has already passed. - Sergei has trouble breathing, so he was intubated. He is conscious now. Most importantly, the doctors ruled out back injury. For now, he will stay in the hospital. We saw him, he is aware, he met us. We all squeeze our fingers for him and we believe that he will come back to us soon - says Krzysztof Mrozek, president of PGG ROW Rybnik.

Seeing my daughters home for fathers day she and my wife are both coming down that's me doing my bit +2

If robinson told me it was raining I would go outside to check.

Musielak back today for Lodz in Daugavpils.

http://www.drhtv.com.pl/drhtv-2.html

Well after such a disappointing trip to Eastbourne... Something needs to be shaken up, even if it's just new faces to keep the crowds interested!! 1. Steve Worrall - Obvious keep, may not be the unbeatable powerhouse he was two years ago but he's a proper team man and captain, him and Max seem to ride amazingly well together and there is no rider in the world I would swap Steve for. 2. Max Clegg - Clegg's obviously worth keeping, gone very well so far this year, especially at home (Shouldn't be at number 2 though!! Too much pressure on the lad) He is very young and seems to have gotten to grips with Brough Park almost instantly, something very few riders can claim. 3. Lasse Bjerre - Has been slightly disappointing to start the season, however I feel getting dropped by Peterborough and getting over the few little bits of mechanical and injury issues he's had so far this year, he's going to step up a level, Seems to be getting more used to Brough Park and can be very quick in front, him and Matty seem to ride very well together, although he can be a little inconsistent and it's not so obvious, but a keep for me. I feel his slightly lower than normal average helps him keep his spot here. 4. Matthew Wethers - Early contender for Diamond of the year already? Not only has he really proved a lot of people wrong, as he was considered uninspiring when he was signed at the beginning of last year, he has really made the number 4 spot his own. Such a great style and is stupidly fast for a tall Aussie!! Really solid and consistent... And a few nice donuts too after heat 15s he really shouldn't be winning Easiest choice for me... KEEP!! 5. Thomas Jorgensen - While Tommy can be very quick in front and very entertaining with his passes, he's kinda struggled for form and consistency as of late. I love Tommy a lot and think he brings a lot of excitement to the team... But he's on a hell of an average which sometimes (Last night at Eastbourne proves this) is not worth it. Maybe Tommy you need to step it up a bit, as you still seem to be making it hard for yourself around Brough... We can't be carrying a number 5 in this team!! 6. Jacob Bukhave - Watched him a few times in Denmark before and seen him once a Redcar... A boy do we have a quick talent on our hands!! I feel he just needs to concentrate more and maybe over a bit of time and experience in this country, he may step up to be a top quality rider by next season, welcome Jacob, good luck and fast racing over the next couple of months. 7. Danny Phillips - Perhaps the less said the better. I know what position his Dad is in and what the sponsors of the team have said. But surely they are seeing now that having Danny in the team is doing more harm than good, for both the team and Danny himself. He seems to be slower than he was 2 years ago, the year when he had his horrific crash. I'm very sorry Danny, I just wish we had a National League team for you to race for. Easiest choice for me. At the end of this month the average will go from 38.00 to 40.00. With the current averages we will have 1.52 to play with. This is my proposal. (Tommy out for Kus and Danny out for either Kasper Andersen, Emil Grondal, Mark Riss) 1. Steve Worrall 7.59 2. Kasper Andersen/Emil Grondal/Mark Riss (All fit) 3. Lasse Bjerre 6.79 4. Matthew Wethers 6.39 5. Matej Kus 5.63 6. Max Clegg 4.47 7. Jacob Bukhave 4.00 Yes, I understand Matej Kus on paper is a slight downgrade on Tommy, and Tommy is a hell of a lot more entertaining sometimes, But he has struggled recently. I feel that Matej could come in and do a similar if not better job than Tommy at number 5, so not much of a downgrade for me. This biggest positives is the significant upgrade we'd get from Danny, all three of these options, in my opinion would springboard us up right into playoff contention... Not to mention than Max and Jacob can spend all of July at reserve!! As the only rider he'd pass average wise would be Kasper, the other two would keep him at number 6. It would mean that Max can go out and take all the pressure of reserve duties while Jacob gets himself settled in. This, or something similar needs to be acted on quick!! Before people like Matty's, Steve's and Lasse's average jumps dramatically!! (Please remember that Matej is a Diamond's asset, so it makes sense) P.S. I know I'm just an annoying forum user living on 'love island' or whatever it is... But I am a concerned supporter of my beloved Diamonds and I want to see them succeed!! The team we have this year has so much potential, but I'm afraid the few riders we are currently carrying are going to ruin it all. Thanks for reading

Got up and won the rerun

Some really unique items up for auction on Thursday! Lot 12 is Tommy's No 5 racejacket from 1979. He would have worn this on October 13, when Coventry Bees beat Hull Vikings by 42-36 to clinch the British League championship in front of 20,000 spectators. Tommy beat World Champion Ivan Mauger in Heat 9 on that huge evening.

Glad to see Chris Holder not qualifying for the GP, think we need to keep the standard of the competition at a high level.

Off topic directly, but relevant to the last 2 posts - yes, it should be a great meeting against Leicester, just a shame it’s on a Sunday afternoon. Most if us know speedway is so much better in the evening under floodlights.

Lofty will get wet first and titch last that is a huge disadvantage .

Just ride on that wave man, all the way in.....woohooooo!!!

You are forgetting though that Speedway (in Britain) is the only sport that has ever existed since the dawn of time, where competitors can actually get injured... My 'final, final straw' (after several other just 'final' ones).. Was a couple of years ago, when Max Fricke rode against Poole for the Aces in the morning then rode for Poole against Leicester the same day, just a few hours later... Poole suffered an injury during the Aces meeting so Max was asked to go along and represent them.. I decided finally that Mickey Mouse had indeed completely taken over and that any organising body that decides such nonsense is 100% acceptable, (and actively encourages it), simply isn't worth your hard earned in following it.. Any competition ran that allows such a ridiculous state of affairs is rendered contrived and worthless.. Therefore why go an watch it? Those that allow such nonsense are truly asking a lot for people to take it seriously and follow it with any emotional attachment to their team... Which is so fundamental to the success of any team sport.. Thankfully Poland and Sweden still run the sport properly and get beamed into my TV each week via the wonders of modern science... And this year the SoN, the U21 World Cup and Cardiff are either on my doorstep or just a car ride away... A shame as is it is a great sporting spectacle when done well, and properly..

You don’t get this forum thing do you

I think Ian Thomas' own tape measure was used at the initial SCB track inspection at Hull, Boulevard in 1971 by Bill KIichen. The area of interest would have been the back straight which did appear a tad narrow by about a foot, apparently. When John Berry & his 'tape measure crew' went to work at Hull (v Ipswich) in 1977, which also included investigating the height of the tapes & safety fence, he may well have been helpfully provided with Thomas' own trusty tape measure. Further, it could be argued that Thomas' objections in regard to the Paisley circuit (v Newcastle) and alledged width issues were possibly a bit rich, all things considered, though somehow he managed to have the home promotion forced into immediately widening the track. During the actual meeting . No doubt St Mirren FC queried this unexpected narrowing of their pitch afterwards. Still, it was all good fun I'm sure ....

We are very friendly. But do not forget your coat. And only £10 next Saturday.

Superb effort tonight to get the track sorted for the GP Qualifier. The less experienced riders took time to get things sorted but Nicol, Moi and Smetana were good value after their first few heats. Cook was imperious on his home track but Berge, Thorsell and Tungate were pretty awful, puts the alleged Premiership into perspective. The only downside being Harris made it through the French qualifier apparently. #wtf

No you’re not a lick arse, just an arse. And yes you can have an opinion but if it’s a loads of cobblers as it usually is then expect people on a forum to pick it apart.

I'm pretty sure telephone bids would be accepted, This may help you get more information

Britain sets its own rules on immigration from Australia and all non EU countries. It's nothing to do with the EU whether Australians can come here or not.

I also enjoying watching R Lambert race, and British speedway will be all he poorer as a spectacle without him.

looking at me and the crowd around me in the old grandstand it would be almost impossible not to be "younger and prettier" !!

As I say, not always the case. Some guests want a guarantee, for a start.

Trying to appeal to a younger, prettier audience??

I couldnt agree more, good to see a positive post about the management for a change.

I watched Peter Collins, Chris Morton etc riding for Belle Vue in the 70s and 80s. I also attended Ellesmere Port during the same period. Despite being a lower standard, I never yearned to see the superstars when I watched the second division lads. I just loved speedway.

Usual rubbishe from Philips again time to go I think!

The tradition for speedway clubs is to look after their own business and not realise that a strong league is vastly more important than becoming the last man standing and having no one to race against. Poole, after all the trophies they have won the last 15 years, and scoffing a lot of calories in riding talent to serve their purpose, are perhaps realising that winning isn't the be all and end all and can leave fans feeling bloated.