Remembering #rico Spring Classic Friday 20th March - 7:00pm

[marko 956]

Who would have thought it this after this morning? The sun is out and indeed has his hat on, beautiful spring day.

[customhouseregular 1,651]

Let's hope the fans come out in force and make this a huge success.

[Bryn 413]

4.45 FINAL WEATHER UPDATE.

 

Sun's shining, meeting ON, Come on down!

 

NL Pairs starts at 7pm then main event 8pm making a total of 25 races. NORMAL admission prices, prog £3.

 

See you later!

[Mjolnir 184]

Wow ... Kelvin Tatum! I expected him to do alright, be in the mix and pick up a few points, but I was very impressed.

 

A great meeting tonight, the teams were very evenly matched (as reflected in the score line) with some good racing.

 

AJ got off to an underwhelming start for us but I'm sure it won't be long until he's up to speed. His bikes just seemed a bit down on power tonight. Adam also hasn't had the best start to the season either, hopefully he can keep his chin up as I'm sure he'll come good.

 

Brilliant performances from Eddie and Richard in particular (plenty more of that please!) and Kim and Ashley were also impressive.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Mjolnir

[KevtheRev 122]

Agree with all the above apart from the great racing.

Almost no overtaking on a track that was pretty sparse in terms of dirt.

[Mjolnir 184]

Agree with all the above apart from the great racing.

Almost no overtaking on a track that was pretty sparse in terms of dirt.

Maybe I was easily pleased and excited to be back at Lakeside seeing some speedway! Haha. I take your point that there wasn't a huge amount of overtaking, but there was some close racing and I've certainly seen less entertaining meetings.

[Daniel Smith 5,661]

Looking at the individual scores, it looks like Kelv could still do a job. 7+2 & top scoring reserve is imo mighty impressive at 51yrs.

[tocha 308]

Wow ... Kelvin Tatum! I expected him to do alright, be in the mix and pick up a few points, but I was very impressed.

 

A great meeting tonight, the teams were very evenly matched (as reflected in the score line) with some good racing.

 

AJ got off to an underwhelming start for us but I'm sure it won't be long until he's up to speed. His bikes just seemed a bit down on power tonight. Adam also hasn't had the best start to the season either, hopefully he can keep his chin up as I'm sure he'll come good.

 

Brilliant performances from Eddie and Richard in particular (plenty more of that please!) and Kim and Ashley were also impressive.

 

 

AJ unwell tonight not just his bikes. He has withdrawn from the ELRC tomorrow, replaced by Richard. Some riders race rusty through lack of meetings and shown up by Rory who was in his fourth of the season. Work to be done before Leicester visit next Friday when, one of our stars of the show, Edward will be missing as it clashes against a Rye House fixture.

Edited March 21, 2015 by tocha

[teaboy279 1,038]

Great night for a true legend. But I think Ben Morley pulled off the only overtake of the 15 heats! Could not pay to watch that each week. Matter of interest if Kelvin decided he wanted to come out of retirement would he be on a 3 point national league average? I don't know if I was excited by Kelv beating so many young brits at 51 years old or more concerned that our youth can't beat a guy who has been a decade retired!?!

Also Suprised how small the crowd was, thought there would be at least double that.

All that said would i go to the next Rico meeting, certainly would. Looking forward to reading my programme in my lunch break today. #RICO

[Bryn 413]

In terms of track conditions I think it only fair to point out that the Vortex Lakeside Hammers staged their press and practice session starting circa 11.30am and, after the photos, press interviews etc, there were many laps put in by all the team members during the course of that. The meeting itself saw seven races in the NL Pairs starting at 7pm followed by a quick track grade. We then had the fifteen heat main event match plus four Junior demonstration races all over four laps too and the raptuous applause the five youngsters received on their double lap of honour shows how much their efforts were appreciated I would say.

Given all that on track action I don't think it was surprising that the track was slick by the end of it all and it held up well in terms of not cutting up at all despite us having a pretty wet winter.

As to the crowd size, Arena Essex is a big stadium with spectators spread far and wide as they were last night.

Everyone I spoke to afterwards said they thoroughly enjoyed what was a great night to pay tribute to a great bloke, one who'll never be forgotten!

And finally I know of 12 ex-riders who were there at the meeting to remember Rico which was great to see and I could put together a really good side from those!

Edited March 21, 2015 by Bryn

[E I Addio 15,845]

Looking at the individual scores, it looks like Kelv could still do a job. 7+2 & top scoring reserve is imo mighty impressive at 51yrs.

Not just the score, he looked good on the bike and was pretty sharp off the start. Perhaps even more impressive was that at 51 he could still get into the kevlars he wad wearing 10 years ago.

 

I thought Ben Morely had some gutsy rides and certainly seemed to be staking a claim for some guest appearances.

 

I know the Hammers were still testing but take Kennett out of the equation and there weren't enough race winners.

 

I wasn't impressed with having the main event interspersed with demonstration raced by youngsters from the Academy. The trouble is when you have youngsters on 80cc bikes you can't have much dirt on the track because then they can't slide the bikes enough and the knock on effect of that of course is a slick track for the seniors.

 

I don't know what happened to Adam Ellis. Maybe he was feeling a bit knocked around after his prang at Ippo on Thursday but didn't seem like his usual self..

[Mjolnir 184]

I thought Ben Morely had some gutsy rides and certainly seemed to be staking a claim for some guest appearances..

I was very impressed with Ben last night - he certainly seemed to be out to make a point, and he definitely made it. Hopefully he can do a full season in the PL this year and prove himself as a true #1 in the NL.

[waco 1,026]

The meeting dragged a bit on what was a pretty cold night and the all day use of the track did nothing to improve the racing making overtaking at a premium ,,though our Ben Morley did manage to pass Adam Ellis and later passing Kelvin Tatum who may have been tiring a little after some great rides earlier and could still at 51 yrs hold down a team place.I think that Ben Morley confirmed that he is a better rider around the Lakeside track. than Adam Ellis and made his point on the night, but then i am biased, i admit it. Good performances from Rory Schlien and Edward Kennet and several others had their moments .. Marc Owen looked a cut above the rest in the N.L pairs match and should have a good season with Eastbourne ..With two very evenly matched teams the score line was the most exciting thing going on,and the last heat was dramatic, obviously .A Hammers defeat was on the cards..I thought the crowd was pretty decent,but the racing did nothing to encourage new fans and i expect next week will see a small fraction of tonights attendance,especially with the large cost of getting in, plus dear programmes, particularly for O.A.Ps

Edited March 21, 2015 by waco

[TheScotsman 2,483]

Re the crowd, I had bought my ticket online and was on the way down when I got caught up in the delays on the A12.

After nearly 3 hours, most of it not moving, I reckoned I wouldn't get there till 8.30 so I abandoned the attempt and went home.

 

Given there were bad jams on the M11 and M25 as well, due to the M11 closure, maybe others didn't make it either?

[tocha 308]

Re the crowd, I had bought my ticket online and was on the way down when I got caught up in the delays on the A12.

After nearly 3 hours, most of it not moving, I reckoned I wouldn't get there till 8.30 so I abandoned the attempt and went home.

 

Given there were bad jams on the M11 and M25 as well, due to the M11 closure, maybe others didn't make it either?

I don't know where you are in Essex but I would never take the A12/M25 route. If you are based around Chelmsford/Witham you are better off travelling via A130/A13. If you are further west try A127/A128/A13. From leaving home (Witham) yesterday I was in the stadium within 50 minutes.

One of those who didn't make it was Tom Stokes who was to represent King's Lynn in the Junior Pairs event.

Edited March 21, 2015 by tocha