Arch Stanton

I was being flippant. These signings haven't been popular in certain quarters.

Heeps on a 3.00 and Tungate on 5.00 are clearly bargains.....

That i'm led to believe is Chris Louis' plan from what I've been told. He's looking to move both clubs up a division in 2014, with the slight possibility of it happening in 2013 if certain things fall in to place. The relationships between the two clubs will remain.

Interesting stuff thanks Halifax. Hope to have a look sometime in the near future.

I've seen a few comments now on the healthy crowds at Plymouth. Having never been, roughly what sort of numbers do they attract down there?

Lewis Blackbird named as captain and becomes a full club asset along with Josh Bates, Daniel Halsey, and Aaron Baseby http://www.lovespeedway24.co.uk/teams/mildenhall-fen-tigers/lewis_blackbird_gets_mildenhall_honour_1_1213778

He'll average 7+. He averaged nearly 6 and a half last season during which he severed part of his finger in a horrific crash. It took him an awful long time to get his confidence back but improved as the season went on. Injury free, he'll put at least a point on his starting average.

Is it that difficult to arrange the odd Saturday here and there? We know how vital the Good Friday and Bank Holiday Monday crowds are to the club and we've seen in the past that a Saturday meeting matches those attendances. The crowd For a Saturday night meeting against Swindon a few seasons ago was massive. Surely even one bumper Saturday meeting a year to go with the bank holidays would swell the coffers and be a bonus to the club?

Hart had a bad injury in 2010 and gave his word to Chris Louis that he was over it and fully fit to ride last season. Chris Louis has since revealed he wasn't and shouldn't have ridden last season at least the beginning of the season but he was so excited about the prospect of riding for Ipswich, he put his heart before his head. Despite all his bravado, his confidence on track had been affected a little.

Tungate getting all the attention at the moment, which is good news for Cameron Heeps. Hopefully Tungate performs as hoped as that will ease the pressure on Heeps and he can develop at his on pace and flourish too. What a reserve pairing though. Exciting times.

I know from reading your posts in the past Mr Snackette that the asset system here is a thorny issue, and i actually agree with everything you say. But while it still exists, i think its important to the club(s) to get these guys signed up and on the retained list. You're quite right, regardless of which club a rider is on the retained list of, he will ultimately decide where he rides. However, taking Cameron Heeps for example, getting the lad signed up as a full "asset", could very well be very financially beneficial to Ipswich when/If he decides to ride elsewhere in the top flight.

Wrong. Both Rohan Tungate and Cameron Heeps are both Ipswich assets after signing club contracts. Or more accurately, both riders are now on Ipswich' retained list.

Not just at West Row either. I bet he alone swelled the numbers at just about every track he visited this year with supporters keen to take a look at what all the fuss is about and they wouldn't have been disappointed either.

Of course he was riding at number 1!! Where else would he be riding the season following those averages??

In the three previous season's, he's averaged 10.32, 8.87 and 8.90. An average over 10 and two averages very close to 9 surely qualifies as an "out and out number 1" doesn't it?

A 6 times Aussie dirt bike champion proves the lad is a talented motorcyclist. Beating the likes of Watt, and Ryan Fisher and Ty Proctor from the back shows what the lad is made of. And he'll be a Premier league reserve. The good thing from an Ipswich perspective, is that when he inevitably moves up, Dakota North or Morten Risager will probably drop to reserve. And with Cameron Heeps down there as well the potential is frightening. Somerset set the pace last year with North rattling up cricket scores at reserve but as soon as he moved up, Somerset looked a lot less potent. Ipswich won't have that problem. Kevin Doolan is a vital cog to any potential silverware for me. If his new machines fire and he gets back to being the out and out number one he has in the past, then with the strength of the rest of the side below him, Ipswich will go very very close.

I think you need to look at season finishing averages rather than how riders performed directly against each other. I don't think anyone will deny that Lasse Bjerre is a class above Dakota North and that's no criticism of North who is a talented rider in his own right. But the fact is before his injury he was struggling a little in the main body of the side after scoring heavily in a reserve berth. So the 1-5 are obviously a little weaker than last year. But the reserves look capable of making that difference up and some. Particularly away from home where both Mills and Hart were both generally poor. I think its handy that there are some warm up fixtures before the League campaign gets under way. That will enable the two reserves to settle in nicely before hopefully hitting the ground running in the League fixtures.

I agree it's time both of them really stepped it up a gear and they are both talented enough to do so. I've a sneaky feeling that at least one of the reserves will overtake them.

Well I think everyone knows it already. Looks a super side to me with big improvement in a lot of riders. I actually think the big improvers will come from those that everyone else will least expect it. I think Doolan on brand new machinery will prove to be an excellent number 1, and Risager in his second season will up his average considerably after getting over a horrific hand injury this year.

I think its worth noting that it isn't necessarily important to get your team building right from the off this year. Its not going to be how you start, it will be how you finish. Newport last year built what looked on paper to be a poor side and so it proved. They were beaten heavily home and away and were rooted to the bottom of the table. But that enabled them to strengthen up massively which they did and they went on an incredible run which saw them climb up to fifth in the table. By the end of the season, they had on paper a team far stronger than anyone else. If the league had a play off set up like the coming season, Newport would more than likely have lifted the championship trophy. So for those supporters that are unhappy with their line ups so far i wouldn't be overly concerned as long as you have a proactive promotion. The job is to get in to the top 6, not finish first. Finishing top of the table this time will win you nothing. I've a feeling that a number of clubs will look very different at the climax of the season to the ones that started. To be fair, if the Ipswich team is the one rumoured, you could have the possibility that the team works hard in meetings to be in with a great chance of taking something, especially away, only to see all the hard work undone in the closing heats. Looking at the top end of a few clubs already, Ipswich potentially look like being bullied in heats 13 and 15. Thankfully for them, no tacticals can be used in those heats this year.

I'm sure they'll know exactly who they want and i'd bet more than just the three already confirmed, have already put pen to paper. Rohan Tungate is example of that. The news broke of his signing last Thursday morning first in the Ipswich Evening Star, and quickly followed on the official website. Both the Star and Website carried pictures of Rohan signing his contract flanked by both Chris Louis and Pete Simmons. The article in the paper revealed "Speaking from his Kurri Kurri home last night", so unless Chris Louis and Pete Simmons hopped on a plane to Australia to get the lad to sign which i highly doubt, the reality is the lad put pen to paper some time before last Thursday before he set off back home to Australia which i'm led to believe, was a few weeks back.

Is it "inconsequential" to them though? Its not a Rick Frost situation where the club is simply a hobby is it. Its their livelihood. Sorry but i don't believe for a second that the business of running Ipswich speedway has just been completely dropped. Even if they are not directly involved themselves, they will have somebody working on the team/season tickets etc etc. They can't afford not to. If as you say "so be it" if the team doesn't end up as strong as it might have been because of recent events, i don't think the supporters will be understanding and supportive to an extent to hand over their hard earned money on a regular basis next season if the team isn't attractive enough

That won't be the team as its over the limit as things stand.

Do you seriously believe that? I wouldn't let the fact that Mike Bacon estimates the Foxhall crowd figures to be 1,100 EVERY SINGLE WEEK in the local rag fool you!!!

Of course it isn't. You've been boasting the "fact" that more people have been going through the turnstiles this season compared to last, but now you've decided to up the ante and declare that more people have gone through the turnstiles this season than any of the last THREE Elite league seasons. With the lower running costs of PL, i'm quite willing to go with the suggestion that the club have had a better financial year this year than the last three EL seasons, but more people through the gate? Behave!!