Daytripper

The news last night was a suspected broken collar bone but he was taken for X-rays . From what I heard it sounds like it’s broken though.Tyrpical type of injury when a rider gets high sided in that way. He was desperately unlucky for this to come at a time he was really coming into form . He ride from last to second to join Adam for a 5-1 in his previous ride was superb. I didn’t think Berwick were a bad side, they just couldn’t find consistency in their gating. NBJ impressed me. This is the best Lakeside team for years, not just on the track, but off track they seem to all get on well, and this translates to the way they ride together. A lot of team riding and looking out for each other last night.

Lakeside 56 Workington 32 All the sour grapes in the world won’t change it. Get over it.

Ah, the Gospel According to MF ! Not according to the way it came to me, but I a sense it doesn't matter, it's just another example of the corporate failure of the BSPA under Chapmans stewardship to get their act together. Whichever way the finger of blame points, it is not Lamberts fault.

Chapman told him correctly. The agreement between countries was GB priority Monday and Thursday, Sweden Tuesday , Denmark Wednesday, and Poland all the rest. The problem arose because Ford threw his toys out of the pram and threatened to pull out if he didn't get Wednesday, and as usual the rest of them rolled over and let him get his own way.

You cant judge a rider on the basis of one meeting , especially one in which the whole home team are on fire. Over the years I've seen riders of the calibre of Bomber, Scott. Lindgren, and Doyley , to name but a few come to lakeside and score Less than 6 on occasions but nobody would call any of them throttle jockeys. They have all knocked up big scores as well. Equally I dont think Robert Lambert has ever won a race at Lakeside and certainly never made much of a score , so against all that background, I dont think any sort of judgment can be made about Bewley. I think most of those who have been around the sport a few years have seen plenty of riders that looked good in their teens but never lived up to expectations, but equally we have seen those that were not all that hot early on but suddenly seemed to pull it all together in there mid twenties. Five of six years ago not many people would be betting on Jason Doyle getting where he is now. Let Bewly develop at his own speed. He seems pretty level headed as far as I can see.

WWorky just didn't seem up for it to me. I noticed for example in one of the track grades there were 5 Lakeside riders on the air fence watching what the grader was doing, but only one Worky rider,. so they were coming out after the grade not really being aware of where the lines had changed on the all important first two bends. Most Lakeside riders were out early to prepare their gates, especally Richard Lawson, who was usually out straight after the previous race finished, while most ly the Comets were sitting at the pit gate until the two minutes was put on. The result was that the Comets were constantly being beaten out or the gate and 14 points from Lawson whose starts were especially good. This years Lakeside team seem to gell better than any team we've had for a good few years , but to put it bluntlyWorkington didn't really seem like a team at all, just 7 journeyman riders. Stll, it could well be the boot could be on the other foot when Lakeside try to cope with Workingtons track.

Comets are a good side and could well provide the Hammers stiffest test so far this season. Klindts a strange one. Very up and down, bu t he has had some good meetings at L:akeside . From memory I think the last time he came was few years ago when he guested for Lakeside against Swindon in the Elite League and if I recall correctly scored about 9 or 10 points . I don't think Rene Bach has been there since he was about 19, so its difficult to assess. Weather permitting , it should be a good match

Lee Richardson once told me that when he joined Lakeside it was his most hated track in the whole of Europe but he knew that if he could master it, he would become a better rider so he came with a positive attitude, and as we know once he did learn to ride he enjoyed it enough to want to join the club as an asset. It all depends on the riders attitude. Similarly , Leigh Adams says in his book that the worst track he ever rode was his home track of Mildura but if you can master the ones you find difficult you can ride anywhere, and let's face Leigh could score big points literally anywhere so he must know what he's talking about. As Kelvin Tatum says, when he comes to technical tracks a lot riders are already beaten in the minds before the tapes go up.

Yes, excellent performance on a track I think he had never ridden before. 3,2,3,2,1'. Must do his confidence the world of good. Everyone likes Alfie because he always gives his best wherever he rides. Completely irrepressible. The jury is still out on whether he makes the grade but I think the fans are 100% behind him. Good to see also that another Lakeside/Hagon protege, Jason Edwards top scored for his side with 12 from 7 rides in the same match.

Engine set ups can be changed during the meeting but it's not an exact science, more part luck and part black art, with no time to practice and you have have the bike running perfectly , sometime with only a few minutes to spare before your next race. Andreas Jonsson once said to me you can get your bike running well, then you try to tweak it a little to get a bit more power from it but that makes it worse , so you try putting it back to where it originally was and that seems to be no better either. Of course, as you suggest , confidence comes into it as well. If a rider gets beaten badly it's sometimes difficult to know whether it's him or the bike. Or Worky coukd have just been a better team on the night.

Its no good spending the best part of a million quid to bring new fans through the turnstiles, if the product on offer is do poor it can't even hold on to the existing fanbase. Unless and until the governance and management is put on a sound footing its a waste of time spending money to bring in fans that won't stay.

As Jenga correctly pointed out nearly a week ago it is not Lakeside's job to inform the world about riders private lives. The facility was agreed by Berwick and approved by the meeting referee. Even after the reasons for Richards absence were made clear on this thread you were one of those who posted that there should be no facility or a 7 day suspension, and stailnlesssteeride was questioning whether compassion actually came into it as if there was something more underhand involved. However much information clubs give or don't give, there will always be those that question it. Arguably the piecemeal way information is disseminated by the BSPA doesn't help the situation but that's not the clubs fault.

Best wishes to Danny, an all round good bloke. Congratuations to the team that are no good on away tracks with another win on ...er...anyway track.

I didn’t expect Ben to score many tonight. Happy to be proved wrong. Eight points from a No2 on an away track mis the sort of thing that wins matches. Let’s hope he can keep it going.

Just looking back over the results so far, I think Will Pottinger has been pretty astute in his reserve switches. It seems whenever the score line is tight and Alfie and Ben are together, Will switches Zak for Alfie to strengthen that pairing then switches Alfie and Zak when Zak is out with Richard which theoretically weakens it but Richard invarably wins it to keep a 3-3, b and Alfie gets his minimum 3 rides. Considering the way a lot of other clubs fans moan about the ineptitude of their T.Ms I think Will has been on the ball so far. Certainly doing a better job than Neil Vatcher.

With regard to the speculation about overwatering just before heat 12 , I think, judging by how shiny it was , that there was a slick of fuel spillage when Matej Kuss fell off in heat 12, right on the apex of bends 1&2. Nick Morris on his present form is, I would say pretty much as good as anyone else in the country right now, especially round Lakeside. The way he passed Ben Barker in heat 1 was absolutely out of the top drawer. Adam seems to be remarkably fast on the Godden. Alfie's problem seems to be lack of speed down the straights . Possiblly needs some expert help with set ups. kyle seems much improved now he has AJ's former mechanic working for him.

I hear it is starting to clear.

Apparently there is an ongoing Police investigation. One would think they would want to get the roads open ASAP but as usual the police tell you nothing.

No it’s usually better when the weather is better but with the amount of rain we’ve had, all the track curator can really do is get the track packed down hard so at least it didnt fall foul of the weather like so many others. The trouble is when it is packed down you pay the price with less grip. PersonallyI thought it was a better meeting last week but Awesome Lawson was, well, awesome. His sweep round the outside of bends 1&2 off gate 4 in heat 13 was quite exceptional, especially against a rider of Danny Kings quality. Gate 4 has a slight adverse camber and hardly anyone wins off of it in the big heats. Ippo’s problem was they had two riders who had never ridden the track before and just couldn’t get on with it. Good call by the ref in heat 8. There is no automatic right to all four back. One rider fell off on his own. The other hit the air fence and was not under power when the race was stopped.

Kyle is a difficult one to predict. At times he looks rather ordinary, but one the other hand he popped out of the gate in heat 9 on Friday and beat the previously unbeaten Ulrich Ostergaard, and if he can pull that sort of thing off against an opposing heat leader once a meeting its the sort of thing that wins matches, and he didn't have any last places which is exactly what you want from a No 4. There is a long way to go yet but my guess is he'll stay at No4 all season , maybe with a small increase on his average . I like him though, glad we have him in the team and hope he does well. He is certainly not short of enthusiasm .

What a daft comment. What is a club supposed to do, hire riders who are no good on their home track ? Lol. More like you are just a poor loser. Get over it.

I seem to remember Palm Tree doing pretty well at Lakeside a few years ago. Scotts had a mixture of good and bad scores at Lakeside over the years, although the bad ones seem to have been when guesting for the Hammers. We' ll find out whether Lakeside were lucky or unlucky not to get him. Panthers to hold their own in the early heats but the Hammers have too much firepower in the middle order. Ellis, Lawson and Zak too consistent in the engine room. Should be a comfortable win for the home team

The Viewing and facilities at Lakeside are what they have always been but it has been the quality of the team and level of competition that have been the determining factor in respect of crowds. Actually I personally don't think the viewing at Lakeside is any worse than anywhere else, including Rye House. It depends largely where you choose to stand. As for admission costs every member of the Rye House team except Kasprzak is likely to be on show at Lakeside at various points in the season. Kennet has already been and had an absolute howler.. Five of Lakesides riders are also riding with Premiership clubs anyway and I don't think you can seriously claim that Rye House have more than five genuine top league riders, probably no more than four now Barker has gone. So I think the argument on admission charges is a non starter.

I spoke to Adam when he left the club a couple of years ago. He said then that he liked the club but couldn't get on with the track but he hoped to return one day and really get to grips with the track. I spoke to him again tonight and he said he was glad to be back and felt is now a much better ride and felt he could now master the track. I think tonight's performance showed he really is a much better rider, and looked to me to have a totally different style. No more hanging off the bike Holder style anymore that caused him to fall off so much in the past. He now looks a far more competent and capable rider. He seemed happy to be back.

Actually I make it 13 riders so whether there will be more to come I know not. TBF Individuals generally do not get a lot of support from the public these days especially if their are no big names, and the bottom line is that the 20 heat formula is not usually viable. The object of the exercise, as in the last few years seems to be to give all the home team some track time and sort out set ups before the season starts in earnest and to give the fans a whiff of methanol after a long winter. You could have a few drinks in the Jon Cook Executive Lounge and enjoy the racing from there of course