*JJ

Um ... they ARE amateurs! Although using riders like Brennan in the DLs is not playing the game. I see that Plymouth is using Henry Atikins, who I saw winning Heat 15 some weeks ago, in an SDL match this Friday.

What happened with the SDL match?

The real problem IMO is the chicken-and-egg business. F2 will never take off until there is a supply of cheap second-hand bikes; remember, you can buy a pre-used ordinary speedway bike for £1,000 - £1,500. And, of course, there won't be a supply of s/h F2 bikes until after it has taken off! Also, F2 bikes are more complicated and cumbersome than ordinary bikes, which are very simple. The only drawback with these is the cost of having the engines rebuilt.

Quite possibly - I believe Cradley have some - but given that nearly all of the NL teams are standalone, it is a piece of dishonesty which shows what the people who are running speedway are like.

Assets? What assets? NL clubs are not allowed assets; and someone asked if Chapman was good for the sport ...

The standard in speedway, in all leagues down to the MDL etc., has improved incredibly over the years. A present day rider who is just good enough to ride in the DLs would have been a second division heat leader 40 years ago! And people moan about 'dumbing down' ...

I was told that he had fallen out with Drury; not difficult of course. This may not be true, of course!

Must have been some other girls ... the KPs have given up on the amateur racing for good reason. I saw Francesca at Peterborough the other week. She still couldn't slide the bike (she hasn't improved in the five years or so that I have seen her) and was half a lap behind the other girls, who were still slower than the MDL riders.

I know a rider who won't use the chain oiler because he says that it sprays oil over his race suit and everywhere else. Should the oil go on the primary chain or the rear one?

Plenty of thought went into the track, but Hemsley got it wrong. Probably why Ermolenko fell out with him.

Nowhere near NL standard, I'm afraid. The K-P sisters can't even slide the bike.

Tom Bacon uses belt drive as well ... as for chains, it depends on how much money the rider has, I suppose. Those in the lower leagues clean and oil them.

We use Morrison's castor oil .. there are others.

'Total loss' actually ... and engines don't have an oil catcher, they use wet sumps (and splash lubrication). And castor oil is still used.

Roberts broke his collarbone some weeks ago. He tried to ride last week but found that he had merely aggravated it. that is why he dropped out.

What happened with the prospective track at Avonmouth?

There is any amount of talent out there; it merely needs promoters to help and nurture it.

What's a 'roost'?

They did, but it is elderly and moved at an excruciatingly slow speed!

Actually, it looked excellent; someone must have put some shale on it and done some work! It was wet (watered) to start off and became dusty, but that is only to be expected this time of the year.

Well, I will be going there for the MDL match tonight. I just hope that they don't have to ride on broken-up concrete again.

The fact is, that the stadium needs about a million pounds spent on it, like Glasgow. As for your third sentence, I went out onto the track after the meeting a few weeks ago, and was horrified at the state of it. Who does it now?

Speedway: Falcons grounded by super Wildcats Neil Walton Sports Reporter WEYMOUTH Wildcats pulled off a stunning upset in the Southern Development League against Exeter Falcons at Somerset’s Oak Tree Arena by securing a 21-14 victory with just three riders. Wildcats were missing captain Martin French among others but the trio of stand-in captain Kenny Bowdery, James Chattin and Chris Bambury put in a superb display on the night to earn Wildcats their first triumph, and points, of the season. Each Wildcat took an extra ride to negate their missing rider and it worked to Weymouth’s advantage as they avenged a 19-17 defeat to Exeter at their previous clash in May. After two heats Exeter enjoyed a 7-5 lead but a 5-1 success in the third, thanks to a win by Bowdery and a last-minute pass from Bambury, gave Weymouth a lead they would not relinquish. A 4-2 victory in the fourth heat, with Bambury leading from start to finish, moved Wildcats 14-10 up but the nerves were jangling later in the fifth. Bowdery, on his extra ride, was excluded from the race when his bike failed to start, but Wildcats’ co-promoter Martin Peters explained the problem was simpler to solve than expected. He said: “Heat five was where Kenny took the extra ride but he didn’t actually start the race. His bike stopped working and he got excluded. “When Kenny came back in we found out he forgot to turn his fuel on! Bar that blip he won all his races.” That slight mishap left Weymouth unaffected as they took four more points in the final heat for a memorable 21-14 victory, a result which left the future-minded Peters delighted. “The lads rode really well, they all took an extra ride. We’re quite pleased really. “Martin French was overjoyed for us. He’s one of those guys who puts 100 per cent into it. The rest of us were happy because it’s the first points on the board. “There are a lot of strong teams in the league so to get some points is good. We’re happy and looking forward to the next one now,” he said. “It’s all about developing those riders. For us it’s great to win but it’s more about getting those riders out there. Maybe we can attract more people from the Weymouth area and move on from there. “In two years’ time we could have a team with two 15-year-olds and two 16-year-olds,” Peters added.

Exeter: it says so several times. This is actually taken from the webpage of a local paper. So why are you worrying about it?

Probably replacing Kean Dicken.