Brian

Agree it's a shame that for whatever reason Andrew decided he cannot/doesn't want to carry on with the Raiders. His notes in a recent race card suggested the training days weren't happening so maybe that's something to do with his decision. He will be missed at Rye. Don't think Sampford is the answer either. New owners often result in changes, it happens.

Don't think turning up will be a problem as his parents are at every home meeting with Maassen.

That brings the Harlow Flyer into the main team.

I tend to agree with Chris, using R/R gifts this meeting to Ipswich.

Don't know anything about the workings behind the scenes but changes happen in every company and they're not always bad. So many rumours in here and earlier threads about Rye but until things change I've no idea what the future holds for the place. It is run down and the whole place needs a spark from somewhere. Enjoyable meeting but concerned about Andrew's notes on training facilities.

Lambert didn't lose the meeting for Peterborough, it was only winning 4 races at home. Plenty of second and thirds but not enough wins.

Can't think why people spread this rumour about EL. On Rye's attendances it would be a financial disaster. I would keep Kennett next year, although he has a mental block over heat 15 I think he's been a good number 1 this year.

If I remember correctly from when this first came to light, the problem was stock car owners still making unreasonable noise in the early hours, either 2 or 3am.

Len won't make any effort as far as I'm aware NL meetings are Andrew's responsibility which is why Raiders meetings tend to have a decent amount of shale down. Judging by the amount of rain today it'll have to be a dry day tomorrow to get this on.

Interviewed at Ipswich last night Louis didn't want to say much about it on the pa but did say they would be using guests. Thought it quite funny when the presenter spoke to Tungate who was starting to speak about the matter but Louis intervened and stopped it.

Justice for who though? Ipswich have a guest facility for 21 days so can pick suitable guests and Tungate said he has 2 meetings lined up in Poland so although he has travelling he doesn't really lose out either. No axe to grind either way as I'm not a fan of either team, just an observation.

Hubbard and Mullarkey were worth the admission whenever Barney Kennett was in the opposition team. If social media had been around then it would have melted by the numbers outraged at their behaviour. Great days.

Don't think you should forget Ted Hubbard from those Infradex years either. I know the OP specifically referred to 1980 but the years building to that we're great times to watch Rye. Karl and Ted were at the recent Lydd meeting.

Are Ipswich starting every heat off 15 metres back? Won't make a lot of difference to the score but could be more interesting.

Lovely post Sandie. RIP Sharon.

Sorry Sue, it was probably my fault for saying you wouldn't throw away that lead at the interval.

First visit to Somerset. Standing on back straight it was damned cold and windy which wasn't helped when the dust was flying around. Enjoyed the meeting and a good track.

Bearing in mind that Rory has guested for EL teams on so many occasions, I don't see why there's a surprise he guested for Team GB.

Thought the track was well prepared and after last week Len was still watering at 6.30pm. Scunny riders attacked the track and got the rewards. Going into heat 14 fearing the worst as up to that point Proctor had 3 points from 4 rides but he went out and won it. Where was he in the other 4 rides? Good job 2 of the team and Starke were up to the task.

As far as I'm aware the old Tarmac base is about 6 inches below the track. Digging up and relaying completely is probably not an option on grounds of cost alone.

I thought the track for the Saturday meeting with Kent was well prepared. Andrew had a lot of shale down and it was very well watered. Apart from what appears to be family politics, Len prepares a slick track and hardly ever waters so the second meeting had no chance. Maybe why I gave it a miss and will do the same for all double headers at Rye.

Pleased Jakobsen managed to stop his engine before it blew. Maybe next time he'll make sure the cut out works.

Not seen anything about Scott expecting to race. Can someone provide a link?

There have been meetings before when the track rutted badly, Cardiff comes to mind as one example where the riders continued. What has changed now, is that it seems riders are prepared to stop the show when they don't like it. All I can see from this is that to avoid any future occurrences, tracks will be laid as hard and slick as the road outside. On a tongue in cheek note, I couldn't help but think about those on this site who spout that line about riders racing for the fans entertainment. 😉

It was clear to me that the Mildenhall reserves were further along the development route than Ryes. The important thing for me is that the three pointers improve as the season progresses as they are just starting out. Impressed by Rye's top 4. Standing on the back straight it wasn't great to be faced with such a load of mud but as it had been peeing down earlier in the week it was to be expected. Next time I'll prepare better. Also interesting with the on/off nature of some of the secondary lights on back straight, made it look a bit dark at times. Was a bit concerned after the first 2 races took 45 minutes, but the meeting moved on quickly afterwards so no real problems on a cold evening. Would finally like to thank all the fallen riders for getting up as it would have been impossibly slow if they'd stayed down causing the races to be stopped. Finally, finally, I thought Branford nudged Halsey and he clearly wanted the referee to make a decision by staying down.