drew2

Hi, I have the 5 Somerset home meetings that I can scan and email if you send me PM with an address.

And then again the home match vs Sheffield from last year on Tuesday night. Seem to recall it had some awesome racing in it, especially the last three races. I also think that match marked my debut as an Updater last season.

Starting to sound a bit like a firm of Solicitors with the newcomers though! Barker, Becker, Bates and Cook

To start with what about Luke at 2 at the OTA with Rory in heat 1? Anders at 3 with Bates at 4. Agree with Ben at 5. Might move that around away from home though.

Rohan was my first thought too. Pontus Aspgren may also be an option but think the flights situation may prevent that.

Don't think JC ever had a Farewell meeting anywhere, just a long lap of honour in Torun!

Still closer than any of the Rebels 'local' derbies were in 2019! The Fours qualifying rounds have never existed in Somerset's time in the middle tier. I wouldn't might seeing it tried though. I went to a few at the County Ground and always enjoyed them (well apart from the one where Simmo disappeared over the 1st/2nd bend fence and almost left the stadium in the air!).

So we have, Najjer saying £16 isn't good value at Somerset whilst the same product and price at Eastbourne is stated as being competitive. I have watched the Rebels every year since they started and have enjoying every one of them whatever level we raced at. The racing in 2019 was no less entertaining than in the Premiership years of 2018 or 17 or any year before that in fact, in my opinion. I am looking forward to those tapes going up at the OTA in 2020 as well. But that is it in a nutshell, everyone has and is entitled to an opinion on how they see things.

I'm looking forward to seeing how Zach gets on. I didn't see the NL level meeting he rode at the OTA last season (which he did well in I'm told despite only just getting off the plane from Oz!) but he looked stylish when he had few after meeting spins at the OTA in 2019. Yes I know that is different to racing but as has already been mentioned he fared well in Oz earlier today and I seem to recall a top 4 in a State Championship used to qualify them for a visa?? This 'young Aussie' has been a tried and tested method for the Rebels in last ten or so years. Gazza and Debbie haven't done too badly so far with their selections over the years of bringing in new Aussies, Sam Masters, Justin Sedgmen, Brady Kurtz & Jake Allen all spring to mind! No reason why Zach shouldn't follow that positive trend at Somerset. Reckon I could guess who might be the trusted spanner man for young Zach as well. He has worked for a few of the aforementioned Aussie riders before with plenty of success!

To be honest personally Josh isn't a rider I have particularly warmed to over the seasons he has been riding and felt he often chased back wheels a little bit too much. However I will support which ever 7 riders are wearing that Cases Rebels bib come March/April and there is no doubting the lad has the ability and bravery to be spectacular and entertaining out on track. I am sure that my opinion will change of him as the 2020 season progresses though as we get to know him more and see him race regularly at the OTA. I do know the promotion rate him highly and to be fair Gazza rarely lets us down! Bellego is an interesting call as he is very good at the OTA and I am wondering whether the reigning British Champion might also fit into the Rebels 2020 plans? Wouldn't surprise me to see Zach Cook included too somewhere as he looked good and was a regular visitor in 2019.

Well done Leicester!!

It is a shame you both chose not to attend this season but you did miss some cracking racing over the season! You unfortunately also missed watching riders like Anders improve week by week and I am sure that I am not alone in hoping he is back in 2020 and beyond as a Rebel. Think back to 2013 when Wrighty arrived as a reserve to replace Stefan Nielsen. No one was overly happy at that time that Stefan had been dropped by Gazza but Wrighty was back for 2014 and subsequent seasons and the rest is history as they say as the legend grew. I don't recall Charles ever getting as close to the fence at the OTA in those early days as he does now. Who is to say Anders won't take on that 'Wrighty mantle' in the seasons to come?? The lad has already grown in popularity over the season with the fans that attend each week and he interacts with the fans really well in my opinion for someone so young. He has to be nailed on to receive one if not more awards at the Presentation night on November 2nd. I am sure the fact of us witnessing great racing at the OTA will be exactly the same in 2020 whatever division and whoever the guys are out on track for the Rebels or the opposition and who knows they might be spoken about as a Rebels legend in a few seasons if we give them the chance and our support.

Can't see us moving anywhere in terms of League structure in 2020. I would expect Championship racing for the Rebels in 2020 and to be honest we didn't see many different riders at the OTA this year to last, barring maybe JD, Lambert and NKI. Start the team building with Anders and Bomber and off we go! Gazza will find a way of getting a competitive team on track within the budget available to ensure speedway survives in Somerset. I have heard he has multiple permutations already mapped out for the 2020 Rebels!

I glad you liked my unbiased updates because i only text what actually happened. No Rebels were warned all night because they didn't move!

They have the British Sidecar Championship at the OTA tomorrow evening and people going to that can watch the Rebels at Armadale i understand in The Oaktree. £10 entry for the Sidecars.

As the Pairs is a BSPA staged event surely this should be aimed more at them than Somerset to stump the cost of hiring such a structure??

That will be the Burnham breeze for you! The weather is so changeable down here as about 4 miles away the golf day was played yesterday in dry weather although we could see the track getting a pasting at lunchtime. Strange sort of a meeting and pleased the Rebels got the win in the end. I was expecting more of Max Clegg to be fair after his score on Sunday but Nathan accounted for him a couple of times which probably swung things Rebels way more than anything. Anders Rowe continues to impress me as well. Would love to see him get it out a bit wider at times but you can't argue with how well he rides the inside at the OTA though. He continues to beat riders he probably shouldn't at this stage of his career and from the back too!

Thanks Tony! Fingers crossed for a good day for the 7th edition of it!

Thank you to Valentin for his efforts in a Rebels bib this year. Enjoyed watching him race and thought he did a decent job to be honest. Good luck in the future Vally. So a team change is needed with around 5 points to play with at a guess. Not really sure who is out there but i know R/R is a longer term option! What about giving Zach Cook a go or it might even end up being a double change now to balance it out?

Seen three Poole meetings now this season* and at no point of any of them can I ever recall Nicolai Klindt passing an opponent after bend two lap one! Fair play the lad can trap though and I guess that pays the bills. *and a few last season too

Friday is now the changeover day in the area for holiday makers which is difficult to get them to speedway on their first night there after possibly long journeys. Wednesday's are much better traffic wise for riders I understand too. Obviously Wednesday does clash with Denmark which affects some riders. Who would be a speedway promoter!

I attended this meeting yesterday as I was in Poole with the family and Doyley was in town and here is my view on it for what it is worth. Track looked well watered when we arrived at around 11am and wandered around the pits with the kids. Both teams seemed quite relaxed on the the track walk , laughing and joking with each other as they approached the start line and none of the usual collective dirt kicking and rider debates when issues are apparent. Plenty of track work was going on with the starts being ripped up and more water going down. The guy in the tractor certainly didn't hang around as he was belting up and down in the tractor. Never seen a trackman move so quickly! Then they announced the news re Lampart's 'injury' which when looking at the averages already meant the meeting would be a longer affair as the Swindon reserves had to cover a bulk of the rides. The next announcement was that due to the threat of rain at 1pm they wouldn't do the parade as usual but get straight into heat one at 12noon which they did with Zach as R/R so immediately a delay loomed there. Good job the rain didn't arrive! Doyley was flying heat one to the quickest time of the season so far and he seemed to be easing off in last couple of bends. So far so good. The Poole reserves had a fairly easy 5-1 in heat two as Ellis Perks had the first 'moment' on the bottom bend losing second to NBJ. Then came heat three with Ellis suffering the same fate of Perks with a massive tankslapper on the 4th bend. The following lap was Musielak's spectacular 'lay down' in the same spot which even if he wasn't injured before it looked enough to rule him out anyway. No idea of the alleged 'plan' by Swindon beforehand but when he walked over to get changed soon after his right arm was not being moved much at all. I am no rider but it looked in heat 4 that Batch had the wrong setup as the bike was very lively and difficult to control. I can see why he pulled up as it was taking him in directions he didn't want to go. After that race he got it sussed out and rode ok, maybe he changed bikes or setup? Richie Worrall looked good in heat 6 riding mid track without problem to gain his first win of an impressive afternoons work. The next race not to be re-run after this was heat 13!!! Perks was done for two minutes in the next and much to my surprise was replaced by Zach in my eyes wasting a valuable available ride for Rosco and his over worked reserves. The ref dragged back heat 8 for a jump by Ellis although he was in third down the back straight and it had the early makings of a decent race when the reds came on. Next up was Doyley's crash and when you see him bin it on his own something isn't right with the track. Not being a regular at Wimborne Road I thought it odd that the blade was used and not a grader on the tractor all afternoon as the bottom bends seemed quite deep. Perks then had another 2 minute exclusion much to his disgust as I think some confusion might have been had over the IRR regs. He was back out again in the next one, for 1 corner anyway, after being on the wrong end of a first bend clash between JD, Rich Lawson and himself. Glad neither rider was hurt as it was a nasty one that deflated an airbag on bend one and ended with only Lawson's right boot and his steel shoe being visible as he disappeared under the fence face first and had to wait to get the air bag lifted before he could get up! Perks didn't re-appear in the re-run which by my reckoning made it seven rides for him. I had actually written Wajtknecht in as the original RR before they announced Perks thinking he would have run out of rides. I had him down as starting in heats 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11 (although didn't appear for the re-run but I thought they announced it still counted as a ride?) but then he re-appeared in heat 14 too!! Which one didn't count please??? Nico and Doyley had a good race in the re- run of the re-run of the re-run of heat 11 after Klindt's tape exclusion and Zach's fall which if the track was as dangerous as JD states then fair play to him for making that move on Nico! Strange start to heat 13 with JD getting it spot on from the replay I have seen although it looked a flier and Batch making a decent start from 4 but the tapes detached themselves from the post and dangled the whole race over gate 4 position. If ever a race was likely to be called back then that was it but no we had four laps and no reds! By then the dust was getting bad but that was due to the length of time the meeting had taken at that point. It wasn't too bad in the earlier races to be fair. The track had also developed a blue groove but also a couple of whiter areas on bends one and two which my 11yr old daughter asked me was it the base? It could have been I guess but couldn't tell from the grandstand, whatever it was it didn't look right being on a speedway track. Overall the entertainment served up didn't give value for money I feel. The racing was poor but I guess daytime meetings are not always the best anyway. I am pleased to see the hole on bend one has been sorted out as that was awful when I was there last August for the Rebels fixture. One thing I thought was poor was the presentation of the meeting. Results and race information couldn't be faulted on the whole but other than the toss of the coin and the rider of the meeting no other interviews were done with any riders etc. The announcer didn't really get any connection with the crowd at all and with the meeting taking around 2 1/2 hours to complete (it wasn't the 3 hours stated elsewhere on here) some more entertainment/interaction might have been nice. I know some people on here feel the presentation at Somerset could be improved but it is already far better IMO than that I experienced yesterday morning. The whole visit to Poole was built around the speedway fixture to be fair but I might think again unless the track improves. I read later in the programme notes that Matt Ford doesn't understand why numbers are dropping through his turnstiles but if that is what is served up each week in Dorset I have a good idea why as like I said I didn't feel it represented value for money yesterday.

I can't get there every week now due to work and family commitments but try to get there as much as I can. Yes it is more expensive than it use to be but what isn't nowadays?? People say there aren't any fans favourites this season then they need to get along and add to that list of favourites by supporting the team trackside whenever they can. I reckon Henry and Valentin could easily fill that void this season though. How did Charles, Jake and BWD become the crowd favourites in the first place? Do you also think riders might use that 'fans favourite' tag to their advantage when negotiating deals knowing that they might get a better deal out of it. At the end of the day it is a business to them and they need to earn money like we all do so fair play to them if they can get a better deal out of it. I know it is Championship speedway this year but I personally don't care. I go to watch 7 Rebels do their best against the opposition on track whatever level of racing it is dressed up or down as. Presentation wise it must be difficult to create an atmosphere in what is effectively a field as the sound just disperses. I think they do an ok job with it but I am sure the team are always trying to improve and vary it each week. From the times I have spoken on the PA from the centre green to promote the annual Golf Day (which is my way of trying to help the club) it is a strange experience as you cannot see the crowd or really get much idea of feedback from them either. I attended both Swindon and Poole last year and whilst one I felt was better the other was far worse in terms of presentation. I hope it is better on Bank Holiday Monday at Wimborne Road. I actually bumped into the Blunsdon mic man at Cardiff a couple of days later and complimented his presentation which he said he appreciated. Not sure I can make it this week but I will certainly be back supporting the Rebels on the 29th with the wife and kids in tow. Hope to see some of you there!

Not sure that is the correct logo any more for the Rebels?

After watching him for the Rebels for last 3 seasons I don't doubt that! Will end season as number one at Scunny i reckon too.