Arch Stanton

As been said Rye isn't a happy hunting ground for us so very pleased with that! Looks like a great performance from Captain Hawkins he will have enjoyed that I'm sure! Good to see Gino chipping in with a good solid away performance too. Hope Ellis is ok.

I assume no problems with the weather?

I have to be honest, I read it the same way as Zodiak, and also thought it was completely unnecessary. A simple well done boys would have sufficed, without the need for a sly dig. However, reading the EADT this morning, I've completely changed my mind. Interview with Tungate.. "I Haven't been too bad at Foxhall but away from home I've just been lethargic and lacking motivation. I've been arriving at meetings not in the zone. I know this" Lethargic and lacking motivation? He'll never get anywhere in this sport with an attitude like that. Fans will support riders who are struggling with confidence or machinery as long as they see effort is still there. But a half arsed attitude to meetings won't be appreciated. Hawkins' tweet it seems was bang on.

Tweet from Captain Ritchie Hawkins.. @rhr_211: Boys all pumped with that 1! Great to have @rohantungate turn up for an away match #witches #teamwork Ouch

Nobody implied it would be "straightforward", it was a suggestion and certainly not a reason for someone to get their frilly knickers in a twist. The meetings are today and tomorrow, not today and Saturday so I wouldn't have thought riders, mechanics etc would fly in for today's meeting, fly back out again tonight and then fly back in for tomorrow's meeting, that would be silly. It's short notice obviously, but there's been occasions in the past where rained off meetings have been rearranged for 24 hours later. Was very unlikely to ever be an option, but I don't think it's as far fetched as made out above.

Tungate continues to disappoint. He's been woeful so far this season. Manzarez' best away score to date, good lad.

What has that got to do with it? The point is that Rohan Tungate hasn't proved anything yet to suggest he's anything but an inconsistent 7 point PL man but his name is not Morten Risager so he gets a free ride. I get a little sick of the anti Risager stuff on here. When he has a good meeting he hardly gets a mention, when he has a stinker the "crap" Risager stuff comes out and the finger is pointed, despite other members of the side scoring even less. It's like the "rotten apple" guff that came out last year and that he was a "billy big balls" and bad for team spirit as he was apparently causing rifts in the camp. And yet we've had Ritchie Hawkins, and Adam Ellis' father state that this year the team spirit was "awesome" and the best it's been.

A la Rohan Tungate?

This.

Knowing Bloomy as I do, think yourself very fortunate he didn't pop in.

The track is currently clearly an issue. I don't think I've ever seen a blue groove at Foxhall in over 30 years. The promotion made a big investment widening the track and deserve a lot of credit for that. As was said earlier, there is now nothing wrong with the track shape. There SHOULD be plenty of racing lines and it SHOULD be providing good racing as we've seen the last few years. But it needs to be prepared properly and that's a criticism of the promotion and NOT the track staff. The wet winter can't continue to be used as an excuse in mid April. The track is in dire need of new shale and the Louis' need to address that quickly before it costs them. There was a huge crowd and none of them got value for money yesterday as the meeting was dire.

Out of interest who was it? Well done Panthers a very good day for you.

I actually agree that it's looking slick and devoid of shale but Lovey makes a good point about the weather. It's been ridiculously wet just about everywhere this winter which has made it impossible to do too much work. I went Peterborough the other day and it was very similar, as was Rye. I'm sure things will improve as the season goes on.

Good man fingers crossed for you pal! So far so good.

What did you decide in the end?

I hope the weather forecast improves..

Nah, should be hitting 60 here so Witches by 30

Very impressed by the professionalism of Gino Manzares. He was kitted out like an established GP star yesterday. Well sponsored, and his machines sparkled and clearly look tip top. The lad looks very well prepared.

And the thousands who'll pick up an Ipswich Star the next morning... But yes a pity they stopped public entry to the press and practice.

What is it with you and this bizarre fascination with this?? To put this to bed once and for all, the title "Director Of Speedway" was used for Chris Louis as he couldn't be titled "promoter" or "co-promoter" because he didn't have a promoters licence. He had basically taken over the day to day running of the club from John Louis, but wasn't officially a promoter. He now does have his promoters licence and has for some time, but the local media, and for whatever reason the official website, have stuck with the Director Of Speedway tag. It really is no big deal!!

Chris Louis..

That's the problem when you have more than one league and riders riding in more than one league. The PL used to be the stable league with settled sides every week. Not any more it seems. And agree regarding Good Friday. It's already looking like a bit of a farce unfortunately.

I think this will start to grate as the season wears on. We were always told that one of the big plus points of the Premier League as apposed to the EL is more regular settled sides. Not sure that will now be the case with the changes this season. Not sure there's much difference in the quantity of the fixtures in both leagues now either?