erniew

In defence of Lewis Kerr, it appears his bike failed in his last race and it looked like they couldn't get it ready in time. I can't see a guest, especially Lewis passing up the chance for some extra points money.

Smoke me a Kipper, I'll be home for breakfast.

On the Ben Hopwood question, the same thing happened last week in the Wolverhampton double header, 'Bomber' Harris guested in both matches for the home team, I said at the time what happened to the 7 day rule? if anyone has the answer, I would appreciate it.

Couldn't land a blow?

Can anyone answer how Bomber can guest twice on the same day for the same team on their home track? or have they scrapped the 7 day rule?

Shoot me down if I'm wrong, but wasn't midnight on 28th the deadline for signing new riders? only previous team members who were replaced through injury eligible to return.

Unclerickety, the two things that blow your theory out of the water are BV doesn't have the capacity, even with the temporary stands and secondly, it doesn't have a roof and that increases the gate quite considerably. Even if you take the lowest estimate of the crowd at Cardiff It's still over 3 times the capacity of BV.

I do have some sympathy for Danny, but trailing around a quarter to half a lap down is doing nothing for his confidence nor is he learning anything as well as not making any money. Going full time back in the NL might give him time to improve without the pressure he is undoubtably under. A look at the NL rider averages must come up with someone who is available on a higher average, and as been said, they can't do any worse. Speedway is a professional sport, and is results driven and I can see us falling short this season if he isn't replaced. Harsh it may be but that's life.

I think Garrity is an accident looking for somewhere to happen, he spends too much time out of control by hanging off the bike, might look spectacular but it's dangerous. I don't wish any rider ill, but if, and when Garrity has a big off, I hope he doesn't take anyone else with him.. I would never boo him by the way.

Sorry about the cost Shads, drinks supplied by stadium owners, nothing to do with The Diamonds.

Surely, Robert would not be available tonight if he was fit as his parent club would have priority so the fact he is injured has no relevence.

Better have a good supply of spare tapes ready for this one!

My thoughts on the subject. Pit access restricted to anyone involved in the running of the meeting, any ex rider applies for an annual stadium pass at a reasonable fee, say £50 which gains entry to any meeting. The receipts from this are given in full to the Ben Fund.

I have no axe to grind regarding young Danny Phillips, but he doesn't seem up to riding in the Premier League just yet. Maybe another season in the National League will help him improve. A new No. 7 is important if we are going to challenge for silverware as no points from your reserve means a 6 point swing to the opposition and we can't keep covering for that.

i agree Dave, If there is no punishment for breaking the tapes, it can be used to a teams advantage, for example, the rider they really want to use requires extra time to repair/adjust his bike you send out another qualifying rider with the instructions to break the tapes thus giving your preferred rider time to get his machinery ready to race, of course, no team manager would ever stoop so low, would he?

Great! so you don't get penalised for a tapes infringement.

Just seen at the Glasgow - Newcastle meeting, Richie Worrall went through the tapes in heat 15 and instead of going off 15m or being replaced by a reserve he was replaced by Aaron Summers, a heat leader! Have they changed the rules?

News flash on Diamonds website, tonight's meeting is off due to the weather.

I and a couple of friends are driving up for this one. The weather forecast doesn't look too promising however, any updates on that score would be most appreciated. On the same subject, how well did the track covers perform?

Philip, were you able to inspect the whole stadium, or just the Grandstand and bar area? I was on the South terracing and magnificent is certainly not the word i would have used, new, yes but of questionable quality and apparently the ladies facilities were not supplied with water or toilet rolls, the car park, which Belle Vue patrons pay a season ticket charge for,was still half full of portakabins and construction materials so they couldn't park. It wasn't only the track that wasn't ready. Regarding the track, the rut on turn 3 appeared after the first 4 riders practice and would only have got worse very quickly.

I was told by a reputable source today at the practice that the promotion were aware of Roberts commitment on Saturday when he signed but will be available for Sunday at Newcastle.

In response to Aces51, I was there last night and it was plain to see from the first few laps that the track was unraceable, deep ruts appeared almost immediately, and I'm afraid your magnificent stadium isn't completed, the builders equipment is still cluttering up the site. The south stand looks to be of cheap construction and i'm not sure how long it will last. I feel most of the viriol being expressed on here is due to the failure of the management to call it off in time to prevent fans travelling long distances at some cost.

Sorry, this has to be down to the management, they must have known on Friday that the track wasn't fit to race on. Myself and many other fans have travelled from all over the country to see the opening meeting and with complete disregard for this, Belle Vue management have adopted an 'It'll be alright on the night' attitude and havepresided over a complete farce in a half completed stadium (the car parks for season ticket holders were full of portakabins instead of cars, the ladies toilets on the south side had no water or toilet paper) The track was a joke and the south terracing looks like it was constructed out of Meccano and linoleum offcuts. So, a weekend wasted and fuel, hotel and food expenses for nothing! Thank you to the management team for the grandfather of all foul ups! I will not return. Even the Belle Vue supporters around us were embarrassed. I feel sorry for the fans from Edinburgh and Poole in particular.

We could always complain that the night is too dark, and the floodlights are too bright! On a serious note, really looking forward to it.

Thanks Rob. duly noted.