EnglishRoundabout

Swindon fans watching Tungate and Wright in the EL will certainly regard them as PL riders though. Perhaps less so Gracijonek, although he has had a poorish season in the EL so far. I agree with idh in that BWD and Zach were both gambles (as was Jake Allen). The step up from NL racing to PL is significant and the need for them to achieve averages of 3.00 is vital. So far BWD has done this easily, but not so Zach.

Just considering Tungate further, it's a long time since I have seen such a 'clean' gater. He stays absolutely still at the start and is truly electrifying to the first bend. Especially off gate 4 at the OTA. Josh talks regularly about how light Rohan is and how he uses this to his advantage. Certainly shifts his body weight much further forward than most riders.

He seems to have the bottle when it comes to the big races too. Perfect second heat leader and terrific back up to Josh.

Without knowing the appropriate averages , a few names to consider or debate could be Mikkel Bech, Pontus Aspgren, Billy Janiero, Gregorz Zengota. Perhaps less expensive options, maybe Ollie Allen could be persuaded to have one final blast? Could Bjarne Pedersen double down? It would be a shame if the Devils do go for the Boxall option. As Lewy says, he can ride the SBA, but is he going to be reliable? Furthermore, he will add very little firepower away from home.

Prior to the race starting, BWD took exception to the start marshal's direction to where his front wheel should line up. He was clearly incensed at that point. At the conclusion of the race, BWD rode back to the start gate, got off of his machine and engaged in an animated dispute with the marshal. He had to be encouraged to leave the area by track officials.

Excellent racing last night. Credit to Workington who provided Rebels with a stern test. It's a long time since Somerset needed to deploy the black and white helmet in a match at the OTA, and even then before heat 7. The Comets riders 1-7 had their gating gloves on and looked fired up from the start. Roared on by a small band of their loyal fans, there was definitely some tension in the air. Compton was hard but fair on Wright, Wells looked smooth and stylish and Jensen and Hansen looked a threatening partnership early on. Zack lacked some conviction entering the first bend and seemed to get muscled out. Starkey and Wrighty looked generally down on power. Wilson-Dean continued to struggle with the speed in his engine and his frustration boiled over with an unnecessary confrontation with the start Marshall. Eventually the Rebels began to fire. Some super passes by Gracjzonek, Starke and Allen, supported to rapid Tungate and what looked like a really tricky second half to the meeting became a comfortable home win. Once again, a well prepared track produced some super races with numerous passing. Rebels fans are being royally entertained this season.

Can you clarify what you meant by 'Doyley kept wanting the public to be kept updated with what was happening.....not' please?

Disappointed not to be going tonight as the course dates i was on in Huntingdon have been switched to next week. May be a blessing in disguise mind. Can only see a thumping win for the Stars.

You may well be right, must admit I only heard his engine revs suddenly increase.... Next thing I knew he was almost under the fence.

Newcastle definitely deserved a point last night. The consistent drizzle gave the track a real soaking which in turn ensured a level playing field for the first 6 heats. Lambert was filled in over the first two bends of heat 1, as was Zach in heat 2. Starkey stopped on bend one whilst third, Rohan broke the tapes in heat 15 and Starkey did a 'Kildemand' and crashed on bend 4 when ahead by a country mile. That said, Newcastle fought tooth and nail for every point. Kus, looking majestic in his first 3 rides, appeared then to lose power in his remaining rides. Lambert as others have mentioned, looked true class, and at 18 years old looks a superb prospect. What will also help his career is that he appears to have some grey matter inside his head. I have seen him on TV give some good mature interviews (not needing to use foul language like his fellow countryman who tends to use it fairly regular) Moreover, he looks for his team mates, again evident on Sky, but also last night in heat 15 when he trapped ahead of the field and immediately looked for Kus during the first two turns. George English chose to put Lambert and Kus in early to cover R/R which in my opinion left the Diamonds vulnerable later in the meeting. Just a mention for Jake Allen. Pure entertainment. Some pushing and shoving with Kus after their coming together in heat 15 (described by ref Ronnie Allen as 'handbags', was followed by one of the most hair raising rides I have witnessed at the OTA. The Rebels, needing only 3 points for the win in heat 15 after Kus's exclusion, were sitting pretty with Allen and Wright tucked in behind the super quick Lambert. Allen however had different ideas. He gave chase, scorched around the fence on bends one and two, before picking up grip and rearing alarmingly. He clipped the back straight fence whilst still on one wheel before just managing to get the front wheel down before he entered turn 3!!! Huge gasps from the crowd and huge relief that he remained intact. Incredibly before the relief subsided, he reared again on the next lap, momentarily clipping the fence again and landing uncomfortably with his bike in what looked like a very strange position between his legs!! I watched Charles Wright cross the line behind Allen shaking his head in disbelief at his team mates riding in a race which was pretty much dead rubber. Still, he's young, enthusiastic and simply wants to win races, although he did say in an interview after the match that ' the red mist had landed'. Hopefully these two teams can meet again later in the season. No doubt a two leg affair has the makings of a classic.

I thought he looked terrific at Swindon when he scored 17 points. He is still only a teenager as well.

Oh dear.

Really enjoy my trips to Plymouth. Great little track, with what I thought were knowledgeable, friendly fans. After reading some of the above posts it's beginning to sound quite a scary environment!

I'm one of Batchelor's fiercest critic and he bottled a couple of races, which is par for the course with him. However, I quite fancied him to either win the last race or at least come second. His gating was sharp in the original staging of heat 15, and his race prior to that heat. Credit to him for that second place though. He does look a class act when in front. Trouble with Batch, especially nowadays, you never know which one will turn up.

Brilliant, naturally gifted rider. Unfortunately, arrogant and disrespectful. But then again, I'm way past it and who the hell cares what I think.

Beaten before a wheel is turned?

Hart fumbled a small spherical rubber thing, Willowman was struggling (with others) with a piece of wood/corrugated iron 3' x 3' in size!

I can tell you that Ostergaard bust a gut in all of his races. Really mixed it with the Rebels riders. Similarly, Jackobsen tried his best. He looked fast and gated consistently well throughout the meeting. He had several super races, notably against Paul Starke where the two swapped places six or seven times. He looks a fine prospect. Cook looked fast, but had a scary fall in heat 5. I understand he blamed the wind for his fall, and certainly that was a possibility as it was very strong. Unfortunately he looked a pale shadow of the man who scorched Leigh Adams 8 year old track record last season.

Some of the Rebels regulars (some who have been going to speedway since the early sixties) said they have never experienced such gales at a speedway meeting. The light stantions were swaying, paper bags blew at speed across the centre green, seagulls were blown off course, the large double entrance gates suddenly burst open and a huge wooden panel came adrift on the home straight fence, causing some spectators to take cover. Referee Mike Posselwhite met with the team managers on the centre green at one stage to review conditions. Suddenly, the sun came out, but the wind continued followed by several bursts of rain. It was more like November than late June. The Rebels were truly on fire. Zach however had a poor meeting. Seemed under power and lacked aggression at the crucial first turn. Jake Allen is proving to be a fantastic signing. He has great potential and has more that proved his worth this season. Starke and Wright provided their usual high octane performances, Wright in an after match interview claimed the wind helped him, as it 'blew him even closer to the fence, where he wanted to be anyway'. For the Panthers, Ostergaard was on the pace in all of his races and really put a 'shift' in. Cook seemed to be shaken after his fall in heat 5, and didn't seem to too interested after that. Credit to Jackobsen who fought hard in every race. He really did look the part and was unlucky to only score a handful of points. Definitely worth double his score. This Rebels side is entertainment personified (to use a Dave Lanning saying) and I am certain they will win more silverware this season

There's definitely a bat or two in the back straight bogs.

Yes sure. Safe trip down.

You should try and get down on Tuesday Cliffeboy, sounds like Gresh is buying the beer!!

What a terribly insulting post.

He also bottled a few heat 14's too!!

In fairness to KK, and I am one of his fiercest critics, he did look sublime last night (as he sometimes can). I still say he is incredibly frustrating and will produce the odd inexplicable zero from time to time, even though he looked arguably the quickest rider on show last night. Concur with most on here, cracking meeting though. Conveniently finished just in time to see Ireland's winner too.