Steve Shovlar

Well that was more like it. It looked like it might have been a repeat of last Friday with Pirates taking the lead, only to have it pulled back with a t/r and a mistake to 27-27. But this time We dug deep and pulled away again. I thought It was a HavvyyHowler in heat 8 when he left Basso in the heat after a 1 and 0 and Hume had done so well, giving Edinburgh a second place when I felt Hume would have got second. And then I was fuming as Basso came out again for his 4th ride! But the lad had sussed out the track, blasted away in heat 11 leaving Thomson in his wake. Edinburgh were slightly impaired by the loss of Richie Worrall but that’s the way it goes. Think we would have won regardless. Special mention to Danyon Hume, who the commentators also praised 11 points on his first every visit is just superb. Man of the meeting.

Whoop whoop whoop whoop 4 big fat juicy points for the mighty Pirates!

Whoop whoop 3 points!

We have a point.

What did I say?

Yet again Havelock fails. Basso 0,0 and he gets brought out in heat 8. Why no Cook? Shocking!

No you are not. This is exactly the same as Redcar. We blow up when it matters at the death.

Anyone watching the stream? Can’t see it. OK my iPad wouldn’t work but iPhone no problem. Streaming to smart tv pic is very good.

Funny I see it the other way. Where are heat advantages going to come from? Should be a good meeting.

Rory Schlein is not showing great form. Seems to be hugging the white line and riding within himself the last few weeks. Basso hasn’t seen the place and might find it too tight. Same goes for Ben Cook. l will take a point and be happy.

If anyone came in to promote Eastbourne next season, they wouldn’t have anything to do with this failed businesses debt.

Looking at the averages I don’t see how r/r makes the monarchs weaker. Everyone can take a ride Masters will have at least 6 rides. Plus being beefed up big time at reserve makes the team just as strong as usual. Looking forward to the stream this evening.

Lawson to Plymouth replacing Edwards!

I heard on Wednesday that the club were having difficulty in finding any suitable fresh shale. If this is the case, what about the shale at Somerset? Is that already sold and gone?

Wasn’t rough as such Grippy patches and slick. The blade at heat 8 made it very smooth and even.

Just been underwatered the last 2 meetings for some reason. If the riders didn’t want it watered on Wednesday, they should have been over ruled as the fans come first. It might have made it tricky for the riders but there was enough dirt down to stop it becoming an ice ring. We have the ex Somerset trackman and that didn’t have dust as far as I remember. When the blade came out after heat 8 the track went very smooth but it should have been watered at that time. But it looked like the track staff were under orders not to water when it was the logical thing to do. This meeting at 5pm on Sunday should bring in a large crowd again with hundreds of thousands of tourists down to the area for the bank holiday weekend. But after a forecast very warm and sunny day, it’s going to be a severe challenge to keep the dust down. Hopefully they will flood the track overnight and continue to water throughout the day. We can hope. As for the meeting, it should be a lot better than Wednesdays due to a stronger opposition. Chris Harris is bound to get a very warm reception, and he has backup with Riss who can be quick around here. James Shanes knows the track and they have decent reserves. But it would still be a major surprise if Birmingham left with a point.

Best bet for any prospective Eastbourne promoter is to drop to NDL. A crowd of 4-500 would sustain a team at this level and is surely achievable. Sad to see our rivals go to the wall. There was a very good crowd when Poole were there at the start of the season, and that was with covid restrictions in place. Promoting means more than just opening the gates and hoping people turn up.

When Poole were at Newcastle he was in a scoring position and fell. Then in the second meeting against Plymouth he led a heat for 3 laps before overcooking it on the first bend, falling and hurting his wrist. Very, very unlucky as I am sure he would have won that heat if he had stayed on. Good for Newcastle in persevering with the lad. One for the future.

Wel I have purchased a live stream and look forward to settling down on Friday night with a couple of cold ciders and to cheer on the mighty Pirates.

Well that was the worst meeting of the year by the proverbial mile. A big crowd as expected but really nothing to cheer about as it was one way traffic all night. Not one race of note to be honest. We could see the track had been well watered before the meeting and there was a lot of track work going in up to 15 minutes before tapes up. But in the first heat we could see issues as it looked deep and grippy and riders were struggling. A track grade and watering after heat 2 didn’t make much difference and an early interval at heat 8 saw the blade come out, which certainly made the track better but unlike last week they didn’t water anymore, meaning the rest of the meeting was played out in dusty conditions. My guess is the riders didn’t want the track watered. Newcastle were as bad as expected and got off quite lightly with the scoreline. Two falls from Basso when in third and clear leading helped Newcastle from a bigger defeat. Poole also used reserve Danyon Hume in heat 15. As for Ben Basso, he looks a serious talent. He said after the meeting that he was very disappointed in his score, and was nervous before the meeting and over tried. It showed with the immense speed he has, too much for the track which resulted in a spill in his first, followed by another in heat 8 when miles clear. Perhaps he should learn that a win is a win and to throttle back a little. Three points if you win by a bikes length or 100 metres. Well done to Barker for living up to the number one jacket. Was on it all night. As for the others, we’ll just forget about it and move on. So Pirates go clear at the top of the league. Next stop is Edinburgh on Friday before coming back to Wimborne Road on Sunday for the visit of Birmingham and the ever popular Bomber Harris, who is bound to get a warm reception.

The track now is smooth and no issues however it is dusty.

Basso looks like a serious talent. Clearly over trying on his first meeting he had heat 8 sewn up but fell on lap three on his own. Full throttle but needs to realise throttle goes both way and when clear doesn’t need to push so hard. From what we have seen looks heat leader quality no problem once he settles in.

Lots of water before the meeting but looked crusty and grippy for heat one. They have taken early interval and been grading with blade. Looks better now. No more watering though. On riders instructions.

It matters not whether he has ridden there or not. A huge upgrade to make sure Edinburgh don’t lose. I look forward to watching this on the live stream. No expectations on the result though a point would be good and a win sensational.