Vic Meldrew

Eastbourne - what a pathetic excuse for a speedway team and manager!!

Excellent revamp !!! But could we have less space devoted to Grasstrack and European/Overseas news?

This framed example from Celebration of Speedway may help.

The Speedway Museum and the stalls, displays of bikes etc. are totally separate from the Wildlife Park. You can choose not to visit the animal enclosures if you so wish but still make use of the facilities, restaurant etc. The car parking is free. The speedway activities and the museum are still good value at £10.

Can you explain what you mean by "stand alone tracks" ? - Stadia shared by speedway racing, greyhound racing and possibly stock car racing ? What exactly is your point ?

Many thanks for the warning !! - I will make a note in my diary not to tune in to that programme on 18 December

I was at the meeting as a neutral. He got what he deserved. Nothing wrong in booing - Mauger, Fundin and the like were booed wherever they appeared at away tracks - they did not resort to staying on the track after a fall in the hope of a rerun (well not that often anyway). The Brum boys attempted to gain an advantage at nearly every start and were well spotted by the referee. Tom Bacon was clearly moving at the start of heat 15 but in view of the 8.30 curfew I think that the referee had to let it go as there was no time for a re-run. Have a look at the video of that race now online.

Perhaps in future when he slides off his bike he should make an effort to clear the track and not sit there for a re-run when clearly the opposition are winning the race.

Lens' explanation in his email today - "I didn't intend the track to be slick, but with only Saturday morning to do basic prep and a windy day on Monday, I didn't get it deeply wet to make grip ..my mistake." Perhaps a load more shale on the track in the first place and proper track grading and watering during the heats would have helped.

Pretty poor show all round today. If I was a first time spectator then I would not be inclined to attend again - poor track, lacklustre racing, delays. Bring back Shanes and Ayres !!

I must admit that I am not a Clifton fan - would have preferred Shanes in and Clifton out.

No Shanes for 2017 - more than sheer lunacy from Len !! Probably a big dip in attendances next year without the appearances of Shanes and Ayres.

Len Silver has said today that Kent Kings "own his contract" and that the signing for Poole does not preclude James riding for Kent Kings next season (depending of course on the points limit set in the forthcoming Promoters Meeting). I hope that it is not too early in his career for James to move up to this level. Poole have a history of chewing up and spitting out riders when it suits them especially when it comes to the playoffs.

I consider that the referee got both controversial decisions spot on correct. The wheels finally came off the Ford-mobile last night.

I was at the meeting last night - a neutral observer. Darryl Ritchings failure/reluctance to clear the track after he had fallen by himself in heat 4 and Kent were on a 5-1 left a lot to be desired. Luckily, the referee did not request a rerun and awarded the race. The delaying tactics employed by the Brum management and riders from heat 12 onwards was deplorable. The paying public were thereby cheated out of a last heat decider. The antics/gestures of Jack Smith towards the spectators was also not acceptable behaviour.

Hello Eddie Shoestring - looks like your investigative skills are waning. We do not have any real facts/explanations yet. Wait for the true facts to emerge before you jump to conclusions. Suggest you change your name to (m) orion (ic) leaving out the first "i".

Oh No !! Not Mason and Verge again. Looks like another wooden spoon for the Kings for 2016 with a three man team again - that is, if Ayres survives all those round trips.

First bend bunching and unsatisfactory starts do exist in reality. They do not apparently appear named as such in the Speedway Regulations. The final decision is of course down to the referee. If he stops the race, usually as a result of an incident on the first bend, then he can either exclude a rider deemed to be "at fault" (cause of stoppage) or order the race to be re run. In the event of a re run with all four riders the usual explanation given via the track announcer is that it was an unsatisfactory start.

I agree that the referee was excessively lenient on time wasters last night. First bend bunching ? It depends on your interpretation. Does a circuit have two bends or four ? To my mind the track has two bends and four turns so an incident just exiting the first bend i.e turn two can be interpreted as "first bend bunching" by the referee. In last night's final Greenwood was lucky not to be excluded for forcing Lambert into the fence coming out of the first bend (or turn two !).

I would just edge out Dan Greenwood over Danny Ayres as the new Nicki Pederson lookalike for the season to date at Central Park. Greenwood 3 Ayres 2.

I was under the impression that the Brummies win was assisted by the "Shuttlworth effect".

As a neutral spectator at Kent Kings I can say that in his last two meetings at Kent Adam Ellis is always moving at the start when the green light goes on. Last night he was warned once by the referee and got away with one rolling start.

Adam Ellis was moving at the gate in each of his races and despite being warned twice by the referee no action was taken. He should have been excluded on a least one occasion. Kent Kings reserves woeful.

A good all round team performance by the Eagles but when Mason returns I do not think that he will score as freely as Greenwood did home and away. The ref can't please all of the people all of the time - but I did think that she released the tapes too quickly in the majority of the opening heats. The Kent boys looked startled at the early release and when Morley tried to beat her and got a flyer he was hauled back. Kent's reserves - ouch !! How are they going to perform on the away tracks ? - but where will the replacements come from ? Verge certainly out of sorts today and will hopefully improve. If he goes down to reserve then who will take his place ?