HGould

Don't know who she is but on TV there was some high pitched voice shrieking after every race giving results- can't be Natalie Quirke as she was in TV studio??

Looked some decent races on BT Sport. Their camera work is abysmal at times though. French boys very unlucky and Becker looks a mini Hancock in the making.

Don't think that's right as some of the fixtures they failed to complete were Away matches? As for Coventry be great to see them back especially as it looks like Cradley Heath have given up trying to find a new Track. Shown their programme for first meeting by a Heathen supporting friend and it appears that Mr Pearson and Patchett have confirmed they have decided to stop looking for new venue, happy to let someone else try and will just go season by season in National League..

reserves battles will be key in my opinion. very close could go either way on the night and on aggregate. a belter!

This is all great news and very welcome. I don't want to be a party pooper though but there is a huge turd in the way still here. A stadium that has been effectively ransacked by previous Owners, vandalised by various individuals and Groups of individuals and a massive capital outlay required to get it in to any kind of condition to stage speedway or stocks again. I do wonder if the most cost effective option may be to demolish and remove everything and then build from foundations up as Somerset / Leicester have done, slowly and steadily. It would NOT BE Brandon of old, but it may be a more cost effective and quicker way. What is needed though are Stock Car and Speedway Promoter(s) and people to work together to create something new. As with other venues it may require Stocks to lead the way. There is a huge amount of support and affection for the name and brand "Coventry Bees". There are some great ideas starting to emerge at Clubs all round the UK from IOW / Eastbourne in the South through Leicester / Sheffield /Belle Vue and up to Glasgow further North; and many other points in between, some of that marketing dust is required at Coventry and it'll need a Group not an individual I think to bring it to fruition. My best wishes to the Bees.

I think some are missing the point a little. As a "Training Track" it can sustain a speedway track, it can actually make money, presumably all these riders training have to pay to use the track, and it can act as a venue ideal for those in South and Midlands in that guise. Better a Training track than a Housing Development. It's clearly going to take some time for the Owners to sort out Debts and Liabilities and after the debacle of Lakeside, who were financially solvent until moving there it seems; the BSPA will quite rightly be wary of giving anyone permission to run there. I don't think the Lakeside move encourages anyone to run there as anything but Rye House or Hoddesdon branded...."Hoddesdon Hawks" anyone??? - has a nice ring for old Hackney fans??. Wasn't there talk of Connor Dugard wanting to run NL there in the winter, I'm sure I read that in the NL season preview in the Speedway Star, presumably he, or his backers; or the BSPA decided it was not viable at this point even at NL level. Personally I think, let it thrive as a Training venue for a year or so and then look again, but it would be a brave man or woman who would venture there to promote in my opinion.

Shame but a very sensible decision this time. Hopefully see Adam and Nathan in action next week and see if we can do a Liverpool and pull off a Cup miracle...

It is tipping it down and has been for a few hours but on this occasion absolutely no one could complain if the worst happens as it is torrential rain but fingers crossed it may brighten up later

you sound like a Man Utd fan in denial of Liverpool's great win last night conveniently forgetting the only professional speedway Club in the South East who are your great rivals. they had the best track man in the sport for decades, although I must say their track not as good when I went early in season as it used to be, although it was freezing cold and early season.

completely different planning circumstances as those houses were built in knowledge speedway was there and would be there as long as speedway / dogs are viable. local Council also far more interested in speedway and to be fair swindon have far higher profile as in PL and on TV regularly.

It's something a lot of us speedway fans never see or really have an awareness of "banking and cambers" I've only had chance to walk on 2-3 tracks but on each occasion been surprised that banking and cambers from on/inside is markedly different from what you think they are looking from outside the track. Any camber that pulls a rider in to a fence is dangerous, but on a straight - thats doubly dangerous. Explains a lot regarding the problems

AGREED we all want Adam to be a roaring success and we all want the Masons to be able to maintain us in this level for many years to come.

agreed I actually said "decent money" not claiming anything too much, excessive; ridiculous; daft....just decent.....strange reaction imho to be told decent is gossip....must have struck a nerve with Mr Bordeaux...

I actually said "Adam will want decent money"...... DECENT meaning sensible ....not sure where the gossip is in that !

Crowds will need to improve as dire so far and this must be a gamble as Ellis will want decent money, hope and pray it comes off as if not situation is dire. I agree about averages , back to simple one average per League no fiddling just keep it simple points and bonus divided by rides.

Newman and Thomsen

Looking at the start line pictures looked a very sparse crowd when you consider vast majority of the crowd are on home straight there. I do think that when Len is charging more that any PL/CL track within 200 miles he has got his pricing horribly wrong. The curfew issues dogged Kent last few seasons and doing so again. No one wants to see riders hurt and there does seem to be an issue there. I suspect older more experienced riders (a) know when to ease off and (b) know how to be diplomatic but even home fans own blog is saying something has to be done b4 someone is killed. Its a great shame as some decent people down there and could be a decent CL team if they could get a few hundred more in but that curfew will deter anyone travelling from too far away.

Ellis and Stoneman it is - didn't feel right to give names yesterday before Club announced but both should improve the side at top and bottom ends respectively. Ellis is a genuine heat Leader and Stoneman an out and out trier.

Leon rides Perry Barr as well as any reserve who will come there this season and will be warmly welcomed back. We are apparently making a couple of Team changes but will be done after the KOC Second Leg match so anything we can get out of this match will be a boost. We have encountered 2 sides with strong Heat Leaders (Somerset and Eastbourne) so far and Berwick have the look of a more solid all round team - a bit more like ours so what where we may gain is more realistic hopes in Heats 13 and 15 - although what has been a strong heat (heat 2 in most meetings) may be tougher with Leon around. We just need a win though from anywhere just to gee everyone round the place up.

Someone ITK at PB has told me 2 signings are imminent -one a returning rider with good PL regular /CL Heat Leader level experience and the other a leading NL level rider for several seasons . I know names but can't divulge but I think supporters will be very pleased.

Wasn't there so hard to comment on specifics but have seen a few clips of the racing and also some of the comments on social media about the size of the crowd at Arlington (again) and the number of kids attending. Coming from NL with Brummies as Eastbourne have, I think most hardcore speedway fans want close competitive racing and last heat deciders and not runaway wins and nothing brings newcomers back more than excitement; incidents and dare I say crashes. Winning 60 points every week like Eastbourne have for years must get boring and this loss will come as a shock to some. Enjoy it embrace it we used to say "happiness is 40-38" well 45 - 44 sounds as good as it gets to me and if a big crowd there to enjoy it so much the better. I wish we could have some of the commercial and marketing excellence that Eastbourne seem to have found at Perry Barr, no disrespect to anyone at PB but we need more supporters coming in and more enthusiasm and innovation. Well done Leicester though I can't see anyone else winning there and they are also losing riders but finding a way round it and no doubt down to the outstanding man manager they have bought in from Glasgow.

Think we may surprise a few doubters on a big fast track like Sheffield - Team is largely made up of fast track specialists ...Ulrich / Zac / James / Paco / Kyle

not for the first time and probably not the last it has to be said, that on and off the track Eastbourne have really attacked and embraced the move up to CL, sadly, on and off the track Brummies are polar opposites. Both Clubs have very similar recent histories but at the moment the trajectory of us is very different.

Perks, Mountain; Thomas ; Morley; Bowtell ; Brennan ; Wood - a great advertisement for the National Development League and far better for both sides to promote British talent (Perks raised in Oz I know). Their battles will likely influence result more than heat leaders.

Look on their website I found one off the Fixtures page (Premier Inn about 1 1/2 miles from track) and did flexi booking so you can cancel up to 1pm on day which is ideal if rain off. That was Good Friday/Easter weekend so may still be availability for non Bank Holiday. My mate mailed them too I think its admin@eastbourne-speedway.com and got a list of 5-6 places in the town and got fixed up on sea front., was very impressed with Guest House and also the help he got.