Fortythirtyeight

As there was nothing else within reasonable travelling distance I popped along to the dump last night and saw the ‘ Academy’ ( with two championship riders and an ex championship rider who could still do it ) hammer the Tigers…or should that be Ace Pijper?…. ( he was the only championship rider as Mudgeway is only a part time filling in sort of rider ). Very one sided , not great racing but then it is a bit of a ‘technical’ track for the non regulars. Interesting to see the first female in the NDL but the lady is a bit off the pace as yet. Tigers hampered by replacing Ablitt with Norman so only one heat leader but I’d say Norman , Sadler and Southwick did ok. Academy just too strong on their own track with ex Tiger Halder impressive .Shanes might just get in the senior team. The replay at Redcar will be a similar result as Ablitt is not riding ( speedway injury ?). it’s the only speedway on so do I go or watch the GP ? without Lindgren or Bewley …..

Paid Six on an away track ?……..think you maybe wrong !

The ref will just follow local protocol. If the CoC says we start at 7:30 with a parade the ref will just say OK. The ref merely controls the match not the clubs procedures.

So far the crowd has been estimated as anywhere from 1,200 to 2,500…. Wish they would publish attendance figures !

Have you watched anything from Poole ? Whilst Redcar is not as good as it was under previous track men it’s still , usually, a good race track and the racing was decent last night just that Redcar boys were well and truly outraced.

I will.

Even if he signed tonight he wont be registered in time.

You ever watched Klindt ?

Not all speedway races are close

Watch the races….youll be surprised

Typical BSPL statement….’all go to Sheffield as it's central’ ……..then put the pairs on at Poole ! and it is one of the worst prepared tracks in the country.

so Boughen wins the 1st round of the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP in only his fourth meeting on a flat track bike but DEAN MACHINE still reckons he has a mental block. If you watch his races you would see anything but a mental block .

All down to personal preference . I remember watching the all conquering Diamonds in the 70’s, won just about everything but the ‘racing’ was poor, got great crowds though. Poole is the same, great crowds poor racing. Personally I enjoy Workington, Redcar, Glasgow and Scunthorpe as you see proper racing , not who has the right set up and gates wins type of track.

Slightly surprised with the Bears win as Edwards was disappointing and Jenkins isnt contributing yet but the youngsters at reserve made up for that. When will Mulford and Jenkins drop down ? Klindt came good….this match. Comets weakness at reserve meant few heat wins and cost them the match. Not sure how they resolve that one. Good match , good crowd.

Well as no one else has bothered with a summary and I’m sat on the beach at Workington here’s my effort. Tigers on paper appeared strengthened with guests Hodder and Norman ( he’s one to watch ) replacing Ablitt ( at Scunny ) and Ward ( retired ) whilst the Chargers look good on paper the shock home defeat should just have been an early season blip. Poor crowd ( for Friday night at Redcar ) but warm night and track looked better than previous weeks. Tight score early doors with Chargers Watson never finishing a race and Broadhurst not upto speed whereas Tigers were solid but lacking race winners and S.Pijper withdrawing with an old injury meaning extra rides for the promising Southwick and decent Sadler. Heat 9 changed everything. Veteran Mudgeway infront leading Oxford pair when on bend 3-4 Mudgeway takes a wobbler due to his grasstrack style ( he did this on this bend in each of his races ) , Ritchings appears surprised and falls meaning his team mate , either Fletcher or Broadhurst ? ( the announcer was very poor and inaccurate all evening ) lays it down whilst at the same time Mudgeway is catapulted into the air fence , all his own doing in my opinion. Takes a while but the the ref ( Mr. Hunter ) excludes both Oxford riders ?!? Gobsmacked! Tigers add a 5-1 to this 5-0 and now look good for a comfortable win. Charges fight back helped by Tigers Southwick fall-exclusion and impressive Scott & Ritchings to be 3 points behind going into heat 14. Here’s where the match is decided . With Southwich leading but clearly got a machine issue and slowing on lap 3 he coasts into bend 1 shaking his head as Vale goes inside him to avoid him. Southwick ends up in the fence, kicks his bike in frustration as the red lights come on. Everyone but the ref marks their programmes as a Oxford 5-1, even Roy Clarke starts telling the crowd how unlucky Southwick was when it’s then announced that the ref has awarded the race 4-2 to the Tigers as he says Vale knocked Southwick off ( he wasn’t even under power ! ) even more gobsmacked ! Chargers deserved their last heat 5-1 and to their credit didn’t appear to make a big fuss about being robbed of the match by two of the worst decisions I’ve ever witnessed in 50+ years of speedway. otherwse….a good meeting for NDL. Young Norman ( a former Redcar junior ) impressed at no.2, Southwick is fast and a bit wild but great to watch. Chargers Ritchings was class, expectantly backed by Bears rider Scott and young Fletcher was impressive. Tigers now looking for 2 or even 3 riders to replace Ward, Trigger and possibly Mudgeway?

Wow! Possibly the worst refereeing decisions I’ve seen in 50 plus years of watching speedway costing Oxford the match, take a bow Mr. Hunter !

Only in speedway could a Bears rider help the Comet's win away so that his own Bears now have to beat the comets at their place to go through.

If you knew the lad and had watched him from the start then you would know he didn’t always have that , infact the opposite was true, he was always bumping into others in the first corner. The lad has talent and can ride any bike but he lost the plot in speedway through many factors. Money was thrown at him and he was thrown in the deep end too early …..Too much too young !

You might want to think again as he is already upto speed as he finished 2nd in the Italian championship meeting and it was the very first meeting he’d competed in !

38 ish

Well done the Bears , my prediction was wrong with the Monarchs suffering with Paco’s withdrawal. Only have to look at the bottom end to see the reason for the overall result. Klindt still frustrates me but Pijper and Scott are really coming good. Monarchs need to find a scoring reserve.

Think Monarch's are capable of pulling this back just depends on which Klindt turns up and if the Bears youngsters can contribute more than the ‘popular’ Cluff and co.

That’s the way to encourage the few youngsters we have left in the sport.

Disappointing meeting on a rain affected track which the trackman doesn't seem to be able to cope with , driving around with a grader that hardly touches the track ? First half of the meeting was dire , Klindt showing his dark side where as Kye Thomsen attacked it and got his rewards, best Ive seen him ride. Once the track dried it improved and Pijper and Scott were very impressive for such young lads. Edinburgh were solid enough to keep it respectable and I think will go through overhaul.

End of 2024 .