bellevueace

The council in Swindon have always appeared to be pro speedway i think this will happen for next season.

How is Swindons new track coming along?

A very good meeting with some good racing, the pick for me being jon armstrong putting in a tremendous ride to pass the colts pair for the win, rob shuttleworth suffered some bad luck and rode far better than his total suggests, his e/f after a good manouvre from the back in his first ride being very harsh. Dan Bewley was superb, this lad is one of those natural born talents, the best debut by a kid ive seen since the days of collins and morton, massive way to go to match up to those two but dan appears to have everything to go very far. A mention for the tigers for taking the meeting at short notice, they have a couple of good lads so the colts had to work for the win, this meeting far exceeded what i was expecting for NL, looking forward to the next one. So onto the aces next week, swindon wont have a problem with coming here, this track lends itself to superb racing and i can see away riders looking forward to coming to manchester now instead of dreading it, a big chunk of home advantage gone but who cares about that if the racing is top class?

Can see our inactivity being exposed in this one.

A good result in the end, Leicester rallied for a couple of heats after their 8-1 and came back at us but just didnt have enough. The racing was much better than my last visit, the track changes seem to have been a positive. It must be frustrating for Lions fans at the moment but a poor side is better than no side at all when you consider the years Leicester was without the sport. Considering how Bjarne Pedersen was dropped before a wheel was turned i think he would be a far better bet than the likes of Walasek, like Paddy he owes Leicester after his last performance there, Hougaard will be fine, the reserves will always do a job, add Pedersen, and thats a better starting point than whats there at the moment. I thought Wozniak would have kicked on this season i saw him a few times last year and he looked real promising. I dont know about averages but the likes of Stead and Summers would defo be better than the poles, hope the Lions can sort something out to strengthen them up.

Was looking forward to coming down for this one but having checked several weather sites its forecasting rain from 5 pm to 10 pm, these days its certainly not worth travelling unless the forecast is bang on, will have to leave it till the very last minute to decide.

Im going to be travelling down tomorrow, hope the weather is like its been here today. We never seem to do well at Leicester and Lakeside have done us no favours as the pelters the Lions riders recieved from their promotion after that meeting will no doubt have them more fired up. Zagar does not like the track at all so Bomber appears a better fit for us, wonder how Matej would find the track now its been altered?

Well after the PC shambles and now this all the opportunities of showcasing the sport in the brand new stadium have been lost. You only get one chance to make a good first impression and immaterial of the circumstances the first impression is not a good one. After all the hard work trials and tribulations getting the new stadium what a great pity the season has got off to such a start. Our first home match now is nearly into May by which time I think any potential new fans who had their interest sparked would have lost interest. I fully intend going to Leicester tomorrow but if theres a slight hint of rain probably wont bother as its not worth the risk travelling following this sport nowadays if theres even a slight risk. Another thing I bought my ticket online for tonight and for Poole, I wont be doing that again. Before the build even started on the new stadium I said the promotion have done a fantastic job getting the stadium to fruition but I doubt they actually have the professionalism to run it. I thought when entering the stadium for the PC meeting this is looking very positive perhaps I was wrong and we are going to start on the front foot and bring in a new level pf professionalism that has long been missing from this club. Now im sad to say im feeling like my initial thoughts could be right.

Great news Plymouth remain open, I now hope the people of the city really get behind the club so it can move forward. It really is a case of support your local club or lose it. Im looking forward to a visit down there later in the year.

Great performance by the Aces, thought the inclusion of NKI would have made it difficult, good job we hadnt ridden prior to this one eh?

Was wondering when the silly little Englander tag was going to come out, Woffinden is world champion and as such should promote the sport in this country at a time when speedway needs all the publicity it can get. He benefited massively thanks to British speedway going back to his NL days through to being world champion. First he turns his back on the league, then the national championship, I now wouldn't pick him for the national side, much prefer to go with up coming riders who have that real passion for GB. As for workload if speedway is too taxing he cab always get a real job in the real world. Another thing as a world champion and ambassador for the sport his image takes the sport back to pre Ivan Mauger days, he looks a mess.

As Scott Nichols stated at the beginning of last season, an English world champion with an Australian flag tattooed on his back, he now dosent need domestic speedway, I wont miss him.

The BSPA would have reaped the benefit if things had not gone pear shaped but were quick to distance themselves from any negativity, they issued a statement without first gaining all the facts hanging one of their members out to dry. Belle Vue in return issued their own twit for tat statement to defend themselves and all both bodies have done is make matters worse. If there were any doubts whatsoever the meeting should have been called off early enough to stop anyone from travelling, Considering its a new build im sure most people would have understood and appreciated being saved a wasted journey. Whats happened cant be undone, it was a bad day for the club and the sport, the only thing now is to recompense fans even though those that travelled still lose out sadly, sort out the 3/4 bends and set about giving the sport nationwide some good publicity.

David and Chris have done an excellent job in providing the club with a new home, as Mort was instrumental in the plans for laying the track it should provide some excellent racing as he based it on his vast knowledge of Hyde Road. But like any new track its going to take time to settle down and bed in, when it has done then we can judge the quality of racing.

Imagine todays riders on the deep tracks of yesteryear? For me there was far more trackcraft in the 60,s 70,s 80,s rather than todays mainly gate and go, appears most of todays riders could learn a thing from the past as regards to team riding for example, an art that has all but died out nowadays.

As with our new home the planning process takes an age and then some, our promotion got pelters for the time it took but delivered in the end, it will be the same for swindon, i certainly wont mind another trip to blunsdon anyway

The rainwater that runs off the track is being collected in an underground storage tank and that is going to be used for watering, im sure that's what was explained at the open day,

A state of the art drainage system and track covers are going to be used in the new stadium.

No suprise Boxhall is unprofessional and unreliable, it was a bit of a suprise we went for him after our last experiance of him, welcome JJ hope he does well even though this change does weaken us.

The SWC final was a victim of the timeline that Swindon are now encountering, but that dosent mean you doubters were right at all, come march next year all you doom mongers come along and see the venue you all said would never materialize. No doubt all the saddos that take exception to any hint of good news happening in the sport will find something else to moan about, wether it be the track, the pies, the coffee not hot enough etc, there seems to be more anti speedway people on here nowadays putting down the sport, sitting behind their keyboards throwing out insults, no wonder so many decent posters have abandoned this site, im glead to say i will now be joining them. One other thing those that were deriding BV would have been better off worrying about their own club wouldnt they? It makes me laugh when those who said the national stadium wouldnt be built are so deluded they still think they were right.

Belle Vue got all sorts of negativity thrown at them with how long it took to get all the authorization through people are now realising how difficult planning regulations can be, Cradley have been looking for years, Swindon are encountering red tape and Coventry will no doubt go through the same frustrations. Ive no doubt both Swindon and Coventry will get new stadiums its just the timeline that is going to be difficult. I hope both clubs dont get the harbringers of doom that seemed to take great delight in predicting we would fail.

Congratulations to Poole on retaining their title and a massive well done to the Aces for getting so close. To lose out by just two points is really gutting especially when you look at the points we threw away in the first leg with falls exclusions etc, but hey thats all part and parcel of professional sport, swings and roundabouts. As for the goggle discussion i have to admit it makes it a tad harder to take but to say poole cheated is silly, if anything it was the oifficial at fault. When man utd lost out in the champions league to an offside Porto goal they didnt cheat the ref made a mistake it happens in all sport. More telling was the number of points our reserves were outscored by, i just think the occasion got to stefan and steve but the experiance will make them stronger. I just hope that this is a stepping stone for us to re-establish our club to what it used to be, weve just had a successful season, we have a new stadium, the best manager weve had in many a year so lets take the positives, wish Poole all the best and go again next year and aim for one place higher. Pity i couldnt get down tonight as im going away but overall a great final rode in the right manner with some superb racing, rather than see us as losers i look at speedway being the winner, on nights like monday and tonight its by far the best sport out there and needs to be promoted as such. Roll on March