bellevueace

Fricke will no doubt be a miss and even though Zagar dosent get on with the track a rider of his ability should still be able to score decent points, if not that could cost us.

Thats true in one sense in another we have two premier league teams, numerous lower league teams, county cricket, rugby league, the national cycling centre, boxing at the arena, etc, far more competetion than where most teams are situated.

Garrity rode superbly

I enjoyed the meeting, the track was well prepared and served up an entertaining meeting. We did well to get within three points as cookie, stevie, and scott wernt really firing and JJ was never at the races. Both teams suffered their share of bad luck and the Bees came on strong in the second half so fair play to them. Matej started well then tailed off somewhat, probably the stress of riding into the car park instead of the pits . Bomber was excellent and was great to watch. Whats more important than any result is that Brandon continues to exist as a speedway venue. Walking down to the Royal Oak before the meeting i was imagining the impact a new housing estate on the speedway site would have on the local community, it would take away that village feel and with the extra traffic etc i would be suprised if any resident would want that. As we saw with our stadium building a new venue is not straightforward, Swindon are finding that out, and not forgetting Reading whose new home never materialized. The sport can not afford to lose Coventry and i hope im visiting Brandon for years to come.

Good result for the lads, just hoping we can now get a run of matches and get into a regular stride.

Got to say the Colts meetings so far have been superb, far better racing than the EL. I cant see me missing any meetings at this level after admittedly being a tad sceptical to begin with. The level is far better than the last time i saw an NL meeting.

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