Yearbyred

Well I’m at the meeting now and it’s interval time. I have been advised by Sidewinder that he never thought that the meeting would be close and Edinburgh would win comfortably. Given how we are getting well and truly gubbed, outgated, out fought and thoroughly trounced to date I now agree with him. Stuck my head above the parapet and in the words of Bob Mortimer my nickname should be Snipers Dream!

Should be a close one - all the Edinburgh riders seem to go well at Redcar.(that's because it' a good, fair racing track with minimal home advantage) In terms of Andersson being a trump card (not to be confused with a Trump card given the presence of the orange bufoon in the Country) the Bears reserves scored paid 27 last week so might not be that much of an advantage. As a Bears fan I'm more worried about our top 3 who were a bit hit and miss last week.

Bit of a stop start meeting but a much needed win for the Bears against the Scunthorpe select side. The Bears reserves held the key as both Ben and Dimitri didn’t rack up big scores. MBA excellent and Jordan looking much improved from recent performances. Interesting comments from Kevin Keay at the interval - both about the referees report of the track for the 4’s (not complimentary apparently) and about a major announcement that he now couldn’t announce as things had changed?

See all of our friends from the North on Thursday then

Busch coming back to replace Greaves (who was an injury replacement for Busch)

Apologies -yes there were. And Sheffield. Have I missed anyone

Southern fans don't seem to like to travel North for some reason - although there were a few Panthers fans there. You would have enjoyed it if you had made the effort Excellent contingents from Berwick, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle. Nice for the Northern tracks not to have to travel massive distances for a change.

Hard to judge but much larger than usual - good spread of spectators right around the home and back straights. Certainly not overcrowded and most people will have got a good view of the action (dust permitting) The back straight being open gave some excellent views but suffered from the dust and the crowd thinned on that side as the meeting went on. Great to see so many teams represented.

Well from a Redcar point of view whilst disappointed that the Bears didn’t qualify (particularly after making such a good start) I thought it couldn’t have gone much better. Obviously there was a lot of dust but given almost a week of unremitting sun I thought the track held up remarkably well. When it’s that dry you expect it to be first out of the gate processions but there were some fabulous races and spectacular action. Congratulations to the Panthers who had strength in depth, Glasgow unlucky not to finish second after Harris EF on the last lap (couple of fantastic races from him earlier) and Edinburgh were excellent, really impressed with all their young riders. Massive well done to Kevin and the Redcar promotion - couldn’t have done a much better job in terms of organisation imo.

As Redcar were the only track to offer to host the event (according to Kevin Keay) they should at least get some credit for trying.

I agree - thought there would have been something similar to the standing area in front of the tapes but apparently cost was too high. Be a shame if there are complaints about viewing - catch 22 when you want as big a crowd as possible.

WD-40 sponsoring tonight’s event - must be why Rusty Harrison isn’t there.

Well the track certainly wasn't underwater 10 minutes ago - tractor going around and a lot of dust. However much water they put on tomorrow it's going to be difficult to avoid a blue line developing at some point. Thought there might be some additional temporary standing being put up (but cost apparently stopped that) - room for two or three deep on a section of the access road on the back straight which should give an excellent view if you are lucky enough to be at the front (or tall).

Think it is going to be difficult to have a decent racing track tomorrow - hasn't rained in ages, sunny all week and due to be a scorcher tomorrow. 30+ heats of speedway will take its toll. Shame really.

Yes - someone asked the same question on Redcars Facebook page. Can’t take alcohol in though.

To get away from the exchange of pleasantries ,a disappointing result for the new line up for the Bears. No need for all the insults (started by a Bears supporter) however I'm not quite sure how smog (whether from Teesside (two s's) or anywhere) can burn out your retina

Any update on how Jye is?

Agreed - good meeting, some excellent close racing, most Bears riders contributed and Berwick put up a good showing too. Much more solid line up for the Bears - should be competitive at home from now on which is important. Hope Jye isn’t too badly hurt.

Should be a close meeting - Berwick have lots of riders who go well at Redcar and Bears have a drastically changed line up that could take a while to settle in.

Can't say I expected that announcement - the team will certainly have a much different look on Thursday. (Guest/RR, MBA, Berge, JBA, Jorgensen, Stewart,Greaves) The Promotion have at least been very pro-active in trying to turn things round - they definitely deserve a change of luck.

If it is Perks then he's more of a replacement for Busch than Kus surely?

Right move for the club and Matej. I'm sure he will find another club but the time was right for him to go (not sure he should have ever re-signed). Be interesting to see who the replacement is.

Most Redcar fans would have no issues with Kus being replaced I think - he wasn't a popular (re) signing and has been extremely inconsistent and many have lost patience with him. RedcarRacer is one of the few who wants Barker replacing - for all his issues (Barkers not RR's) I think most Redcar fans think he should be kept (injury permitting)

By the sounds of it tonights Bears team could be :-GuestR/RJBA,NL guest replacing JPB replacing Jorgensen,Kus,Greaves,Stewart. Hope the 2 lads aren't too badly hurt.

To be fair that makes more sense!