marko

At Lakeside it isn't a case of shuffle out, more a case of run like the start of the Le Mans race, Crazy! but this has been the case since second halves were scrapped which allowed for a much more gradual egress from the stadium. I prefer to hang around afterwards unless I have to be up early the next day as it avoids waiting to get out of the car park.

Upright engines A home meeting every week with at least 23/24 home meetings in total per season A wide variety of opponents and riders The old louder silencers Each rider having their own kevlars Local derbys against Rye House, Hackney and Ipswich Clubs such as Oxford, Reading, Newport and Long Eaton. The Silver and Golden helmet match races

I think it is the bikes, I blame them for a lot of the sports current ills including the cost of actually riding the things. I remember Swindon being a really good track, same as Kings Lynn and that has also seem to have lost a lot of its spark whenever I have seen meetings from their on the telly. Also I don't know where this talk about Lakeside getting poor crowds has come from? bar the televised meetings the levels have been respectable, and the Poole match in the A fixture was very attended.

Poor track prep ruined this meeting, really bugs me that in this day and age its all about getting a meeting on rather than providing quality racing, its like going into a restaurant and being served under cooked food than being told, well its better than no food at all, yeah but thats not what we pay for. I also don't get the whole EL vs PL thing, both can provide good racing and poor meetings, close meetings and one sided meetings, I've supported Arena Essex/Lakeside in effectively all three levels of competition down the years and whilst I love having guys like Andreas Jonsson and in the past Leigh Adams and Mark Loram in my team, my preference is actually for the PL, simply because its more meetings on a regular basis against more varied opponents.

Not sure, think the track staff might have bottled it but hopefully they can some moisture into the track, needs it.

With pleasure, I got their about 19:50 and was surprised to see the car park have as many cars as it did, indeed inside the arena there were more people than I thought there would be so from a crowd point of view I don't think it was too bad. In terms of racing the track did seem quite wet and early on riders were getting a bit filled in, trying build up speed looked hard as the roost was slowing riders behind down, the times of the wins though proved the track has some grip in it though, I don't recall a heap of passing to be honest, maybe a handful of genuine passes at most. Pirates were often just that bit sharper out of the gates, Starke, Ellis and Holder at least and once the latter was out in front he was gone, best I have seen him ride our place for some time, AJ could not even get near him which you seldom see most weeks when he chasing an opposing rider. The tale of the tape was just three heat wins for the home side versus 12 for the Pirates, no team will win a match with only three heat winners. I suspect had Poole been at full strength they would have won more convincingly and certainly this was a wake up call for the Hammers promotion, there is no consistent backup AJ and whilst it will still be a better season than 2015 if they want to be a competitive unit in the play offs, a change or two will probably be required.

Well done to Poole, regardless of guest riders etc they wanted it more and deserved the win, no excuses.

Newsflash, it does not matter if the keyboard warriors are enjoying this meeting or not, Tigers fans are and that's all that is important, they will be there next week, will the keyboard warriors? Weather is crap at the moment, far from summer we should be having, tracks will be hard to get right, it is what it is, moaning about it won't help.

Cracking meeting tonight, well done Bees

Heavy showers expected to be hit and miss, but if the track cops one, its likely to be game over, There is an official weather warning for tomorrow as is the case with such weather, there is a risk of localised flooding.

Fair enough but you just answered your own question, when you went before the sky matches can be drawn out, ironically last night the racing concluded with tons of air time left. I think it's important remember Sky do not care if there are people in the stadiums, that doesn't pay them money, people sitting at home paying their Sky subscription does, they are in the main trying to attract a tv audience which is why the product is accordingly so biased towards those at home (replays, interviews etc) than those at the track who have to take a back seat to that.

So let me get this right? Your a Hammers fan who is sitting at home complaining about the the fact some Hammers fans choose to sit at home instead of going? you do understand how that makes you look?

forecast is for a dull day, not nessesarily rain as such but it's I the air so not allowing much scope for drying out after rain during the night, should be ok providing it doesn't actually properly rain this afternoon, but without knowing how wet the track is after yesterday it's almost a case of how long is a piece of string, Sky won't call it off early , that's for sure.

After all the rain today the track is likely very wet and tomorrow is expected dull and damp so could be touch and go?

Crowd was down but plenty of good racing by the Hammers, I know Lions are not a huge draw but as some will no doubt stay away next Wednesday when the telly is in I though more would have taken the opportunity to come out and support the club.

Just what is the obsession of pointing out the lack of crowds at Sky meetings? This is nothing new, it's been par for the course for years apart from of the play offs etc.

Sargent hits the tapes, well what would you know.

Aces 51 yeah I think it's just you, I've got the type of mind and didn't spot it until you highlighted it. Day tripper, I think there are those that will never be pleased with the fare offered from Lakeside, there were some good races and a reasonable amount of passing on Monday, in fact when I watched it back it came over better than I had expected it to, but alas if people want to judge our track on the fact overtakes happen in the 35-50 mph range instead of the 50 and up range then they are wasting their time watching because its simply not possible, and I dare say Jon Cook does not care because why should he worry about people who have no intention of visiting because what they want, we can't sell, they are not our target demographic. Lakeside won't be around for ever but it won't be because crowds have turned their backs because racing on our track happens to be slower than on other tracks.

There is no scientific proof that a big track will always produce better racing than a small one, it is purely down to personal opinions and preferences, for example for me it's not about the size but about the shape and how it rides, Somerset and Peterborough for example ride much faster than their actual size, tons of speed generated and a fair amount of room to manoeuvre, that is more important, if I could change Lakesides track to a copy of any other than Somerset and Peterboroughs would be up their, but also the German track Gustrow which I think is a cracker but not what you would class as a traditionally big. What I will say though whilst a faster track will produce overtaking at higher speeds those higher speeds could also lead to races being more strung out because of the increased differential between the riders/bikes where as on a small track everything is scaled down meaning it's closer but also slower.

To answer your question they don't keep it going on crowds like that, Lakesides crowds have actually been pretty good so far bar last night and that was only because Sky were filming it and with Lakesides location attracting support from a wide area most did not want to travel if they could save themselves a little time and money, does it make it look good on telly when it's like that? nope but that's another argument.

I did not see Big Ron there and certainly Gerald was, but what you also have to factor in is the weather was quite warm yesterday and it's not always the case that the club has full access to the track in the day leading up to the meeting, (Friday's I think they do?) also there was a stock car/banger meeting on Monday so that might have affected the process, was the track normal? No but I can't remember the last time sky were in town and it was, not watched it back on telly but being their I personally enjoyed the meeting but then I did have the advantage of the sound and the smell, as well as an investment in seeing my team win, for the neutral sitting at home? maybe it wasn't that good? maybe it was even boring? but I can't imagine what was seen last night was any worse than the fare we got from Leicester recently, not that it was the sort of benchmark we should be aiming to beat.

Kelvin will be with sky but I wouldn't worry, with all the ad breaks etc plenty of chance for him to pop down to the pits.

Yeah I don't want big Ron anywhere near our track thank you very much, weather will be nice today so that is one favorable thing, a few Lakeside riders notably Lewis Bridger has probably not raced for a couple of weeks, at least Robert had a grass track meet on Monday to keep his eye sort of it.

Should Davey take some time out and be replaced by R/R or a temporary signing? What is happening to him reminds of what happened to his mate Adam Shields and he ended up retiring never to be seen or heard from again.

Track covers are all well and good when rain comes late morning or afternoon but when everything points to rain during a match itself they serve no purpose, I back the clubs decision 100% saves a lot of wasted journeys and more importantly does not cost the club so much money although it will still cost them some, these decisions I am sure are not taken lightly for that very reason and as it says on the official site every forecast was looked at and consultation with the met office only reinforced their belief. It is frustrating, that there is no doubt especially when it comes between two blank weeks meaning it will be close to four weeks between home meetings, but it's only April so plenty of time to rearrange the meeting in hopefully in much more favourable weather.