Shadders

Neither of my kids have student cards. One is 13 and the other goes to a school for children with special needs

I'd no more don Hackney colours than you'd wear a Millwall shirt!! The difference is that Lakeside kids 16 and under are charged £2. At Rye House it's a fiver!! ... I'll probably attend NL racing at Rye House on a Saturday night if there was absolutely nothing else to do, but resent shelling out £34 for the four of us for the privilege.

Nice to read some positive comments, but Mimmo does raise a few important points re the Hackney branding ... Why have both promotions, Rye House and Lakeside not produced a joint Hawks programme between them and why are there so few Hawks branded items available at the Rye track shop? I'm wondering if this is juat a one year experiemnt and a cynical ploy to get a few more ex Hackney fans through the turnstiles... I can't see where a stand alone Hackeny side could possibly race anywhre near their spiritual home of Waterden Road, so this could be as close Hawks/Kestrels fans will get to seeing their side on the track, which is a shame for them and speedway in general Thumbing through a copy of "As Luck Would Have It"!!

Sorry to upset bradfordslider and a few others, but the four of us aren't going either. £34 for a NL meeting is a little steep for us, what with a couple of Rockets Northern tours in May and the Cardiff GP weekend to finance, plus both of the Ipswich meetings on Monday!! ... We'll have to make do with a kebab and the European GP on Sky .. Not that we're not supporters of the junior side. We ventured down to Lakeside last Friday and were entertained over 2 matches for £17.50 each!! BARGAIN!!!!!

Wolbert?

No, I fully agree that he should have been allowed to take his final ride Waco, but I was putting myself in the team managers position. If you're going to take part in a competetive league, then you should do everything within the rules to win, otherwise why bother entering the league in the first place?

I agree fully that Brandon shouldn't have been taken out of heat 14, but the 3 points weren't won at that stage. A couple of Potters 5-1's although unlikely, would have given them a match point

Yep, that's the fella ... You know how good I am with names

One flew over today, believe he's called Novelli, or similar ... Unsure if he is of the required standard,

Even Doug didn't remember that!!!

Hard to judge the Hawks on this showing. Only Eddie Castro and Shawn McConnell put up any meaningful resistance, and even they tired towards the end, not surprising given their respective ages!! Good to see Barry Thomas going round for a couple of laps looking faster than he did when he rode for the Rockets back in the early 90's!! Pleased to meet up with US team manager Steve Evans. Great bunch of guys, happy to stand and chat with the supporters. Hope you all have a successful and enjoyable tour. Took a few snaps ... Hawks vs USA Touring Side Bit of trivia ... The last time Doug Nicol rode at Rye House was in August 1992 for the Middlesbrough Bears in a 52-35 defeat, scoring 6+1 from 5, unless anyone knows different?

I'll still be going Sandy. Enjoyed the Yanks visit to a chilly and wet Lakeside last October

Is Ronnie Correy definitely riding on Saturday?

Can't see Ronnie Correy in that list Steve. I was led to believe he'd be appearing in a couple of matches, one of them at Rye House.

Nah, we're fine thanks. I don't want to be any trouble. They have enough trouble down there already.

We have little choice as we have to go through the pits gate with a wheel chair as we can't access our usual place in the Tempstand if we come in through the main entrance

We're pretty lucky not to have a curfew at Rye House (or not one that I'm aware of) to give these lads a chance to open up the throttle in a race rather than practice laps. A fair few people stayed behind to watch, but as I said earlier it was pretty chilly and my son was hungry ... Warning to anyone who was thinking of parking in the kart track car park next door ... We were turned away by track staff there as they were "closing the gates at 10pm" ... It seems that now the kart track no longer sponsors the Cobra's their attitude has changed.

Yeah, we left just after that ... Someone mentioned he may have clipped the fence. Nothing hurt apart from pride, cos he was coming out for a second go as we were leaving the stadium.

Anyone around for the second half last night after the Ippo match? ... We braved the cold for a few heats to see Ben Hopwood easily win his opening couple of races in times of around 61 seconds ... Brandon Freemantle looked a little slow away from the gate, but didn't look uncomfortable on the track ... Didn't catch the name of the youngster in the red kevlars who suffered a first lap ef in his first ride ... Did I miss anything significant after the first 3 races?

I'd rather walk out early from a double header where I've paid £35 for 2 adults than from one where I've paid over £40, which it very well could be at Rye House this year ... There's always a trip to the snack bar to warm you up a little

He did at one stage ... I think he shed a chain My first taste of Hawks action will porbably be at Lakeside in the Good Friday double header

All of the Hawks were present at Rye House press & practice today, although In only saw Owen, Freemantle and Hopwood take to the track in the 90 minutes I was there.

I used to go to Arena regularly back in the late 80's, mainly when the Rockets were there, but also to a few Hammers home meetings when they used to have the little white plastic pegs instead of a safety fence. Banger racing too in the late 90's when the kids were very young. My abiding memory was how cold it was with a biting wind and the rabbit droppings that littered the banking. Also the complete lack of atmosphere ... When we were at the London Chmapionships back in October it was wet and horrible ... You're right about the pricing. £17.50 is a bargain for 30 heats of speedway with the added bonus of a trip to the shopping centre beforehand to keep the missus happy