TheScotsman

Can someone who was at the meeting last night please confirm whether Hawkins was in heat 14? I have him in my programme as replacing Schramm (and then falling yet again, but clearing the track just in time) but Speedway Updates has it as Schramm. I got it wrong the last time when Edinburgh were at Ippo and Max replaced Deek which I hadn't picked up so maybe I have tried to compensate here Or maybe I got it right this time

Joe Jacobs again? Really?

Just my last(?) words on the subject....... - mega praise to the track staff for getting the track into such a good state considering the rain yesterday. It seemed much smoother than on my past couple of visits. There wasn't a huge amount of overtaking after the first couple of bends but I don't think that was down to the track. And big commiserations to the Ippo team, management and faithful (seriously ). To have your team decimated by injury on one weekend when prior to Ellis' injury everything was looking so good must be heartbreaking. So this was a genuine hard luck story. I think with your own team rather than the rag-tail set of guests it would have been a different result on the night though we would probably still have picked up 1 point as Cookie still wouldn't have been beaten and Deek would still have been Billy Bigballs :D

At least I can sleep well tonight Was slightly concerned when Ippo went 6 up after 10, especially with rain imminent but 3 unbeaten rides from Cookie plus 2 unbeaten from Smokin Joe plus 5 paid 6 from skipper Deek plus a win for Claus saw us to full points. Track was surprisingly good given the heavy rain today though the shower towards the end made it a bit greasy. The gamble of having 2 high rollers(!!) as guests never paid off for Ippo - a warning for each of Bach and Klindt in their first rides blunted that part of their game, though they did try it again and both took the tapes with them that time. Well done to Chris Gay the ref - that's the way to deal with it. Cookie obviously remembered him from Rye when he fell foul of him 3 times in 1 night. He sat perfectly still this time. Schramm the bam couldn't conjure up a repeat of his Worky form and scored what you would have expected from him i.e. not a lot plus a fall. Credit for clearing the track so quickly. Hawkins was a big disappointment (for Ippo fans - not for me). 3 falls in 5 rides when I expected him to wipe the floor with our reserves. Didn't clear the track when he came off in heat 2 which I thought was a bit naughty but he did clear it from a fall when last in heat 14 so credit to him for that. He seemed to need a bit of treatment after his heat 14 fall so I fully expect him not to be at Edinburgh on Friday :wink: Risager was surprisingly good - 11 points from the number 5 position when he gets so much grief from Ippo fans, He was well slagged off during/after the 5-1 loss in heat 11 to Deek and Cookie but in fairness Cookie's team riding was outstanding - very wide into bends 1 and 3 and very tight to the kerb coming out of bends 2 and 4. He spent as much time looking behind as he did in front and was going to have the measure of anything Risager threw at him. Morten could have tried some more different lines of attack but Cookie would have been there. Which only leaves Heeps who rode very well apart from heat 15 where he was miles behind the field (but still pulled wheelies on the warm down lap which seemed a bit odd given his team had just finished pointless again!). For Monarchs, well........... Cookie yet again untouchable. So fast, so controlled, so smooth, so much drive and straight line speed. Can't remember but maybe he was behind until bend 3 once! And that with a bad knuckle!! Max was a major disappointment. 1 point from 3 is not what we are used to. Not at the races in heat 1, an ok 3rd in heat 5 (though it was Klindt he beat with Klindt in gate 1, so nuff said!!) and overtaken easily by Heeps and Hawkins in heat 8. Maybe he was still suffering from his big shunt last week? Claus got better with each ride - 0, 1, 2, 3 so that was encouraging after his recent form slump. Seemed to struggle on turns 3 & 4 in his first couple whereas he was quick enough round 1 & 2, but an improved performance. Joe was his usual unpredictable self. Demolished the tapes in one, good win in another, slowed to last in the next to lose out to Bach who was off 15m, but then a good win and paid win to finish. Looked smoother than I've seen him!! Theo was also a big disappointment. Was well ahead in his first till he made a big pig's ear of bend 3 lap 1 to drop to 3rd, then way off the pace in his next 2. Then in heat 13 he was well back until lap 4 when he mounted a big charge to catch Bach. He got up to him by bend 3 and went for the big drive round 3 and 4 but careered into the fence at the start of the home straight. He probably didn't need that much speed to have taken Back. His bike was a bit of a mess but hopefully he is in better shape. Liam was unlucky. He was well ahead in heat 2 for a couple of laps until it was stopped - he wasn't going to be caught. But in the rerun and his other 2 rides he was a fair way back though he did let Theo through each time. And then there was Cap'n Deek!! Sensational!! 3 rides on the trot early on and then 3 rides in 4 heats later on, he must have been knackered by the end!! But all worth it for a monster 16+1 from 7 rides. Given that his form has been dire for the past few weeks and that he scored a blank the last time at Ippo, he deserves mega praise. So a very unexpected 4 points and now just need to avoid a mega home defeat from the Ippo select on Friday. Oh and another thing - burger and chips from the 2nd bend stall = superb But size of crowd - very poor though the dodgy weather forecast must have put a lot off. So onwards and upwards Monarchs

Gonna be very muddy tonight.

Really hope Ippo get stuffed tonight :drink:

And now it's Schramm the bampot instead of Bates. I predict carnage!!

Good site that!! Looks like the rain's nearly on a track from me to Ippo. So the fact that it's stopped here now can't be bad. Plenty of puddles around though.

I assume they don't have any track covers?

Hoping to make it LW. Raining in Braintree at the moment though.

Never gonna get the meeting finished then since there's only a 1 hour slot when it won't be raining!

Starts about 3pm according to the beeb!!

Thought it was only Cookie that rolled - according to the BSF Must be ok now that Bach and Klindt are riding.

But Barker is riding for Brum tonight.................. ..... you expecting him to come off again?

Not sure it's any more of a programme filler than the last half a dozen home league matches but hey ho. Can't squeeze in another visit unfortunately - too late getting home.

Don't think so. Too many Monarchs have gone off the boil and are very inconsistent Cookie's form has masked this for a while. Think Ippo are massive favourites for the group. But expect Somerzet to triumph overall.

But he was replacing the higher scoring reserve. If it had been replacing the lower scoring one it would have had to be a NL guest. I'm not sure what point you are making?

Doubt anyone expected Schramm to score 24+2 or whatever from 2 meetings though

Don't think so. Ippo would have hammered Worky tonight!!

Yep well done Somerzet. Our boys took a helluva beating!

A bit like Cookie then!

But he has spent over 25 years on track trying to perfect it!

Did Bech team ride at all?

Good plug!!

With the organisation in speedway at the moment I think it's more a case of lucky if they are all completed in time. Given that we have had the best summer for weather in years, what would the fixture state be if it had rained like the past couple of years?