Bryce

Lakeside legend. Best wishes to AJ for the future. Thanks for some terrific entertainment.

Alan Grahame

Whatever the provocation (and there was most definitely provocation) the man threw punches at the very least. if he gets no ban at all while Kennett and Vissing do; it will be a complete mockery of a decision.

it's almost as if the man in charge of the BSPA has a vested interest in allowing Craig Cook to ride. BTW, tonight is going to be my first visit to Ipswich speedway. How is the food in the stadium? Should I be considering eating before the meeting rather than at it?

Prior to the parade Eastbourne staff and presenters had made it very clear to the crowd that the delayed start was due to the Glasgow team, led by Craig Cook, moaning about the track conditions. Hence the booing.

Having seen the short video clip I am happy to say that my initial observation that Cook deliberately rode at the marshal, and tried to headbutt him were wrong. That's what it looked like on the night, but with the different angle of the video I can accept it was more likely an accidental collision, and a shoulder barge. What followed was still completely unacceptable. I suspect the reason Eastbourne haven't released the whole clip is that it will show several of their own people behaving equally as badly as Craig Cook and his associates. It's still a fact that if Craig had reigned his temper in there wouldn't have been a fight. It's also a fact that the home management deliberately wound him up beforehand. Nobody involved really comes out of this incident looking good.

I doubt that the kids were especially traumatised by the events, but that isn't the point. The point was their physical safety could have been endangered. As for Craig Cook, I wouldn't be half so harsh with him if it had just been a bust up between two riders in the heat of battle. It wasn't. He assaulted a member of track staff and started a brawl. That's what I find unacceptable.

I attended this match purely as a neutral. It was only my second visit to Eastbourne so i can't say whether the track was particularly different from usual. I can however say that I have seen many many meetings ridden on far more difficult surfaces. I was as surprised as everyone else when it was announced that the Glasgow riders didn't want to ride on it at the start. We waited while some track work was carried out. What followed was a sequence of utterly stupid actions. Jon Cook made a few snide remarks designed to whip the crowd up against the visitors.They took the bait and began booing the Tigers riders on the parade. Then Craig Cook decided he wasn't going to wait for the Eagles to be introduced and set off round the track, followed by a couple of colleagues. There WERE very small children present as part of the parade so track staff put out the red flags to get the two or three visiting riders to stop. Craig Cook decided to ride AT one of those holding a red flag. There was a reaction and then Cook clearly threw a head butt. A brawl ensued just yards from the small kids. When the racing finally started, Cook was still too busy have a hissy fit to ride in heat 1. It is true that the comments from Eastbourne staff were not helpful, and no doubt were designed to wind up Craig Cook in particular. So what? He's a professional sportsman. His actions were ridiculous. He definitely instigated the fighting. Again, I do not absolve those who retaliated from all blame, but there would not have been a fight if Craig Cook could control himself. Had this happened in a town centre he would have been arrested and rightly so. Mr Facena was man enough to apologize at the end of the meeting, and fair play to him for that. I'd be disapointed if he took no further action against Craig Cook. Cook let himself, his team and his fans down very badly. He was an utter disgrace.

I remember going to several British Finals at Coventry in the 80s where at least a dozen of the field had the ability to win it on the night. There were many decent riders that weren't considered the top guys that would destroy most of tonight's field. The likes of Alan Grahame, Doug Wyer, Reg Wilson, Ian Cartwright and lots of others spring to mind.

I just dug out some old programs and they were on 250cc bikes in the junior races.

It may well be. The junior races were literally that, with riders not old enough to race in the national league. It could well be that they were on 250cc bikes at the time.

He rode in the pre match junior heats almost every week for the last couple of years Lakeside were running. He had some terrific races with Jason Edwards on occasion. Lakeside being my team I was indeed a neutral at Kent last night.

Last night was my first ever visit to Kent speedway. I've seen better meetings, but also many worse ones. There were indeed some excellent races. In my opinion none of the crashes were caused by track conditions, and I echo the praise for the efforts of the track staff in repairing the fences. Like others, I'm astonished (and happy) that the heat 7 crash didn't result in some major injuries. The curfew time is a real problem and an extra 30 minutes would make a world of difference. As for heat 14, I doubt that Cradley could have been any more blatant in making sure they ran the clock out to guarantee a league point.

Just got home from a lovely trip. I have to say that the NSS is a fabulous race track. Belle Vue fans, you are so so lucky to have a race strip like that to visit every week.

Looking forward to this one. Got my ticket and will be travelling to Manchester Thursday and staying until Sunday. For some reason this arrangement halves the price of the train tickets. Staying with family so no accommodation costs either. Sorted.

I think you might be referring to the huge car park that belongs to the Showcase cinema. I don't know whether you're officially allowed to use it, but I'd be surprised if it was a problem.

Cross was the number 8 in the squad I believe. Jan O finished the season at number 7 in the averages on a 7+ figure. Lance King rode at number 2 partnering Wiggy, with Collins and Grahame at 4 and 5. An amazing team.

I'd also say that Alan Grahame's status at Cradley was legendary despite having multiple world champions as team mates. His partnership with Phil Collins was awesome and they frequently took 5-1s against much more illustrious opponents.

I read every issue and thoroughly enjoy them. The quality of the articles is superb, evoking many happy memories of the 70s and 80s. I see no reason why including the 90s would be a bad thing. Just think, Tony, of all the extra material available to you overnight! World Finals of the 90s, the dawn of the GP era, world cups, 10 years of league and cup exploits, not to mention numerous individuals of interest that currently miss the cut off date. Go for it, I think your readers will be overwhelmingly supportive of the idea.

That's me done with live speedway then. I don't have a car and the effort and expense required to get to the nearest tracks on public transport makes it a non starter for me. I'll maybe make one or two trips to meetings during the year, but after 45 years I'll no longer have a team of my own to support.

This is sad news. Bernie was one of those guys every team needs. Totally reliable without being a superstar. RIP Bernie.

As an idea for encouraging team continuity; how about allowing a discount on rider averages for team building purposes if a rider stays at the same club for the new season. For example a rider finishes with an average of 7.49. If he stays with same club then a discount of half a point is given for team building purposes. His average becomes 6.99 if he stays put, but remains 7.49 if he changes teams. Even if the entire team is retained the total benefit is just 3.5 points. Not enough to unbalance the league, but enough to encourage retaining riders.

Very impressed with the atmosphere at Derwent Park, and the words of Laura Morgan there. Grats again to the Comets, thoroughly deserving champions.

Lovely to have the live online radio coverage. Such a shame that the Hammers are putting in their worst performance of the entire season. Congratulations to the Comets. A great team and some great fans. Let's hope and pray that both sides are back at the tapes next season.

It was indeed a very poor crowd. The smallest I've seen at Rye by quite a margin. One thing I did find amusing was the way they zoomed through the first ten heats before taking a track grading break. It was almost as if they didn't trust the lights to stay on or something.