FTM

I can appreciate all you Newcastle fans being upset about the results this weekend at Somerset and Leicester but I think your well out of order criticising Robbo .After the massive injuries he had 2 or 3 years ago to come back and ride a bike let alone be competitive is IMHO nothing short of brilliant . HE has up to now scored 423 pts inc bonus with 24 double figure scores both home and away .Ok I am a personal friend and Iv,e seen first hand those injuries while he was in Cov hospital for over 9 months .You fans have had a crap season with injuries and I have no doubt without the injuries to Richie and Steve you would have walked the title but as everyone knows in Speedway injuries affect results and to blame one or two riders in particular is I think unfair sorry . cheers Mick.

Hi Laurence why do we have to have guests and the dreaded R/R in a developement league surely there are young guys around the cov/bham/ wolves tracks who would snap your hand off given a chance I thought that Paul Quartermain was in the Vikings rider list or is he injured .

I have a tin hat in my shed if you would like to borrow it you may need it after your last post

T.N.T. If Scott Robson wins tomorrow night I will buy you a pint or 3 He retired a long time ago .I think you made a boo boo its Stuart who is in the field with hopefully a good chance,cheers Mick aka F.T.M.

Totally spoilt for me what was up till then a very good meeting .Unless I,m mistaken there is a rule in speedway that a rider who isn,t trying to race under full power will be excluded by the referee.I understand why Nikki did what he did but in the rule book he should have been out of the race with no points.Also the most upsetting thing was seeing a raw talent that is Mikkael B.Jensen being asked to do the same in the biggest meeting of his life so far when all he wants to do is race hard for 4 full laps.Reference my first statement the rule does exsist as many bees fans will testify when Rick Miller was excluded by the ref whilst entertaining the crowd doing wheelies in a race where all 3 of the other riders had been excluded for different offences. F.I.M.must act now and scrap this stupid rule or farce will rule racing. I for one would feel cheated out of my hard earned wages paying to watch went on in the last part of the meeting .

Report by Youngy last night shows Martin Vaculik only having one ride and Greg Hancock falling in 2nd ride and being withdrawn from meeting anyone know if either one or both are unfortunately injured

Nutz I Wouldn,t take to much notice of the Leics record as the figures coming from the Referee,s box have been very erratic in the last 3 meetigs since the appointment of a new time keeper. For instance on Sat night there was a discrepancy of 1 race being almost 5 seconds slower than the rest of the meeting which is probably almost certainly wrong (considering all the other races had been won in a range of 62 .75 to 64.89 )the race in question was timed at 69.28 Don,t know why this is happening on a fairly regular basis but it should need tightening up..

Hi folks there are conflicting weather reports going around re Friday . I will be up Brandon from 10 am looking after what at the moment looks a very good surface so I will get my wife to post on here various times during the day what we are getting and when we are getting it. Keep all fingers crossed cos I ,m fed up getting gee,d up for a meeting and getting peed on from about 3 pm cheers F.T.M..

Hi sandie I see your English lessons are going well x x

Sir Jasper sorry I didn,t reply to your question been up at Brandon all day getting track ready for Monday . Yes I am back until the end of the season for Speedway and Stock Cars really enjoying my second stint at Brandon after being a trucker for the last 6 years . Big night for all bees fans Monday come on guys and girls mums dads and kiddies have faith Swindon are not invincible OK you ,ve not had a lot to cheer about this season but the riders need you more than ever now it isn,t a lost cause until the Fat Tractor Man sings. cheers Mick

Most of the riders were going at it hammer and tongs the track had plenty of dirt on which is what most fans wanted IMO and nearly all of the crashes were due to two or more riders being in the same place at the same time apart from Pepe parking it on the fourth bend causing Chris to run into him . I hope most fans were happy with a track which had quite a lot of dirt on it as opposed to the last two (in particular) and also others throughout the year being run on the slick side But then again fans moan cos its slick and fans moan cos it dragged on due to the crashes on a deep surface TRACKMEN CAN,T WIN cheers Mick

Bees fan if you would like to come up the stadium tomorrow morning you can see how much dirt was on the track I,m sorry but your comment has annoyed me a tad . cheers Mick

Hi Rob be nice to see you tomorrow if I get a chance I am involved with track prep at Cov till end of the season I was at practice today suprised to see no Freddie Lindgren or Antonio Lindback don,t know why . cheers Mick

I think G/B should go with Lee and Scottie tonight with Eddie and Tai making way Danny and Lewis were the best of the young guns on Monday and deserve their place Don,t think Rob Lyons made the right decision starting with a inexperienced rider in the first race as it puts too much pressure on a guy who is already on his maximum nerve ends hope we start with a bit more this round cheers Mick

Can,t deny the track was superb but being a track curator myself I feel sorry that Dickie Greer has been somewhat overlooked. He took over track prep in the winter and has spent a lot of the close season working on the surface getting it flat and safe I don,t know why this meeting was not under his control as I am sure he is very capable of preparing a top class racing strip.Not having a go Buster or his staff but as is the case where big meetings occur its always the guys that do the hard work day in day out who get left out in the accolades OK rant over cheers Mick C

As regards the racing part of your post we are only allowed to grade and water every 4 heats as Sky fit us in between ad breaks not as it should be but our hands are tied. Passing is IMO normally at a premium in Grand Prix as you have 16 of the top guys in the world all at the top of their game and bikes are tuned to the max so its very difficult to get any extra speed out of the bike if you are asleep at the gate.

THx Spook but I will leave that to Colin wouldn,t mind being his assistant though

Trees the ditch that Mark was referring to was caused by a rider (don,t know who) doing a practice start away from the fence towards the middle of the corner The back wheel had dug in quite deep and although the track had been graded there was only loose shale in the rut Rune hit the rut with front wheel already commited to the turn into the bend which wrenched the bars out of his hands and back wheel kicked off the rut also I dont know if the rut occured during the meeting itself or during the two junior races or if it was left after the practice. The big blade was used to relay the track friday and with the large amount of shale it was pushing round its possible it was covered without the driver seeing it When the grading took place yesterday towards the middle and end of the meeting a lot of shale was dragged off both straights to get a bit more in the corners. I know this explanation to be spot on as I was the tractor driver pulling the heavy RSJ double girders round pulling the shale off the fence The track was far superior to any thing we have had before as at last the top bosses listened to what we as track curators have been saying for years If you are going to practice on a temp track on a Friday at least give us something decent to work with afterwards to get a track surface to stay in. The first 8 years we had something local that wasn,t very good standard. This year it was proper shale from Breedon Quarries near Derby which Colin and later on Myself used at Coventry I think most fans would agree this years track was the best for safety so far. Cheers Mick

Najjer you were very quick to put the knife in to C/M ref track prep even though you didn,t even attend the meeting. Since your post was proven to be incorrect your apology to Colin seems to be taking a very long time to appear on screen How about having some bottle and admit your mistake he hasn,t been responsible for track prep for at least 3 weeks

Snyper1010 your missing the same as the rest of us mate A WINNING ENGLAND TEAM

Shazz if your out on Friday night you will get kiss and cuddle (if you want it). Will give you a wave on Sat if I don,t get slated in the after match comments like I did 3 years ago. Looking for someone to boogie with as I haven,t been out for drinkies or party for a long time anybody take me and big son (Chivs) under their wing.I need to de stress and relax.

Hi Squall as a long distance trucker for 36+ years all services are overpriced. To save time if your not too particular pull into petrol station rather than main concourse as they all have same food and they have toilets (not quite so clean ref..my not particular post) but you won:t have a massive queue to contend with . If your coming from north west, east, scotland etc.there are at least 8 to 10 services each one approx 28 miles to the next.When you get to Strensham jnc 8 M5 this is the last if you follow M50 Ross on Wye, Monmouth, Newport, on to M4 for Cardiff. Alternative keep on down M5 1 more services Michaelwood then onto M4 from Bristol signs South Wales but you have to pay toll charges to get into Wales but not to get out!!! Hope this might be usefull cheers Mick aka F.T.M. Forgot to add if you have any truck driving buddies you might be able to prise food and drink vouchers from them as we get B.P. freebies for diesel sales 1£ per 100 litres

Sandie you have me and chivs in the mix as well

Hi folks just wondering if anyone wanted something to do Sat morning before the gates open. My son (Robbie C ,brother of Chivs) is playing American Football in a 3 way round robin tournament at Roath Park on the outskirts of Cardiff .Rob used to be a regular poster and a big fan of the Bees but now he has taken up Yankee footie cos most games are played Sundays and he has more time to commit. Due to work and renovating their new house with fiancee Laura their Bees watching days are few and far between. His team is Coventry Cassidy Jets first game kick off at 11am. I'm sure the guys would welcome any fans to go and watch. It's free entry and it will blow your friday night headache away before the air horns start. Chivs has promised to go and support little bro but I can't make it as I will be doing last minute prep with Colin Meredith on the track .Hope to see most of the friends I've made in a bar somewhere on Fri night for a glass of water. Cheers Mick aka F.T.M.