Tsunami

Tests yesterday were 122,347 which of course beats significantly the tough target set by Hancock of 100,000, which journalists and critics were preparing to call for his resignation from office. Seems appropriate in that case then to call for their resignations having met and smashed the target.

NO, I doubt think it was a double header. Obviously it wasn't the abandoned Lakeside meeting.

Yes, Our meeting went the full distance, but it was not pretty to watch with anxious faces to see if anybody was going to get hurt. Not great, but the coldness was coming up through the track. With the sea just over the railway line, the air temperature was usually cold which initially you didn't feel when the fans were allowed to be nearer on the 1st/2nd bends. When moved to the top ridge beside the van and the toilet block, the wind off the sea used to hit you in the back all night. Bloody cold.

I remember that very well. As the meeting went on it was obviously that track grading etc, was actually making it worse. I believe there was a small delay between two later races due to the concerns. Ritchie Worrall was riding for us and he was doing well, but it was more like skiing, or ice racing on a bike without spikes, rather that driving it like on normal wet shale. I think the water was actually coming from up the shale, and then freezing.

With Ivan's love of Newcastle, every time he came back to this country, he used to plan his time here and then ring Joan English to advise her of his visit. I believe he used to meet a family he knew in the afternoon, and then travel on to us. His visit was never announced and he was often in the office at the beginning of the meeting but the fans didn't know. At some stage he would come out and stand in the office doorway and then the news went around that Ivan was with us. Another reason he used to visit us was to check on the progress of David Bargh and Mark Thorpe. He never forgot the New Zealanders. As soon as he arrived and met people, he was away and gone. Very low key.

The gismo that was used by Tomas is to change the angle of the front suspension to get a different angle digging in which is then pushed off. He pushes lever on the suspension and after the start I am told he has to kick the thing to get back to the original designed angle.This is the part he can't get right after he gets out of the gate first.

There was an electric ignition system produced and used in the early 00's. It was a small lever on the handle bars which detuned/retarded the ignition so producing more grip from the start with less spins. Once in front the rider flicked the ignition back to normal having gained from the gate advantage. I caught a very fast starting Exeter rider at our away meeting at Exeter using one, but the rider hid his bike from me and the machine examiner wouldn't do anything about it. I reported it to the Ref and the SCB, but I never heard anything after that. It was illegal cos in 1997 there was a vote amongst riders as to whether programmable ignitions could be introduced into British Speedway, but they voted against them mainly on the basis of cost. Hope that helps.

He signed for us a couple of years ago and backed out.

That's happened with the Keilder dam in Northumberland.

They distracted him, as he couldn't seem to get it right, meaning if he started first he was usually third into the bend. Why did it work at KL but not Newcastle ?.

Very true. it was known he was a gater and is for Kings Lynn as his results show. Known as a gater, and also having the special gizmos on his bike to improve it, he regular failed to reset it at the start, and after moving first would usually be third into the 1st bend.

Be looking for a new rider with 7.82 to play with.

I think you will know that today's track is different from the original design. Whilst it is the same shape, originally the third and forth bend had to be substantially raised due to water running across the third bend entrance and both bends suffered from adverse camber which made it really difficult to ride. That's the reason why the earth embankment is so high but water still runs across the entrance of the third bend, but not much now. Seem to remember Sean Wilson used to practice there, and maybe had an input on the redesign. Hope that helps.

Poor Erik and Maddie

Looking at the honours board on our club site it does say we won both cups and we were the League winners. I know we lost the playoffs, but though we had lost to Somerset on the first round of the playoffs. Just my memory. What year was it we lost at your place, beaten in the golden heat system. I was over the Atlantic at the times but I would have loved to be at your place despite the result to yourselves. As it would happen I also missed the Ipswich final due to being in the Caribbean. Mustn't have had much confidence both times booking cruises thinking we wouldn't make any final. Nice to hear from you again, it's been a long time, hope you are well.

Certainly he was our surprise packet in 2010 at reserve. Double figures at hard tracks like Sheffield helped us to get many away wins and to top the league table, only to lose it during playoffs. We had won the two cup competitions so losing the league was a bit upsetting as we were favourites to have a clean sweep. Great contribution from Dakota.

Got it on, but the sound wont hold when you let go of the slider.

I personally doubt that. Late possibly.

it was at Stoke that happened, not Exeter.

We never did. Darryl I think wanted to strangle him as as we walked from the pits across the centre green Davey looked over to the first bend and said 'Well i'll not do anything here tonight'. We were riding well, and if you remember, we should have had a second back to back PL title and finished equal on meeting points as Sheffield, but lost out on actual points scored, despite we had won more matches that them. A couple of years later the rules changed, after Exeter won the league, as homer tracks like them both was favouring the homer tracks. We had intended to give the team a stern talking to to try and raise our chances of a win after starting to get better at Exeter in the previous years. . Davey's comment blew that, and he proceeded to do 3 start and backed off the throttle each time before the first bend, and stayed at the back before pulling onto the center green. We could have strangled him.

Went to Sunday school, and in the same Boys Club as Mike. He was also in the training school before mine at C. A. Parsons. I went to the same school as Mike Hiftle, who was always a tearaway from Walkerville.

That could have been when the Byker Wall was being built. The snake like wall encased houses and the curves made little communities and some gardens. At the time the architecture was heavily criticised due to it's size and colour scheme, but most of the people who had lived in the previous streets, which were in long parallel rows and down the hill, loved them. The foreign woman I think you met, became a Wall resident and took photos over the years of Byker life as well as the Wall and it's inhabitants. She published a book of these photographs, and one of those books is the reading matter in my opticians on Chillingham Road about half a mile away from the Wall.

Great team man. When we used him as a regular guest he just got used to everything about Newcastle, and that was seen when so many supporters went down for his farewell meeting at Birmingham which was quite something. As it happened I think we had a league meeting at Sheffield the following night, so we all stayed over in the hotel that Jason had made his party centre. He was up all night and him, and Adam Scornicki were sat on the wall outside next morning very worse for wear. He was a great guy to work with, and we knew it was guaranteed he would be doing his best to try to win, not something that you get with some guests. On our Southern tour we were at Somerset on Friday and going to Rye House on the Saturday. We stayed, as usual, at a hotel on the road into Swindon. We got back before the riders, but when Jason walked in and, after getting his first pint, he found the Pizza menu and proceeded to ask everyone their choice and when they arrived, he paid for the lot. Being a good mechanic/tuner he always helped his new teammates doing the meeting. He loved being with his Newcastle fans and management. I wouldn't mind bet that he had similar experiences with other clubs whilst guesting.

Ah, the oft refered to Pit Marshall. He was a bit of a character, forcefull in his way and no-one would tangle with him. Don't see people so strong minded these day, but would have loved to see Ivan as a Start Marshal. None of the fannying around gardening and pulling back, he would be looking straight to the ref wanting action against the worst offenders. Reasons you can't these do that these days is promoters don't want to upset their senior riders. Incidentally Ivan turned up at a Social evening at Gosforth SC last year, and had considerable shrunk and didn't look particularly well. I for one would wish him well and hope he is taken care of in these dangerous days. My first memory of Speedway is being taken to Brough when I was 6 in 1949. Was on the third bend kicking dirt, and my only real recollection is a rider in white leathers. Ken le Breton I think rode for Glasgow then, so they must have been the visitors as he has left Brough the previous year I believe. Then next it was onto 1961 with a start with a Diamonds select team against Wolverhampton.

Think I would have great difficulty in changing any of those riders. In terms of KB, he originally suffered a lot with his bikes and settings. Eventually his Dad came over, and I remember he walked into the pits with a stack of carbs about the size of a shoebox and all brand new. That seemed to fix it, and, with his gating. he was soon near unbeatable. He rode our track an entirely different way to how anybody else had before. He tried to make the straights as long as possible going straight out to the fence turning in the middle of the bend. It worked for him so much that Andre and Kevin immediately changed their usual racing line with the same results. Ludde came close to the same line sometimes.