Tsunami

Thanks, but if you saw him close up he looks well older. Must of had a hard paper round.

Yes, he said he had seen you.

Good gater and nice steady style on the tight Brough bends. Bit near to the first bend inner curb spoiled his line coming out of the second bend. Didn't think he was that young, very difficult to specify. Both finishing times were in the 68's, which was probably level with the slower races in the league meeting beforehand.

Interesting viewer at last night's meeting was one Dan Bewley. Hmmmm.

I think the sun was in his eyes and he couldn't see. Interesting with the Flint collision. It looked as if Leon had flicked out and stopped Jacob getting passed. It did happen quickly I might be wrong but I wasn't the only one to think it.

Talked to Jacob in the bar afterwards, and he couldn't see though his goggles when Aaron got him on the third bend.

That would be when Summers got past him on the third bend, but he had done well to get the third place in the first case given what Summers had scored up to then. I really enjoyed the meeting last night, not just the result, or the speed that Willie Dish got the meeting though. A couple of biggish grading sessions and still got though the meeting at lightning speed. One session was needed early on as a burr had appeared on the racing line into the first bend, and you could see every rider hit it every time. Once that was resolved the loose surface produced some great racing with different racing lines, riders not knowing wether it was quicker round the boards or shooting the corner on the inside of bend 4. In the first case Lasse was brilliant trying the outside for three laps, and finally getting the win on the 4th attempt. Conversely Matty did the opposite, and look to be well behind till a great drive across the inside on the 4th bend and he achieved a decent gap to also take a great tactical win. Stevie troubled in his first ride, with the fast gating Summers getting a very fast time if 62.6, he soon got back on track with his usual class riding. Thomas still iffy at times but he is capable of producing some brilliant racing and did so in both heats 13 and 15 getting a great 5-1 in each case. Nice to see the reserves getting a few points with Danny winning heat 2 and Jacob trying so hard and getting himself into good positions and fighting for the extra point. Max decent as usual after his first ride. Even though there only appeared to be 4 scoring riders, the racing was very good and our team looked so much more solid thoughtout than what we have seen this season. Interesting to see a new Czech riding very steady with Josh after the meeting. A quick meeting meant more time for junior second half riding and I counted 10 extra rides plus a wee junior ride.

The likes of Bates, Garrity and Barker are often out of control during most of their rides. If they cop it so what, but it is the honest riders in the same races I have sympathy for as they usually pay for the others recklessness.

NO. It is sent after the meeting. Do you have a problem. ?

Yes as each home team has to send in a programme for each meeting. They ARE read.

Are you taking the urine. Johnny works on the track all day turning it over and getting the water into the track. What people like you see just before the meeting is the usual topup prior to the meeting.

Was with Archie and Danny at the Belle Vue and Swindon rounds of the BYC at the weekend, and Jordan was brilliant both from the gate, and his pace and style in the heats. He had some great duels with the Thompson twins( not the singers) and like Jordan they are both going to make great riders. They have grown since the last time I saw them, and on their way up. All those three riders are 15 at the moment.

They were already signed by Belle Vue we were told..

As you can understand, it's a bit awkward for me to comment on the situation. What I will say is, I would not have started with the team we started with. We got lucky when we got Steve and thank goodness we did, or it could be even worse. At the moment I would be looking to change two riders, and sounding out who would be available. I was shocked that Ash was not considered and I suppose the good thing was that Max has turned out decent in his place. Wethers is again the surprise package, starting the season looking wrong with his style and look at him now. Top team man and reliable on track. I hope he is pleased with his own progress, as I think we all are. Thomas I was iffy about. He is way too inconsistent for me, but he can be brilliant at times, even when beaten from the tapes, and he is supposed to be a good gater. I think he rides for KL better than for us. Lasse I wouldn't have signed given his recent history, and I would be moving him on. So that would be me looking for 2 riders Lasse and a new reserve. I do hope we get a change soon, and we use the extra points wisely. At the end of the day of course it's all about opinions, and what we don't know is what the grapevine is saying as to who is also going to be moved on by another club. That's where contacts come in very handy, and why riders suddenly appear quickly and get snapped when they are released by another club. As fans we are not privy to the planned moves and releases, so we can just hope the promotion is doing the looking and hearing for us. Hope that helps.

You are correct , it wasn't the EL it was the PL. My mistake. In 2003. I was setting up the Gems team for that year with Kenny Smith, and we heard about this kid at Belle Vue and we made enquiries about him joining us. We knew that Buxton were not intending to run that year so we thought he would be looking for a track. The advice we got was we should be going for his younger brother Charles as he appeared to be the better bet. We made enquiries to try and sign then both, but then we heard that Jan Staechmann and his mechanic had taken out the lease on Buxton for one year, and the Wrights had signed for them. Missed opportunities to get two top kids on board.

Does that come with chips ?

No time for sentiment but at the moment. Bottom of the League and not going though to the 4's finals after a decent start is not good enough. Birmingham and Eastbourne were supposed to be fighting for the wooden spoon this season and look at our results against then lately.

Some would hope that was true, along with another one replaced.

Depending which James you are comparing with. James was a good rider and when he improved he went on the EL and was the PL Riders Champion one year. Unfortunalety he suffered major problems with consistency and slid down the averages and was very unreliable after that, and not signed by anyone.

Didn't seem to care on his second spell with us.

Surprisingly he also got a hateful of points at Arena Essex. One meeting on late 90's I think he got about a dozen points for our win.

Totally square. Gaters track.

Breast stroke.

They used to at one time, but the bloody stuff used to find its way back to the inside line of the track. We also used to pump it to where the backstraight stand was, but with it not being there anymore, we regularly flooded out the folks in the Orpington Avenue prefab buildings so we got stopped. Then we used the dogs drains, but they found out because of the shale on the covers, so now it goes into the external drains. You can see the signs of it as you enter the drive into the stadium, beside where the parking girl is, so you always know they have had a hard day that day. Most weeks it is sucked up by the bowser and then put back onto the track to recycle it.

Rain restarted at 4.40pm and still pissing down. Good call for everyone I think.