kelvinht

Batch is carrying on where Bjerre left off last year :-(

There were a few delays were the ref could have moved things on a bit quicker, but in the main it was numerous falls and track grades after every 4 heats. IMO under the circumstances it was just about as quick as it could have. My gripe would have to be the p1ss poor presentation as seems to be the norm these days. Was no better than elite league. The presenter didn't really present. I could read out the starting line up each race and just let music play in between times. Felt sorry for buster with the poor crowd. Hardly encouraging.

That was a late night. Enjoyed it if a bit stop start due to all the falls. Lambert was a brave man going off gate 4 in the final. as he didn't quite get across he had no options, another lap and he might have got win. Hope none of injuries too serious. It's easy to sit at home and moan...

Rosco needs to chose the top 3 for the WTC to ride with Woffy. Excellent effort from Robert, sure his time will come Well done to Danny

In the old days, the ref sometimes used take into account earlier events a in a race - doesn't seem to happen these days. All NKI was guilty of was giving as good as he got, he just had the sense to back off when Nicki was hard on him....

She is doing an excellent job in the studio with Scotty. Very knowledgeable and asking all the right questions.

Wilko looked half decent when he guested for us last season, but for some reason doesn't seem to be working for him. Shame, but we need to move on and give Rambo a try

Rory is out for a while yet with his injury according to his interview on Monday.

Well done to the Stars. 2 points up going into heat 15 could have ended in tears. Luckily it was Fast Freddie's tears whose bike went pop at the start. Some excellent racing on a very cold night - is it really June!!! Rather uncharacteristic awkward looking fall for NIKI in heat 1 - thought were in for a long night, but after that was unbeatable Lewis Rose rode very well tonight in the top 5 and when he was in the mix defended his place very well. Probably my man of the match. Batch looks to me like he is struggling for fitness as seemed to be fighting with his bike just to turn left. Rambo scored well, although faded a little towards the end. Robert Lambert continues to impress Mads and Wilko seemed to struggle tonight, but did manage some crucial points between them. 6 point win was a fair result in the end

3 reserves riding for the stars. And wolves have Kerr at reserve. Hoping for a home win but a lot depends on batch

Easy win for the stars. ;-) Don't think we are as bad as results suggest, think at least a point at least out of this is well within our capabilities

From a neutral who was visiting the area this weekend, thought Leicester did well to hold this to 42-42 after looking like it might be a lakeside walkover. Klindt (the skipper according to the announcer every 5 mins :-) ) certainly had his gating gloves on. Heat 15 always looked like a heat too far due lakeside's heat leader strength. The track alterations have certainly improved the racing from my last visit a couple of years ago.

I'm not due back at stanstead til 7.20 Thursday. Wonder if buster will delay start so I can make a mad dash up. Surely my availability is more important than nki!

weather looking drier for the evening now :-)

Loved Pedersens interview. If Pawlicki should have shut then Pedersen should have shut off himself in last GP when Zagar went past. Pot..kettle...black springs to mind. Great meeting though after slow start. Racing like that would bring the crowds back, unfortunately most tracks in the UK don't even come close to allowing racing that good.

Stars win but it will be tight and we'll need our gating gloves

The clip of Jon Armstrong on BSPA site does indeed suggest this new track is going to serve up some cracking racing....

The problem is not really the track, more the bikes are so hard to handle these days, making passing much more at a premium, cos if riders get it wrong, it goes wrong big time. The authorities have to find an answer to that. Having said that, wider bends at the AFA Arena would certainly help improve the entertainment value imo as it would mean more racing lines and shorter straights would bring the speeds down a little.

Kai at reserve will be a big help! Although Wilko will struggle at no. 2. Calculation of averages needs looking at and maybe should exclude the reserves races as they give a false reading. Wonder how we'll play it now as it sounds like PUK will be around all season but pick and chose which matches he rides in. If its not a genuine reason (injury/fixture clash) will we get a facility - or use our no. 8 ?

Haven't they invested in plastic sheets to cover the track? thought I'd read that somewhere, so as long as its not raining at start time should be ok? and wonder if Puk will be riding?

If its on there'll be about 2 paying customers. My big decision is whether to splash out on Sky one day pass....and will I get a refund if the match doesn't get to heat 10 ? ;-)

Funny thing is, after all this and 17 pages of debate looks like the rain will win anyway!

Stars have busk in for huck who is also ill. At least that's a fair swap.

Leicester unlucky not to get a point from that. Bl00dy cold again and drawn out, despite ref putting 2 mins on before all riders from previous race had left the track for some of the races. Didn't end till 9.45pm - had to find a car with a heat on full blast pdq. Very much a gate and go for the most part but a few decent races overtakes along the way. But get out in front and you were pretty much guaranteed a win. Even NKI's gating seems to have partly left him. BTW liking the new mike man....a few more interviews along the way to fill the empty gaps though please!

My first thought! We will still lose though :-(