Steve Irving

You asked for that Crumpet tbh. Your dig was totally unnecessary.

Congratulations to Sheffield, at the end of the day it’s their name on the trophy. Fair play to the Ipswich supporters for being so gracious too, not sure I would be! Had their work cut out before their season even got started with Newman coming a cropper at Poole. Then as soon as he returned the injuries to Covatti and Hume (who was making a mockery of his average by the way) were catastrophic. Then as the season came to the climax they lost their in form rider (Heeps) and then just as he returned for the final, they lost an in form reserve (Mountain) and replaced him with inferior riders in Bacon and Bowtell! Sheffield on the other hand went in to the play offs at full strength and got a lucky break picking up Gravesen at reserve who has contributed hugely. Not sure I agree that the best team always finishes top or wins the league, in this sport luck plays a massive part too. No doubt in my mind that the 1-7 Chris Louis put together last winter was a title winner. Their chance had gone as soon as they replaced Covatti with Sedgman. 1 point last night from R/R when Covatti is usually good for double figures tells you everything. Sorry Ippo fans can’t help but have a little chuckle at your misfortune. Ever since Ipswich dropped to the PL they’ve put together some corking sides but still the wait goes on. Maybe next year!

From an Ipswich supporters point of view you're right it's probably good to see a change of strategy from your promotion. Nice guys finish last and Ipswich haven't been successful for a while. Didn't Somerset sack Proctor a year or two ago before he'd even turned a wheel in anger because a better option cropped up late on? Now that's ruthless but Somerset have been very successful with that mindset. At least Sedgmen could have few complaints as he's been utter tripe! If he'd been doing the job he was brought in to do then changes wouldn't have been necessary.

Couple of tweets from Hawkins the last few days to questions about the track.. "A lot of work went into the track over the winter to improve racing. Expect big improvment next week." "Chris is working his b0llocks off to get it right. We want to win & entertain " I wouldn't hold your breath, but there is hope!

Maybe Ipswich should get in another trackman? I understand the current chap has been a loyal servant to the club for many years, but if the track is crap he has to accept responsibility surely? I refuse to accept that there is anything wrong with the track shape. It used to be famously very tight but that's no longer the case and there's now plenty of room to race. So if the racing remains poor then I'm sorry but you have to point the finger at those that prepare it.

He may well have a bit more time on his hands though if the mooted Poole changes come to fruition.

Well if it was engine issues that caused Skornicki to perform so crap, I'm sure now those issues have been eradicated he will be inundated with offers!

Ah the old "it wasn't him it was his equipment" excuse that's so often trotted out. Skornicki always looked a strange choice for Wolves and surprise surprise he was crap. A half decent rider in his day and would have been a good signing a few years ago, not now.

"Still, the boys got a good win, Peterborough made the track look twice as tricky as it actually was and we all went home happy." And those the comments from another "professional speedway rider", the British champion no less, in his column today.

The only people to blame for any lack of entertainment were the majority of the Peterborough riders. When you first got there, did you look at the track and immediately think "this is far too grippy and won't produce good racing"? I'd be surprised if you did. Yes the track was grippy and when I saw the track upon entering the stadium I was delighted at what I saw and was expecting a good meeting. What I wasn't expecting though was to see most of the away side wimping out and not even bother trying! Absolutely disgraceful and so are the subsequent comments from the Peterborough management who I can only think must be trying to deflect the deserved criticism away from their riders. The track was a racers track and was there to be raced, for those that were actually prepared to attack it and race! Perhaps the Peterborough riders would have been far more happier at Sheffield on Thursday. That was an even worse meeting I promise you for totally opposite reasons. No matter how hard the riders were trying, if you didn't make the jump you were going nowhere fast. This is part of the problem these days, the tracks by and large with a minority of exceptions, are not prepared for racing due to the request of over pampered riders who seem to prefer a slick easy to ride billiard table to ride on. This is what they've become used to and IMO it's wrong. The fans are the most important aspect here. If the fans aren't there the riders won't have a job that's the bottom line. Tracks should be prepared for entertainment and the fans, not the riders. As has been said,Cameron Heeps' attitude was spot on. He opened the throttle, chased the dirt on the outside and was always making ground on those in front of him. He made some terrific passes. As for Rathbones sly dig in his press release, he too should be ashamed of himself. He should have been praising the efforts of the people at Ipswich for producing a race track fit for good racing, and then apologising to everybody who attended for his teams abysmal "effort" in doing any racing at all!!!

Crikey what an absolute prick!

Plus the changes were made very late in the day and rarely if any? Did all three of Cook, Bjerre and Thomson actually take to the track together at the same time. Thomson wasn't exactly a revelation either. At the end of the day we'll see and I could be wrong, but if I was a betting man I'd definitely have a punt that the line up will be tinkered with at some point before May.

Really enjoyed my first of many visits to Foxhall this year. Have to say, for an early season fixture the track looked in superb condition. Very smooth and consistent so full marks to the track staff.

Perhaps practice what you preach! You were the one who came on to a thread not involving the team you support, and fired the first barb, and then gotten the arse ache when someone throws one back!

Peterborough won't make the play offs IMO and I'd be surprised if the current 1-7 is the same after the cut off point in May. The top 5 isn't strong enough. All very well and good saying you have a stronger reserve than most, but how often does a "strength in depth" side with a strong reserve but average looking top 5 win the pots? Reminds me of Poole with the turbo twins eating up the majority of their points and still going with a strong third healeader whilst apparently have far too long a tail. They'd always win at a canter. Even Edinburgh won 3 titles on the trot going with Cook, Masters and sedgmen and a supposedly "weak tail". Give me a team with top end strength over a strength in depth team every time

Typical! I move away and suddenly things are looking up! Delighted to hear the positive vibes though and I'm looking forward to coming back.

Great looking side.

The racing is fabulous at Scunthorpe and the supporters are very fortunate to have a great track like that on their doorstep. I understand at the end of the day it's still a competition and you want to see your team win, but IMO I'd feel like I've won even if the team lost when the EWR serves up great racing which it does far more often than not.

Don't even know where to start with this one, yours is even worse!!

Your grammatical errors explains everything perfectly.

You're either blatantly a troll, or you're absolutely clueless when it comes to Speedway. Everyone will have an opinion, some will rate Ipswich as favourites, some will rate Sheffield or Glasgow as favourites. But to suggest that this Ipswich team will be bottom three then like I say you're either completely clueless, or trolling.

Perhaps you should look for a different sport to follow Phillip? Speedway definitely isn't for you.

Starke and BWD confirmed. Looks a very average team to me but I thought that about Somerset this year so who knows..

Got to agree there looks very little wrong with the track shape which should in theory produce decent racing. A quick look on google earth proves this. Perhaps it's other factors such as the type of shale used? Also agree that the old track was too narrow. Far too narrow in fact. Was maybe okay back in the day but as has already been said, the machines have evolved over the years and the introduction of the air fence made an already narrow track even narrower.

http://www.ipswichwitches.co/story/foxhall-track-work-begins In depth details of all the track work taking place.