Steve Irving

Neither meeting will be happening, certainly not tonight's meeting. Still time for tomorrow's forecast to change, but change dramatically it'll have to.

Yes updates say's huge delay due to track prep being "messed up" causing Kevin Jolly to apologise. Is it the same guy who prepares Ipswich?

Hawkins is certain to be a big improver. He's never been heatleader material, but has made a career out of being a steady 5-6 point second string. 3.96 and at reserve, is a bargain.

That may be the "official" line, but one wonders if that is accurate. Blackbird's contract was exchanged for Oliver Rayson's, but Rayson wasn't Mildenhall's to exchange as he was an Ipswich asset.

Brady Kurtz is not a 3, and he's not a 5 either. He's an assessed 7.00 average. If the other promoters let this go then more fool them.

The team to beat so far. Just about every rider in that line up looks odds on to up their average, and that's the name of the game.

I've always thought it's crazy basing an assessed average on a riders nationality. Every rider, no matter where they come from, should be assessed on their achievements, talent and potential.

I can't see anyone here saying different opinions weren't allowed. Some of you Ipswich fans do leave me scratching my head at times. Risager seems to come in for plenty of stick, seemingly for being inconsistent. Well the league, any league come to that, is littered with them. If Risager was a little more consistent, he's be an 8 point rider. If he was a lot more consistent, he'd be a 9 point rider. Next season, every single club in the PL will have inconsistent riders, Riders who are match winners one meeting, and stink the place out the next. Heeps was part of the Ipswich TEAM. Every club that does particularly well has a rider that has a cracking season and puts points on his average. Glasgow won the title in large part due to Nick Morris doing just that, but even they had riders who disappointed at times. You're simply not going to have a team full of riders who will all up their averages and excel. Everyone would obviously like that, but in reality it never happens. Thank your lucky stars you haven't had to put up with the dross that the likes of the Sheffield fans have had to put up with in recent times.

Nicholls will be back at Ipswich.. Jungle drums have Ipswich moving back up.

Nonsense. Neither the Norfolk Arena or the Showground come even close to track viewing than Ipswich. Both tracks you mention, are widely regarded to be two of the best racing tracks in the country so few will disagree with your second point. That's not a slant on Ipswich, as since they widened the track and spent an awful lot of money doing so, they also now have an excellent race track too. Maybe just me

I personally couldn't care less how Barker comes across, I would absolutely love to see him as number 1 at Redcar. Barker is the kind of rider I like to pay my entrance fee to go and watch.

Not sure there's a better stadium in the whole country for viewing than Foxhall. You can literally walk through the gate, and then walk around the entire stadium and have an excellent view of the track all the way around.

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Is there really that big a gap between the NL and PL where Ellis can sail through a 21 point max in the NL, then not score a point in the PL a few days later?

Some people clearly don't take losing too well

Hasn't Ipswich only just confirmed Hawkins for the rest of the season? He hardly seemed totally committed anyway did he so Ipswich need to sack him off and get in a replacement. The young kid from Mildenhall done well the other night, but you can't rely on NL guests long term as it will severely hurt Ipswich' chances of success.

I'm not sure Ipswich does get a slating these days. They used to before they widened it, but chances are if they showed a meeting from Ipswich we'd probably see a decent meeting. I've been there watching Redcar the last couple of seasons and seen an absolute cracker both times.

Totally agree with that. On the meeting, still in shock at the result! Certainly didn't see that coming!

It's all about opinions isn't it. Some rate certain tracks that others don't and vice versa. For what it's worth I think the Ipswich track post changes, produces fantastic racing and I really look forward to my visits there. I missed only two away meetings last season watching Redcar and the meeting at Foxhall was the best I saw by far. Where as I never look forward to Rye House as in all the years I've been there, I've rarely seen a decent meeting. SCB has stated he enjoys his visits there so it's all about opinions. If you're a regular at Rye House and enjoy what's on offer there in terms of entertainment then that's all that matters. Other people's opinions matter little.

Very good point and makes you wonder doesn't it? Speedway is dangerous enough as it is.

Will do.

Yes I've been once last season. Widest in the country? Fair enough, must have been a very deceptive angle from where I was sitting!

If they are going to all the trouble of uprooting the drains then they may as well make the most of that by making changes that are worthwhile. For me the straights are too narrow too not just the bends so why not take the inside line in all the way around? Smaller track would result, but far better racing. Ipswich done similar a few years back. They had a very narrow track and the racing suffered, but when I went there last year for the Redcar meeting, the difference in the track and racing was night and day compared to how it used to be.

I'd have loved Lanham at Redcar. As we all know the trick is to find riders who will up their averages, and Lanham is nailed on to do that. His average tumbled this year riding at 1, a position he openly admits he hates. He'll up that average riding at 3 or 4. I think Ipswich have a few improvers actually in Tungate Heeps and Ellis, all have huge potential. The others are capable of maintaining theirs so that should be enough for top 6 comfortably imo. As for Redcar, i'm pleased with our side but we must try and get a little more out of Matej Kus. He's one of the most frustrating riders i've seen in a long time. Can look a world beater in one race seeing off the likes of Barker and Doyle, then finish last next time out behind a reserve!