Super Blue

Gino finished 2015 on 5.43, with decent equipment and if hes learnt how to stay on his bike for 4 laps he could be worth a punt on that average. I still think alot of how the team ends up will be dependent on how many of, or if any of the rumoured rule and point limit changes turn out to be true. We may be looking at many of the teams saying wtf or seriously!

What, no triple B (Billy big ball's) as Baldy might say! I'm sure we will all wish him well with his time in his homeland and thank him for his contribution to Ipswich Speedway. He's been pretty consistent for us this year and definitely one of his better seasons although occasionally lacking when we really needed him to come to the party. A non heat leader rider to end the season on a 7+ average could well be difficult to find a replacement for. Still, time will tell when things start to come together after the agm.

The problem is that it isn't like a football league , the higher you finish in any football league the more prize money you get. If Speedway had similar structure or could attract reasonable sponsorship arrangements then it would be heavily in a teams interest to ride as many meetings as possible to achieve the greater rewards. If anything currently a promoter is more likely to be patting his wallet if he can't complete a full league programme as he doesn't have to pay the riders and crowd levels aren't exactly hugely profit making are they? It's all about money.

What name would you change our little band of merry men (and women) to then Baldy? It has become quite well known now amongst all at Foxhall, management included so a change might confuse matters a tad.

Against Edinburgh and quite a few others since July we seemed to have a pretty good home advantage and then promptly blew it by setting it up perfectly for the Somerset boys, Tungate particularly. It was prepared perfectly for gating tarts. Hopefully any changes though will make for better racing but given the fact that our team don't get any track time apart from the press and practice days before the new season it will probably take half a dozen meetings before they get used to it.

Rory has proved his liking for Foxhall on more than one occasion and provided he's fit I wouldn't say no to him riding for us, would depend where in the team of course. I wouldn't say he's an out and out number 1 on his recent form though. Although quite clearly not British I seem to vaguely recall he did actually randomly ride for a GB team in one minor event not so long back.

Stew or stroganoff? I prefer Wellington myself.;-)

Cheeky sod! Somebody who appreciates my comments and that you shouldn't run before you can walk metaphorically (rather appropriately in my current situation) and you say that.

I think it might be good to get some opinions on who we'd like to keep rather than who we'd like to sign given that nobody yet knows what the rules and regs are gonna be. For me Danny, yes, his average pretty much what it started on and regularly going to get good you a decent points tally. Also rules permitting. James, unsure, brilliant some weeks awful on others. Too inconsistent to rely on overall IMO. Nico, yes, more than capable of upping his average if we can develop a track he can actually pass on. Morten, ?, on about a 7 average now, a decent 2nd string but is now never going to improve. Ben, again ?, equipment dependant but if rumours are correct he's off elsewhere anyway. Joe, no, quite clearly not a small track rider these days even though he learnt his trade on them. Danyon, yes, but I think thats a given anyway with most on here, his potential is phenomenal. As I've said before I'm gonna wait till after the agm when the league/team make up, format, points limits and final averages are known before I speculate too much.

Although I'm not giving my opinion on team selections just yet I will quite happily debate others ideas. Any team will require a high percentage of gaters unless radical changes are made to the track. Even with all the obvious speed advantage Danny King had against Charles Wright he still couldn't get past him. I'm afraid this wish list really wouldn't do it at Foxhall although I do feel Danny Ayres enthusiasm could be quite infectious in the stands. Let's take a look King, may not even be allowed PL next year under current rules. Manzares, came 4th in USA but that's not saying much. Nicholls, past it and can't gate for toffees. Risager, 2nd string journeyman, never gonna get any better. Hume, lots of potential, should be a great 3pt no7. Ayres, hmm enthusiastic to say the least but a no6? Not sure. Just trying to put some realism on it before people start dismissing my opinions.

With this season now over and a Massif-ly long close season ahead it's now time to start planning how our little band of merry men (and women) can increase the noise levels and improve the atmosphere at Foxhall even more. Shame it was a bit subdued last night with the anticlimax that was occurring on the track but if we can put an effective team together for 2017 and get them going right from the off a productive season could be on the cards. It will be interesting to see exactly what Chris Louis is planning on the track improvement front because I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to see a bit more competitive racing with more passing possible for true racers in the team if we don't make the gate. Personally I don't think the time is yet right to be making too many statements on potential team selection until we know what the agm brings forth as far as rule changes are concerned.

Hmmmm, highly disappointing but hey we got alot further than I expected a couple of months ago. Credit to the Rebels, they certainly put one over on us and did a thoroughly professional job over the 2 legs. To summarise, Somerset were up for it big time. The Witches of recent weeks just didn't turn up on the night. The whole evening was ridiculously stop/start. The referee should have heavily clamped down on the jump starts from the off, for example, out of the first 5 heats, every one was a roller, the least blatant of all was heat 1 and it was the only one of them he pulled back. The track was nothing like it's been of late, was set up perfectly for the gating tarts of this world and the first sign of water all night was after ht11 when the tie was basically all over. The biggest night of the season for us and we didn't come to the party. Season over, roll on next year and hopefully the promised track changes will produce a better surface for the real racers of whatever team we put together.

Having had a scout around most of the more reputable weather forecasts I don't have a clue what it's gonna be like tonight apart from cold and cloudy with a chance of some wet stuff. Certainly doesn't seem to be a massive threat of postponement though. Over my side of town about 5 miles away I've already seen the sun and some light spots of rain this morning , whatever will be will be, all I know is it won't be the T-shirt weather of recent home meetings.

Most days there's a new episode to watch on here but it's become a tad less abusive in the last couple of days so it might go down in the ratings a bit.

No problem getting to mine or the stadium from here either, apart from the usual traffic round the docks one way system.

I'm mighty glad I know Ipswich well that's for sure. I wouldn't like to be trying to get to Foxhall from some of the directions where roadworks are shown on the map without local knowledge. Good luck with the traffic guys if you don't know your way around. Plan to get there early if you can.

Nice thinking but I'm sure they'll get a heat advantage at some point, probably heat 2, Tungates bound to make at least 1 or 2 gates and become a roadblock and Grajczonek will no doubt get a win or two so a few strategically placed 5-1's will be vital for us. I've come to the conclusion it's better to be a pessimist than an optimist because with the latter you are only ever gonna be disappointed and as a pessimist anything that goes right is a bonus!

To be fair I think that even I might have enjoyed going to the forum more than watching England last last night. Then again watching paint dry would have been equally entertaining.

It's quiet on here today, so are we settling on this thread as the official one for the 2nd leg then? If so then I'm going for a home victory as I don't think they'll win here again since the recent Witches resurgence. Whether it'll be by enough to progress I'm very doubtful but I live in hope that we'll at least keep it very interesting untill at least the latter stages of the meeting. All is currently set fair weather wise, well according to a couple of forecasts I've looked at anyway. So I'll be back with the Massif making some noise for the 500cc tractor boys! Come on Witches, we can do this if we go for it from the off and we get the track set up to our liking.

Sorry to disagree Bruv but since young Connors guest appearance at Foxhall against the Moanarchs he's had 3 PL guest bookings . 2 big fat zeros for us and 1 pt for the Rebels when only 3 riders finished the race and he fell in that one . I know he's had some bike problems and i hope he proves me wrong and scores some valuable points but I think we should have looked elsewhere to at least have matched the guest booking Somerset have made . Like I said please prove me wrong lad but if our reserves don't outscore the Rebels on Thursday I think we're stuffed on trying to make a comeback .

It certainly is.

Well they won't be using Bates but what other ringer will they be able to use with Wilson Deans average being what it is? I really can't see us using Coles again, if we did it would probably be suicidal and even if Hume was to declare himself fit he'd be seriously out of practice. Our choice of no7 will be crucial in us having a chance of overturning the deficit.

Correct me if I'm wrong Mr Scotsman but were you referring to the lack of decent lights at Foxhall with your post?

Although young Connor Coles certainly shows potential and should have scored better on his debut at Foxhall had he stayed on his bike a bit more the 2nd leg will need a no7 that can pick up a few points . Whether that means we need to look elsewhere or not I'm not sure . I'm also not convinced JJ particularly likes our track at the moment which seems strange to me as he learnt his craft on small circuits like Mildenhall , he seems to be partial to the big fast ones like Belle Vue . I'd certainly like to think we would outscore the opposition in the reserve department on Thursday in the 2nd leg , if we don't I think all hope of competing in the playoff final will be gone.

Not a massive amount of reaction on here to last night's result and I've pondered about our chances in the return leg. It's disappointing to be 16pts down but? Looking at it logically I'd expect most of the Witches to do alot better on Thursday, the only time at home we've failed to beat a side by less than 20 pts since July is Newcastle and that was when a last minute reserve change to Scott Campus was necessary. Looking also how the Rebels may fair at Foxhall we all know Tungate is a gating tart and couldn't pass wind here if he doesn't make the start. Allen will probably only get half what he did at home. Wright and Stark will no doubt get a few. Grajczonek traditionally doesn't go well here but is more than capable of getting a decent score. And assuming the same reserves are used I doubt they'll get 10 between them here. So given the above I believe it's still all to play for and as long as we prepare a track similar to of late, continue our recent good home form and hit them hard from the off I think it could be a cracker of a meeting that goes right down to the wire. Obviously just hoping to make a real match of it for the paying punters.