Super Blue

From what I've been told having never been to the OTA is its much more of an oval rather than 2 distinctly defined straights and the corners, perhaps that's what the Rebels problem is with Foxhall and likewise what the Witches don't like at Somerset? If I'm wrong please advise but it doesn't seem like hardly any teams like the OTA apart from the Rebels and that's why they virtually always seem to get huge wins at home against pretty much everyone!

At the time it was definitely the right decision to call it off , problem with having a race track in the middle of heath/woodland area I suppose . Annoying that 10 mins later it was definitely clearer , enough to resume racing ? Probably not . Racking by aged brain , don't think I've ever been at a meeting that's been curtailed by fog . Well , the Witches bounced back from being battered on Monday with what seemed to be a pretty determined attitude and were seeing off the Rebels pretty comfortably . Danny , in a class of his own again . Ritchie , shouldn't have come back yet . Gino , better but could be a one track rider . Cam , hmm ,seems unsteady at Foxhall . Rohan , much better , more determined . Stefan , seems to have bikes sorted at last . Nico , definitely a bit better tonight . Don't know what it is about Foxhall but Somerset seem to hate it as much as the Witches hate their place . Im sure the scores in the away match will be as equally one sided in the Rebels favor . With the way the teams in the group are dropping points home and away its still wide open and all to play for . A convincing win but as they say you can only beat what's put in front of you . Im along way from being convinced that we've turned the corner yet but always happy to taste victory .

Anyway, it's meeting day and although a bit foggy around Ipswich this morning there doesn't appear to be any apparent weather issues for those planning on travelling any distance. Personally I'm looking for a good response after Mondays abysmal performance by the majority of the team.

I do both Speedway and football and find it really strange that If I leave a football match having not won I'm really peeed off but the same doesn't apply if I've been to Speedway and seen a decent meeting with some good racing. If I'm asked which sport I prefer I always reply yes because I just can't decide. I'm definitely more passionate about winning or losing with the football than Speedway but I came home from Peterborough Monday with the Witches having been battered with a c'est la vie feeling. Strange, and I know I am before anybody says anything.

Well I've only seen the home and away meetings against Peterborough so far this season and although the home win was comfortable in the end I thought were less than convincing for half of it . The away meeting was just dire from 5 of the team so im gonna take alot of convincing that we are anything but a mid table side even if we hammer Somerset , mainly because we usually do . On paper we look a decent team but how often have we said that only to be disappointed ? Teams don't ride on paper afterall . I believe that we now have the genuine No1 that we've been truly missing in recent years but he needs back up and it's not an early season knee jerk reaction to be sceptical about our chances of success but to have two reserves starting a brand new season on clearly underpowered or unreliable equipment is pretty much unacceptable ! Obviously im hopeful it's just early season gremlins and things will come good , however im not as optimistic as I was at this stage last year and we know that ended with no success . A win on Thursday is obviously important but I will be looking more at the overall performance and some signs of confidence in the riders and reliability in the equipment .

Well having lost at Rye and getting battered at Peterborough it's a home match against the Rebels who traditionally don't like Foxhall very much and if we are are to have any chance of progressing in the League Cup we need to stop them getting any league points from the meeting. Personally I think we have a good chance of achieving that goal but a few of the riders need to regroup, step it up a bit and get their bike issues sorted out PRONTO! At least the weather forecast for this week is currently good and hopefully returning to home shale will be the filip required to get back to winning ways.

To be fair all promoters should be setting up the tracks to suit the home teams, that's what home advantage is all about. The different sizes, shapes and amount of dirt on the tracks will always catch some teams out of course but it's all about adapting accordingly to give yourself the best chance of winning. Some teams just don't like certain types of tracks,struggle to find the right setups and will always look like virtual novices when faced with one. Personally I don't think Foxhall is a track that gives as big an advantage to the home team as some but it's all about opinions and I'm sure others will disagree.

Upon reflection , the meeting was definitely won by the best team , the Panthers were obviously buoyed by their win at Rye earlier , most of the Witches certainly didn't adapt to the track conditions and overall didn't deserve to even get close on the night . Was disappointing to watch having made the journey but it's early days yet and theres still plenty of time for things to improve . Onwards and upwards as they say . Or in hindsight, onwards and downwards?

Danny King V Peterborough wasn't really a fair contest, once he got going he was in a class of his own. Unfortunately with the possible exception of Cameron Heeps the rest of the Witches didn't come to the party. Hawkins shouldn't really have made his comeback on such a big grippy track. Covatti and Nielsen need to get their bikes sorted out. Tungate and Manzares conspicuous with their total inability to gate or pass anybody. Apart from that a cracking performance by the Witches, huh hmm, maybe not! Well done to the Panthers on a fully deserved victory.

Definitely foolish!

Looking at the weather forecast I take it that it's a lovely day round Peterborough way , perfect for some Speedway ?

Just wasting your money then which Panther fans don't want to do . Mind you the way you've started the season they probably would be wasting their money if they came anyway .

I have to confess if I was in the same position as the Panthers fans I'd probably say stuff it as well ! Having to pay for something you're not going to watch seems scandalous to me . Im sure a few die hards will still turn up but it just seems the only one that's going to lose out is the Rye promotion , financially that is .

God , you're not an Arsenal fan as well are you Shads ?

Thing is we didn't actually need Bowen in the end as Nielsens match at Belle Vue was called off but we stuck with him anyway and he did pretty well as it goes . Im sure Nico will honour the booking , I just hope it doesn't end up screwing him up for the evening meeting .

Well I would much prefer it if he didn't turn out for Rye but backing out now would certainly jeopardize any potential future bookings for him .

There will be a few of us taking a trip up the A14 that's for sure , weather forecast is good and with Danny King available again for us it should make for a good meeting . Looking forward to it already .

To be fair on them we didn't hear any announcements but the tannoy is sh1te when you're up in the stand opposite the starting gate. I take it all back.

Enjoyed seeing my first speedway of the year and the win obviously but it appears its early days and there is still much to work on for most of the team . Are we actually going to have a true out and out No1 this season ? Time will tell but it certainly looked like it today . Shame for those who were going to Peterborough though that they couldn't be bothered to let everyone know at Foxhall what the situation was . Apparently it had been tweeted before the end of the meeting that it was off . Still onwards to the next one .

Well if the Witches ride tonight like they are this afternoon we'll get battered! The only rider we've got looking quick isn't gonna be there.

If that question is aimed at me I live in Ipswich

It appears to have actually stopped raining now and if it stays like this it will probably go ahead. Whether it's worth making the trip or not is a totally different question;-)

9-30 and just a very fine drizzle now and still pretty much slate grey skies . I'm guessing the track can't be too bad yet or it would have been called off by now. I must admit I would prefer to be talking speedway on here rather than just the bloody weather!

Think the optimism levels for today might be in direct proportion to which weather forecasts people actually look at . Some say it's gonna stop in an hour or so and others say it's gonna rain most of the day ! I will certainly keep everyone posted on how the day develops here but I do live the other side of Ipswich and as we know Foxhall has its own micro climate so if anyone a bit closer to the stadium can give regular updates for that end of town im sure it will be appreciated by those travelling larger distances than myself ?

Well just go up and it is not nice in Ipswich this morning (understatement) raining quite heavily at the moment ! If it's like this for very long there's not a cat's chance of the home meeting taking place given the circumstances of last last weeks call off . Yesterday was at least dry round here so im sure the track can take a bit of the wet stuff before becoming unrideable but im afraid im not optimistic about seeing Speedway today .