Daytripper

There are plenty of people, including referees and riders that say otherwise.

Super Simmo is one of my all time favourites. I remember him as a stylish exciting rider and a real enthusiast. The former has European. Trials Champion Don Smith used to say you can always tell the ones that are genuine enthusiasts because they carry on riding when they are over the hill . Simmo had a 10year climb to the top of the hill, then around 7 years at the top but still continued for maybe another 15- 20 years when he was increasingly passed his best. He was also a cracking grass tracker. One of the outstanding memories of the many , motorcycle events of various disciplines I have attended over the years is Simmo completely cleaning up at a grass track at Sittingbourne. I can still see him in my minds eye now, at That meetings, with the bike cranked so far over the handlebars were almost touching the ground, right round the outside of everybody else and off into the distance. Great rider, good bloke, despite the adverse and inaccurate publicity

I thought it was awful. Rye House is a nice little stadium for a sitting out on a summer evening, but virtually every race is over by bend two. There wasn’t a lot of prep time but I understand Ken is going to spend a couple of days over there this week to try to do something with it. I hope he can . I don’t think I can take a whole season of racing as it was on Saturday. Ken was talking to the riders on Saturday, to see how they want it it done.

On points. Jon Cook said on the mic last night that if Berwick won at Ipswich by 4 points they would be level with Lakeside but then Lakeside only had to score 25 points against Peterboro and they would still go through.

Jon Cook said on the mic last night that all the riders were talking to him about next year , which is a positive sign although we will have to shed about 5 points to get within the team building average. I understand as well that Thurrock Council definitely want Speedwáy back as part of a sports complex and there is still a lot going on in the background although the club will probably be at Rye House for two years.

I understand it was a trainee ref. Not sure which ref was supervising him. All the riders were complaining that he was holding them to long at the tapes. It was Tigers that were responsible for breaking the tapes, but be that as it may, almost every race the tapes were being held a long time and when that happens it's almost inevtable someone will twitch. As for heat 15 Cook definitely went down first and collected Nick. Personally I thought Craig should have been excluded, but the refs box gives the best view so it's possible Cook and Lawson touched before Craig went down. Overall a good meeting to finish on, some good racing. Up to heat 8 I thought the Tigers were going it ,

Lakeside massively weakened by R/R for Kyle Newman. I just hope they all come through safely , we've seen in the past the havoc that lunatic Vissing causes at Lakeside riding all over the place . One of the most dangerous riders I can ever remember seeing at Arena. If anyone can steal a win at Lakeside its Glasgow. Much depends on Bomber. He has had some decent ones there and also some howlers.

If I remember rightly that change was around 2009/ 10 when some commercial deals were tied up, and I think that was when we got the Royal Navy sponsorship, some kind of tie with WHU and plenty of TV exposure. The change of colours was linked in with all that. Amazing how relatively strong the sport was even then compared with today. Personally I don't mind the change of colours, but the identity of "Hammers" is emotionally very important to me. Having said that, there are other fans who see Rayliegh and Hackney almost as a religion, so one way or another we have to find a way to adapt, or leave the sport. In one sense I almost wish it was closing down completely, then at least I could say I've had a good time in the sport, draw a line under it and move on but as long as there is something there, albeit at Rye, I' ll somehow be compelled to give this frustrating, exciting sport another try.

I think there are two separate things here. The cogs for the Thames Gateway are beginning to turn very slowly but that's not the immediate problem. If it were only the Thames Gateway there would probably be a few seasons lft at Arena before it happens. The immediate problem is that the family who owned the stadium and ran the stock cars sold up to new owners who, I understand wanted Motorsport to continue at least for the time being because it will be some time before redevelopment starts as they are only just starting environmental impact assessments, site contamination surveys, risk assessments and all that sort of thing. The problem arises because the ex-owners who were still administering the site have had enough and are leaving after whatever pay days they can get with end of season meetings. Apart from a handful of big stocks meetings each year the run of the mill meetings have been struggling for some time . One of the people in the shops told me a few years ago they had just had a stick car meeting that only had 23 cars the the whole meeting. Falling profits from the stock cars mean the shops and food outlets have been charged exhorbiant rents , as has the speedway track. I understand Rye House is a lot cheaper to hire and that may well have impacted on the decision, plus as someone else has said, they may have wanted to get into RH before someone else did. I'll miss Arena though. A lot of outsiders don't understand how anyone can like such a dump of a place but it does hold something special for the regulars. It's always had a friendly crowd, people you see each week and maybe nod to and chat to even if you don't know them. Critics of the place will never understand that aspect . I haven't decided about Rye House next year. The term "Hammers" has a special meaning to me, having grown up close to the old Custom zHouse Stadium, like many other Lakeside fans. If it continues as the Hammers I'll probably go, but if it's under some other name I just can't see myself having the same affection for it.

Ah, yes, Christer Loftqvist. Once seen, never forgotten. Not sure how he’d cope with Lakeside, he could hardly get round the bends at West Ham without scraping the safety fence. Two of the most memorable races I ever saw were heats 11 and 13 West Ham v Wembley, in the last full year there. Heat 11 was Loftqvist inside and Reidar Eide outside, Heat 13 Eide inside and Loftqvist outside. Christer won then both but they were both passing and re-passing heart stopping races. Anyone who ever saw Christer at West Ham will know what I mean by heart stopping Happy days

Such is the state of the sport. Too many early season meetings and it all finishes by mid August. The biggest and most unforgivable problem was Rob Godfrey pulling out fixtures that hag already been agreed, all because he wanted guests for his own club. I can’t conceal my absolute contempt for that man. Personally, I have already reached the stage of having no interest in the sport outside the league Lakeside race in, I will give Rye House a go, but the sheer incompetence of those currently in charge, especially Godfrey and Chapman, coupled with the amount of cheating certain clubs, especially Poole have been allowed to get away with, has just about ruined the sport for me. I enjoy it once I actually get to the track, but motivation gets harder and harder.

Congratulations to Richard Lawson, having a cracking season in this League.

Good question. Last time Jon Cook as on the mic he was saying they were talking to other interested parties to see if a deal could be done for next year. No further news on that so I suppose it can’t be ruled out completely. However you can’t just turn up and have a speedway meeting. There issues like security, maintenance, health and safety, insurance, cleaning, staff on the turnstiles, lighting and electrics and are a range of other things previously carried out by the stadium owners and incorporated in the cost of hiring the track but would be prohibitive if the speedway club had to pay for the whole lot. You can be sure that when the offices move out the vandals will move in.

Who knows ? My understanding is that planning permission is linked through o provision for a new track. However developers often find ways round planning permission so I can’t say what the e future holds. A case of ma be, maybe not. At least a deal with Rye House would provide certainty but it’s all in the sit at the moment.

My understanding is that Thurrock Council want Speedway to continue and planning permission for the site includes a speedway track . The trouble is, redevelopment of the site doesn’t look like starting for some time yet. Using Rye House would be a short term solution for the foreseeable future. Whether BMR want to get back into speedway and want the track back or whether they will want some kind of partnership with the Lakeside promotion is something that only time will tell.

Lakeside are listed as away to Edinburgh on Friday 7th Sept then then at home to Glasgow on Friday 14th Sept. My understanding is they wanted to race Peterborough in the League tomorrow but Peterborough can’t put a full team out. The outstanding meetings in the League, K.O. Cup and Shield are against Peterborough, Peterborough, and ...er... Peterborough. What a mess. Well done Rob Godfrey, on behalf of the the BSPA , you have collected the £50,000 bond from Rye House for pulling out (being forced out) of the PL , now stand to collect a fine from Lakeside, and possibly Workington, for not completing their fixtures, alienated even more fans, in a sport that can’t afford to lose a single one, and helped with the plan to reduce the number of tracks in 2018, so there can be one big league.

Of course, what the idiot doesn’t realise is that every track including Lakeside cannot race unless there is a valid track certificate. The track certificate can only be renewed after an inspection be an SCB inspector, and has to be renewed every three years. The inspection includes safety fences and airfences, and if it appears to ANY referee that the track has fallen below the required standard a further inspection may be ordered. Mick Bates did the last official track certificate in 2017, so it still has nearly 2 years to run. Voice of Reason is talking out of his rear end as usual . If he really was a clerk of the course as he falsely claims he would know all about track certificates.Instead he has just made a fool of himself yet again.

I think the rumour about the senior riders came because they weren't fitting new tyres. That wasn't because they were refusing to race though, I think they were told not to fit them till the meeting was confirmed to go ahead. They were actually fitting them when the final heavy shower pushed the meeting off.

They had blank Friday's because that Pikey Godfrey pulled the plug on authorised fixture dates, then blocked revised fixtures on reserved dates. Even the fixture for Glasgow to come on 14th September is not showing on the BSPA website, so goodness knows what is going on there. The BSPA under the leadership of Chapman and Godfrey has gone from bad to worse and it hasn't it bottom yet.

The weather forecast looked a bit iffy at one point but seems to be slowly moving in our favour. Looking forward to this one, mainly because it will be good to see Robbo again, also because the last time I saw a Newcastle team ride was at Hackney, so that's going back a bit. Hammers top three are walking wounded at the moment but there should be enough to see the Hammers comfortably home. As a former Elite League snob, I am pleasantly surprised how much I am enjoying Speedwáy at CL level . I have enjoyed this season more than I have been enjoying it for some time. Every meeting this year has , I think, been at least reasonable, and some very good. I haven't missed the top league ar all, which surprises me.

They have made some pretty catostrophic decisions in the past , even when they weren't intended to be. A decision ir two that actually benefits the sport and ensures that all clubs running this year come to the tapes next year would be a welcome change, but I am not holding my breath. Things have plummeted to a new low since Chapman and Godfrey took over. I genuinely believe they think they can muddle along as they've done in the past and things will somehow work out alright in the end. They don't realise they are drinking in the Last Chance Saloon.

Terrible news. I remember Tomasz riding for Lakeside in 2008 . A really nice guy . One of the outstanding memories of all the years I have followed Speedwáy is Tomasz beating Leigh Adams in the 2008 play off semi final at Lakeside, passing and repassing throughout the whole race with never more than a bikes length between them, and Tomasz just getting it on the run in to the line. So sad that this sort of tragedy should come upon such a nice man and such a great competitor .

I like fixed gates. It means everybody gets a chance off the best gates and therefore the second strings or reserves get a better chance of out gating the best riders at least once per match. It also means that gating tarts have to go off the worst gates once or twice per match.

I don't know about now , but a few years ago Jon Cooke was using two or three weather forecasts including, I heard one from some windsurfing club at Shoeburyness which was remarkably accurate. To be fair, it was a difficult call . As it happened I popped in to the track around 4.30 , as I happened to be passing, to check it was still on and the track looked pretty good to me then in the space of a few minutes it clouded over and tipped it down, exceptionally heavy, and you have all seen the pictures of the flooded track on the website. Like most other fans I've been to Lakeside when there has been heavy showers in the area but they missed the track, and there have been others where the skies have been clear all round but a heavy shower has hit the track.

They must have moved the inside line out to the fence when Nick Morris and Scott Nichols were out then because that's wher e a lot of their 13 points each came from. In fact Scotts two defeats both came when he was off the two inside gates and couldn't get get out to the dirt quick enough . Nicks win in heat 13 was aff gate 4 and he blasted right round the outside of both Scott and Rory.Alfie Bowtell only knows one line and it's not the inside one . His heat win was right round the fence. I though it was a good meeting myself. Highlights for me were Zach in heat 10, going from 2nd to 3rd, back up to second then just taking the win on the line, and heat 11 , with Nick and Rory passing and re passing, several times often so close it was difficult to tell who was in front. It takes two sides to make a decent meeting and I thought Rory and Scott both rode like the quality riders they are, Scott in particular was in find fettle for a 40'year old.