Happy Hunter

I think you will find that it's a cup match tonight.

They are supposed to be signing someone new to British speedway to replace Bates.

Thanks for this.

Anyone know what happened to Jo Thompson at Kent last night?

Thanks!

Does anyone know what average he is coming in on?

Just for the record Leicester's track is 53 metres shorter than the one in Russia. I have also seen better racing at Beaumont Park!

You should do what I do. Turn the sound off. You don't get a commentary if you are there! Also am I the only one who noticed that the Union Jack and the Australian flag in the BT studio had the red X on the middle missing?

If the Lions lose by 20 or less then they will count that as a win! I suspect that Connor Mountain will be the key rider and I also expect that he will be very tired by the end of the afternoon having featured in just about every other race!

I can't understand why the Gladiator fans are not up in arms about last night's debacle. The Plymouth promotion have a good record for calling matches off early when there is the slightest possibility that a match might have to be off due to rain, either recent or forecast. From Monday to Friday this week Plymouth had about 37 mm of rain including 28.4 mm on Monday and 3.6mm on Thursday and 0.6 mm on Friday. The track is situated at March Mills - a clue there as to why matches get called off because of the weather. In addition the promotion have been trying to get new shale/clay onto the track in the last couple of weeks. It must have been clear by Thursday evening that there was no chance to get the track ready for Friday and it should have been called off then. I can find nothing on the Gladiator's web site about why it wasn't called of earlier. I can't even find out from the website how much it costs to get in to see the Gladiator's this season.

In the absence of any reply from a Gladiators fan the nearest hotel, which is within easy walking distance of the track, is the Premier Inn at 300 Plymouth Road, Plymouth PL3 6RW, There is also an Ibis a little bit further away at Marsh Mills, Forder Valley, Longbridge Road, Plymouth PL6 8LR. The track itself is situated at Marsh Mills, just off the A38 Devon Expressway, and, if you need it, there is free parking at the Coypool Park and Ride car park (3/4 minutes walk from the track). Both the car park and track are signposted. I don't know what the admission cost is as I have not been this season (the Gladiators website is silent on this and not much good at all!). As you probably know there are problems with the track at the moment which I hope they can get sorted. There is a history of rain offs (the name Marsh Mills might give you a clue as to why!). If there should be a rain off there are plenty of things to see and do in Plymouth. Hope this helps. Enjoy your trip - at least you don't get any strung out races at Plymouth and the racing is usually o.k.

If he has had a poorly hand why has he been in the dustbin? https://twitter.com/josh96bates?lang=en (see group of photos at left hand side of account) . I thought he had hurt his back.

Very sensible. Like the Cubs last week they might have got the track fit to ride on but not race on.

Forecast for Leicester is rain stopping in an hour or so and then fine.

I must confess that I went more in hope than expectation! I saw my first meeting in 1949 at Blackbird Road and can well remember going to Brandon on Leicester Corporation double decker buses. One thing that I did like at Coventry was the hot dogs - I reckon the Bees outscored the Hunters in that respect!

Hard to tell but I reckon I saw about 20/30.

I imagine that the terms of the lease of the stadium at Beaumont Park allow the Lion’s promoters to run as many meetings/events as they like for a set fee. So, unlike the Bees last season, who I assume paid some sort of fee every time they rode at Beaumont Park, there are no such fees when the Cubs ride at home. The Lions have a great bunch of volunteers who act as co-team manager, track and start marshals, crowd stewards and who staff the box office and track shop etc. The major items of expenditure are, therefore, medical cover and payments to the riders. I have no idea what National League riders are getting but I can’t imagine that anyone is making a fortune out of speedway at this level.

I used to go to Brandon but only when I thought the Bees would lose!

At the meeting against Belle Vue Colts I reckon there might have been 3/400 fans there.

I can understand why the Lion's promotion wanted to get this meeting on because of fixture congestion but it was a bit of a farce despite the efforts of the riders etc. Because of the weather the crowd was poor - I would estimate that it was not much more than 200 and it was a wonder that there were not more falls and injuries as, especially early on, anyone behind after the second bend had no chance of overtaking.

I am not sure how Stewart Dickson can say the Lions are through to the next stage of the K.O. Cup when they got a bye in the first round and haven't ridden a race in the cup yet!

See https://www.timesandstar.co.uk/news/17652808.work-starts-at-derwent-park/

I was about half an hours drive north of Plymouth on Friday and we had torrential rain most of the afternoon and early evening. I think the Plymouth promotion made the right call as the name for the area (Marsh Mills) suggest that it doesn't drain very well. It makes no sense to take a chance and lose money - in fact early call offs seem to be quite common so far this season.. Having said that I was looking forward to seeing the Thompson twins in action!

Thanks - I should have remembered! Have been wondering how they will fit in the Shield play offs and any more cup matches. ? More Sunday or Bank Holiday meetings.

Agreed the fixture list is very congested. As far as the Cubs riding on a Saturday is concerned they are the Saturdays when there is a GP meeting when Scott Nicholls will be in front of the microphone instead of the tapes so I don't think the Lions will want to ride at home on any of those Saturdays. As far as I can see there are two spare Saturdays - 11th May and 20th July when there is not a GP and the Cubs or Lions are not at home. I am not sure when the cut off date is for the playoffs but the 14th and 28th September are also free. Perhaps one of the reasons why the crowd was down in number on Sunday was because people had made other arrangements for that day. If meetings are postponed to a date a few week in the future fans can get themselves better organised. I see as well that the Lions are at Home to Berwick on Sunday, 14th July.