JamesB

They change to larger fuel tanks before the 16 lap final which are supplied specially for the purpose by Louis. Having said that, the Consolation final is over 6 laps, so a standard tank is capable of 6 laps.

Agreed. Having only just moved back to the Ipswich area late last year, this is the first 16 lapper I have seen for a while. I thought it was an enjoyable meeting with some good competitive racing in some of the heats, normally provided by Nico doing his normal trick of missing the gate and then charging round the wide line. That boy really is worth the admission money and hopefully we'll see him back next season.

On that basis speedway has never been a professional sport in my lifetime (first meeting at Foxhall in 1969). Prior to the T/R ride, it was possible to replace a reserve or lesser rider with a Tactical Substitute on multiple occasions which must have been an effort to keep the score close.

I'm sure you are right but I think that pressure has a part to play in all professional sport in some form.

The Devils have been on fire, but get well beaten by what looks on paper to be a not overly strong team. How else do you explain that?

As I said, pressure can do strange things. I really thought that the Devils would get at least a point and probably three tonight. They now need four tomorrow. Hope remains.

I thought both Heeps and Manzares were a bit unlucky tonight. Heeps was looking quick and deserved a few more points. Manzares lost his only bike and it must be difficult riding a bike set up for someone else. Does he normally turn up to a meeting with just the one bike?

I would agree with that. I thought it was a pretty decent performance tonight, accepting of course that it would probably have been closer with Cook riding. If Gino's engine had not blown and Cameron not fallen whilst in second then the aggregate scores would have been level!

I am not a lawyer but I would expect that any ban could potentially be challenged under 'restraint of trade' laws particularly as this is intra EU.

I hope their fixtures don't get impacted by the weather. If we are going to stay in sixth, then I would rather it's achieved with all teams completing their fixtures.

Plymouth are stacking up the meetings hard against the deadline. Looks like they will be riding the Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

That was as straightforward as they come. I thought it might be reasonably close tonight but the Panthers were woeful, worse than Scunthorpe and Berwick which I didn't think was possible. Trouble at the moment is, it's hard to tell if the Witches really have upped their game at home or if it's just poor opposition. Next week should provide a better sense of the progress.

Finally, some news on the Twitter feed. Witches back to full strength with the Panthers using Porsing at 1 and r/r at 3. Also states there will be a youth second half consisting of 6 heats.

A good win, just a shame it couldn't be converted to 4 points. If both the Witches and Plymouth win their home fixtures then Plymouth need to take 4 points from their two away meetings.

I am a bit concerned about tomorrow night. I thought Danny said he was taking a couple of nights off, but he's riding for Coventry tonight. How fit is he likely to be tomorrow night? It's also Nico's first meeting after an injury lay off, so also concerns about his fitness. Hopefully, it will be a great meeting.

All credit to the Berwick fans. Great turnout from them and that must be the most visiting supporters at Foxhall this season.

Not a lot you can say about that other than everybody rode well and you can only beat what's in front of you. Berwick are clearly struggling with so many injuries but not helped on the evening by demolishing the tapes so often. I agree with Pob about Cameron, who does look like he has found his mojo again. We are hanging on by our fingertips and can only try and take maximum points from the last two meetings and see what happens. Pressure can do strange things.

Cheers. It's stopped raining by Chelmsford just heavy cloud. Hopefully, the rain is not following me North.

What's the weather like? Just left London and it's raining here.

OK. Witches web site states Thornblom is injured.

All the changes apart from Morris are due to injuries.

I still retain some hope, at least until 9:30 this evening. An away win tonight for one of the above will effectively seal 6th place.

A possibility. He scored 4 from 5 earlier in the season for Redcar. Which is exactly the same as Wethers scored at the weekend...........

Cheers. Options even more limited then!

Lunna was the first name to come to mind but he is riding for Scunthorpe. The options are limited with probably the pick being Sissis, Wethers or the other Nielsen.