hawks 1975

Despite facing such a weakened Bees side, there were some good races last night, and Eddie and Kim had to really work very hard for their paid maximums. Eddie's last lap outside pass of Garrity to win heat 9, having trailed back in third place, was worth the price of admission alone - and of braving the wind and rain on the Arena terraces! AJ would surely have had a full max but for a strange start of heat 13 when he jumped out but immediately stopped expecting a re-run - did he think the tapes went up unevenly? Even Rob Mear looked a lot more determined and on the pace than of late, although in one of a couple of tough battles with the fast starting James Sarjeant, the home man was perhaps a little lucky not to be the one excluded after a particularly determined second bend 'coming together'. No doubt the crowd was affected by the absence of Coventry's No 1 as well as the August evening masquerading as mid winter, but those who didn't venture out missed a decent evening's speedway entertainment in my opinion. And that on a track that because of the fear of rain Gerald was unable to prepare as he would normally. One last question though, regarding heat 15. My understanding was that only one of a team's top four scorers could appear in this heat. When Rob Branford - who incidentally rode his socks off and was several times on the pace - was announced, I though I heard the announcer say that he was allowed "because he took KK's average'! Can this be true? A National League rider, scoring understandably 1+1 in the number one race jacket, gets in because he replaces a GP rider with an average of 8?!! Some might say this is another instance of cheating the paying public - although to be fair to Rob, he was in third spot and chasing the home pair hard until he let the British Champion through on the final bend!

Does anyone know who the rider was who had came out after the meeting in an old Rye House Rockets race bib, and proceeded to fall off on the fourth bend. A foreign visitor perhaps?

Does anybody know who the after meeting rider was who was wearing an old Rye House Rockets race bib and who crashed on his first lap? An overseas visitor?

Probably the two best teams in the league on a glorious evening, and both at full strength until the visitor's skipper sadly had to cry off late on. It was set fair for a cracker, but it all began to go wrong for the Kings when captain Bowen had to go off 15m in the first and then reserve Thomas shed a chain at the tapes before heat 2 and had to do likewise. 10-2 down after 2 heats, and the first two of what turned out to be crucial delays. When surprise packet Tom Bacon sped from the tapes and even James Shanes couldn't catch him, things looked ominous for the home side - incredibly 10 down at home after 3 heats! Shanes made amends with a stunning third to first on the last lap in heat 5, but when Smith demolished the fence on bend 2 trying to get around a determined Luke Bowen, the lengthy repairs saw the curfew already fast approaching, and only 6 heats gone! All told I make it 10 out of the first 13 heats had some sort of delay - be it 2 minute exclusions, unsatisfactory starts or falls. Unfortunately, some of the later delays were clearly planned! The Birmingham management's blatant time wasting tactics near the end made a mockery of the welcome notes in the evening's programme - "A rivalry built on mutual respect....and conducted.....with great sportsmanship." Once again the speedway fan was the loser, denied a last heat decider that might well have seen Birmingham collect a point at least as the very impressive Tom Bacon might well have split whatever very strong Kent pair he faced. A draw may well have been a fair result, and both sides should have taken their place on a well deserved victory parade. Instead, the meeting ended with the majority of the crowd frustrated, angry and disappointed. What should have been a great climax, and left many looking forward to their next fix of speedway, ended in a damp squib - a nothing. Winning isn't everything Birmingham. It wasn't Kent that just lost...Speedway lost yet again. Two final thoughts. Why, given that the curfew exists, do Kent not start the racing promptly at 6.30? The parade of riders is excellent and a commendable piece of presentation, but could this not be advertised to start at 6.15pm? Secondly, why were even the home riders taking so long to get up to tapes in the latter races? There was no urgency - did the team manager not relay the likely importance of getting to heat 15 if they were going to win to his riders? Very odd.

Big shame as the lad showed great promise at Kent, even if occasionally he tried too hard and didn't always stay attached to his machine! I was amazed at his performance at Central Park earlier this season in the GB under 21 semi. As one of the older/more experienced competitors, it was sad to see him end up with just a point from each of his five races - each one a gift, as each race saw only three finishers. His reactions seemed OK at the start, but by the first turn he was usually challenging for last spot. Difficult to say whether it was mechanical, or if it was the pilot. Sad to see. If his heart is not in it, then best he has a break. The Jack of a three seasons back was always good to watch, and we'll remember those days.