Little Thumper

Anything for us vegetarians?

That's a bit disappointing, Mike.Butler. Do you have any friends? Perhaps one of them could lend you a dog? I believe that as the dog track is still there at Loomer road, in 2017 they may ask the assembled punters to put on a bit of a canine GP in the interval. Apparently, this is as a result of a thread in one of the other departments where they are looking for ideas to attract yoofs and someone has pointed out that a lot of yoofs seem to have dogs, so this might encourage them to come along and join in the fun. I think they will be hard-pressed to get round my girl, Sgt Bash. She has got a good turn of pace and takes no prisoners. Anyway, Mike.Butler, get there early to beat the rush!

The review of the meeting has now appeared on the website and you really have to feel for Jason Pipe and the good people at Buxton. All credit to Jason for telling it like it is and how they keep going in the face of all this adversity, heaven knows! Jason freely admits that if Birmingham had been at full strength then it would have been even more horrendous for the plucky Hitmen. Apparently, David Wallinger has decided to call it a day which is a shame but quite understandable when you consider the physical and financial pain that NL riders are expected to endure. His name is added to a fairly lengthy list of riders who have come and gone at Buxton in 2016. I really hope that Buxton can come up with a cunning plan to enter into a competitive 2017 season but I think it will take a far greater intellect than mine to detect what this strategy might be. Keep the Faith, Buxton! p.s. congratulations to Norman on winning the raffle.

Great achievement, mike.butler! Perhaps when you have completed your Grand Tour, you might be kind enough to write a few words about your experiences at each venue, as this might prove interesting and informative? Don't know if you have got a dog but if you have, it would be great if you could bring it to boost the numbers.

I would like them to bring back 13 heat team contests, followed by a decent 2nd half individual competition and I would like to see teams made up of British riders. Not too much to ask really. Make it so!

So, would I be right in assuming that Danny Phillips will be AWOL? If so, is there anyone half decent who could be brought in as a hired hand? I can't decide whether to take my dog or not. She is a big Tony Atkin fan but she wasn't best pleased when I told her that he had defected to Kings Lynn and was riding AGAINST Buxton on Sunday! I told her it was Jason Pipe's fault and I fear that she might bite his ankle next time she sees him. At this moment in time (Tuesday afternoon), the weather is looking pretty promising for Saturday, so it looks like I will be joining the heaving masses on the terraces at the Loomer Road Theatre of Dreams. Pretty sure that there won't be any punch-ups, though.

This weekend, I can either go to Buxton for a double header that I am not entirely sure is viable with a 3 p.m. start or I can go and once more savour the delights of Loomer Road. I watched the Warriors race a little earlier in the year at Belle Vue and as I arrived in good time, I spent some time watching the riders as they carried out their preparations in the pits. I was very impressed with the attitude of the IOW team and this positive, buoyant attitude translated itself into a feisty performance on the track, losing narrowly to the Colts. I always enjoy seeing Tony Atkin in action and on his day, he can go wheel to wheel with the young whippersnappers. Ben Wilson doesn't seem to be the force that he once was but if he has his race face on, he can be good value. And Ben Hopwood is a real trier who is capable of getting a bag full of points if he has a bit of luck on his side. So even though Loomer Road is a bit of a dismal place and even though at the recent meeting against Kent, the texter for the updates site suggested that there were nearly as many dogs in attendance as there were people and even though the loudspeaker system was pretty useless and even though there wasn't much atmosphere, I think I will be Potteries bound this weekend as I want to see some RACING. Just my opinion, obviously.

I admire your enthusiasm, Hackett. Having seen quite a few NL teams in action this year and having seen both Eastbourne and Birmingham in the past couple of weeks. I find it hard to believe that anyone will get past the Brummies. Eastbourne and Kent are pretty good outfits but if Carling made National League speedway teams, the can would be red and yellow and have Birmingham stamped all over it. just my opinion, obviously.

British riders for British teams.

Well' just got back from the meeting at Buxton. What a stunning victory.......for the Brummies. In fact a more honest description would be a massacre, a 61-29 type of massacre. Buxton didn't have much of a team to start with and then Ryan Blacklock was trying too hard in his first ride, fell off, did his hand in and that was him done for the day. The two top scorers for Buxton were Shelby Rutherford and Lee Geary with 8+1. Lee Geary seemed to be out in most of the heats and rode steadily all day. Shelby Rutherford is an oddity. In his first race his enthusiasm got the better of him and he fell in a big heap. In heat 15, he rode like a man possessed and I honestly thought he was going to win it but had to settle for second in the end. If the boy could get some consistency, he would be a seriously good rider. The best Buxton performance of the day came from Jade Mudgway. No, he wasn't riding....he was the flag marshal on turn 3! In all honesty, the gulf between Birmingham and Buxton is huge. Birmingham are a team who are crammed with talent and their enthusiasm for their racing is clear to see. The team are a credit to the colours they wear and to speedway racing in general. To be honest they are probably too good for the National League. The Brummies fans turned up in decent numbers and it was great to see them all sporting their Birmingham regalia and cheering loudly for their great team. Birmingham fans, I salute you! So last week's victory over the Rinsers is now looking a bit wobbly and it is probably best not to scrutinize it too closely. So where do Buxton go from here? Obviously, they cannot carry on along this path for too much longer. The Buxton fans may be limited in quantity but they seem a pretty loyal bunch. But you can only support a team if there is a credible team to support. Today's offering fell somewhat short of the mark. P.S. The most annoying thing was that they forgot to draw the bloody raffle! The bod in the tin box kept saying they were going to do it but they hadn't done it by the end of heat 15!

Wow....what an idiot I am! The big news was not the thrashing of the Blue Rinsers by the heroic Hitmen but rather that Kenny Eyre has got a new hat! The more mature reader will remember Ken as being a Belle Vue stalwart in the 60s and 70s. For as long as I can remember Kenny has being popping up at speedway meetings for the past few decades and whether in person or in picture, he has always appeared in the same old woolly hat. If you stood close to Kenny, without word of a lie, you could smell the Cathedral of Speedway, Hyde Road! At Sunday's meeting, Kenny was resplendent in a lovely new hat. It was of the peaked variety, the kind of thing that yoofs wear. I did notice that as Ken passed through the crowd gassing to various bods, he was cautious to avoid straying too near the pit complex. I sense that he was a little worried that if Jason Pipe spotted him, he would shoot over and ask him if he had any plans to make a racing comeback in 2017 as he might just be able to squeeze him in somewhere.......probably as a heat-leader.

I am led to believe that as a result of Buxton's recent successes, a branch of the Hitmen Supporters Club has been set up in AUSTRALIA and so for your benefit, G'Day, Mate. Well, it has finally arrived.............................................B-Day. The Buxton Birmingham Battle. I'm not quite sure that today's line-up has the fire-power to repulse the red and yellow steamroller, that is the fine Birmingham speedway team, but I'm sure that Pipe's boys will go down fighting. As long as the boys give it their best effort, nobody gets wounded in action and we all find something to shout, toot and wave our arms about for then that is good enough for me. Without the Buxtons of this world, it would be Birmingham v Eastbourne every week and that might get a little boring. So I am pleased to see that the Birmingham website has now put up a preview of this meeting and been polite enough to make a few nice noises about Buxton. Thanks Brum chums! Buxton's preview of the meeting has just appeared on the website (0830 Sunday) and even the ever-optimistic, Jason Pipe is struggling to hold out much hope of a victory. Further bad news on the team line-up front as apparently, Ryan Burton has tripped over Pipe's wallet and has broken his toe! Blow me down, If Buxton didn't have bad luck then they would have no luck at all. I shall be setting off at around 0930 hours, doing a couple of errands and arriving to a warm welcome at the gates of the Stadium in the Clouds at approximately 1400 hours.,,,,,,Brill! Give it LARGE, Buxton.

Oh yeah! Ha ha ha. I wondered how Tom Woolley's average had improved so much.........argh!

There you go! It is a bit worrying that the two Brummies reserves have higher averages than all our team except our guest. But hey, perhaps we can help them lower their averages a smidgeon! It is going to be a fair old tussle but Buxton can win this. Give it LARGE, Buxton.

Yes, this is a bit of a mystery. I hope it is on, as I have done my butties! I'm sure Mr Pipe will be pitching up soon to brief the troops.

Cracking weather forecast for tomorrow. Might just need my sun tan cream! Strangely, the Pipe monologue has still not appeared on Buxton's website and our friends, the Brummies make no mention of the event on their website thingy. Come on guys, someone must at least know who is riding? Does anyone follow these things on Twatter or whatever and might be able to provide a bit more information for us waiting plebs?

Problem solved.....it's rained off!

We're late-developers and besides, we are trying to keep our averages down so we can spring a surprise on people next year! I have heard it rumoured that some top riders are looking to get away from some of these pampered southern outfits and come and ride for a gritty northern team like Buxton. If you manage to get a place in the Hitmen squad for 2017, you get to race in an environment where you get to savour our beautiful, crisp Peak District air, you can admire the panoramic views as you race round our purpose-built state of the art facility and you get all the sheep that you feel you can handle. Anyway, I can't waste my time tittle-tattling on here. I've got to get my butties done for tomorrow's epic. Be careful out there - it's a dangerous world.

That's the spirit, guitar_art! Get your excuses in BEFORE you are put to the sword by the noble Dalesmen. That's where our seaside pals went wrong last week - they only dreamt up their feeble excuses after they had been sent packing. As long as we get some half-decent racing and nobody does themselves a mischief, then I think we will all be happy campers.

Well, I'm beginning to get a little worried now. It is the day before our battle against those rough, tough Brummies and still no words of wisdom from our leader, Mr Pipe! I have been checking the website every couple of hours eager to devour Jason's verbal outpourings but nothing but silence. Now either Mr Pipe feels that nothing needs to be said as all the Buxton faithful are brimming with confidence and are quietly anticipating another magnificent victory, OR Mr Pipe is still living the high life on that £20 that I gave him last Sunday and once he emerges from his alcohol-fuelled stupor, he will be a blur of dynamic, managerial activity, OR he is struggling to put a team together as riders have decided to snap up last minute Shearings coach holiday deals and are having a short break in Eastbourne. I remain confident that once the excitement level has been raised just a little higher, the Buxton Hitmen equipe will be unveiled and Jason Pipe's worthy monologue will be available for the entertainment and enlightenment of speedway fans everywhere.

I went to watch the Potters last home meeting against Kent and was pretty under-whelmed by the experience, so I shall be giving this one a miss. But I feel that I have to say something about the team that Mildenhall are putting out - there seems to be only three of their own riders, the rest of the team is made up of hired hands and good, old rider replacement. Nothing pees me off more than teams fielding rag bag collections of riders who have little or nothing to do with the club whose body colour they have borrowed for the night. Are team managers really so numb as to just assume that fans will keep turning up to watch whatever team they have cobbled together? At this rate, we will have Joe Lawlor riding for both teams at the same meeting!

After the valiant Hitmen despatched the Blue Rinsers last week, some wag had the nerve to suggest that our seaside friends were on some kind of mission to lower their averages and so were letting the Buxton riders give them a sound thrashing. Well clearly, that was a rather far-fetched proposition from a sore loser who was unable to admit that the better team won on the day. Surely, our Brum chums can't be worried that poor, little, bottom of the league Buxton are going to put up a spirited and forceful opposition? Give it LARGE, Buxton.

Well, this is the BIG ONE that so many supporters of REAL speedway have been looking forward to. The Brummies have been having a pretty reasonable season up to this point but I am sure that Mr Pipe will soon point out in his weekly address to his congregation, that spell of good luck is about to run out for our chums from the Midlands. Many naysayers have tried to suggest that The Hitmens' crushing defeat of the Blue Rinsers last Sunday was some kind of a flash in the pan victory gifted to the gallant Dalesmen as a result of an uncharacteristic generosity of spirit on behalf of our day-trippers from the seaside. Well, this Sunday's clash will be the proof of the pudding. Oh yes, indeedy. I am expecting a hard-fought encounter out of which gallant little Buxton will emerge as the David having slain the Goliath of National League speedway. Usually, a decent few Birmingham fans travel up the cobbled motorway for this great event and it is always a pleasure to see them. And I suppose it must be nice for them to get a few, free lungfuls of our lovely, clean air. And at this moment in time (lunchtime on Wednesday), the weather forecast is looking pretty promising so Be There or Be Square.

Don't think I fancy a Salad Pie I'll have a word with the catering manager at the D & P Raceway to see if he could suggest something for me. But thanks for your kind advice, gee jay, my friend.

If it wasn't for the fact that I'm a vegetarian, I'd be highly tempted to devour some of those award-winning pies which are made to secret recipes....yummy! Don't suppose Bowens would like to sponsor an up and coming speedway team? The Buxton Pie Men has a certain je ne sais quoi, don't you think? For those of you from Lancashire, the bit in italics is real live French