JC!

Second Division - Andy Galvin and Chris Louis 1988

God, Len is splashing out!!!

Interested to read the rumours of Rye signing Bridger. Surely if he is signed on a huge average it will be very difficult for Uncle Len to build a team which is the required 4 points below the limit, in line with his team building of the last few seasons?

Good win for Tai (replacing Jason Garrity) in this meeting yesterday night. Racing was delayed for a mammoth 2 hours after the track became dangerous and rutted on the 3rd turn during the U21 practice. Milik was the most impressive otherwise - unbeaten in the qualifiers, if he maintains that form he should be a big challenger to Darcy Ward this afternoon.

No, I am spartacus, and so's my wife

Oh dear, people in glass houses and all that...

A cheap and nasty attempt to recreate the Cradley success, with absolutely none of the effort put in. Nothing done to engage either Raiders fans to keep coming or Hawks supporters to come back to the sport, doomed to failure from the start.

Hate to say it but more mediocrity next year. Reason - Neath's increased average will guarantee he will start at 1 with the rest built around him.

Me too

I wonder how it would have been recieved if the World Championship had been decided by GP from the 1930's, and someone suggested moving it to qualifiers and a World Final in the 1990's? I think people would have said it was mad, best rider doesn't win, too much home advantage, one piece of bad luck can ruin a riders whole year. Basically picking out all of the faults. That's what leads me to conclude that a GP is fairest. The thing that clouds it all is that the qualification system provided those memorable,dramatic, thrilling nights to look back on. There were, however, some shockers too (Munich and Amsterdam anyone?) but I still enjoyed them for being there on the occasion.

Interesting discussion this one, I used to love the old World Championship, but also feel that the Grand Prix are great too. To play devils advocate I would say, whilst agreeing that the old system gave anyone a chance to be champion, that the Grand Prix preserves the integrity of the World Championship. I think that the ultimate goal of a World Championship should be to produce the best rider as champion and too often the old championship, whilst producing some fantastic World Final nights, failed to do this. Since the advent of Grand Prix you could make a strong claim for each years champion being the best rider in that particular year. Under the old system home track advantage too often meant a home town winner (eg 1973, 1983). Under Grand Prix Peter Collins would have proved a more deserving winner in 1977 than 1976 in my opinion.

Agree with the first point. In respect of the second point you could also add that he is same age as Ivan Mauger when he first become champion, but I still don't think Bomber is one of the top 5 in the world!!!

Just to point out, I never raised the point that he was a bad gater! I agree that there is an art to gating that can be improved massively with technique training and practice. I would say, however, a lot of hand to eye co-ordination and reactions are instinctive and certain individuals will always be naturally better than others.

If I recall correctly he was 14th the 2 years prior to that and is 13th this year. It is undoubted that he benefitted from the misfortune of others last year (particularly Pedersen and Sayfutdinov), to achieve his only top 8 finish to date. This does not, of course, lessen his achievement, and I am not suggesting this at all. As I say, I like Bomber very much but to say he is better than any of the riders I mentioned previously cannot be justified - not a criticism just a clear reality in my opinion. I would also suggest that others have overtaken Bomber, and, at around 30, I do not see him taking the next step now. You say that his ability to race can make up for his poor gating but, at the very top level, this can never be the case on a consistant basis - a lot of tracks (and/or their preperation) and the quality and pace of opposition means that the odds are too heavily stacked against him.

Can't agree with that assessment whatsoever, and I like Bomber a lot. Top 5 would suggest he is better than at least one of Gollob, Crump, Hampel, Hancock and Sayfutdinov to name but 5 off the top of my head. Nothing in his record to date to suggest he is top 5, IMO it is doubtful now if he will ever get to a higher level than scrapping for an occasional top 8 place.

No need to shout - and I wouldn't worry too much about Len caring about internet opinion to be honest. Experience suggests that he will relentlessly do what he wants to do and in his own way no matter what anyone says (as,of course, is his right as club and stadium owner).

Fantastic - thanks a lot for the replies!

I have flights booked for this year, I wondered if anyone had any ideas on the best way to pick up tickets or if they will be available on the day. I am planning on staying in Prague - could anyone help with ideas for travelling between Prague and Pardubice? many thanks in advance for any help.

Hi Derek Totally agree with what you say - seemed a mystery to me not to have any souvenirs for the Hawks, would think that there would be demand for programme boards, or maybe scarves, hats etc? Totally looked like a shabby marketing ploy to bring a few old fans in - hopefully Jon Cook will do a bit better. Didn't see any old faces there yesterday (other than in the mirror!!), can see the crowds falling to be honest. I think there were around 500-550 there, but no concessions seems like a strange move too. Cheers John

Surprised to see the Hawks yesterday, went over on the off chance didnt know who was on, must have been fate! Took 3 Kids who all got in free, so £24 for the lot of us not bad at all. Positives Team seems to have good youngsters. Crowd seemed not too bad. Areas to Improve Terrible opposition, they need a guest american from a higher league to be remotely competitive if they are to tour again, albeit they gave their best. Dust clouds and no water going down. Mostly - no Hawks merchandise,bar a badge. Even the programme was branded Rye House (would have liked Len to go to the expence of a staple to hold it together for 2 quid? ). None of this differentiated Hackney as a different team than the 3rd division team from last year. On the whole much more likely to go and see the Rockets to be honest, I think there was nothing done to create an identity for the Hawks, making it appear to be a gimmick to pull in a few more punters .

Len seems to miss every trick like this, kids meals liked to adults at the chippy or go see the rockets get the Hawks at half price, but especially the disabled/students who often have the decision to go taken out of their hands by these prices. I mean, the NL team should be a low cost alternative for those who cannot afford PL but it will end up costing the same!!

Totally agree for 3rd division racing. If you have kids £34 is steep, especially compared to other activities: - Greyhounds at romford would be £20 (free on a Sat morning) - Cinema £25 for family (£10 on weekend mornings) - Transport Museum - £27 for annual passes for all 4 Surely Len would get more from the concessions via higher admissions if he reduced the prices even a bit?

Is the right answer! Any old fans would have found a new track to go to, or have drifted away by now - its 20 years since Hackney shut down (not including the 'fish tank' year).

I was at this one, a fantastic match won by the 4 man Hawks, Plech was unstoppable. The match was most memorable, however, for the amazing team riding display by Bo Petersen, the Hawks suddenly started gating like lightening half way through then Bo made sure no-one was passing.

I think that one idea that could be taken from the various series of the 70's would be to have a Rest of the World side. You could then bring in the likes of Zagar and Hancock to lead what would be a much more attractive team than some of the also rans that currently participate.