BobC

Still think the new club logo is awful. Its just a black blob on a white background on the race jacket. Horrible.

He has already stayed in the Poole area and knows which club he WANTS to ride for!

Looks like I spoke too soon! One day, just ONE day is all its taken.Grrr. Whatever the rights and wrongs of this, Id still rather have Holder than Kildemand any day of the week. Fed up and peed off good and proper before we even get started!!

Jury is out for me regarding Holder. Very busy start to the season with Poole Fri, Torun Sat, Sheffield Sun. Obviously it would have been Wolves Mon too! Dont think he will rock the boat too much as a testimonial is around the corner. Feel sure he would prefer it at Poole. I dont see him as being a real top line NO.1 anymore. Happy to be proved wrong though. Not overly bothered, as long as Poole do well. Happy to see all our riders chip in with some decent scores. Whatever unfolds, I hope everyone enjoys their speedway and there not any controversial moves later on!

Good luck to everyone for tonights meeting. With this weather, I have to say 'rather you than me!' I hope its a safe and steady start for both teams, although I would prefer a thumping great win for Belle Vue.

Poole: Re-Run Productions.

I managed to to get to the NSS 3 times last season. Meeting 1 was v Swindon in the KO Cup Semi Final. Fabulous meeting that had everything in atrocious conditions. Great racing.Anywhere else, I am convinced it would have been rained off. Meeting 2 was the following night, Colts v Eastbourne. After the night before I wasnt expecting anything special at all. Incredibly, it was again superb entertainment. Track was superbly prepared, passing in almost every race . Inside, outside, through the middle, the young lads could race confidently anywhere at any time,despite the changeable weather. Meeting 3 was a about a month later as the Colts won the NL title v Eastbourne. Once again tremendous racing. An absolute credit to NL racing.The NSS has a superb circuit. I managed to get to Poole 7 times last season. Well, to be honest, I think I saw more full blooded racing in any ONE of those NSS meetings than I saw in any at Poole. Riders were literally bouncing across the track and you could clearly see hestistation. Dont get me wrong, I am Poole through and through and have been since 1955.That wont change. I welcome the track being ripped up and hopefully will produce some better and safer racing. Only time will tell. Fingers crossed, eh?

Presumably the refs box will have to be moved as well then? Unless we go down the route of Wimbledon and Leicester (Blackbird Road) where the refs box wasnt in line with the tapes?

Ive heard that a one year deal is about to be signed.

Link to Speedway Portal interviews. http://www.poolepirates.co/news/2018-02-08-video-ref-social.html

Great that the track is being ripped up and relaid. Just strange that its happening now. Most tracks do it within a week or so after the final meeting of the season and let it bed in and settle over the next 6 months. I thought Linus acquitted himself very well indeed. Happy to chat, sign photos, and encouraged questions. Certainly comes across very well when interviewed. If he hits the ground running, I think Poole could be in for a very good season. Lost out in the quiz to Shovvys team when we had a dire final round. They got 24 while we only scored 9. Ended up losing by 7pts. Disaster! We had James Shanes in our team and I must admit, him and his sister are very knowledgeable. Very nice people too. Hope he has a good season. Good to see Starman make a fleeting appearance, although I didnt get to say hello. Also, very good to see and meet up with familiar faces. Havent been to a REF night for around 7 years. Excellent evening.

Extremely poor argument indeed. He was directly behind Bewley and on course for a 5-1 and a paid win anyway, before Dan fell.No difference there. Bailey was already behind him when his bike stopped.No difference there. Bickley was in his best form of the season at that meeting.He scored his first ever maximum (paid) that night and didnt rely on efs or falls to get it either! I agree with ArnieG, all 3 are talented lads. Time will tell of course, but money is on Bickley. Looking forward to watching him with his 2018 teams.

Yes and guests to start the season with too! Who has priority over Lawson, Somerset or Lakeside? Both have double headers on the same day. One way or another, guests already!

Chris Holder is back.......shocker that!

Susan, his wife contacted me earlier today with the news. In 2018, he would have been 50 years a Pirate. Still struggling to take the news in. A true Pirate legend.

To be honest, I am not happy looking at that line up. I only see improvement from Henry Atkins. To win in speedway, you need at least half of the team to put points on their starting averages. I cant see where thats coming from, sorry. Bottom end of the table for sure. That said, the team needed to be built within a strict budget.So for that, I am simply pleased that the sport continues here in Devon.

Looks like I will be a Comets fan in 2018! Big fan of Kyle. Huge step, but one he not only has to take, but will take in his stride. It will be tough, but, there is only one way to find out. Best of luck young man.

Tbh, a bit non-plussed with this team right now.

Well Jack needs to take a reality check himself. Looking at life through a bottle is the major cause of his problems. Just like his elder brother.

A larger than life character. Genuinely nice chap. Bit loud and brash, but a heart of gold. RIP Noddy.

Dont wish any illness on anyone, especially this time of year. Best Wishes for a speedy recovery.

What a great advert for NL racing. The scoreline doesnt reflect the effort put in by Eastbourne. It was a lot tighter all the way through. I was there cheering on the Colts, but especially Kyle Bickley. What a time to get your 1st ever maximum! He was absolutely superb all night, although his HT10 crash was very scary. He even considered riding in Ht15! Currently off to hospital for a check over. One of the first people to check on Kyle, other than paramedics, was Mildenhalls Jon Armstrong, who was helping Drew Kemp Introduced to Phil the Ace and Rob B.Good to put faces to names. Next time Im up there, the drinks are on me! Sat with HalifaxTiger and also got some opinions from Kelly Armstrong! Well done to the Eastbourne fans, who despite their obvious disappointment were very sporting throughout. Bailey in particular rode so hard for little reward. Deserved more points. Same goes for Luke Woodhull. Even Paul Bowen got stuck in. A thoroughly enjoyable nights racing.

Overcast, but dry. Lets have a hard fought but fair battle. C'mon you Colts!

As Perton Wolf says, I am referring to Club fixtures, be that Pairs,4tt Cup and League, plus Riders Championship Finals too. I would never want to hold a rider back in his quest to better himself, but not at his Club/sponsors expense. World Champs, Internationals, U21 team or individual are fine.

Well, a 54-36 wins looks convincing enough for the Devils. They looked good on the night and did their jobs, but have come away thinking its a strange scoreline. In Heat one, Roynon leading by the proverbial mile, crashes just before the finish line, but goes over line for the win.Bates in 2nd laid it down. From my angle opposite the start, I didnt think he had, but referee Reeve awarded him the win.A tad lucky in one respect, but very unlucky in another. Its been reported that he has broken his collarbone,although he did continue on the night to secure 2 more race wins before suffering a tapes exclusion in Ht13. Roynon: See above Andrews: Looked very fast and worked hard. R/R (Compton) 9+3 Paid Max, which is probably more than he would have scored Atkins: Superb. Probably his best night of the season. Carr: Excellent guest. O'Keefe: Steady and picked up points when others made errors. Walker: Good solid reserve score. Bates: Solid Ht1, but 2 x exc for 2mins not helping. R/R;(Halsey) 4+1 easily less than he would have scored. Jenkins: 2 falls in first 2 rides cost him dearly. Got his act together in the end with some excellent riding. Talented for sure. Spooner: Out of his depth in the 1-5. Armstrong: Only came to the party once the track slickened off Verge: Not on the pace at all,but understand it was his return from injury. Kemp: Excellent. Apart from one race when he and Andrews seemingly pulled up only to get going again. Red light in crowd apparently. On an difficult track, a sunny day, not watered enough, although understanable,slickened off by Ht10. The next five races were all gate n go. Had either any of Compton,Mountain or Halsey ridden, the result would have been totally different. All if buts and maybes of course. I'll take the 18 point lead, but Devils needed more points,they just didnt kill things off in the later races. With all 3 heat leaders out of the return on Sunday, 2 of them Boxall and Roynon are track specialists, will make things very hard. I understand that Ben Morley guests for Roynon. Good luck to the Devils on Sunday. They are going to need it.