M.D

A former BSF member..

The goverment are now saying sports stadiums could open aagain in October which would rule out any racing in this country until next year..

are you a Belle Vue fan that has seen a lot of him? Do you rate him?

You get a lot of riders like this, they have a fear of racing but want to earn money. Usually towards the end of a career when they have had a few too many injuries, if they gate they will win but if not they will stay safe and take care of what they have.. Not saying Hampel is like this of course

Sad but time moves on unfortunately

There is obviously a lot of faith in Dan, Its harsh in Poland and I hope he gets the time to develop. Fantastic prospect who can race a bike.

Woffinden master class

Struggling so far..

Looked very fast

No I was unaware of that side to him, he was always ok with me, not nice that he did that though.. Still, this thread is not about him so we should move on from this.

Haha, he was good around Foxhall, had some great times with you guys up there, happy memories

Long time no see Badge x

No I wasn't suggesting that you did, apologies if you thought I may have meant that.. I didn't know what he got banned for, should have been a few times proberly but he was a good but strange man..

Subedei may have wound up a few and liked to play havoc on this forum, but he wasn't a wrongun, RIP Andrew.

Exactly, it will be cost negative so it won't happen.

Totally agree, time to let the Poles and riders who wish to race there go. Rebuild our leagues using riders that are far more sustainable and start putting on a show for the viewing public with better presentation, tidy up some of the stadia and concentrate on making it a good night out.

Ron Preston had it all. He could gate, inside, outside he was a complete rider. He signed for Eastbourne and I didn't expect too much from him, he had a slow start and went back to America for a knee brace. After that he was virtually unbeatable for Eastbourne, pushing both Gordon Kennett and Kelly Moran for the number one spot. I remember going up to Reading, we never did well there, Ron dominated the meeting getting 14 for an unexpected away win. He never rode in Europe after the season he had with Eastbourne, I think he was a world champion in waiting, that knee injury stopped it.

Spot on, Ivan followed by Hans..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziwBQprNjsU This one...

I do agree with your thoughts but this is my personal experience with the Eastbourne management. I advertise in a very small way with the club but they know I sponsor a rider with far more money and I'm a fan first and foremost. They treat me and keep me informed really well, they are so appreciative of the small amount I give them but are just as appreciative of the support I give to one of their riders as they understand that benefits their business too. They will treatl fans, sponsors, helpers and anybody else with equal respect.

As I only picked one rider I will go with another four with my Eastbourne bias... Dean Barker, great team rider that had way to many injuries that held him back, but on his day could beat the best. David Norris, natural talent that only really showed it consistently away from Arlington for the odd season Adam Shields, underrated himself. Martin Dugard but only at World level. He went back to Eastbourne after Oxford to to fulfil his Grandfathers wish to see him back before he passed away and never seemed to have the desire to complete at world level until he thought he was facing a ban in 2000 and went out to prove a point in the British GP.. Sorry, I did say it was Eastbourne bias and based on my experience..

Ron Preston

I would also like to point out that in the early years at Eastbourne we had the late Arthur Nutley who took I keen interest in the junior grass track scene in Kent, extremely vibrant in those days. He found the likes of Dave Jessup, the Kennett's, Roger Johns Paul Woods to name but a few. Eastbourne could offer good training facilities on the main track and this tempted a lot of riders to join the Eagles. When Martin and Paul Dugard came along, Bob Dugard built the junior track and Peter Johns built scaled down bikes for them with smaller engines and the Eastbourne schoolboys club was born. This gave many riders lots of track time moving up to 500's and then onto the Senior Circuit. In both cases, whether it was junior grass track or junior speedway, by the time the kids got to the age of 16 they all had many years experience of riding/racing so a lot hit the ground running. This shows the importance of a vibrant youth system for kids to move up into a professional sport, something the swedes and poles latched onto years ago while we have slipped down a bit but as I previously said, a lot of this goes down to owning the stadium. The poles and Swedes have this luxury too.

Part of this in the latter years especially, must go down to the fact that The Dugard family own the stadium and could build a junior track and practise pretty much when they wanted. Many riders that didn't start thier careers at Eastbourne, riders like Mark Loram, took advantage of the facility's, sadly its a luxury not many British clubs have..

For Eastbourne, the following riders have been missed out: Dean Barker David Norris Dean Standing Paul Dugard