boz

Really looking forward to this - hoping for an excellent meeting. Ipswich look very strong so should give us a good idea of where we are at. JBA could be key - has started meetings off quite slowly this year before finishing them off strongly, could do with a quick start tonight! Fingers crossed if it was just machine grumbles for Coty he has those sorted now as he could be vital tonight alongside the reserves.

Would expect it to be another close one, and Garrity and Barker will not have their own way this week I would suggest. Already looking forward to heats 13 and 15 with King and Schlein. Much will depend on the reserves - would fancy Hall and Perks to outscore the ippo pair but could be close!

Agreed - the whole point of signing Hall as he was on a 'bargain' average. Only getting his average is not good enough for us really, especially in a meeting such as tonight where he really needed to step up as senior reserve.

He is definitely riding well at the moment. Paid 11 from Lunna though is about what I would expect BWD to have got.

Firstly, congratulations to the Panthers. Started off the meeting very well which killed the tie off and we never really recovered. Busch would have at least made it interesting however, replacing a man with a 7 point home average with someone who failed to score would certainly make a massive difference. And I would argue (after at least 2 years of watching utter crap) we are far from crap this season. Perks and Busch would have made this at least much closer on aggregate, and i would imagine BWD would not have out scored Lunna. For the Bears, Barker was a different class.His heat 11 race with Holder was something else ,and followed it up with excellent rides in 13 and 15. On that form, him and Garrity are worth a bet in the Pairs. Big disappointment is Richard Hall. Was the time for him to step up but a really poor performance. Personally, would be looking to see who else is out there already. Garcia also way off the pace, but thought Bailey actually did ok. Very impressed with Starke for the Panthers, looked very quick indeed. Ulrich put his usual good performance in and Lunna again went well. Pick ourselves up and go to Scunthorpe and look to pick up some points.

Agreed, and certainly in Garcias case he had pretty much just got off the plane which hopefully excuses his poor score. It was more Jacobs performance than his scores which impressed. Looked a lot more at home on the bike, his starts had improved and he was really mixing it. Always tough to tell in open meetings mind as you say.

Whilst not saying he would have been the answer, he looks to have improved massively from last season. Certainly in his couple of outings at the MPA this season he has looked a lot more assured.

Weather bright and sunny at the moment. Due to cloud over later this afternoon/evening with the chance of the odd shower but should be good to go. A lot rests on Richard Hall for me tonight - a decent points haul from him could see us through, but should be a close, exciting second leg.

Lunna is always excellent to watch at Redcar, I would fancy him to at least match BWDs score so don't see PBoro losing out much there, if at all. We will definitely miss Perks as said above, has started the season off well and Bailey will not match his scoring. The key will be to outscore Bacon if he can and he will have done his job. Should be a very good meeting indeed I think - sounds like the Bears riders are really fired up for this one.

So Coty Garcia in on a 28 day contract to replace Tobi, thoughts? Had a couple of good meetings round Redcar last season if i remember rightly, could be a decent replacement.

Wasn't there myself but from seeing what some of the Bears fans who were there have said, they felt the move from Ulrich on Busch was 'hard'. Sounds like it upset a few of the other Bears riders as well. Should be another good clash on Thursday night - shame about Perks and BWD missing mind.

Unfortunately we did, my first thought was to wonder what TWK would think!

Pretty routine win in the end - not going to get too carried away with a win in a challenge meeting but some very positive signs for the Bears. Barker was a different class tonight - looked so, so quick. Garrity also looked very good again, and would have had another paid win if it was not for his lost chain in heat 15. Positive signs from the full team though - Wright and Andersen look a very useful pairing and though Perks started the meeting superbly. May not be a title winning side, but definitely a team capable of winning most home meetings.

Tobias Busch has unfortunately had to withdraw due to severe bruising sustained in an Ice Speedway injury last week. R/r will operate to give the 6 remaining Bears extra track time.

Not sure if this is the right forum for this, but another chance for the Bears to get some competitive track time ahead of the season starting against a decent looking select side put together in memory of Russ Hodgson. Teams: Jason Garrity © Tobias Busch Charles Wright Jonas B Andersen Ben Barker Richard Hall Ellis Perks Richard Lawson James Sarjeant Carl Wilkinson Adam Roynon Thomas Jorgensen Jye Etheridge Lee Payne A meeting I would fancy the Bears to win - but Lawson and Jorgensen especially will provide tough competition. This meeting will also contain a second half challenge between the Redcar Cubs and Sunderland Stars. Teams for that are: Carl Basford Gavin Parr Elliot Kelly Alex Goldsbrough Ben Basford David Pye Jack Wright Kyran Lyden Meeting starts at 7:30, parade at 7:20.

Terry has been working on track all this week. Completely dug it up and started again pretty much. Can't wait for the season to start.

Good news a deal has been signed somewhere - although I wonder what the deal now is in terms of clubs themselves using video highlights on websites/social media?

Could be an interesting move - wonder what has happened to GoSpeed as part of this? In one sense, this could be good if it means a lot of the licensing restrictions are lifted? May mean clubs can put highlights and video packages on website and even perhaps the potential of a league highlight package somewhere?

Not according to this - looks like he was the track curator previous: http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/speedway/mick-horton-blames-track-bosses-6873274

Just a quick note to say thanks to Ludvig Lindgren for donating to Redcars Just Giving appeal after the clubhouse burglary last week. A lively gesture which is much appreciated

Kevin Keay is certainly approaching things in the right manner so far, and has a lot of excellent ideas. His main aim, on and off track, is to entertain the spectators so fingers crossed for better times in the coming seasons!

Poole

No Kus at Newcastle - could we see him back at Redcar?

And another one off the list with TJ going to Worky - will be interesting to see our lineup on December 2nd.

Can cross Bellego off the list.