speedybee

Love Dave Hammond and his smooth easy cheerful style. What is really odd this year is the total lack of any thought that has gone into the music presentation. No rider theme tunes, no signature Geno or Ride On Time or Fanfare for the Common Man or Final Countdown or War pre race build ups. Instead we have .... The return of that old anachronism, the National Anthem! You couldn't script it...

He certainly looked sharper and more confident tonight for his paid 10 from four rides. And that was on another slick track that didn't offer him the chance to attempt his trademark passes. Stick with him, he'll come good.

A point dropped that was ill afforded tonight. Very big crowd and the best away fans representation I can remember in recent years. All contributed to a great atmosphere and sense of anticipation on a sunny evening, which soon evaporated when it became apparent that good racing wasn't on the agenda. Hardly an overtake at all in the first half of the meeting, and only a couple of great efforts from Korneliussen and Ljung, and some sterling work from Howarth and a revitalised Harris kept things interesting, though a last heat race for the extra match point kept up a modicum of interest, as did the speculation as to whether Garrity would stay on his bike. It seemed to me that the riders' call for more dirt on the track must have fallen on deaf ears. Blue groove and sparks were the order of the day and it required the likes of Howarth to ride a couple of meters from the fence to stand much chance of passing. A shame, after all the excitement of seeing our racers going for it at Poole last Monday. Very standard fare, but it does set things up nicely for the return tomorrow at Beaumont Park, where another big crowd can be expected.

Even though no guarantee at all that Bees or Storm will be operating other than in the near future...

He was a revelation. Really enjoyed watching him.

He'll bounce back.. just watch...

Cracking meeting, even though we lost. Fair play to Poole, but Bees did deserve a point for entertainment value alone. When the racing is this good, I can almost accept defeat graciously Hansen was a revelation, Fisher and Howarth well in the mix, great riding from Newman. Speedway is getting its mojo back.

Gerhard Uhlenbrock - 1973.

Totally agree. Lack of fitness has arguably lost us 5 league table points this week alone!

Track was "terrible...like the M25" said Bomber over the PA. I'd be inclined to almost agree. It wasn't a track that gave the racers much chance to use an outside line to overtake and got very dusty and dry. Not a great night for Bees who promised so much in the opening races, only to let it slip. Finger can easily be pointed at Andersen, but I wonder whether he's suffering from the knee injury still. Certainly he got better as the night progressed on Wednesday at Perry Barr but didn't look at the races tonight apart from Heat 1. Otherwise, a more than decent night again for Fisher, a much improved Garrity showing and some good, aggressive riding from Hansen and a few points to show for it too. Harris was always in the mix but lacking speed, and Vissing flattered to deceive. Sarjeant was a mere shadow of the rider we saw at Swindon and Birmingham, missing the gate in all his rides, but I'm sure he'll bounce back. A great night for Kings Lynn, who must be buzzing about their prospects this year. Especially impressed by Kerr, Porsing and Lambert. Imagine what they can do when Bjerre gets going.

Weather looking good, meeting might be closer than some people think. Looking forward to Perry Barr and my first EL speedway in seven months! Longest ever break since 1968!

Good news.. looking forward to Wednesday

Watching on Bet365, you might not have known it was raining at all unless you were following updates too.

I'm sure Bees won despite Havelock. Really despise him and always will, whether we win or not.

Great start for the Bees, especially the reserves and Sarjeant way above expectations. I actually enjoyed some of the racing tonight and it wasn't bad given the conditions. I've seen much worse. I can't see Swindon losing too many home meetings, to be fair.

Yes, what a meeting! 1979 and towards the end of the season and Bees had to win it to stay in with a shout. At one point they were 8 points down with only a few heats to go. The stadium was packed and twice, Tommy Knudsen got dumped into the back straight fence, bringing the meeting to boiling point. Every heat was a nail-biter, but Bees went on to win 40-38 and then take the title. I'm pretty sure I remember Guglielmi laying into Verner and the police getting involved! In fact I mentioned that Coventry V Exeter meeting here some years ago http://www.coventrybees.co/memories as my all time favourite. Some good reading there too. Rivalling it would be the title winner at Poole 2010

See Paul Burbidge's article in Speedway Star this week.. he quotes a Polish contact friend who checked out the guy's credentials and he is for real, even if he seems like a walking, non-talking disaster zone.. dear oh dear!

Good news. No immediate chance of more embarrassment in front of a TV audience and no need to come down and line Mr Maud's pockets!

It's only relevant if you believe in the forces of karma

and even the DJ, who offered one spark in the presentation, has gone!

Ok, it rained, the track was a mess, the grading a shambles, and all the above is valid. That can be quickly sorted and dealt with (can it?) But the thing that needs looking at most for me was the presentation and communication. Still having to endure Peter York is bad enough, even in his Cradley coloured jacket, but just who was that announcer, Gordon Camwell, who mumbled his way through an awful night's non-presentation, including getting riders' names wrong and long silences. I can't see him ever stepping up to the plate, based on this performance. The tight music selection of previous years was non existent (unless you like hearing 'If I had a hammer' over and over, start to finish) Communication needs to be slick, informative, charismatic and dynamic. Last night it was almost totally lacking in all those equalities. A very disappointing start. ∆ this. To be fair, I did see Horton in the main bar just before tapes up, but you're totally right - it's all about the customer experience and engendering goodwill. Losing trust is the worst thing for a business. I had a fourteen year experience of building a music and arts festival from 600 people to 30, 000 and in hindsight, learned a lot about the importance gaining the trust and loyalty of your core supporters, and was musing on this last night as everyone around me was wondering where the excitement and energy was, and trying to figure out what was going on...

We've known since he ducked out of speedway, disillusioned with its politics, that Sandhu has wanted to sell to develop for housing. He's now doing that. Heaven knows why he became so disillusioned; I can only guess. What we're left with is a repeated promise that he will find another stadium, which he first told us in a crisis meeting during the winter of discontent. It's up to Bees fans and speedway supporters in general if they believe that or not.

What are the restrictions you refer to?

Anything of note said on Tapes Up?

Surely Ryton area worth exploring, good for motorway connections, A45/M6, just down the road from Brandon, less residential property around, brown field sites..