cityrebel

and what great racing tracks they both were!

too right shads, just ignore the rules and enjoy the racing!

being a lifelong london speedway fan i have seen plenty of derbies over the years. the 'derby' i don't understand is the eastbourne v poole south coast version, how can these matches be derbies when there are over 100 miles seperating both venues!

i went to quite a bit of grasstrack in its heyday of the 1980's, at top venues like silverstone, the NEC, collier street, andover and the superb lydden hill. these events were okay as a one off but not something i could do on a regular basis. one of my mates still goes, but said the standard has declined in recent years. which is no suprise when the likes of the great simon wigg are no longer with us.

there is already a thread for this event in the individual meeting section.

well, two records fell for me at the launch pad last night. firstly it was the latest finish ever to a meeting for me at rye, passing the IOW / wimbledon double header from about 10 years ago. secondly the ambulance delays were the longest i have ever experienced in over 40 years of watching speedway. a couple of my mates threw in the towel at 9.30 and i don't blame them. if there were any first timers there last night it would have put them off for life!

due to it's prime location, i'm suprised brandon stadium has lasted so long. if it had been located in london or the south east it would have disappeared years ago like so many of our great stadiums.

this coming monday sees the kent laurels being staged at central park. ironically the laurels was the first meeting i ever went to at wimbledon in 1968 and also the last in 2005. the kent variety will be the first meeting i've missed at central park this season. my days of going to individual meetings are long gone, apart from special one off events like the british gp or the rico memorial.

i've heard that uncle len has dug out his alvin stardust LP's in time for saturdays somerset match.

has it ever been any good. mildenhall is the king of speedway fish and chips as far as i'm concerned!.

no, i've been going to speedway far too long to change my ways, but it's not going to help bring in the next generation of fans is it!.

i also went to that double header in 1985 shads. my first ever meeting at the launch pad was rye house v rayleigh in 1972. gordon kennett got a maximum for the red devils in a challenge match against the original rockets!.

at rye house last saturday they played showaddywaddy's greatest hits throughout the whole meeting!. that stuff was in the charts when i was in my teens and it gave me a headache just listening to it!. someone really needs to get a grip on what music is played at some of these tracks.

at todays prices £20 is good value for a PL double header. whether the rockets team and track can stand up to the rigours of 30 heats of racing is another matter!

a poor meeting last night raced on an ultra slick track with the base exposed in places. the crowd looked decent again, up on last week but the track definitely needs sorting out.

i think the final straw for a lot of people was when when the admission price went up to over £1 per race.

you getting withdrawl symptoms for the launch pad shads. rye just don't seem to run many meetings since the raiders moved out, only 4 visits for me so far this season.

plan B for me as well. i just hope it's a bit drier for kent on monday.

there are some big showers on the way. let's hope the meeting can survive the downpours!

mildenhall have already got a foam type fence. kent have air fence panels on parts of the bends, the gaps just need filling in. the IOW, like buxton have a massive task ahead to raise the funds needed, just like the vast majority of PL tracks.

hi tony, i remember middle of the road being played at west ham. three others that spring to mind are rocket man at rayleigh, because they're young at crayford and don't leave me this way at white city.

i first went to rye house way back in 1972 in the days of the red devils. the fact that the old place is still staging speedway is something to be thankful for, when so many other venues in the south east are no more. the set up at rye does have a tired feel about it and i tend to share my saturday speedway nights between arlington and hoddesdon. i can't see anything changing at rye while uncle len is in charge, so being a neutral fan, i just go with the flow!.

you don't want much do you!

there were plenty of families with kids at central park last night. the 6.30 start time works for some people. i was leaving the stadium at 8.15 in bright sunshine!.

an excellent match at central park last night. i think a draw was a fair result for two commited teams that didn't deserve to lose. i also think the crowd was up on last weeks attendance.