marko

Why should clubs give unneeded detail to stuff just to satisfy a bunch of keyboard warriors?

I’m with Steve on this, I much prefer seeing riders with individual kevlars and bike colours.

I am in favour of this seven day rule, if that means we have to go against Ipswich without Richard then so be it, the rule just proves that riders are not missing from meetings at a whim because it has bigger implications than just one match, in fact in Richard's case he will also miss both of Somerset's meetings next week too so he has had to sacrifice another four meetings as a result of missing tonight's.

I am sure you were not pertaining to me Liam as I never ventured to Rye House last season (I went to the celebration of speedway and that was it for 2017) but you are probably right in that people will slowly will return to Lakeside from either not going at all or going elsewhere, I am not a Jon Cook fan but I can't complain when he makes decisions for the club that are in my opinion very good ones, we are racing at what I perceive to be the perfect level for this club as it has always stood and for once we have a really young team with riders who are improving whilst down the road (and I do feel sorry for the Rockets fans) they have a team that is really made up of riders that have long since had their day and battling season on season just to maintain the status quo, I think Rye may well look to drop down in 2019 and everything will have gone full circle and like in the old days we will be back to local derbies with them and Ipswich.

I think your maybe given him too much credit? Neil is really just an administrator, albeit maybe a very good one? but he isn't the one teaching the kids how to ride to ride the bikes. However its opportunities however they come which makes the difference so if Neil is behind those riders being able to get a fraction more time than what would normally be available then credit to him, generally in this sport the good one come through no matter what, so long as there is an outlet for them to ride the rest will come with time, there used to be a big transition from schoolboy grasstrack but of course with that in decline so has the somewhat natural source of future riders but there is a whole list of reasons why its harder to attract youngsters in this day and age.

Will is doing a good job thus far, hopefully he is able to keep the riders motivated because that's part and parcel of the job too, but in some cases the riders might also need to be calmed down when its not going right, a team manager should always be more than choosing the riding order and making subs. As for the former manager that's been mentioned, a wet towel could have done a better job than him.

It was a struggle for Alfie but in the main he is on the pace, sometimes his downfall is that he gets carried away and tries harder than maybe his ability and leads to falls, What the boy really needs is a place in the NL, I find it so hard to believe no one wants to have him. Nick, Richard, Adam and Kyle do look very sharp because the number of very competitive rides (often 5 or 6) they are getting with their other clubs.

Thoughts, crowd and atmosphere the best we have had so far this season, meeting started late again, two minute siren for heat one was at 20:07, not sure if Jon Cook was there tonight? Glenn from re-run done the rider introductions. Racing was pretty decent to good on account of Redcar often making great starts and our riders having to come from the back, the outside line was certainly working better than it has been but something just isn’t quite right as even the likes of Nick are only just breaking the 60 second barrier and in previous seasons that would be considered slow, the track record is 56 point something. The track became pretty worn as the meeting went on and after heat 12 some careless addition of water by the track man ruined it and the last couple of heats were raced on and ice rink with race time of 63/62 seconds, I think after heat 13 Nick and Richard probably had no intention of wanting to do heat 15. Must also say despite the meeting flow kept well in check by the referee, far too much pandering at the end, by the time the riders came out for the winning lap of honour most had given up and left. The show still needs to be slicker, the track not so much, I would give this a 7/10

Checked AA site and it appears the road is closed from the Arena roundabout to the next two roundabouts along the arterial road, I can't see why we would not be able to access the stadium in the normal manner as you can still get to the retail park at Lakeside off that same roundabout, its just that if you like me normally come from the A13 direction via the A1012 you will need to stay on the A13 to the next junction effectively going back on yourself. If Police are stopping movement on the Arena roundabout (U turning the traffic prior to the roundabout itself, we are in big trouble, as there is no other way to access the stadium, the back entrance is slap bang in the middle of the closed section.

Yeah it’s not a huge thing by any means but why advertise parade at 19:45 tapes up at 20:00 and then make no real attempt to keep to that, people are standing around having got there in plenty of time thinking, well is this going to start or not. as you say there is a real sense of getting meetings through so far with the new rules concerning keeping the action flowing, nothing ruins a meeting more than long breaks in the action.

I have my second division specs on but I think we can match if not beat Elite crowds with good results and racing.

Also forgot to mention the sound system was much clearer last night, and having Andy back on the mic was good too, no disrespect meant to the other guy who is new and will take time to grow into the part, Andy just adds a little something to proceedings, he sounds confident and tries to get the crowd involved.

Track still lacking a bit of grip, race times were pretty slow, but to be fair there was still some good racing, the track appeared nice and smooth and you could attack it but it was hard to generate much around the outside, probably overall better than the Peterborough match although that isn't saying much I know. Danny King and Rory Schlein proved their liking for the track and the former had some very good battles and literally never gave up, For Hammers Adam and Richard were really flying and Alfie will have gained a lot of confidence from tonight, he rode well and didn't panic when in points scoring positions. Think the crowd was a little up on last week but still not what I have known down there, maybe with next weeks meeting being a league encounter, it might tempt a few more? I think Jon said something about Ulrich Ostergaard guesting next week, I believe it might be for Adam Ellis but I could be wrong?

I was a little shocked to read in the Star that Zach had hurt his shoulder, after his crash the first thing I did was ask myself, is he holding his shoulder? because that was something that normally takes the hit in falls like that, the fact he didn't appear to be meant I thought he got away with it but to an extent he didn't, although at least no last damage was done. There was a problem with bend two last week and that will hopefully been addressed ahead of tomorrows clash, we have had issues before with bend two and it needs to be kept in check.

So this is the rearranged meeting from Good Friday, assume both teams will be at full strength, should be a decent meeting as both Danny King and Rory Schlien have shown their liking for our circuit in the past. Expecting a home win and hopefully this week Alfie will have a more mature head on his shoulders and not ride himself into a frenzy, I hope they will have made some attempt to sort out the sound system because last week it was awful, and a bit more grip on the track to facilitate better racing would not go amiss either. Early indications are weather will not be an issue. For Witches fans making the journey, its probably been a long time since you have had to travel to Arena and whilst the M25 has behaved itself in the first two meetings (as far as I know) you would be worth coming off the A12 at Brentwood and using the A128 and A13 just in case, its slower but a very safe route, you know you will get there on time.

Yeah the track certainly lacked grip, didn't help that there seemed to be only one tractor driver so they could not grade and water the track at the same time, We clearly have a decent team but the club needs to improve on one or two minor things, sort the track and sound system out, perfectly doable. Next week should be interesting and I am sure there will be a decent contingent of Witches fans there.

Lambert has never rode well at Arena, its not his type of track, he will have good meetings at home and on others I am sure but I think when you have been riding for as long as that, your level is what your level is. Peterborough are a decent team, I think they have something there with Grondal, Lunna and Palm Toft in the engine room.

Crowd wise I thought it was a little dissapointing for our first team event, maybe people are waiting for the league proper to start? The meeting sort of started on time but they didn’t start the junior races until late so the notion of parade at 19:45 was completely off, the meeting had a few re runs but was still completed in a reasonable time. Racing wise the track lacked any grip on the outside of the bends which made for some processional racing although heat thirteen was a belter and what you could certainly call “proper speedway”. One thing which needs improving though is the sound system, its very rough and has too much base, it’s hard to hear what is being said in some interviews and the music is affected by it too but that is nothing that can’t be fixed, the overall presentation is a bit tired too and the music within is same old same old, I thought they were making waves about changing it up a bit? Will give the meeting a score of 6.5 / 10 it wasn’t a bad meeting but there is room for improvement (not the riders)

Looking at the radar it was totally the right decision, it will be raining in Ipswich by 2 and so the meeting would never have started.

Well done to Lakeside for making an early call, its so important to gain the trust of the fan base early on the season, if you take a chance and have to call it off after everyone has travelled you will struggle to get that trust back every time the weather looks iffy. The Ipswich leg is a little different as the weather isn't supposed to hit until start time, its a promoters worst nightmare, if it does go ahead they will need to race this meeting through in record time.

When was the last time we met on a Good Friday? Probably is longer than it feels, but from memory the A12 is normally a right female dog and it will only worse now with more cars on the roads than ever, and the afternoon meeting tends to drags on and on, meaning a mad rush South for all concerned, I even recall one season they closed one or two of the exits to fans to allow the riders to get out first, I will do the home meeting definitely but the Ipswich leg? Very unlikely.

I noticed at Arena on Friday they only had a single piece of tape on the starting gate, and that was not exactly very taught, is this something new for the 2018 season or was this a one off where maybe they forgot to order some tape and only had one bit to hand? Starting gate tape has always been two lengths of tape joined by droppers at various points.

Regardless of what ever happens I won't be drawing too many conclusions just yet but I am hoping that we can maybe edge it or least get 42 points, our top four should be ok, just down to what Ben, Zach and Alfie can pick up, Zach could be the dark horse.

I certainly think this team will do a lot better away than what historically Hammers teams have done in the past.

Adam Ellis absolutely flew tonight, if he keeps that sort of form up Hammers will be contenders, he along with Kyle, Richard and Nick really do provide us with a very strong top four, I also think Ben and Zach will do exceptionally well at home, it will take a very good team to turn us over at Arena this year. It was a very well run meeting tonight, the action was kept moving swiftly, the ref Chris Gay only pulled heats back where a rider got a advantage from any slight movement, which wasn't very often and we had 16 heats all done in just under 90 mins.