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Also meeting completed in 70 mins included grading breaks, which is excellent, well done to the scunny promotion.

Redcar pretty poor except Conner Bailey who put most of his team mates to shame.

Don’t know what they expect Brady to do? A team manager should have experience of the sport either as a rider or a mechanic, not just some fan who has friends in high place like also that waste of space Aliitt.

Said rider might only score a few points per meeting, but how many is he actually being paid for in his contract? If he is on a guarantee of say 7 points, you might as well keep going unless you are dropped. Most top riders nowadays are probably on a decent downside guarantee, clubs can’t afford it but hey ho.

The race night issue certainly did not help, the club lost a huge amount of money at the end of 2018, had they been able to complete their fixtures at home they might have been in a better position to maybe work with Rye House the following season in order to carry on in the short term. Fact is, it seems there was no reason to stop the racing at Arena after 2018 as the site has remained untouched since, it would have been better to have the site used than sitting there doing nothing.

Playing devils advocate though, just because a lot of riders would seemingly be available, doesn’t mean they would in fact be willing to take the booking. Their bikes might be in pieces, the distance to get to Plymouth could be another factor. I personally wouldn’t drop Starke, he is often such a battler and no rider is immune from having a poor run of form. This meeting shows just how much of a fine line often exists in sport, Plymouth we’re 0.08 off from fitting Bowtell in, would have uttered last night on its head.

Really enjoyed watching this meeting, Tobias being able to turn the bike inside out was awesome. Really enjoying the coverage BSN are putting out again this season.

I wouldn’t have blamed Lambert if he stuffed Thompson in the fence after that race, I would have been absolutely livid if it had been me, red mist would have certainly descended. Absolutely clueless ride which cost not only his team but himself.

Probably doesn’t help that these riders have different team mates most nights of the week, most are not team players anymore, they are riders who ride for themselves whilst being part of a team which itself is a collection of six/seven riders depending on who is available or fit on any given night.

I thought Ipswich was racing this evening, that’s what it said in the speedway star, oops

Was I imaging him pulling up constantly whilst at the back or pulling out of challenges?

Why would anyone want Batch back? This is a team sport, Batch is not a team player, he only rides for himself and then only when he feels like it.

Why indeed but not the first time and won’t be the last, I recall back in 03 or 04, Arena Essex went to Swindon for the fours event and Ronnie Russell forgot to tell the fans that Joonas Kylmakorpi was never going to be there and reserve Lee Herne rode in his place.

Proper team riding, love to see that

No one has mentioned the elephant in the room! The Bikes! They can’t handle grippy tracks now so it has to be slick and slick means you can’t water it or if it rains your basically stuffed. Welcome to modern speedway ☹️

Been saying it for years. Reduce costs on the bikes and riders will be able to take a points money pay cut and still earn more than they are now. Thats less money for the promoter to pay out so they could use that to reduce admission prices or keep the prices as they are BUT put that money back into the speedway by way of track covers or improving the drainage etc We have to get more youngsters involved but they won’t with the costs needed to get setup, if we had more youngsters coming through some will turn out to be good riders and fill the teams out better or possibly take the place of a average riders who requires a lot of finance to travel from abroad.

They should wait for new averages then replace Nathan Stoneman, I don’t think he is good enough for the second tier or ever will be.

Indeed it was 89, no internet back then but the fans were saying he might have lost the bottle to race after the tragic accident at Hackney where Paul Muchine lost his life, RIP

It’s the risk we all take or once took for those of us who no longer have a team to support. Never used to take any notice of what was forecasted, if the meeting was still listed as on, I would check the real time rain radar and make a call from that based on how heavy it was raining, the area it was covering and direction it was heading. A promotion with all the good intentions of trying to run, doesn’t mean it will be able to run or be completed.

You known where you are with BSN, you will get at least one meeting a week subject to the weather where as Sky etc only show meetings when they can be bothered, that might mean a gap of several weeks and no recap of what has been missed. Stopped subscribing to cable tv two years ago and don’t miss it, BSN covering the prem this season is a well worth it bonus.

They better sort that pronto, first match of the season, big crowd, you serve them up a mess from the start, you won’t get them back.

Another shout for BSN to show the Ben fund meeting, you could charge more with the extra profits over production costs going to the fund itself. I am sure a lot of fan would be prepared to put their hands in their pockets to support this excellent cause.

Burned too many bridges I think, too many times he has let clubs down, and not simply by having a bad night, but just just giving up and not even making an effort, whilst no doubt still drawing a wage because promoters are dumb enough to pay a downside guarantee to him.

They might have started on Thursdays? I get involved watching speedway from 88 onwards and then Arena was Saturday at 7pm I think once Hackney folded in 91 it opened up Friday nights, when Arena went top flight in 92 that was when the switch happened? When London Lions opened in 1996 they (London) raced on a Thursday night and Arena Essex raced Friday nights. After that it’s always been a mixture of Wednesdays, Fridays or Saturdays, but mostly Fridays (top flight) and Saturdays. But always recall Stuart Douglas saying that “racing on a Wednesday night was akin to throwing a suit case of money off the QE2 bridge” every week. Friday the M25 was always busy but that’s why Arena adopted an 8pm start time to allow more time for fans to make the journey. I don’t know or want to argue about how many fans came from over the bridge but out of my group of 10 plus people, only one had to travel from South of the river.

Yes I know I replied to her letting her know exactly my thoughts on the matter. Basically came down to leave Arena Essex alone!