Main Man

should be a real cracker of a meeting!!# Make sure you bring your piggy banks along as I will be auctioning off the body colours in the club bar after the meeting!!

Think your wish might just have come true Sandie. When we dropped the lads and bikes off last night after Newport Jimmy got the call that he was in the meeting ...so Dream Team fans have two riders to support (plus old boy Kerr Kat!!) .......and I have two riders to look after !!

Unfortunately Kyle has broken his thigh in six places. A decision on whether to pin it or cage it will be made on Monday. This , of course, means he will not be able to take his place on the tip to Oz

Should be a good day's racing at Queensway Meadows today --with the Americans back in town as well and giving us an exhibition of USA Handicap Racing as well. 2.30 start --see you there!!

from Ronder McKinlay --South Island Solo Spares and main sponsor of Grant : Grant won the Andrew Tree Memorial at Oreti last evening with a maximum 18 points. Dale Finch was second.His first meeting since a very serious crash two seasons ago.

Had text off Newport's Grant Tregoning to tell me that he won the Andrew Tree Memortial meeting in New Zealand being unbeaten . No more details as yet .

sorry Phil --four. ht 1 from gate, ht 2+ 3 handicapped then main event. Written when damn tired last night!!

Newport bring their 2009 season to a close on Sunday with the inaugural staging of the Welsh Junior Championship along with the return of the USA Dream Team in an American style handicap event 1. Shaun Harmatiuk 2. Shelby Rutherford 3. James White-Williams 4. Mark Baseby 5. Ashley Morris 6. Jimmy Fishback 7. Terry Day 8. Danny Stoneman 9. Kyle Newman 10. Tim Webster 11. Sam Hurst 12. Andrew Aldridge Newport's end of season Welsh Junior Championship has received a boost --thanks to the touring USA Dream Team. They impressed the fans at Queensway Meadows last Sunday when they raced the Newport Hornets and they make a swift and unexpected return to South Wales on Sunday. Their final tour match at Stoke on Saturday night has unfortunately had to be cancelled due to major electrical problems at Loomer Road. This has meant that tour organisers Gary Gomez and Steve Evans have looked to find a sixth and final outing for the popular American riders. Dream Team skipper Shaun Harmatiuk was already lined up to contest the Welsh Junior title and he has been joined in the line-up by top scoring all action Jimmy Fishback. After discussions with the Newport promotion they will also bring a bit of American razzmatazz to South Wales with a four man unique handicap mini tournament featuring teenage whiz kids Gino Manzares and Jason Ramirez alongside veteran showman Eddie Castro and exciting first year rookie Tyson Burmeister, the former moto-cross rider who certainly took a liking to the Newport circuit last week. In the first support race the quartet will line -up together from the gate but their finishing positions in the next two heats will determine where they start from with the race winners at the back of the grid . Then in the Main Event Final the riders will pick their gate position Grand Prix style in the order of their point scores. Newport promoter Steve Mallett is highly excited at the prospect of this mini-tournament, " these boys are used to this back home and wanted to put on a show before going home and we are pleased to be able to offer them this opportunity. I think it will make for some really exciting racing on what looks like being a great end of season meeting for us."

[scunthorpe the place where stars are now in production. Malcolm Vasey Can I correct you there slightly young man??? You are ONE of the places where stars are now in production!! We have at Newport the emerging talents of youngsters in Tom Young, Shelby Rutherford, Grant Tregoning and the three 15 year olds Marc Owen , Shane Hazelden and Darryl Ritchings!!

Well done to one and all -and to Jerran on securing victory in the end in a hard fought Final and to Kyle Howarth who rode superbly for 2nd spot. Commiserations to Joe Haines who was untouchable in the qualifiers in his five races but lost out when it mattered. The semi-final was a tough one for me with three Newport riders in contention for a spot in the Final with Kyle Newman not only making it through after a tough battle with young Marc Owen but also to finish on the rostrum --well done Mr Newman!! Credit too to Tom Young who was drafted into the meeting only on the Monday but rode with composure to short space of a season. Nine well earned points for the Newport born band bred rider that made Team Arnie very proud!! Marc Owen outlined what a golden talent he is. He has hardly ridden really in 2009 with his two wrist injuries but is ending his first short spell in competitive racing with some impressive scores. He has bikes troubles in his 4th ride causing him to fall on the last bend when 2nd but he pushed home for a point. He then gave Kyle Newman a hard battle in the semi with Kyle's PL experience seeing him through in the end. A good day then for Newport riders with 3rd, 5th and 6th. But overall a good day for British Speedway in general with our emerging young talent shining through.

That is something Crouch, Reevo, Jonah and I have tried to develop with them. Also from a point of view of a slick presentation and running of a meeting they are superb as one thing I do is to make sure they are ready one race before, have the correct helmet colour on, know what gate they are due to come off and they are lined up as the previous race finishes, ready to be pushed off. They have been a joy to work with and hopefully these little but important points will go with them throughout their speedway careers. Roll on the 2010 series!!

Congratulations to ALL the lads who have ridden in the 2009 series with a big well done to Ash + Brandon on their wins in each section. Sorry I could not be there for the final round but was at Newport for our final PL match of the season --just wished I could have been in two places at the same time!! Roll on the 2010 series. Laurence Rogers

The 250 lads are at Newport on Sunday after the Wasps v Diamonds PL match. Four races featuring : Nathan Stoneman, Tyler Govier and Jack Jones --with hopefully a fourth rider added to that line-up.

500cc : 1. Ashley Morris 11; 2 : Josh Dingle 10; 3: Kyle Howarth 9; 250cc : 1. Brendan Freemantle; 2. Nathan Stoneman; 3. Robert Lambert.

Marc reaches the grand old age of 15 today --a BIG Happy Birthday to him. He is now out of plaster and having a spin to test the wrist out ....will be great to see him back in action.

Thanks for that. Would have liked to have been in two places at the same time but had to be at Sheffield. Looking forward to the next round at Kings Lynn next Saturday.

Gordon just called to say that it could be 6 weeks out although he has an appointment at fracture clinic next Monday. Marc only went out to do a few practice starts and was ready to pack up for the afternoon!! He knew it was broken again straight away. So from counting the days till his birthday on August 20th ----now it will be until he is fit to ride again!! Your bunch of bananas await you young Mr Owen!!

Had a text off Marc Owen's add Gordon on my way back from Newport tonight to say that he had crashed in the Dragons training session and broken the wrist he broke not so long back in the Dragons meeting at Newport!! He is due to go to the fracture clinic tomorrow and could be out of action for about 4 weeks until the end of August--just after his 15th birthday when he is due to make his long awaited National League debut. A setback for the talented teenager but knowing Marc he'll bounce back quickly (no doubt aided by a bunch of bananas or two!! )

Great to see old friends Mike Moseley and Halifax Tiger there --even if I had press him into service as a flag marshall (thanks mate). The lads were superb at being ready one race before they were due out (been well marshalled by someone !! ) and as Mimmo says 2 minutes was rarely used and actually when it was it was only after requesting extra time (Adam Portwood had 4 on trot and Cameron Hoskins chain problems). We lost a bit of time with Daniel Sibson's crash but finished 21 races in not a bad time. Just realised tonight that I will miss the next round at the IOW as I am at Sheffield that night in a re-arranged fixture after our rain off at Owlerton recently. Impressive demos on 125's from Max Clegg and Mike Neale too with the lads having four 'match races' (so 25 races in total run). Watching these two it is a pity we couldn't have more lads on 125's as a stepping stone to the 250's and 500's --perhaps it is something that should be looked at ?? Next rounds are IOW Aug 13th and Kings Lynn Aug 22nd.

Good afternoon's racing with just one bad crash for Daniel Sibson. The young Cumbrian was taken off to hospital for precautionary x-rays on his neck , back and leg. Had txt off him that he is ok. No breaks and he has been told to rest for 2 weeks --he wishes to pass on his thanks for everyone's concern. Ashley Morris won all four rides in the 500's to take his 2nd win in the competition so far with Kyle Howarth 2nd on 10 and aftera three 'man' run-off Daryl Ritchings took 3rd spot with Tom Stokes 4th whilst series leader Josh Dingle had to pull up with engine problems --all three having finished on 7. In the 250's Reece Downes made up for his disappointment at his exclusion at Cardiff with a win with 11 points and featured in the race of the day when he pipped Nathan Stoneman on the line in their heat. Nathan and Brandon Freemantle had a run-off for 2nd with Brandon taking the honours after both had finished on 9 . Well done to all the lads today. Next round at Isle of Wight on Thursday August 13th.

Will have to see what's left in the piggy bank !! See you all later!!

Do they have enough straws to fit in half a pint mate ???

Sat Day Partly Cloudy PM High: 62° Low: 48° that's what the forecast says !!

Just had the riding order etc through and it looks a turn out of 10 for the 500cc and 9 for the 250's. 19 heats with current leaders being: 500cc -- Josh Dingle 50, Kyle Howarth 40, Ashley Morris 39, Daniel I'Anson 38, Daryl Ritchings 36, Adam Kirby 29, cameron Hoskins 28, Tom Stokes 23, Jack Butler 17 250cc -- Robert Lambert 52, Brandon Freemantle 46, Nathan Stoneman 40, Adam Portwood 38, Reece Downes 33, Jack Cornes 33, Steven Archer 23, Jack Jones 22, Daniel Sibson 19, Tyler Govier 16 Adam Portwood is down to ride in both the sections whilst 250 leader Robert Lambert is missing from the line-up. Should be a great afternoon's racing at the most picturesque track in the country high up in the Derbyshire hills at Hi-Edge . Hopefully fans will make the effort to be there to support our emerging group of British youngsters. See you there!!

Great to have had you 'back home' BFD --HOPE YOU HAVE A PLEASANT TRIP BACK TO DARWIN YOUR ADOPTED HOME. . A pleasure to meet you and the stubby gift was much appreciated mate. May see you down under soon!!