Lakeside V Kent Friday 21st April

[waco]

Paul Hurry replaces Zack who is on duty with Swindon and Jamie Couzins makes his debut at the lakeside track,,leave early to get there if you are coming through the tunnel,,Weather is ok ,,a good safe meeting to all the riders...

[Islander15]

I thought the reason Lakeside dropped down was because they didn't want to run on Friday nights anymore due to the traffic.

[waco]

Islander last year it was very bad due to huge road works these are now completed and it is much better though hold ups can still happen sometimes

[Sings4Speedway]

Paul Hurry replaces Zack who is on duty with Swindon and Jamie Couzins makes his debut at the lakeside track,,leave early to get there if you are coming through the tunnel,,Weather is ok ,,a good safe meeting to all the riders...

 

What are the rules regarding guests?

I thought a guest had to either be from another declared 1-7 (equal or lower than the average the rider they are replacing, extra allowed when its a home match etc etc) or an unattached 3 pointer?

I can't see Hurry fitting in to either of those categories? Obviously as a challenge match Lakeside can field whoever they like but moving forward is Hurry allowed to be utilised?

[Islander15]

Islander last year it was very bad due to huge road works these are now completed and it is much better though hold ups can still happen sometimes

Good to hear they're completed. I thought that was the reason for moving down as top flight riders can't do Saturday or Sunday racing. So surely they could've stayed in the top division?

 

 

What are the rules regarding guests?

I thought a guest had to either be from another declared 1-7 (equal or lower than the average the rider they are replacing, extra allowed when its a home match etc etc) or an unattached 3 pointer?

I can't see Hurry fitting in to either of those categories? Obviously as a challenge match Lakeside can field whoever they like but moving forward is Hurry allowed to be utilised?

This meeting is a challenge so they can do what they want (for example, Hopwood replaces Govier tonight for the Warriors). However in an official fixture they can't use Hurry as, like you say, he's not in a team or an unattached 3.00 rider.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Islander15

[marko]

That's what will kill Lakesides chances this season, losing Zach or indeed Ben for whatever reason will be impossible to cover.

 

Re the traffic on Friday nights, roadworks or not it won't make much difference, when the M25 goes down, it goes down.

[waco]

North bound delays are normally caused by large vehicles awaiting escort through the tunnels and the traffic is stopped till they have gone through..

[E I Addio]

I thought the reason Lakeside dropped down was because they didn't want to run on Friday nights anymore due to the traffic.

That's only part of hit. The stock cars get precedence in the fixture list and their fixture list which is made first and the Speedwáy club have to build their fixture I list on what's left. When the AGM was brought forward this year the stock car season was not finished so their 2017 fixture list was not completed which meant the Speedwáy club could do theirs which in turn meant they coukd to book a team without being able to tell riders what dates they woukd be needed.

 

The question of traffic was discussed at the fans forum in January and it seems there were 5 traffic affected meetings where a lot of money was lost . As Jon Cook put it, it costs far more to run an EL meeting and when there are problems the loss is thousands of pounds. When the same problem hits an NL club the loss is hundreds of pounds, and is much more sustainable.

 

Finally, and this is just me reading between the lines, so might not be right, but based on odd comments Cook has made I think he knew which way the wind was blowing with a watered down EL League and even more watering down next season and wanted to get out early and start building something sustainable in advance. I don't know, just guessing but Conner Dugard was sayin over the mic on Good Friday that he understands why Jon has done it, and it is about money so maybe there is more to it than meets the eye. Don't take this as gospel though., just my reading of it.

Edited April 20, 2017 by E I Addio

[Guest]

That's only part of hit. The stock cars get precedence in the fixture list and their fixture list which is made first and the Speedwáy club have to build their fixture I list on what's left. When the AGM was brought forward this year the stock car season was not finished so their 2017 fixture list was not completed which meant the Speedwáy club could do theirs which in turn meant they coukd to book a team without being able to tell riders what dates they woukd be needed.

 

 

There are two long-standing stock car groups at the Arena Essex where Lakeside are based.

The main group is the stadium's own promoting Arena Essex stock cars which takes priority in regard to Sundays.

The other car group is the Rolling Thunder Show which has been racing Saturday events for about 10 years at Arena Essex.

Sadly, it is in conjunction with both groups' fixtures that speedway's Lakeside Hammers had to fit in their home dates.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Guest

[Islander15]

That's only part of hit. The stock cars get precedence in the fixture list and their fixture list which is made first and the Speedwáy club have to build their fixture I list on what's left. When the AGM was brought forward this year the stock car season was not finished so their 2017 fixture list was not completed which meant the Speedwáy club could do theirs which in turn meant they coukd to book a team without being able to tell riders what dates they woukd be needed.

 

The question of traffic was discussed at the fans forum in January and it seems there were 5 traffic affected meetings where a lot of money was lost . As Jon Cook put it, it costs far more to run an EL meeting and when there are problems the loss is thousands of pounds. When the same problem hits an NL club the loss is hundreds of pounds, and is much more sustainable.

 

Finally, and this is just me reading between the lines, so might not be right, but based on odd comments Cook has made I think he knew which way the wind was blowing with a watered down EL League and even more watering down next season and wanted to get out early and start building something sustainable in advance. I don't know, just guessing but Conner Dugard was sayin over the mic on Good Friday that he understands why Jon has done it, and it is about money so maybe there is more to it than meets the eye. Don't take this as gospel though., just my reading of it.

The first paragraph is particularly interesting in regards to Lakeside's future because the AGM is likely to remain that early in the season and so the fixtures stumbling block will forever remain. That's irrespective of Lakeside's finances, watering down of the leagues and traffic issues. Edited April 20, 2017 by Islander15

[liam]

Decided to give it another go and I have to say Iam so glad I did, I really enjoyed the meeting which I thought had lots of good racing. It was good to see Hurry back aswell wonder if we could use him instead of Mason? Also enjoyed the junior racing before and the two Jason's had some good races, could we not use one of them at reserve? Was very critical last week but I'll hold my hands up and say I got it wrong the standard tonight was much better.

[Guest]

Decided to give it another go and I have to say Iam so glad I did, I really enjoyed the meeting which I thought had lots of good racing. It was good to see Hurry back aswell wonder if we could use him instead of Mason? Also enjoyed the junior racing before and the two Jason's had some good races, could we not use one of them at reserve? Was very critical last week but I'll hold my hands up and say I got it wrong the standard tonight was much better.

 

​Here's the result of the match:

TUNNEL TROPHY, 2nd leg

LAKESIDE 47 (Paul Hurry 11+1, Ben Morley 11+1, David Mason 8, Alfie Bowtell 6+3, George Hunter 6+2, Jamie Couzins 4, Nick Laurence 1+1

KENT 43: Luke Bowen 15, Ben Hopwood 10, Alex Spooner 7, Jack Thomas 4+2, Bradley Andrews 4+1, Nathan Stoneman 3, Luke Clifton 0

Lakeside win 93-86 on aggregate

[cityrebel]

It was a decent meeting tonight, but the crowd was a bit disappointing. Hopefully it will pick up when the league matches start.

[Bryce]

Decided to give it another go and I have to say Iam so glad I did, I really enjoyed the meeting which I thought had lots of good racing. It was good to see Hurry back aswell wonder if we could use him instead of Mason? Also enjoyed the junior racing before and the two Jason's had some good races, could we not use one of them at reserve? Was very critical last week but I'll hold my hands up and say I got it wrong the standard tonight was much better.

I did actually ask Jason Edwards about team openings and he told me that he's still too young to compete in the NL by their rules.

 

Glad you gave it another go and enjoyed the meeting. It was rather a good one I agree.

[liam]

I did actually ask Jason Edwards about team openings and he told me that he's still too young to compete in the NL by their rules.

 

Glad you gave it another go and enjoyed the meeting. It was rather a good one I agree.

It is good to see how much Jason has improved over the years, shame he is to young it would be good to see how he would get on at reserve. I am glad I went mate it means I don't have to go Rye now ha.

[waco]

Good meeting tonight on a track that was kept in excellent condition all night..Bowen rode well but not quite as impressive as his score suggests as after falling on the first bend and remounting,, Clifton fell later with Hunter running in to him,, Morley a mile in front and Bowen tailed off,, many thought a result should have been declared.,,but the ref called a re- run and Bowen got the better of Morley out of bend 2, and rode well in the re-run-..Though Kent fans would not agree,,Bowen also got away with a couple of jump starts later .depends i suppose on who you support..For the Hammers Hurry and Morley looked strong,,and there was some improvement on last week from the second strings,, Mason was steady without impressing,,While Couzins chipped in well to consolidate his position in the team... Laurence is what he has always been slow..Excellent meeting presentation from the announcer and the guy on the roving mike...Things can only get better with so many positives at Lakeside.......And of course we won again against Kent !

Edited April 21, 2017 by waco

[East End Fan]

Have to agree with those comments by Waco. Laurence needs to be replaced by a youngster with a bit of a future. Kent have unearthed Spooner who

is getting better each meeting and Lakeside need to find someone like him. With the Martin Hagon school I would have thought that he might have

found a decent kid. Good result though and it was curious that Kent had so many riders falling off as the track seemed fine.

[marko]

Most of the heats on the updates site are listed as FTG and having seen a few heats on youtube i can see why, gate and stick it to the inside, even Hurry went backwards trying the outside line.

OK, You cant make it too grippy at this level, but you need something there for the real racers so they can at least have a go.

Wasnt a very good crowd there by looks of it (never seen the stock car section so empty) better track prep will be required if they are to retain more supporters or tempt those of us who have thus far stayed away, doesn't matter if its a division 3 or a grand prix, if its gate and go all the time it lacks appeal.

 

But on the positive side its good to hear that the likes of Jason Edwards is continuing to make good progress (think he will be a shoe in as soon as rules allow him to ride in the NL) another rider who looked good last season was Anders Rowe, I wonder if Kent wont use him whether Lakeside could tempt him (if he is old enough to ride tier 3) its normally these very young riders who have developed from 125cc-250-500 who have the most potential to make it to a reasonable level.

[tocha]

Most of the heats on the updates site are listed as FTG and having seen a few heats on youtube i can see why, gate and stick it to the inside, even Hurry went backwards trying the outside line.

OK, You cant make it too grippy at this level, but you need something there for the real racers so they can at least have a go.

Wasnt a very good crowd there by looks of it (never seen the stock car section so empty) better track prep will be required if they are to retain more supporters or tempt those of us who have thus far stayed away, doesn't matter if its a division 3 or a grand prix, if its gate and go all the time it lacks appeal.

 

But on the positive side its good to hear that the likes of Jason Edwards is continuing to make good progress (think he will be a shoe in as soon as rules allow him to ride in the NL) another rider who looked good last season was Anders Rowe, I wonder if Kent wont use him whether Lakeside could tempt him (if he is old enough to ride tier 3) its normally these very young riders who have developed from 125cc-250-500 who have the most potential to make it to a reasonable level.

 

Jason Edwards wont be 15 until next October so we may not see him in Hammers' colours this season but being local, Billericay, there is no reason why he shouldn't line up in the future. Equally impressive is Nathan Ablitt, 13, but lives in Battle, Sussex so is probably Eastbourne bound. One observation, both riding 250cc recorded winning times faster than both the reserve's race and heat 8.

[Guest]

... Mason was steady without impressing...

 

Poor old David Mason. There does appear to be based on this comment and others around that the thread that no matter what he does Mason can never please Lakeside Hammers supporters?