Well that was an interesting start!
The protest was in relation to switching King to number 3 because of the rule that declares you cant make changes 3 days before a meeting.
HOWEVER the old rule said that if 2 riders are injured then a switch as allowed to happen.
So they are waiting on clarity of the rule - What is it was rules and speedway!
Anyway as far as the meeting goes. We had a bit of luck on our side tonight but take nothing away from the boys who were much better than the Eagles.
Cant see why Heat 6 wasnt all 4 call back. Freddie was a little tough on Bridger who ended up in the fence. Reply showed minimal contact. But i expected all 4 at the least.
Lots of recalls for twitching and fliers.
Proctor got away to a beauty in heat 9 and it was called back.
Some excellent racing, on an award winning track we expect nothing less naturally, with King and Bridger, in particular, in the thick of the action.
Heats 13 (in particular) and 15 being top class. With passing and re-passing galore.
If Bridger had stayed on or not messed up as much he would have easily topped the Eagles scorechart.
Although we had the farcial heat 6 with Freddie at half throttle all the heat helping Jorgensen round after gizatulin fell, got up and finished nearly a full lap behind.
Crowd a little below its usual attendance tonight although there were a decent Eastbourne contingent making plenty of noise when they won (so were quiet alot!).
The magnificent but depleted WOLVES
FREDDIE - Looked a liitle more on it tonight and battled well when behind. Was in the thick of it in heat 15 as all 4 were close and was wiped out by King who was heading for the bit of track where Freddie had already hit. Nasty looking tumble for the pair and freddie was down a while and we were pretty quiet for a while. Thankfully got back to his feet. Was being checked over for an `arm injury` but was on the parade and seemed ok. 4.5/5
rr for Pontus - got 6 points so covered well.
NIC - Heat 5 apart had a good night and is starting to ride well with Ty now. Wont be touched when in front but certainly challenging more and pushing. A corner turned? Will see next week! 3.5/5
TY - Really looked hungry tonight and always in the thick off the action. Took 3 excellent wins and lost a certain 2 further more in heat 14. Looked quicker too. 4/5
TAI - Lewis gave him a run for his money in both the big heats but rode like a GP star tonight and wasnt going to be beaten. Hungry, determined and on fire. 5/5 MOTM
THOMAS - gets better each time i see him. To an extent did virtually as much as we would expect Ricky to do. Definetly worth giving more meetings. 3.5/5
LUKASZ - first 2 rides were typical Lukasz. Nowhere and awful. Heat 7 he gated well and, whats this i see?? in 3rd?? Really?
stuck to the wide line with King breathing down his kevlars for 3 laps but to be fair Lukasz was holding his own. However he just lost grip on the 3rd bend and went down with king lying down directly behind him. Heat 12 he was in contention to 3rd and pushing Gizatulin. He apologised on the parade and the fans again took him too their heart and gave him a lovely warm round of applause. His he finally starting to show something?? Jury remains out. 0.5/5
The poorly travelling Eagles.
rr - got 6+1 - certainly not as much as King would have got!
Dryml - kept hitting the kerb bend 2 and getting out of shape. Looked promising in his first 2 races but his disappearance of form after that cost Eagles any chance of a point. 1.5/5
King - its fair to say he did better than what either cupofcoffee or henka junior would have done so its a good job they booked him really. Although a typical King performance, outgated freddie in one heat, struggled to beat sowka in another. 3/5
Woodward - Amazingly scored paid 9 yet he did very little. Beat Jorgensen 3 times and little else. In the main team he isnt likely to be a match winner. 2/5
Bridger - definetly the fastest Eagles tonight and his races with Tai and Freddie in the big heats dynamic. Was 3rd and challenging when he had bike failure in heat 9. In fact was in the thick of the action in all his heats. On another night he would have doubled his score had things gone his way. 3/5 (based on effort not expected score)
Gizatulin - scored in every heat - HOWEVER - he only beat sowka twice. Struggled with the track mostly. 0.5/5
Lahti - Excellent night for him. Plenty of effort and commitent and has come on a bundle. That said he only beat our reserve for his points. Plus point he was leading heat 14 when Proctor fell. 4/5
Points on the board, glad to hear it!.
stuck to the wide line with King breathing down his kevlars for 3 laps but to be fair Lukasz was holding his own. However he just lost grip on the 3rd bend and went down with king lying down directly behind him. Heat 12 he was in contention to 3rd and pushing Gizatulin. He apologised on the parade and the fans again took him too their heart and gave him a lovely warm round of applause. His he finally starting to show something?? Jury remains out. 0.5/5