It's very much a case of "the morning after" as far as I am concerned - back aches, legs ache, shoulders ache etc. but I think the consensus was that it had been a cracking good meeting, a great start to the speedway season at Blunsdon.
Of course, when you have the biggest meeting of the season as your season opener the nerves are a little on edge and if I was indeed spotted on my knees, facing east on the centre green immediately before the meeting, then I must admit that more than a few prayers were said, specifically about the air fence. But more of that later.
On a spring day that would have done justice in mid August, we gathered bright and early at the track. We (Gerald, Punch, Keith Johnson, Ronnie and I) had spent a couple of hours up at the track on Saturday morning just checking through the details of the fixture and making sure that as many of the "i's had been dotted and the "t's" crossed. But there is no substitution for the real thing ....
Much has been written elsewhere about the work done on the track surface but as can be seen above, the main straight is wide and smooth and the entry to turn 1 looks awesome. The aim this year has been to try to encourage riders to adopt inside lines. In the past riders like Jimmy Nilsen enjoyed hugging the white line, although my favourite memory of that style of riding goes back to a World Cup Meeting involving the US and Sweden at Blunsdon. Two young Swedes filled the reserve berths, if memory serves me. One was a Henka Gustafsson, easily identifiable with his long blonde hair. The other rider rode almost on the white line with significant success and went on to be one of my all time favourite Robins, Peter Nahlin.
But the bikes are much faster now, although times have not changed significantly. Nevertheless, the sheer power of the modern speedway bike, especially those tuned by the ace tuners (our old friend Mr Karger being one of them) mean that the speed riders achieve before turning in to a corner almost inevitably pushes them out mid track or higher up the banking.
To prevent the latter we've shaved a good few inches (some say as much as 6) off the top of the Blunsdon banking, moving the excess shale down low and giving the impression of flattening the corners. Whether all of this would work would only be answered during the season opener.
My first problem was fitting the new banners on to the air fence. The banners stretch over the top of the air panels and down the front, anchored in place by velcro on the back of the panel and atop the kickboards at the bottom. The theory is fine but in practice the problems soon show themselves. Take a piece of paper and fold it down the middle. Turn it 90 degrees so that the fold runs from left to right. Make the fold a 90 degree right angle. Grip the paper with index fingers and thumbs at the edges of the fold and now try to make the paper below the fold curve (Cripes, it's like Blue Peter - all we need is some "sticky backed plastic - shows my age, doesn't it!). Yes, the paper is reluctant to fold and creases on the top side. So it is with the new banners. When they are on straight pieces of air fence they look OK - put them on a curve and they fold badly. We also find it nigh impossible to link them together - as the top of the banner furrows so the velcro is pulled out of position. Don't get me wrong - the basis of the idea is good but it will need some working on to get right.
The next problem concerns the air panels on turn 3. No matter how high we turn the pumps up, the panels feel (and look) soft. I did make a point of explaining this to the referee, Mike Posslewhite, but he seemed happy with the air pressure. Even so, there's something amiss in that section and I can see me having to take the whole lot out again on Thursday before the encounter with Lejonen. Air loss panels such as ours depend upon a delicate balance between the air that seeps out through seams and the amount of air the pumps can push into them. Here at Swindon we are right on the cusp!
On Sunday morning, while Gerald, Punch and Ronnie paid attention to the track, Keith and Aaron got the fence up while Roy worked with two of Mick Richards' guys cleaning the old banners. We will still be using some of the 2008 (and even older vintages) banners in 2009; the new, "over the top and down the front type banners" are trickling in and we really need some protection against sharp stones and shale for the front parts of the air bags.
With the white line cleaned and looking pristine, we spent the latter part of the afternoon checking tool boxes, spare air bags and a plethora of other things - searching for that one detail that we had overlooked. Pit areas were allocated to the riders and we waited for the stars of the show to arrive.
The event was to open with two three lap races between six members of "The Men in Black" vintage speedway organisation. With thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of pounds of new speedway equipment being set up in the pits, it was perhaps surprising that the majority of the track staff could be found standing around the vintage bikes, mostly JAPs, smiles on faces, no doubt remembering the "good old days of speedway".
In reality, the starkness of the design affords these bikes a majesty that the new ones try hard to, but cannot match. (Bit of purple prose there - sorry). Setting these machines, one of which had the legendary Mike Broadbank's name on it, against those on display in Chris Harris' pit shows how far the sport has moved on over the years.
But for many, me included, the real star of the show has to be Nicki Pedersen, World Speedway Champion three times over. This will be a rare chance to see the master from Denmark at Swindon and it's not to be missed. Nicki is a controversial character (I think he rather plays up to, and enjoys that role) but I've always found him to be a very friendly and polite chap. He is more than happy to pose for a photograph for the blog, asks about Swindon and is interested in the changes made. At the end of the meeting he is more than willing to stop and sign autographs and chat with younger fans.
You don't have to look far for evidence of his determination to stay at the fore in 2009. Everything from the van, the bikes, the pit crew (featuring another old friend, John Jorgensen) down to the can of methanol with his team graphic clearly on show suggests that Mr P will be a force to reckon with in 2009.
But then he's not alone in professional set ups. As the riders begin to fill the pits area it is clear that we have some of the finest in the world. It is sad that bureaucracy has robbed us of the chance to see the dynamic Emil Sajfutdinov and Troy Batchelor, but the best of the rest are here - Pedersen, Adams, Pavlic, Korneliussen, Richardson, Gjedde, Harris, Holder, Iversen, Lindback, Kasprzak and others.
Looking at this massive array of expensive equipment does make one wonder how the sport will survive the present economic crisis - higher unemployment, lower interest rates and the general impact of a recession will put a squeeze of all forms of entertainment and speedway will have to find a way around this.
Bikes like those of Pedersen and Adams do not come cheap. And what of the riders at the other end of the spectrum who, perhaps with just a single bike, will be trying their hardest to compete this year. Will the sponsorship still be there? Will they be able to afford expensive tuners and components?
This is going to be a hard time for all sports - watch this space.
But back away from the track, which Gerald and Punch are now watering against the heat of the March sun, the tension is rising, the first engines splutter into life and we are all reminded of how hard and unfair our sport is. News starts to trickle through of accidents earlier in the day at Newport. Jason Doyle has been hurt and the luckless Craig Watson has reportedly broken a leg. Quite why fate has dealt Craig with such a hand of bad luck is beyond anyone's belief. If ever a guy deserved a really good, injury free season, it is Craig Watson. Our thoughts also turn to Adam Roynon, seriously hurt in a practice session at Kings Lynn last week.
Hinge and Bracket, Morecombe and Wise, Laurel and Hardy, Wallace and Grommit! Andrew Reynolds (Assistant Clerk and the Environmental Officer) and Mick Hunt (Clerk of the Course) utter quiet oaths as they see me approaching with the camera. "We'll be in for some stick when this gets out," says Mick through gritted teeth. "Shut up and smile," Andrew responds.
A first chance to catch a glimpse of the new Tea Room, complete with Rita Poole, as she readies herself for the first of a long line of customers. It used to be our workshop, directly alongside the ubiquitous Number 96, but we've now moved the workshop elsewhere.
Robins' co -owner and promoter Gary Patchett chats with Rosco and speedway legend Tony Rickardsson, here acting as mentor for the returning talent that is Antonio LIndback. Elsewhere Chris Louis talks earnestly with Lee Richardson, the latter always a welcome visitor at Swindon.
Further on I find a bike bearing the improbably "Angry Dodo" legend. But who is the rider? Well, part of the clue is in the colour scheme? Answers on a postcard addressed to ..... If I remember, I'll reveal our "angry dodo" in the next blog.
Essential to all meetings at Swindon is the Pegasus van of Maxwell Richards (Max to everyone who knows him). The van contains everything that any speedway rider could need in terms of spare parts and supplies.
There's a definite younger element in the Swindon pits this year. Krzysztof Stojanowski (henceforth to be referred to as "Stoj") poses with his young daughter as she makes adjustments to his dirt deflector. Later in the evening my daughter Steffie, entertained, or was entertained by another of the younger brigade, a youthful and exuberant daughter of Ryan Fisher.
We bid a fond (is that the right word here?) farewell to a member of the Track Staff, Mr Mark Leakey, who has now officially joined the hospitality crew at the track (a transfer fee is being arranged as I write this involving several pints of ale and an undisclosed quantity of cheese and onion crisps).
And the meeting? It was all going so well until someone decided to try to get more power out of the turn three air pump and turned on the choke, flooding the engine and deflating the fence. Gulping air, praying to whatever deity happened to be in the area and uttering oaths of Anglo Saxon origin, I raced over, convinced Adam Law to get the track spare engine and then rushed back to find Bob Crowther, he who mentors and lovingly looks after the pumps, re-starting the original. Panic almost over. The fence stayed looking decidedly limp for the rest of the night.
But we got through it OK. Mr Adams won a dramatic final from Messrs. Kaspzak and Pedersen. But the Track Staff nomination for rider of the night went to Antonio Lindback who was stunning throughout the event and, with the experience, focus and equipment backing from Tony Rickardsson (another gentleman of the track) will certainly make a big impact this year.
As I said at the start, the first meeting of the year is always a tense one but the work of the track staff, new and old, was brilliant and they made light of many of the problems that we faced. We ended with a firework display. It took a little longer to get going that most would have expected but it was worth it in the end.
I leave you with a few photos of said fireworks and look forward to a much anticipated (on my part at least) clash with the Lejonen team of Gislaved in Sweden. We visited Lejonen on the Bloggers Swedish tour in 2007 and they were just brilliant people. Come on you Lions!
