Post by Peregrinner on May 13, 2007 17:21:39 GMT
We hope to bring you a few more of these next season.
A personal experience - Add yours if it was different:
We left Exeter at 5:45 p.m., a little later than expected, but the hotline stated that the match was still on and we had checked the weather report. Heavy rain between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., dry between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., more heavy rain at 10 p.m. There was a risk that it would be called off but these timescales fitted with a successful meeting.
On arrival at Weymouth it was clear that many people had stayed away because of the rain, but the diehard supporters were there in force and I checked to find that LECH was on sale in the bar.
We arrived in time to hear the team changes announced but we had not settled so we made our way around the track. We got the information from the small band of Exeter supporters that had made the journey and were congregated on the fourth bend.
"No Paul Fry - Lewis Bridger is riding instead", Tom Brown at number three, Rider Replacement at number 4 and No number 6. This was clearly a Heath Robinson side cobbled together to try and make a go of the meeting, but nomatter as this was a side representing our favourite team, Exeter, and it was the 'First match of the season'.
The rain had stopped just in time to allow Lewis Bridger to break the Track Record in Heat 1. A win for an Exeter rider and a new track record to boot was a great start for the 'Falcons in Exile' and although our expectations were not high, a 3-3 start was good enough. Rob Smith came in last.
The program had Adam Filmer riding for both Weymouth and Exeter but we found out in Heat 2 that George Piper would be riding at number 6 for Weymouth. Adam Filmer was an Exeter rider and as we had no number 6 it was fairly important that he performed well as Exeter's number 7.
The first start of Heat 2 saw Adam Filmer hit the second bend fence. All three were allowed in the restart and there was great hope in our hearts as Filmer overtook George Piper in the rerun but that died when he piled back into the same second bend fence. There were some white metal poles behind the fencing and someone commented that perhaps he was trying to score goals.
With Adam Filmer excluded Heat two comprised two Weymouth riders and rather unsurprisingly they completed a 5-0 victory. The score now stood at 8 points to 3.
Lewis Bridger came in as Rider Replacement in Heat 3 and duly won the race. Tom Brown gated last and had to pass Sam Hurst when Sam had engine problems to give Exeter an extra point for a 2-4 result taking the scores on to 10-7.
Heat 4 saw Terry Day, who had won heat 2, excluded under the 2 minutes rule. This was fast becoming an incident packed comedy of errors. George Piper came in as a replacement and then got stuck in a huge rut on the start line (the loudest laugh of all) before falling while chasing hard to catch up. Adam Filmer also fell during this heat and it was on the same second bend prompting remarks that he had got his hat-trick. The last rerun saw Karl Mason beat Andre Cross for a 3-2 and match score of 13-9.
With 4 heats gone and 8 starts so far we were getting value for money in incident if not in true quality racing (Bridger excepted).
Lewis Bridger was in Heat 5 and duly completed a hat-trick of wins ahead of Lee Smart while Rob Smith finished third as Sam Hurst fell on the last corner of the race.
David Mason gated and led Heat 6 but the comedy was back as he fell while leading (this track was proving tough to master) allowing Andre Cross to win the heat for Exeter, followed by Nathan Irwin who had engine trouble but still scored two points as Exeter had no number 6 and Filmer was still injured from his third crash. David Mason finished for a point.
In Heat 7 George Piper fell and was excluded. Karl Mason led the Exeter pairing of Tom Brown and Andre Cross across the line. Those two 3-3 shared heats took the score to 21-19. We were still in with a shout even though we had only five riders.
Heat 8 had Rob Smith and Adam Filmer competing for Exeter but Nathan Irwin and Terry Day ruled the roost for a 5-1 to Weymouth and the scores moved to 26-20 as Weymouth took hold of the tie.
PART TWO LATER -
A personal experience - Add yours if it was different:
We left Exeter at 5:45 p.m., a little later than expected, but the hotline stated that the match was still on and we had checked the weather report. Heavy rain between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., dry between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., more heavy rain at 10 p.m. There was a risk that it would be called off but these timescales fitted with a successful meeting.
On arrival at Weymouth it was clear that many people had stayed away because of the rain, but the diehard supporters were there in force and I checked to find that LECH was on sale in the bar.
We arrived in time to hear the team changes announced but we had not settled so we made our way around the track. We got the information from the small band of Exeter supporters that had made the journey and were congregated on the fourth bend.
"No Paul Fry - Lewis Bridger is riding instead", Tom Brown at number three, Rider Replacement at number 4 and No number 6. This was clearly a Heath Robinson side cobbled together to try and make a go of the meeting, but nomatter as this was a side representing our favourite team, Exeter, and it was the 'First match of the season'.
The rain had stopped just in time to allow Lewis Bridger to break the Track Record in Heat 1. A win for an Exeter rider and a new track record to boot was a great start for the 'Falcons in Exile' and although our expectations were not high, a 3-3 start was good enough. Rob Smith came in last.
The program had Adam Filmer riding for both Weymouth and Exeter but we found out in Heat 2 that George Piper would be riding at number 6 for Weymouth. Adam Filmer was an Exeter rider and as we had no number 6 it was fairly important that he performed well as Exeter's number 7.
The first start of Heat 2 saw Adam Filmer hit the second bend fence. All three were allowed in the restart and there was great hope in our hearts as Filmer overtook George Piper in the rerun but that died when he piled back into the same second bend fence. There were some white metal poles behind the fencing and someone commented that perhaps he was trying to score goals.
With Adam Filmer excluded Heat two comprised two Weymouth riders and rather unsurprisingly they completed a 5-0 victory. The score now stood at 8 points to 3.
Lewis Bridger came in as Rider Replacement in Heat 3 and duly won the race. Tom Brown gated last and had to pass Sam Hurst when Sam had engine problems to give Exeter an extra point for a 2-4 result taking the scores on to 10-7.
Heat 4 saw Terry Day, who had won heat 2, excluded under the 2 minutes rule. This was fast becoming an incident packed comedy of errors. George Piper came in as a replacement and then got stuck in a huge rut on the start line (the loudest laugh of all) before falling while chasing hard to catch up. Adam Filmer also fell during this heat and it was on the same second bend prompting remarks that he had got his hat-trick. The last rerun saw Karl Mason beat Andre Cross for a 3-2 and match score of 13-9.
With 4 heats gone and 8 starts so far we were getting value for money in incident if not in true quality racing (Bridger excepted).
Lewis Bridger was in Heat 5 and duly completed a hat-trick of wins ahead of Lee Smart while Rob Smith finished third as Sam Hurst fell on the last corner of the race.
David Mason gated and led Heat 6 but the comedy was back as he fell while leading (this track was proving tough to master) allowing Andre Cross to win the heat for Exeter, followed by Nathan Irwin who had engine trouble but still scored two points as Exeter had no number 6 and Filmer was still injured from his third crash. David Mason finished for a point.
In Heat 7 George Piper fell and was excluded. Karl Mason led the Exeter pairing of Tom Brown and Andre Cross across the line. Those two 3-3 shared heats took the score to 21-19. We were still in with a shout even though we had only five riders.
Heat 8 had Rob Smith and Adam Filmer competing for Exeter but Nathan Irwin and Terry Day ruled the roost for a 5-1 to Weymouth and the scores moved to 26-20 as Weymouth took hold of the tie.
PART TWO LATER -
) my appetite for the Wroclaw Grand Prix.