So the first GP of 2010 is done and dusted and what a cracker it was - lots of passing and re-passing and a fine showing from Rune Holta. But enough of that ... time to get on with the day leading up to the clash with the volcanically challenged Belle Vue.
Under a stunning blue sky, entirely absent of any vapour trails (so few planes flying today) we started by watering both the main track and the small training track, the latter would be used by the Robins for practice during the afternoon in preparation for the forthcoming clash at Lakeside.
Watering regularly during a hot day is vital if we are to avoid dust and break up problems later on in the day but water supplies are limited at Blunsdon so we have to be very careful. Fortunately Punch is an expert at this game and is able to apply just what is required, when it is required.
While Punch goes about his early morning watering regime, Brian Cox sets up the centre green advertising hoardings before taking his newly acquired super sized mop to clean the dust off the electronic scoreboard that stands high above the home pits on turn 3.
Normally the first job of the day would be to help Roy and Mick take out and unfurl all of the banners so that they can be cleaned, but Mark Price and I have a more pressing concern in the state of the air fence on turn 3. Last week our dashing and, apparently, fearless young Swede, Thomas H Jonasson, had thundered into that part of the fence. I knew that his foot rest had punctured the material but hoped that the damage could be limited to just that.
To get at the panel we had to inflate the turn 3 panels and then grovel around in the dirt to find the hole and assess the damage. The news is not good. The cable tie I managed to get in place, during last week's interval, to close the hole has held well but air is gushing out of a gaping hole further down. The stitching on a long section has broken and a large puncture further down has pulled several layers of the panel apart. There is no chance of a repair at the track and the damage is such that I think there is scant chance of Gavin at Airtec being able to repair it.
We have no choice but to remove the panel. Mark and I unclip the blue catch netting and then release the big clips that hold the air fence to the bottom of the wire safety fence. Then we unclip the clasps that join the panel to its adjacent panels and finally pull the air tubes out that carry the air flow from one panel to the next. The final job is to haul the bulky panel out and then block off the air holes on the adjoining panels so the rest of the fence doesn't deflate.
We put in a replacement panel. clip it in place, do up the clasps etc. and wait for it to inflate. Fortunately there are no problems but we are now left with only two spare air fence panels until the new air fence for turns 1 and 2 arrive in three weeks or so.
Our work on the fence has meant that we are already behind schedule on a day when everything will have to be done and dusted by mid afternoon when the Robins are due to practice on the centre green.
Roy and Arron have been unloading the very heavy banners from last week. Covered with a thick layer of shale, it takes the two of them to carry them off the back of the van and then lay them out ready for Mick Richards to blast them clean. On days like this it needs at least three people to help, two to carry and unfold, one to pull the clean bags clear before they are sprayed with wet slime from an adjoining banner. We are very aware that Mick only has a couple of hours to spare this morning and that we have 44 shale clad banners and a similar number of rubber kickboards to clean in that time.
It's hot and hard work but, smothered with Factor 50 sun block, I have a another plan for securing the banners.
The original idea for securing the bags was a strip of velcro across the back of each panel and a similar strip on the banner. This was not a universal success since the velcro couldn't stretch across the joins between the air bags and any wind blowing simply got under the banners and lifted them alarmingly.
Our first adaptation was to employ bungee clips. With eyelets along the top of each banner, a bungee clip was attached and then the banner simply clipped to the wire safety fence behind the air bag. Job done ... or so we thought. While the bungees kept the banners tight across the bags they were a bu...er to put in place and even more of a bug...r to undo at the end of the meeting. The hooks attached themselves to the blue catch netting or anything they came across so when the bag was pulled clear that the end of the night the bungees would either snap or explode off into the stratosphere. The losses were great and a new solution had to be found.
The last idea was to effectively stitch the banners to the air fence by passing rope through the safety fence, through the eyelet and then back through the safety fence. The result was excellent - the banners weren't going anywhere ... but ... the threading took an age and we all got rope burns pulling the rope through.
A new solution had to be found. This week's development was to tie a length of rope, roughly equivalent to the length of each banner to each banner, knotting it at each end and running it through the eyelets. The banner is then put in place, overlapping two air bags to heighten the strength of the bags, and then held in place by pulling the rope through holes in the safety fence and inserting a pin between safety fence and rope. Not only is this quicker and more convenient to set up, it also ensures the rope stays attached to the banner and is much quicker to release at the end of the meeting. Have we found the answer? It's our 6th attempt and the closest yet to a solution that works.
We decide to implement the new system on turn 3 this week, just in case it doesn't work. While we are congratulating ourselves on our new system fate turns against us. Arron has started to cut the grass with our new (under 9 months old) sit on mower. Last week it stuck in gear and refused to move for a time but at least it was cajoled into life. This week all seems well until Arron gets off it to empty the grass box and finds the engine dies and steadfastly refuses to start. In fact, even when we manage to free the rear wheels, it still steadfastly refuses to start.
Time is pressing and the daisies and dandelions are growing and no solution is to be found. Even the time old solution of gathering as many people around a problem, each looking thoughtful, doesn't work. In the end the machine is helped back to the pits with the help of a tractor and Arron has to cut the grass with a push mower more at home in a semi detached garden!
And still the watering continues. We can't flood the track for two reasons - one, we have limited resources of the wet stuff, and two, we don't want the top surface of the shale to turn to slime and then bake in the sun. The latter will mean crusting - the top couple of inches baking to a hard surface and no water getting into the base. If this happens a spinning speedway wheel will soon dislodge the crust and the curse of dust will raise its ugly head, probably on the second lap of heat 1.
What we want is just enough water each time to wet the surface but not crust it. This is Punch's area of expertise and he excels today.
Lunch is taken late so that we can get everything ready for the practice. Once again we have to thank Terry Russell and his son Wayne for an excellent lunch - it is very much appreciated by the day time track staff.
While I feast on half a chicken (I suspect it is more like an Emu) the bikes begin to roar as the Robins prepare for their afternoon on the practice circuit at Swindon.
Thomas works on his bike whilst Mads waits at the pit gate for his turn to belt around the little track on the centre green by way of preparation for Friday's trip to the tight confines of the Lakeside track.
Mads and Leigh both put in impressive demonstrations on the small track, affording me brilliant opportunities to take some photographs close up and without troublesome fences in between.
They practice gating in the same place and give an interesting comparison between their two respective styles, Mads sweeping his legs back much faster than Leigh, and also lifting the front end more than his Aussie counterpart. Those with inside knowledge will be able to offer better analysis than a hack like me ... so I'll leave it to them.
Once he's finished a series of laps at full belt, pulling a series of impressively tight turns, Mads relaxes and adopts a Joe Screen like style for a wheelie that lasts a whole lap of the small track followed by a complete lap of the main track.
Morten is the next out on track - the photographs say it all. For some reason I miss both Thomas and Simon, although the latter was apparently the fastest around the track when we held pre season sessions on the little track. Greg Zengota has only just arrived back in the country after an early morning flight in from Poland (interesting how he made it when others didn't) and so missed the session.
While young Justin Sedgmen practices we carry on with track preparation, Punch watering and Ron ripping and then packing. The rest of us busy ourselves topping up and maintaining the air pumps and preparing for the meeting.
We clean the kickboards and then the white line before pressure washing the tractors so that they look their best. Arron is now joined by young Adam and together they take on the mowing duties with the small push mower.
As the meeting time approaches so the riders appear in their kevlars. An old friend to Swindon is James Wright, who appeared for us a couple of seasons ago and instantly made himself very popular. His recent form has been a revelation but while we wish him luck, we hope he's going to have an off day! (In fact, James rides very well and tops the scorecard for an under strength but resilient Aces side lacking both Hans Andersen and Peter Karlsson).
Patrick Hougaard prepares in the adjoining away pit. His leg trailing style is exciting and suited to the banked Blunsdon track - it's so good to see a leg trailer still in action.
While Wright's bikes are warmed the captain of the Belle Vue team, Leigh Lanham appears. I've always thought of him as a "small track" rider, probably because of his years with Lakeside and his lack of success at Blunsdon. Perhaps it is the responsibility of captaining a weakened side that encourages him on to his best performance at Blunsdon in my memory.
Tobi Kroner sits and mentally prepares himself for the match while James Wright looks more than confident. There are rumours that Travis McGowan will ride for Belle Vue but he is merely here as a spectator.
At 6pm I finally get a chance to sit down at one of the tables in front of the new dining car. A lovely cup of tea, care of Rita who dispenses refreshments throughout the evening, an umbrella to keep off the still bright sun, it is a chance to relax and share in some of the banter with the evening brigade of track staff who are arriving, most straight from a hard day at work.
As we sit and swap bad jokes a grey haired man in a denim jacket is unloading equipment from the back of his car and passing some to Max, who runs the "spares" and "essentials" van in the pits. Keith studies the denim clad gentleman for some time. "Who is he? I know the face, just can't remember the name." Don't worry Keith - it happens to everyone late on in life!! It is no other than Vaclav Verner. Born in 1949, Vaclav rode for Exeter (apart from a brief stint at Poole) between 1977 and 1995. He joins us for a chat and a cup of coffee and then brings over cake that he has brought from Czecho for us to share. He is a delightful man - the day is all the better for seeing him at Blunsdon.
The action on track is better than we could have expected from the depleted, volcanically challenged Belle Vue, led with gusto and style by James Wright and Patrick Hougaard, although special mention must go to the desperately unlucky Kevin Doolan, whose bike lets him down twice when the hard work had been done.
It is late when Punch, Mark and I finish. The hard work earlier in the day has paid off but we all feel that perhaps the meeting has passed us by a little. Ah well, there's always next week ...
Oh, and the title? I don't read the forums very often but I did notice a comment pleading for more dirt on tracks in general and the Blundson track in particular. When young William Lawson slid off on turn 3 in front of me it was a good job he bounced off the fence - if he'd gone under the fence there was so much dirt there that I'd have needed a miner's lamp to excavate him ... and no, the dirt didn't stay there, we were dragging it back during every grading and, three days on, my back is still complaining!
