Chris's Column
15.03.06
The eve of the season already, doesn’t seem like only the other day I was playing snowballs with the kids in the garden. Oh it was the other day. I have never known such a cold start to the season before and for the second season running our Press and Practise days are wiped out by the weather. Luckily we had arranged a photo shoot at the Ipswich Gymnastics Club so the day wasn’t a complete washout and our press conference at the track was well attended regardless of the rather damp weather. I have at least managed a few laps but Kim, Pepe and Robert are going into the challenge against Mildenhall completely cold. Kim is the one most apprehensive as he hasn’t ridden a bike since his winter operation on that dodgy shoulder but I’m sure it won’t take to many laps to blow the cobwebs out.
Talking of blowing the cobwebs away a good time was had by all that competed in the Karting Challenge at Anglian Indoor Kart Centre. As usual what is billed as just a bit of fun turned into a fiercely competitive affair and with a rather damp circuit in the early stages and a few crashes as well. If anyone reading this bumps into Danny at Ipswich do me a favour and ask him who posted the fastest lap of the evening!!
My first meeting of the year at newly promoted Reading was not really an ideal start but I went armed with my Ipswich engines only to find a very slick frozen track. At least I can go into the Suffolk Cup with a bit of racing under my belt. It’s an ideal competition to warm up with and should give us all a good run out. With Danny at reserve alongside other changes to the Mildenhall side they look solid enough to give us a real shake down. With all the teams declared for the new season I am confident that we can be in the mix come September for those play offs. The league has been very competitive over the last couple of seasons and looking down the teams I see no reason why 2006 should be any different. One things for sure id love to see Ipswich (4), Eastbourne (4) and Belle Vue (5) in the play offs as they are the only Elite League teams that have predominantly British riders in their 1 – 7’s. It is a situation that the powers to be have got to stop talking about and take some serious action on as the way the trend is going I can see more teams like Poole (0) just around the corner. Perhaps Middlo didn’t want a clash of interests so best not to have any British guys at all!
Our first league action puts us straight into the spot light at Oxford live on Sky. It would be great to kick start our league campaign with an away win in front of a TV audience although they wont make it easy for us as I think Oxford are a much more solid looking side than most give them credit for. Well that’s when the talking stops so let’s hope my column next week is reporting on what a great start to season we’ve made.
I hope to see you at Foxhall but if not chill the beers or coke, kick the cat off your favourite chair sit yourself down and enjoy sky’s great coverage.
Cheers,
Chris.
12.02.06
Not long to go now, well not long enough anyway. Just over three weeks before the Witches Press and Practice day and I haven’t got anything that even slightly resembles a Speedway bike. Panic hasn’t set in yet but theirs a lot of work to be done before March the 8th. Our Press Day has a slightly different look about it this year starting off with a studio shoot early in the morning then moving on to Foxhall for a Press Conference. Weather permitting the new team will take to the track at 2.00pm to blow away the winter cobwebs and get some testing in. All fans are welcome from 1.00pm onwards to take a few pictures, watch the guys going through their paces or just get your first oil and methanol fix of the new season.
After a lot of hard work and patience the Foxhall track is looking good and I am sure set to give us a fantastic race strip in 2006. Only Jan and Steve have limited experience of the Ipswich track so its going to be down to Mark and myself to pass on our experience over the two days of practise and settle them in as soon as possible.
After our first two challenges against Mildenhall we get stuck in to League action with a visit to Oxford on the 22nd and a quick fire return to Foxhall the next day. What a way to start our Sky Sports Elite League campaign against our 6 times World Champion asset Tony Rickardson. Plenty has been said about Tony only racing the first two months in the UK, but as long as a club agrees to those terms then why shouldn’t he? In those two months he should visit most of the tracks and lets face it he is most definitely the World Number One so it cant be a bad thing that the British fans get to see him in league action.
The fixture list hasn’t been particularly kind to us again with an extremely busy period in May followed by a quite June / July. It looks to me that our toughest fixtures are towards the end of the season and with the play off system in use that’s when you need everyone in the team on song so I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
I met up with Mark and his manager Norrie Allen the other day and they are both really looking forward to the new season with a fresh challenge at Ipswich which he still feels is his home track even though its been 16 years since he last wore the Witch in earnest. Mark has already stated in the press that he knows the Witches fans will expect nothing less than 100% but I don’t know what he’s worried about, he’s never given anything less to any team he’s ridden for. Jan has already visited me for help and advice on the Foxhall set up so its plain to see that he has what it takes to become a favourite with the fans. This is a big move for Jan and he knows that he will have to work harder than ever for his points, but he has the right attitude to succeed so give him the support and more importantly the time and he come through with flying colours.
There’s already a great feel about the team with the lads all communicating so if we can keep it going through what I'm sure will be a long and tough campaign then I'm convinced that were in for a great year on the Heath. I for one can't wait, better get back in the workshop and get some bikes together.
Till next time eat ya greens cus their good for you.
Chris.
27.01.06
Once again I find myself apologising for falling behind with my ‘weekly’ column. I cannot believe how much work there is in preparing a Speedway club for an Elite League season. Well there was a family holiday to Barbados too. We flew out straight after Christmas and we all had a fantastic time on our first holiday for several years. I’ve paid the price for those few days in the sun since with a hectic schedule over the last week to get things organised for the once again named Sky Sports Elite League. I think most of our fans are pleased with the team but of course you can never keep everyone happy. The two things that stand out whether you like the team or not are the huge disappointment at not being able to bring Puz back for a second season and the feeling that 2006 is destined to be very, very entertaining. A real buzz hit the town with the great signing of the always entertaining Mark Loram. I am really excited by Marks move back to Ipswich after an absence of sixteen years and I know he cant wait to get started. We are well known for our titanic on track battles but I am sure that we can get together and do an even better job helping each other as a pair.
Much hard work has gone in to securing the vital sponsorship necessary to run Elite League Speedway and we are very pleased to be able to announce a couple of new partner sponsors very soon. Our commercial manger Austen Dack has substantially increased the sponsorship revenue over the last couple of seasons which is largely the reason we have been able to remain competitive in the top league of British Speedway.
Our intrepid track man Bob Ellis continues to work hard on the Foxhall track although I have to say the elements have not been particularly kind to him with badly timed frost or rain keeping him off the race surface.
I guess a lot of you guys will want to know the reason for my u turn on riding abroad. Well after many clubs had been in contact with me from both Sweden and Poland I was offered a contract that suited me. My contract with Lublin gives me full control to decide which meetings I do so I can assure Ipswich fans that the few (6 or 7) fixtures that I ride in Poland wont in any way interfere with my Witches commitments. The dates I am riding in Poland all have two or three clear days either side of my Ipswich meetings so mind (as well as can be expected), body and bikes will all be ship shape throughout the season. To be honest I'm really looking forward to getting out on the big fast circuits of Poland again.
Nothing is confirmed yet but it looks likely that we will open our season with a friendly against Mildenhall home and away. Mildenhall would strengthen up with the inclusion of a top EL rider so it could be a quick return for Hans or maybe Scott. Keep tuning in for confirmation and details very soon.
Until next time keep safe.
Chris.
16/12/05
Frustrating that’s the word I would use to describe team building at the moment. However I do feel there is absolutely no reason to panic as I am confident that we will start in March with an exciting and competitive side. We have a great squad of riders all capable of increasing their averages having competed in the last season or two.
Kim’s making great progress and is back in full training and says the shoulder is better than its been for at least three years. I know the season can’t come round quick enough for that lad and I’m confident he’ll be in the team come Press Day. Talking of Press Day its looking likely we’ll be going back a week after taking advantage of the earlier start to the season last year and almost wrecking the track.
The Ipswich Speedway Supporters Club AGM was held at the stadium last week and went very smoothly. At Ipswich we are very luck to have one of the best supporters clubs in the country so I would like to thank them for their efforts. One especially pleasing aspect of last season was the huge success of the Junior Witches Club. With membership currently running at 112 it exceeded all expectations and was a pleasure to be a part of when the youngsters came down to the pits to meet their favourite riders and toss the coin for gate positions before the meeting. Many of the questions at the end of the night were understandably centred on “what’s the team going to be” or a variation of that. Its rather like being confronted by 50 Elvin Kings!! Unfortunately for them they got just as non committal answers as Elvin’s been getting from us the last couple of months. I know how frustrating it must be to hear so little news but all I can say it’s a constant job that we are working extremely hard on.
On a much more positive note club sponsorship seems to be continuing in the vein of the last couple of years and deals are set to be confirmed for The Evening Star and Axa Insurance to continue their much valued support. Keep an eye on the Evening Star for that news. Sponsorship and advertising is extremely important to keep the club competing at the top level and our Commercial Manager Austin Dack has been working very hard to increase the financial support the club needs.
The new suit design is also ready and I have been lucky enough to have a sneak preview, put it this way you should see us coming and if the lights fail again you’ll know where your boys are to cheer them on!!
Well that’s all for this week folks and just a quick piece of advice for any youngsters checking out my site this week, check in the wardrobes especially the spare room cuz those parents will hide them prezzies anywhere. Good Luck!! Merry Christmas and have a great New Year. Here’s to a happy and successful 2006, bring it on. I’ll be back after Christmas so until then have fun.
Cheers,
Chris.
4.12.05
Hi guys, apologies for the delays between updates, the Conference and the subsequent workload have left me with little time to put pen to paper. I guess Tenerife would be the best place to start. Not being a “promoter” I was not involved in the meetings themselves but just on hand to give JL someone to bounce ideas off. Oh and psychologist, stress therapist, cigarette machine runner and evening entertainments officer. In general the outcome of the three days was satisfactory and in my opinion the lowering of the points limit to 40 was absolutely necessary. With Reading joining the Elite League (I’m really looking forward to going back there) the only way to generate enough riders for eleven teams was to lower the limit and I genuinely believe no one will be disappointed with the competition once we get going.
It was great to see the Premier League taking on a system suggested by Peter Oakes which uses a grading system for reserves who are all English. Great idea and nice to see that the promoters could see the advantages of bringing on young British talent, nice one lads. I would like to see more thought going in to how the Conference League is structured and indeed wish that some of the promoters would stop to think about why it was formed in the first place and put it back on track.
Things got very interesting on the last day when a forum mole was found amongst us. There had been suspicions since the very first evening but it wasn’t until the last day when he was tailed that we could be sure of his identity. He is, I must warn you, a marked man around the stadiums of British Speedway. You should all see him at some stage of the season, he’ll be the one tied to the airfence with a hat marked “I'm a Forum Mole.”
Well after all that about the boring old conference I guess you’ll be wanting some news on the team front. No need to keep you in suspense any longer, the team for 2006 is; oh where’s that piece of paper I wrote it down on? Sorry I know it must be really frustrating to have no news at all but we will be in a position to let you know what’s happened so far in few days time. If it was down to me I would release the team only when it was complete but I can understand the fans need to be kept informed.
Bob has been working tirelessly on the track since the end of the season and I have to say it looks great and I know he cant wait for your comments once the seasons underway! I'm sure you’ll waste no time in letting him know your thoughts!
On a personal front my training is going great although the first couple of days home from Tenerife were a bit tough. Bike prep is well underway and with a few new ideas I'm optimistic that I should have a little more speed than last year.
Should have a little more for you to get your teeth in to so until next week, take care.
Chris.
10.11.05
Hi and welcome to my first column which I plan to update regularly with news, views and results from the world of Chris Louis Racing and Ipswich Speedway.
As its high on this weeks agenda at the club the first subject I’m going to address is the Foxhall track. I noticed at various times throughout the season it came under the spotlight especially on the Witches forum. Firstly to clear up any misunderstandings as to who decides on the type of surface to prepare, that is always down to JL after consultation with the team. In 2005 the track was in general slicker than we have been used to in the past and this was down to two main reasons. Firstly after a couple of early performances on heavy tracks it was thought that our team would benefit from a slicker surface due in part to some inexperience on the tighter British tracks coupled with their ability to start and lack of confidence to race from the back. Another major factor was the condition of the base of the track that had been completely devastated during our opening meetings with frost still in the ground. This was something that took Bob and Keith Ellis almost half the season to completely overcome and left the base surface delicately thin. I rate our track staff easily among the best in the country and anyone who knows the conditions they had to work under just to keep the track to hold together would agree that they did a superb job.
In order that we won’t suffer the same fate in 2006 we are working this week to rebuild the base with 60 tons of new dirt. It will be spread over the corners, bladed level and packed in and then regularly bladed as it settles through the winter months. The first couple of meetings will be critical to be sure that we maintain the track in perfect condition and then Bob and Keith will be able to spend their time preparing the race surface as they want and not just repairing all the time.
I hope that gives you all an insight in to the enormous and often thankless task of track staff not only at Ipswich but all over the world, we just happen to have the best.
So what sort of track can we expect in 2006? Well that will depend on the team but the way things are going I think we could expect a little more dirt and a lot more racing?
Bye for now,
Chris.