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Soundbites: 3rd April 2006
"I have been sick all last night and a bit this morning,
I wasn't going to miss the meeting, but I have felt better. We wanted the bonus point really tonight, but their top boys were too good.
It was a good team effort by all of us and it was most important to win. We knew it would be hard but we all did our bit."
"Pepe Franc blew his engine when leading in his first race and things went gradually downhill from then on.
At a track like Sheffield you cannot afford to let the opposition beat you out of the gate in every race, but that's what happened and we paid the penalty."
"Whoever decided that the speedway season could start sooner was off the mark.
I don't know about global warming but it has been bitterly cold and then wet at Derwent Park already this season and the next time the BSPA have a vote on start-dates, I shall be putting in my two-penneth."
"It's the first time in my eleven years as a ref I've seen anything like that.
It was very unfortunate, it could have been avoided, and we must put in place actions to make sure something like that never happens again."
"At Poole the conditions had become a lottery, but we had put ourselves in a good position and had we managed to complete 12 heats for a result, I am sure we would have held on to our lead."
"We wagged a bit too long in the tail and Ipswich were solid throughout.
They had no weak links and coming to a place like Foxhall was just a bit too soon for some
of our lads.
The main goal was always to get the bonus point and anything else would have been a big
bonus because have been thumping teams here so far this season."
"Greg, in 2000 when he first came here, enjoyed a drink and a party but he just doesn't do that now.
I couldn't believe the difference this year to how seriously he has taken British speedway, everything from having a settled base near Poole to live, a settled mechanic and equipment that has been built especially for British tracks."
"I'm up for it this year and I want to start as I mean to go on. I got three wins under my belt on our opening night and I felt quick and strong on the bike which is quite a good sign.
There should be no excuses. We have had all winter to sort the bikes and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get another injury-free season and find the form I was showing before I joined Stoke.
"I'm loathe to blacken his name.
If we ask for a rider-replacement facility it means we're saying he has walked out on us - and nobody has done that to me in all my years in the sport. I am very, very sympathetic. If he was a footballer he would be on compassionate leave.
But speedway regulations do not allow you to have these personal circumstances."
"I have been in England for the past month preparing equipment for Todd Wiltshire to use when he rejoins the Cheetahs next month.
That's when I got a call from Aaron Lanney, the Oxford boss, who asked if I could lend a hand to turn things around at Sandy Lane."
"There was so much damage to the bike that there was no time to get it sorted and I had to jump from my first bike to the second. It just was not suited to the conditions.
It is probably the fastest thing I have ridden. I could do with another similar machine! It was very disappointing not to have won because such a good day ended horribly. It was a shame for the team after all the hard work."
"It's not been the most enjoyable start to a season for me.
I can't blame my bikes, it's been down to me making mistakes. I was a lot quicker from the starts on Wednesday, though.
Overall, it was a definite improvement, but we are still weak at the bottom end and can't swap any riders around at the moment if a main rider gets hurt as Davey Watt did on Wednesday."
This article was first published on 3rd April 2006
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