Soundbites: 21st August 2006

Middleditch	Pijper

"Doctors told me to rest, but I can't afford to, I need the money."
Edinburgh's Theo Pijper

"Ryan is finding it very tough at the moment. He is having no end of mechanical problems and doesn't actually have a mechanic over here. He blew another engine within metres of the finish line when he had a victory in the bag and he is going through one of those spells when the gremlins just won't go away. He hopes to bring a mechanic over from Poland at the weekend and won't then be doing all the work on his bikes himself."
Trevor Swales on Ryan Sullivan

"Lubos is an Oxford asset and has improved his average this season by over a point, and I've been more than happy with his progress. I rested Lubos after his tumble against Belle Vue last week and it was an opportunity for Stan Burza to have another match on the Cowley circuit. Lubos will be fit to ride for Oxford at Belle Vue on Monday and will be at No 6 in the Cheetahs team."
Aaron Lanney explains Lubos Tomiceks' omission from the Cheetahs team on Thursday

"Sleepless nights, constant team changes and successive league defeats - these are not fun days to be team manager of my beloved RIAS Pirates."
Neil Middleditch

"It's not the outcome I'm peeved about as I have to accept the decision. But I do feel pained about the way it was done. It seems like I was the last one in the speedway world to find out and those I've spoken to since feel the situation was handled very badly. I feel it was wrong when, after five seasons as a Stoke rider, Dave Tattum chose to tell me I was being dropped over the phone."
Alan Mogridge

"We've been threatening to produce such an awesome performance for quite a while now and tonight it all came together. Even when my riders found themselves behind at any stage in a race, they simply refused to accept defeat and battled to overtake their opponents and, by and large, succeeded in those endeavours."
Dave Croucher on the Islanders victory over Rye House

"You can only ride against what is here, but there was some good racing and at least the boys won again. It may not have been in the best of circumstances, but the victory maintains our 100 per cent home record and confirms our place in the final."
Mike Bowden on Plymouth's victory over a five man Stoke side

"I'm really happy with the way things are coming together, but it wasn't going so well earlier in the year. I had a lot of engine problems and I spent £3,000 without getting anywhere. I had a few crashes - I think maybe I was trying too hard - and I broke my finger in one of them. I was at the end of my tether and I was ready to throw in the towel."
Third generation rider Rusty Hodgson who made his Redcar debut yesterday

"This is all about confidence for our lads. They are so determined to score well and earn the money, and with each big win like this it gives them confidence when they have tough away matches, or when they have some tricky situations to overcome at home."
King's Lynn manager Rob Lyon after yet another huge home win

"We have gone back to what we know best. At the start of the season we had a good set-up, and things were going well. Then we started to mess about with the machinery, and some of my meetings proved disappointing. Having gone back to basics I am now gaining the rewards, and my bikes were going well last night."
Kim Jansson

"Our result at Eastbourne was not as bad as some of our other performances last week. I think everyone is running out of energy in the team and we are struggling a bit in the meetings. This has been a tough week for the boys and it has been hard for me riding in every second race."
Bjarne Pedersen of Poole

"It's not my way to shout my mouth off and I'd like to think I showed tonight that I can still race competitively and can justify a team place. Having said that, I was really up for this one and the Stoke promotion knew it."
Paul Thorp after scoring 12 for new club Stoke against Workington, the club that axed him

"I did the best I can at the meeting - now I've just got to wait and see if I get nominated. I thought I did very well in what is the hardest meeting of the speedway season - I went there with the target of a top-five place in the meeting and that is what I achieved."
Bomber Harris - He narrowly missed out on automatic qualification for the 2007 GP series

"We cannot run Premier League speedway at Mildenhall under my promotion in 2007 but should there be pledges of sponsorship or an upturn in crowd numbers, then I will look at it again. I would listen to sensible offers if someone felt that, with fresh ideas, they could make a go of it in the Premier League, but it has got to be right for the club and myself."
Mick Horton

This article was first published on 21st August 2006

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