It was disappointing to lose our first home meeting of the season but normally we start with some sort of ‘challenge match’ but we didn’t have that this year which didn’t give the new boys a chance to settle. There are no excuses though, Scunthorpe were the better team on the night. Away at Scunthorpe it was a good result but we should have won I believe. We showed a lot of promise though, we only got three points from Morten’s (Risager) rides, so if he was riding I’m confident we would have won. Although we didn’t win though it was nice to take some positives away from it and now we are looking to getting back into action at home starting on Saturday against Sheffield.

The team are gelling well and everyone is getting on. Getting together early in Italy was good and we got the chance to bond so that when the season started we knew each other. A few of us went for a practice at Birmingham recently too and obviously Darryl (Ritchings) and Danyon (Hume) ride there, so it’s been good to spend some time together with the team.

I had a few bike problems early on in the season but I seem to have got to the bottom of those now as I’ve had a good couple of meetings for Coventry since we made the adjustments and hopefully I can push on from here. It’s been a mega busy start to the season and it does not get any quieter in April with plenty of fixtures to come. That’s good though and that’s what the boys want now that the season has started. You want to keep on the bike and keep riding and it’s important we don’t have too long off and stay in good form on the bike.

There is not much more room for error in our League Cup campaign and we need to get a couple of wins really especially away from home if we can. I think we can do it though and all the boys are progressing well with each week. It’s the same with Lewi (Kerr). Our home meeting with Scunthorpe was his first meeting back after his big injury, so he was a bit nervous obviously but now everyone has had a few meetings to settle in I’m sure everyone will see the best of us.

I was part of the field set to race in the opening night at the new National Speedway Stadium at Belle Vue and it was a bit of a disaster really as you all know! What a fantastic stadium it is and what a venue it is going to be when it is all sorted. It is so sad that it started the way it did up there. The track was not ready it is as simple as that but when it is ready I think it is going to be the best venue in England for sure.

It’s also sad what has gone on at Plymouth and I hope there is some positive news in the near future, we want as many teams competing as possible in our league racing and I hope something is sorted out soon.

Finally, Tai (Woffinden) announced his decision not to ride in this year’s British Final. For me I’d always want to ride in my national final and fight for the national title, it’s a big honour and someone as good as him should be doing it I suppose. However, he has not got machinery over here and it would cost him a lot of money to get over here and transport his kit so I can see his side of it, it’s a difficult decision for him. It certainly opens up the field though!

All the best,

Danny