JOHN Louis had no complaints about last night's speedway meeting against Swindon at Blunsdon taking place.Looking a rather forlorn figure in the cold and damp, Louis said: “It has been a miserable night all round.

By Elvin King

JOHN Louis had no complaints about last night's speedway meeting against Swindon at Blunsdon taking place.

Looking a rather forlorn figure in the cold and damp, Louis said: “It has been a miserable night all round.

“We knew because the meeting was being televised live that they would get it on if they possibly could.

“The track was wet and at 7pm I don't think anybody thought we would see any racing as it had been raining for 20 minutes and there did not look to be any break in the sky.

“But in the end conditions were not too bad, and it was a fair decision to race. The rain ceased and held off.

“The Swindon top two - Leigh Adams and Lee Richardson - are virtually invincible on their own track, but we had chances and a good result from heat 11 when Chris Louis was riding for double points would have seen us finish closer.

“Kim Jansson took Chris' riding line when he should have been looking.

“That is one of the skills of being a speedway rider and something that has to be learned.

“Swindon is not as easy to ride as it looks, and it is a hard place to come and pick up points.”

Witches' heat leader Mark Loram stressed that the Witches must work on getting better scores in heats 13 and 15 if they are to enjoy any success this season.

The 2000 world champion, who finished third and second in those races at Swindon last night, said: “This will be the key to any success that might come our way.

“Our second string riders and reserves will, I am sure, be able to more than hold their own in the way that we have built our side, but that will mean nothing if we cannot contain the opponents' top men in heats 13 and 15.

“I am not disappointed in my form, but I was very disappointed in my starting.

“If you can't get away from the tapes, then you are giving yourself so much to do and this was the case in this match.

Mike Smillie, the Ipswich team manager, added: “It is certainly a score we can pull back, as I think Swindon will ride as poorly at Foxhall as we did at Swindon.”