SPEEDWAY: Heavens above Hauzinger

8:58am Friday 27th June 2008

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THE Robins supporters may have trudged home wet and miserable after last night's clash with Wolverhampton was postponed, but there was nobody more disappointed than Manuel Hauzinger when the heavens opened above Swindon.

After an afternoon of practice on the Abbey shale, the affable Austrian was relishing the prospect of going wheel-to-wheel with the league's bottom side, but the weather obviously had other ideas.

Sitting on the team truck for the parade lap was the closest Hauzinger came to the track as the heavy rain caused the meeting to be abandoned without a skid mark in sight.

For the rest of the Robins riders the wash-out provided a welcome break after a hectic schedule of seven meetings in 24 days, but for Hauzinger it was an opportunity missed to put the misery of the last week firmly behind him.

He said: "I had such a good meeting on my debut and the first ride at Poole was okay, but after that last week was really hard for me.

"I was looking forward to the meetings against Wolves and Belle Vue because as teams they are not that strong.

"They have some strong riders, but I thought I could get some good points here.

"It is a long way for me to come to score no points, so I wanted to show the fans that I am a good rider.

"I did a few laps with both bikes in practice and it went okay, so I really wanted to ride tonight."

Hauzinger has now returned to the continent ahead of meetings in Austria and Croatia this weekend, before a three-day practice session in Poland next week.

Robins are not back in action until the visit of Belle Vue Aces on July 10, but with a reserve date next Thursday the Wolverhampton clash could yet be rearranged.

And Hauzinger hopes the teething problems he has been experiencing with his engines will be a thing of the past by the time he next slips into Swindon leathers.

He said: "I have struggled all season with this one engine, it is really hard to ride, so maybe I will change a few things in Poland.

"I have fun on the bike, but some days when you're not scoring you think in your head maybe I am not good enough.

"Leigh Adams is helping me a lot, but I have to find the right set-up for myself. I can ask the other boys what they are riding, but I have a different style to them.

"I am sure if I don't put too much pressure on myself I can score some points.

"Now I will go back to Austria where it is 30 degrees, away from all this horrible rain!"