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Yes quite considerably up which I’m surprised about. We have a team that works as a team and although we won’t be topping the table we are getting lots of effort and entertainment. I think we will do well at home and get several thrashings away.

Oh dear the amazing vanishing posts... It reminds me of the Joke about the Lady Cleaner who whilst undertaking her job in the local working men's club and upon entering the Gents toilet found a drawing on the wall of a mans appendage, so immediately, and to protect everyone's modesty she washed it off. The next morning she did her rounds again and low and behold the offending drawing had reappeared much to her chagrin, again she washed off the graffiti and completed her tasks. Next morning she set about her work and again on the third day the appendage had reappeared even larger and bolder than before and this went on for the whole week, each morning a larger drawing on the toilet wall of a mans appendage which was starting to frustrate the Lady Cleaner so she wrote a note on the wall which said "Please stop drawing rude pictures on this wall" to which on the eight day she found a picture of the offending article that filled the full wall with the comment underneath "The more you rub the bigger it gets" Happy trails Regards THJ

You're just a Swindon Troll & you have the nerve to criticize Gavan over Poole. Try being honest for once in your life, it won't hurt you!

If you don't believe that Zach will score more as the season go's on, then you know nothing about speedway. Each season he has slowly increased his average.

No-one mentioned Peter York yet? Having put up with him at Coventry for several seasons commenting on each race my answer is definitely NO it is not needed and is damn annoying.

If all teams keep the same line ups then in my opinion Swindon will win the league. The top 3 will score more than enough to cover the rest most of the time. Cant read to much into the Swindon v Poole meeting as no riders knew the track........and Swindon had the bad luck in that meeting as well...... Swindon soon made light work of the Poole side in the return Swindon have rode 5 matches and their heat leaders have scored 35,33,41,30,,32 As you can see from that they dont need much from the other 4 to win a meeting and in most cases Ellis is always good for 6. In the match where the heat leaders scored 30, Lampart and Ellis scored 18 between them Look at Poole and Ipswich heat leaders in comparison 23,17,31,21,24 for Poole 29,14,23,18,19 for Ipswich Both Poole and Ipswich reliant on reserves doing well and if they dont the team will always be beaten It just happens that Ipswich reserves are flying 17,19,17,14,20........and like last night v Swindon we have reserves scoring 20 and still only win by 6. Poole are struggling because they have built strength in depth but unlike Ipswich their reserves havent been as good 13,13,7,12,9............if you build strength in depth you need the reserves to pop up with 15 plus Swindon will win most meetings and keep most away meetings close which is the recipe to win the league. Only Belle Vue and Wolves look like troubling them Dogfight for 4th between Ipswich and Lynn with Poole and Peterborough looking also rans..........but rider changes can make a difference

Swindon’s reserves will be their achilles heel all season but they faced the leagues strongest pair last night, probably better to judge them properly after a few more home meetings against the other sides. Swindon are hardly struggling as a team so far but one change if the opportunity arises could turn them into league winners.

Agree wholeheartedly - one other point - Parade 10 mins before start time. 1st heat bang on start time. 1hour 45 mins/ 2 hours (at the latest) everything wrapped up.

A blip due to the track. Last year we were poor at home early in the season but look what happened there. Poole will be there come playoffs. Happy to have a £100 on it with anyone.

I also think it's a daft idea ,when we can clearly see what is happening. Also, would we be able to hear above the noise of the bikes, plus in some parts of a stadium we cannot always hear the race result being announced. Might it also cause noise problems with the neighbours?

Me too LOL, I remember Ashley Jones commentating on a race at the end of the 2005 season, it was great fun and definitely added to the race It would definitely be great for the kids who would be better engaged imho ..... ask Phoebe lol

Wallinger was always a bizarre signing. He's not that good, and he has baggage. But, to give him the R/R ride in heat 5, when he's already programmmed for heats 4 and 6, was an amazing display of incompetent team management. Three rides on the trot is a tough ask anywhere for a man not in his first flush of youth, but 3 on the trot around the IOW is impossible. It's not surprising he didn't score all night after that.

Thanks for clarifying. I was hoping to pay with some magic beans when I came up to 4 point road later in the season but will have to make do with cash instead.

Is it just me or is Jenga like Thrush He's irritating

Your much better off putting that ton in to the ‘Shale for Wimborne Road’ fund rather than giving it to Brum.

Buzz was the Tac for Lindback Col..... Hence he went in 15 as well. . Watching Polish Speedway really does show up how poor the offering is in the UK... And I don't mean the best riders being on show, as it's clear the UK cannot afford them.. For me it's the whole package that leaves us decades behind regardless of the standard of rider.. Fans all in T Shirts of their teams.. It would cost approx one heat leaders salary for one match over here to buy 1000 T shirts at cost and give them away to fans.. The riders lined up waiting for the 2 minute whistle meaning they all come out together building up atmosphere, (music being played as they enter the track).. Buzz had four minutes allocated between HT 14 and 15 to be ready... The racing starting 2 mins after the whistle so riders don't go back to get things rechecked as they don't have time, and gardening has to be done quickly.. The starts meticulously ran by the Marshall with head phones on directly linked to the ref meaning tyres are mm away from the tapes, hence no rolling at the starts and each rider has to comply or the ref instructs the Marshall to speak with the one not following orders.. The mechanics and managers all in club colours, not their own overalls... All these things bring professionalism to the sport and it's also noticeable how tribal it is, there is hardly any congratulations given to an opponent by the riders, (which may be down to not being able to ride on any given night for every team in the league like you can over here, being team mates one night in the Premiership and rivals the next in the leagues below)... And all done and dusted under two hours inclusive of TV advert breaks.. Unlike over here, the only thing Mickey Mouse about Polish Speedway is the ZG badge! No wonder the crowds are so good..

Just switched it on and an interview was taking place... Screen said ZG : GRU. 20:30.... I thought "wow never thought that would happen"... Then they cut to the line ups standing for the National Anthem... And I realised it was the start time!!!

Leicester Speedway‏ @SpeedwayLions 9m9 minutes ago More MEETING ALERT Lions boss Stewart Dickson: “The forecast does not look good for tomorrow. We’ve a contingency plan which will be Sunday at 5.30pm. We’d like to thank the Newcastle promotion & riders for agreeing if necessary to run Sunday. A decision will be made at 9am Saturday.

We only need Zach & James to pick up 5/6 points between them per meeting. At this stage they don’t look like doing this however I have every faith that they will get better. Both young English lads trying to make their way. That in itself should be looked at as a positive. Zach is still u21...the other teams do have stronger reserves however our top 5 is the strongest in the league. We’ve been away to Wolves in the league & lost by 2 points (Our teams first get together & not many sides will run them as close), beaten Poole at a canter & taken a point at Ippo. Poole’s draw at Swindon was mainly down to it being an even playing field as the track was an unknown for both teams.I would be surprised if Poole repeat this again at Swindon on the 27th May but lots can happen in 4 weeks! Will Poole be on rider number 9 by then?

Every so often someone brings this idea up and every time the response is broadly the same. A completely silly idea - please, no-one ever bring this idea up again.

Good vibes around the Abbey at the moment. 2 good size crowds, some good racing on the new track, good results, and with Lee Kilby coming in as co-promotor much better communication with the fans. Even some people that havent been for years are interested again.

and Arena Essex

Still chat to Martin Ashby, Barry Duke, Mike Keen on the Swindon terraces.

It's a pity Wally Loake isn't with us now, there was a man who could " paint a picture with words "when it came to race commentary.

29/04 not 29/05

Swindon haven’t struggled at all so far despite their reserves not scoring well, taking at least a point out of each meeting away from home. They are the standout team of the season so far. However will be interesting to see what happens when teams strengthen up later in the season if Swindon respond as well. With a top 4 performing well they only need 3 or 4 points from each of the bottom 3 to be in with a chance in most meetings this season. Early days I know but so far no struggles at Swindon.

For sure.

The story around Mildenhall seems to be that Malcom Vasey recommended to include Wallinger in the team and he obviously chose to put him in again last night but 0 from all his rides from a so called heat leader

Agree. Swindon’s top 5 is strong but they all need to click all the time, otherwise it’s a struggle. Poole proved that with the draw at Blunsdon and looking the better team all night. Swindon’s reserves were completely tailed off against Covatti and Jakobsen. Last night it was the same at Ipswich and Swindon’s reserves again failed to beat an opponent, other than what was gifted. The Robins will struggle without changes and won’t win the league with this lineup.

Commentating during a live speedway race is idiotic! We can see what is going on, so why do we need to be told? That is even when they get it right ...

First trip to Foxhall and thoroughly enjoyed it. Cracking ride from Adam when we needed it in heat 14. Don't think Jason will be team riding for a while again as he definitely looked across to see Lampart before Allen swooped passed them both. Still he had 3 and a half laps to pass Jake and couldn't. Good ride from Jake. i was at the wrong angle to know if Batch had a justifiable reason to be so unhappy with KP though I see one poster on here thought he might. I did see Heeps lose control and side swipe Tobi but with no one coming down the race was never going to be stopped. The same way King was always going to go when Batch went sideways, very similar to the Lampart Josh G incident at Swindon v Poole. Doyle was class and wheelying in victory in a couple of heats. Tobi was on top form not sure if his first ride incident fired him up. Great first and second bend in heat 15 when Lawson tried to take him wide. We had all the Batchs on display and as previously said when we needed him Adam came up trumps. Lampart went from not being able to turn to being competitive if not scoring too many points. The two reserves struggled and Zach so far isn't gating like he did last year. Be interesting to see when they meet lesser averaged reserves. On Ipswich side Allen was superb. Nothing is going right for Bellego, because it definitely looked like he thought the race would be stopped when Shanes fell. Finally, very friendly bunch of Ipswich fans near me and some good banter and a wish for my safe journey home. Only got back at 3am after dropping son off in London but well worth it.

Connor is a100% trier.... always worth a shot in any team Keeping up the family tradition...... his dad , Michael , was a good second string for Belle Vue .. grandad Bob was also a good rider.

I think it was a reasonable race with positions in doubt/close together - plus it was Lynn vs Ipswich! The other thing to remember is of course the BSPA adore Harris, always have and I'll never forget the year they changed the Cardiff wildcard just to ensure he was there. Wouldn't surprise me to see him in the SON either.

He really struggled with the track last night, and from memory fell four times. The R/R picks were bizarre to say the least!

It would be interesting to know if it was something that would go down well with the younger audience, although I doubt it. They'd probably prefer an app on their phone which shows them who is winning in real time with graphics and stats. As an oldtimer, I certainly wouldn't want race commentary. I've seen it tried before (even when I was young) and I always found it annoying. For something like Stock Cars, where you have no idea who is winning, commentary is necessary. And other motorsports where you can't see the whole circuit. But in speedway you can see the whole track and it's obvious who is winning. Speedway is more like football. You can see the whole arena and what's happening, so you wouldn't want John Motson down your earhole while trying to watch the match.

8 points from Swindons reserves in most meetings will win them the league Doyle , Batch and Musi will get 30-35 points most meetings if not more so if Swindons reserves get 8 thats 38-43 and then the other 2 riders hardly need to score much. If you build a weak 1-5 like Poole then no, 8 points from your reserves is not enough.........as proved in Pooles home meeting v Swindon. A top heavy side like Swindon will walk the league if the reserves score 8

Becker looked good at the NSS, so he's obviously not a 1 track pony, some good youngsters coming through the ranks, pity the support from new younger fans is not there. Come on Promoters Save Our Speedway

Wells scored paid eleven in your last home meeting against some people’s favourites for the league, if that’s all at sea I hope Lynn’s whole team can be from now on. In all seriousness Wells will be fine once he has a few more NSS meetings and gets into the groove for Edinburgh. Can see Aces winning this by more than the supporters cup clash, something like 54-36.

Are crowd sizes up from last season?

More and more punters aren’t willing to risk going to speedway on anything other than a dry evening nowadays so you can’t blame clubs for making an early decision if the forecast is poor.

Great to see some cracking racing this week from Wolves and Ipswich on social media.

Don’t get we wrong, it’s part of one of the many things wrong with speedway these days and one of the reasons why I only attend if the weather is ok. I’m not taking a risk of wasting my time and money in case it’s off. Im sure the promoters feel pretty similar. It’s their business and their money. No one in the sport can afford unnecessary losses these days so I now have sympathy. Sadly however it’s made me a part time supporter as well.

It was lampart last week the blokes an idiot

I quite like Coles he was at Newcastle a couple of seasons ago his gating wasn’t too bad he was usually in points scoring positions but just couldn’t get the hang of brough park and he used to fall quite often unfortunately, when he later got dropped. I’ve always thought he had something about him but for whatever reason he hasn’t seemed to have kicked on which is a shame.

Becker is a talent and givin luck will go far in the sport.IMO.

You don't have to understand it. Whether it is legal or not, it has worked in speedway for many decades without any major serious problems. There are tribunals to resolve issues that occur and an appeal procedure. Nobody is forced to ride where they don't want to ride, and in the case of transfers between clubs, the rider has to agree to be bought and is entitled to a percentage of the transaction, and if he stays with the same promotion for over 10 years he can be awarded a testimonial meeting keeping the takings from such a meeting. Do you understand that ?

Heat 11 from Monmore on Monday, Becker shows how it's done from gate 4 http://www.wolverhampton-speedway.com/_mobile/news.php?extend.3116

Going same era, but omitting anyone who rode as a reserve 1. Mike Bast 2. Bobby Schwartz 3. Ron Preston 4. Mike Faria 5. Preben Eriksen 6. Bob Kilby 7. Andy Grahame 8. Steve Bastable 9. Peter Ravn 10. Peter Nahlin 11. Bobby Ott 12. Gary Guglielmi 13. Marc Courtney 14. Andrew Silver 15. Neil Collins 16. Joe Owen Really wanted to fit Buzz burrows in as well.

asking for a friend is jenga becoming as tedious as odsal boy

I think Buster Chapman has done great things for UK Speedway. I think Rob Godfrey has too.