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Over 80 so they should have had their Covid jabs done at least... Regards THJ

Unbelievable signing. If Crumpie don't pull the crowds in, nothing will!

Anyone thinking that young Hancock is ready for a championship place in the main body of the team needs to seriously wobble their head . He's miles off that level at the moment. In a team that's going to have a seriously long tail Plymouth will need someone with more experience even if there average is low .

This is the nail hit on the head - What a signing and opportunity this is for Plymouth. This has to be one of, if not the biggest signings in the second tier of British Speedway ever. Assuning everything goes to plan with covid etc, I bet there will be a massive crowd at the first match. Assuming they win their home matches the crowds should hang about too. Best of luck to them and intrigued by the final 5 signings

If we are allowed to watch....never thought I would see Scotty v Crump at Central Park. Great signing for the Championship supporters.

It obviously will be but it will give every team in the championship its highest crowd of the season and a massive boost for speedway at this level

I really don't understand why people have such a problem with doubling up.

Sadly what we have is the obvious legacy to years of running the sport with a very narrow insular view which, when added to a lack of any clear direction, resulted in what we have today.. And you wont solve these issues 'overnight', however.. There does appear to be more of a forward thinking collection of promoters out there nowadays, who can see the bigger picture that they desperately need to follow.. This year might end up "a bit Mickey Mouse" given teams may end up sharing riders all over the place to get meetings on... But let's be honest it's been "a bit Mickey Mouse" for many years hasnt it? So lets give them a bit of slack this season with the hope a 'new dawn' is around the corner..

"One, Three, Five, Seven, Something To Shout About in Devon!" Truly, "A Field Of Dreams" moment - If you build it they will come! The most positive Speedway News in over twelve months. Well done Plymouth.

Surely after the first set of averages, Plymouth will be able to bring a stronger rider in to help the bottom end ?

Fantastic signing for Plymouth and for the Championship.

Ordered it yesterday afternoon, it came today before 2pm.. Always liked Kelvin, even when he seemed to be less than a favourite of many of the English fans.. (Although to be fair to be him, many of the fans at that time seemed to think they were all Americans).. And for me, does a great job on the commentary with Nigel P... Not everyone's cup of tea, but who cares, they sell the sport fantastically well...

But why is it "why out of hand"? With no clashes in fixtures anymore what the difference in a rider doing Ipswich & Plymouth than a rider doing Ipswich & Wroclaw for example?

I'm not Josh's biggest fan but he is seriously entertaining round the EWR . Please remember in modern speedway a high average just means you can gate really well plus it's none of your business who our last rider is so trot on back to the Plymouth thread

ah but the thing with josh auty is that he is a CLASS ACT around the ewr, so at least the scorps fans get entertainment value.

Understatement. He has only ridden one senior meeting, and he is only 15.

we were there 3 times in the nl the last season we rode 2019 twice called off once for rain once for the track but they did try to fix it but just made it worse third time track was good raced well it’s a really technical track good home advantage very tight but there will be plenty passing with more experienced riders and a good track man great set up for viewing good luck to them

Good Luck to Plymouth and their promotion - certainly got everyone talking about them, All this fuss about how much it is costing and finances, these are very different times to even two seasons ago, so who knows what deals have been done, I personally think that both these riders are not looking for big paydays and are more likely to just want to ride and enjoy their "twilight" years. I don't know and have no inside knowledge, but I bet their are other riders in the Championship on better deals

I dont think the comets threw the money around just 7 lads who clicked and had a hell of a season.

I remember around '05 to '07 Plymouth were one of the best attended NL clubs getting around 1400 fans regularly & that was with a poor infrastructure of a stadium that, also, regularly flooded due to the high water plain near the club. A lot of these issues are now sorted with a decent sized grandstand & bends banking, I see no reason why they shouldn't surpass 1400 again with those 2 top riders, irrespective of the other 5. The high averages will only be for team building purposes so when Crump & Pedersen get their true averages for the Championship, I would expect changes to be made.

Forgive my technical ignorance, but what is the advantage of using an app, as opposed to just accessing a website?

Good luck to Plymouth, but I thought speedway was bankrupt ?!! Hope it does not end in tears like at Workington

I dont know what the capacity is, but if Plymouth have to worry about Capacity then im sure the management will be thrilled. Their is from memory open banking on the 3rd and 4th bends, that in itself will hold a few thousand.

Not necessarily a comeback but it was a massive shame Ipswich didn't resign the cowboy in 97 and again for 2001. I think 97 was very close to happening and Cook went on record in during an interview after his short stint with Lynn in 2000 that he fancied riding for the witches again. That after a mighty impressive 13 points at Foxhall for Lynn.

Told you ..even if Crumpy & Pedersen are both 40+ at this level surely thats some serious artillary and a real statement of intent by Gladiators ? As they say "Gladiators are you ready" ? YES ! "Scorpions are you ready" eeerrrr am not so sure ?

Don't wind up my scunthorpe friends they are a very envious sensitive bunch thj !

Nice to see some agree with my views! Look's like the promoters are going wholesale against number 5 nearly all riders in the Premiership also riding in the Championship - what's the difference? only the admission charge, gives speedway no credibility.

I much preferred you when you frequented the NL threads

Only slightly less than their ages

I think its slightly narrower but not that much.

I had the privilege of attending Olle's school three times in the late 80's. He wasn't that good a teacher as he never made me into a speedway rider. Well, thinking about that, it may have been my complete lack of ability rather than his poor teaching lol. But the best thing of all we that he liked a drink. Myself and one or two others sat up well into the night talking speedway, with Olle holding court which some great stories. A true character, gentleman and servant to speedway. RIP Olle

Still a few meetings in Kent for me to go to. It's a decent afternoon out, with most of the tracks only an hour from my home.

He always gets found out when the real top riders of the league come to Scunny though..

Recall reading that he was instrumental in Ipswich winning at Sheffield in 1972 when some members of the "Tigers" team were making a nuisance of themselves and Olle decided to get tough with them.

Giving how many points Plymouth have left to complete their team I highly doubt that.

Correct, and I think people posting about him probably think this too, he is miles away from being ready. I believe he has only rode 1 senior meeting on a 500c bike! It's not beyond the realms of possibility of him actually signing though based on Plymouth's signings so far and his links with Gerry Sims etc.

Your right Phil, he's only just moved from 250cc to 500cc,we will have a long tail and its my guess not alot of experience but what a fantastic opportunity for the rest of the team to learn from to great riders.

You're playing one-upmanship over the demise of a long standing Speedway track..? Obviously a true fan of the sport. The answer to the question is when it was around it was better than the Plymouth "training" track, even in the more recent times. And if your memory goes back long enough it was regarded as one of the best in the country. Yes really!

As it’s likely to be a short , sort of Mickey Mouse season then their gamble on going big might not cost them much especially if they draw a large crowd for the first few home matches. They’ve certainly created some news in dire times for the sport.

I think that there were three (?) and I attended two. Did the first NEC one (I think that there were two (?) but never bothered with Telford...never appealed to me personally.

Plus the fact you aTeam sign there Top2 at the age of 40 years+,who will probably be 60-70% of their budget.!!!! ps Nothing against the riders but let’s be honest it’s just some easy money for them to back up their Premiership earnings.They won’t be taking any risks.

Plymouth are likely to have a better 1,5 than most Premier League teams

Impressive start! Probably going to need a couple of inexperienced youngsters at the bottom end to fit in but can't really ask for 2 better riders to pass on their experience at this level.

Taken from this article Jason Crump would have started 2020 on an 8.20 average. Bjarne Pedersen's last EL average was 6.91. If the conversion rate is 1.6 the averages convert to 13.12 and 11.06 respectively, if the conversion is 1.5 as mooted on this forum those averages become 12.30 and 10.37. With an overall team average of 39 or 38 points for the top six, and the top two taking up 24.18 or 22.67, that would leave 14.82 or 16.33 for the other four riders. If these figuresare confirmed there will be great pressure on Crump and Pedersen to score big points every meeting.

Indeed. I’m guessing they’ll need a good supply of Tiger Balm or Fiery Jack too

There is the minimum distance required but will need some big pads on the supports.

Just love the word 'suggests' which suggests you don't know but heh ...... So - - I would suggest that as he has a UK passport; didn't need a work permit in 2019; rode for the Belle Vue Colts, a NDL team, in 2019 then that clearly makes him 'British' in the eyes of the UK government and British Speedway governing body. Throw in the fact that he is only 18, having arrived in the UK when only 16, ending up with an 8.55 average for the Colts just after a few months, this alone should be enough to make him a rising star - better average than team mate Danny Phillips who is ranked as a 2* rider. Plus he won't be the first rider to take advantage of being able to ride in Australian championship meetings. For example, Tai Woffinden won the 2006 Western Australian Under-16 title, in Perth.

Agree with you all RE Kyle, super smooth, great machines and always turns out profesional, but he did seem to stagnate in 2019. Still young though and plenty of time to improve.

Every rider that has mentioned or said they are considering retirement immediately lose something IMO and once they do stop riding no matter what happens they are never quite the same again , as if something is switched off that can't be turned back on again . I would say it is easier for gaters than "from the the back riders" to continue longer or make reasonable comebacks ,I am still amazed that Hancock (love or hate him) was not just a race winner but a possible GP winner at nearly 50 yrs old .I for one was pleased he left the sport in tact personal reasons aside .

I’ve seen him mentioned on here already, but Jordan Frampton would be great. He was set to get abit further in the sport and I always felt like he could of done a ‘Charles Wright’ and gone to the top of the British scene, especially given the standard nowadays. I don’t think he’s interested anymore in regular action but still had a few practices fairly recently at Somerset within the last few years.