Leaderboard

OK, it’s a cold and boring Friday morning so I’ll take the bait…. 1. Louis has decided to strengthen the team by bringing in Brennan. 2. Therefore, in the same way as Belle Vue ‘somebody has to go’ to accommodate that strengthening. 3. Two clubs offered Rew a significant uptick on his points money. He was ‘keen to stay’ but expected Louis to move towards his new offered points money. 4. Any business when hiring an individual weighs up cost v benefit i.e. value for money and it would appear that in this case Louis decided that did not stack up for him as the owner of the business. 5. I have no issue with Rew wanting to increase his earnings and another team being willing to pay accordingly, that’s called Capitalism. I wish Rew all the best and hope that we see him back as a Witch at some point in the future.

Waste of money!

No, because he’s still on the rising star list as he meets the qualifying criteria. Whether a club uses him in any position from 1-6 is irrelevant. You only get a 25% reduction when you first exit the rising star scheme due to no longer meeting the qualifying criteria. Dan Gilkes will get the standard 2.5% British reduction, not 25%.

Would love to add Erik Riss to that team

And here was me thinking this thread was a Birmingham Brummies one.............

Matt marson ? The Australian that the evil Belle Vue colts have allowed to steal the place of a young English rider. maybe mark lemon should note how the angelic Chris Louis operates and nurtures young English talent.

What about that new Russian rider than contracted covid? Tikaly Chestikov

Looking forward to brummies visit to Foxhall, Zagar has alway been a classy rider despite what some say on here.

boomers from 50s 60s era when there was less snowflakes about, but more snow.😁

Oi 😅

The original thought was he would be on a 4.00, but the Regulations say that riders with Ekstraliga experience start on a minimum 5.00, and that was imposed. I think, although not sure, the Witches had to re-jig their team plans because of their incorrect assumption. Overall, I reckon 5.67 is a decent average for a rider who had a tough learning curve at Foxhall - his improvement this season was tangible. I'm with others in that: i) I agree signing Brennan was a no-brainier, and ii) I think Rew was more likely to have been retained - with either King or, most likely, Ellis, making way. From Louis' comments, Rew played a part in the decision for him to move on.

Not really sure why the Lions team was announced over a number of days being as there were absolutely no surprises whatsoever in the team selection and 99.9 % of the supporters already knew the line up.

Try retro Speedway

The 4TT used to be great and emphasised the variety we were exposed to “back in the day”. Am I remembering correctly; teams would begin the completion in sections (Glasgow were in with Edinburgh, Berwick and Newcastle, typically) and after all teams had a home meeting, the side with the most points would be seeded to the 4TT final at Peterborough? I seem to recall a different scenario, where eight sides across semi-finals would fight for a place in the grand final on the same date, also at Peterborough. I’d welcome its return. I think it would be a great addition to the British speedway calendar.

Think Steady picked the wrong Christmas film

Just checked and I've got Tomato Ketchup, HP, Lea & Perrins, Henderson's, Tabasco, Light Soy and two bottles of Tropical Sun Hot Pepper sauce

My mistake, must have misunderstood what I was told. I’ll add to the fun , as I don't know the proper averages.. Wright Riss Jorgensen Edwards Mulford Bailey and Phillips ( doubling up in Tigers NDL )

Funny people saying Zagar is a waste of money, Zagar of a few seasons ago was making good money Last season he was unattached, this season he has a ride in Poland and wants to keep more active He's definitely not on the sort of money he was on previously in the UK and in Poland tho polish money is obviously far superior

Contrary to one or two sceptics on here. I think we have put together a team that has room to add to their averages. With the league losing one or two big hitters theres room for others to step up. We should be strong at home. While we do have riders who know the tracks so we should be capable of being in the meeting away from home. No 1 Steve Worrall only committing to Scunny should allow him to focus on finding form after being out last season. Being local to the EWR will make it an easy commute for home meetings. Jake just had to be back. In this league he can be the No2. His ability is not in question he will always score well at home. He just needs to find that level on our travels. He brings a lot to the party so was always on a return ticket. We had to take a bit of a leap of faith this time. The Championship needs new talent to come in. Some of that is in the shape of the British Youth scene. Luke is a brilliant example of this. He really showed his potential last season. He is very capable of upping his average. But we had to cast the net wider and I am excited to see the return of Zaine Kennedy and brother Declan making his UK debut. This could prove a shrewed move with both starting in the reserve berths. Zaines better than his 4.27 starting average for sure. While Dec on 4.00 might suprise a few once he is dialled in. Both are welcome additions to the league as a whole. Australia has and continues to be a prolific supply line of racing talent. In Lambo and Connor we have two racers who will aim for double figures round Scunny. Connor is still a developing British talent. He demonstrated he can hold his own in the Premiership last season at Belle Vue. He can kick on in 2025 and can be a third heat leader. Lambo equally will want to bounce back in 2025 and put all his know how to the cause. He rode through a tough period in 2024 but his scores held up pretty well. I read hes investing in new bikes for next season. The commitment to the club is there at every turn from Lambo. So I think the management have used our 40pts well. I think the Scorpions 2025 promise to be a mix of the tried and trusted. With the odd roll of the dice that we need to try. Its going to be a good watch seeing where the Winter takes us. Have a good one roll on March

There is no such thing as a rider being “sacked” after October 31st. Every rider becomes a free agent after this date, and is then free to negotiate terms with anyone they choose. Likewise, every promotion are free to negotiate with anyone they choose to assemble a team of seven riders for the new season. They can be any seven riders, as long as the septet falls below an agreed points limit. Just because a rider(s) has ridden for a certain team that season, doesn’t mean they have any right to a team place the following year. That’s all self explanatory and common sense. To most people.

Zagar class act when he in the mood but imo better riders for the money out there

Pearson was able to guest because he had an established Championship MA (Green Sheet) of 5.02, which was subject to the 1.5 conversion factor. There's nothing else in the Regs regarding guest riders to overrule that. Indeed, looking at the assessed riders Regs, there's nothing explicit about what happens to a rider who is subject to the minimum assessed average and then moves from Champ to Prem, if their converted average falls below the minimum. If you think that's wrong, e-mail the BSPL and SCB to let them know.

thats not what a boomer would say, sticks and stones and all that.

Tell me if you like

I’ve heard Gilkes wanted too much money.

I know but I'm not going to tell you

but playing devils advocate they would have a lot less recent uk experience people like nilsson thorsell and jeppesen may take a while to readjust

Money as I believe Ellis would've been dropped if Rew didn't ask for so much. Been told he was paid enough this season gone but performed at reserve most he season.

the fours were great both the qualis and the sunday afternoon at alwalton bring em back i say

According to the SGB Championship 2025 - Confirmed Signings post: Workington Comets 1 - 2 - Fraser Bowes (5.00) 3 - Jye Etheridge (4.98) 4 - Antti Vuolas (6.40) 5 - Tate Zischke (6.96) 6 - Vinnie Foord (3.90) 7 - Total Average: 27.24 so 12.76 left for the last two riders

You have to give Louis credit, he has done pretty much everything he can with the track within the constraints imposed to improve the racing spectacle.

Aye I meant two, late night lol.

Team declaration regs and guest regs are totally different scenarios (whether they should be is another matter) Don't even need a lawyer to work this one out

Probably thinking "You need 7 riders not 6, you wazzock"

Conscious uncoupling - mostly.

Really, that looks like a play-off team to me, can't imagine it would fit under the limit, although I don't know riders assessed averages.

Is he not rumoured for Poole? Not sure if the 2 brit rule has changed, you can't keep up with changes at times

Riss; Wright , MPT wasn't that the excellent heat leader trio that won them the KOC in 2019? Riss , Wright , King would be even stronger especially if DK wasn't usual Heat 15 pick. Edwards is a steady improver perfectly capable of adding 1.5 points to that average as is Mulford... If either of those options are 1-5 Redcar could be title contenders for me.

How naff is that?! And Neil Ruddock doesn't look very impressed either!

That will be the same Landshut team that Charles Wright has signed for as well

Maybe some people aren't as "savvy" with averages as you D1pSH1T

Great to see all the heat leaders back from 2024 and more importantly Picko who I think average close to 8

Don't think there is anywhere to put a track down cardiff or newport u could do a Sweden and put in a forest away from moan a minute people,but I suppose u might disturb some animals

Don't think Forgein riders can drop below 4

2 retirements announced today in Poland Kasprzak and Miedzinski

What is your problem with Scunthorpe or more to the point the Promoter,Scunny are and will be top four again next season . Riders get paid on time every time unlike others

Are you a Tory politician!!?? Selective quoting at its finest 🤣🤣 the following sentence… “I’m quite excited to be going back into battle with the same guys. Obviously, Keynan is one change, for his reasons mostly, which is fine and it’s certainly not closing the door on his Ipswich career. I like to think we gave him his chance and helped his first couple of years development, and he did make big improvements last year. I certainly don’t see that as the end of his Ipswich days that’s for sure.” Chris Louis

I think Riss could be on his way to Workington apparently loves the track

Ipswich had more points spare than Leicester, especially after the Dan T reduction, but they were a stronger team than Leicester last year (till injuries). Don't see how Leicester could've built a team to rival them, unless making wholesale changes.