Aces51

Forecast has changed. Now only a 40/50% chance of light rain which should stop before meeting starts. Even if that arrives the drainage at the NSS is so good that it won't be a problem.

I was privileged to see Ronnie race at Hyde Road on many occasions. He was a brilliant rider, he made it look so effortless and was, without doubt, the best exponent of the art of team riding I have seen. My thoughts are with his family and friends.

I think you'll find it's more important to Belle Vue that Wolverhampton don't win both meetings. If they did both Wolverhampton and KL could finish above us and in the play offs.

The discussion was comparing Kurtz's score last night, 11 from 5 rides with Cook's likely score. It was no doubt for that reason that his average was calculated over 5 rides to give a direct comparison. If you discount the bonus points Cook's average is 10, so not much in it either way.

Let's hope not. The current leadership of the BSPA have shown that they have neither the vision or the ability to take the sport forward. Indeed, many would say that speedway in the UK is in a much worse state now than when they took office.

As SteveBrum said, better to quote the facts, it just depends on which facts you choose. In any event Craig was in excellent form at Somerset the previous night and that is probably as a good a guide as previous historical performances.

I don't understand your point about Bewley. It was easier for him to pass riders at Somerset than at Leicester because Somerset is a race track and Leicester isn't. With regard to Cook at Leicester, in his first race he got filled in on the first bend, his tear off malfunctioned so he rode the entire race blind and finished third. In his second ride he was about to take the lead when he had an EF, then in his third ride he had a poor start but got up to second, tried to blast around the leading rider, overcooked it and fell. He then withdrew from the meeting.

Possibly because one was a gate and go track and the other a race track or maybe it was just one of those nights at Leicester. The meeting before Leicester was at Kings Lynn and we were unfortunate not to pick up a point there, so Leicester is the exception not the rule.

It really is ludicrous that the rules dictate that Cook rides for Glasgow, who he only signed for a few weeks ago. We have to hope that Kurtz puts in one of his good performances and not a repeat of his form last Monday. The other factor will be the track. Somerset is a race track, which allowed our riders to race and pass whereas reports indicate that Swindon has been poor with processional racing.

That's 4 more than the number of Poole fans who came to the NSS for your last meeting.

So you agree with me that next year Iversen should be on his UK average from this year and that riders who don't have a current UK average shouldn't come in on old UK average but an average calculated from their current averages in foreign leagues. That make a nonsense of your argument that there would be no difference between Woffinden's return in 2016, based on his old UK average and Iversen being signed on his current UK average.

An example of where a riders score doesn't tell the whole story. Cook scored one point which looks terrible for a rider of his calibre but according to Phil the Ace, who was there, In heat one he got filled in badly on 2nd bend, went for a tear off but they malfunctioned so rode the entire race blind. In his 2nd ride he was about to take the lead when he had an EF, then in his 3rd he gave it his all after a poor start. Was really hard on NBJ and then tried a blast round the leading rider and overcooked it and fell. He then withdrew

I hoped we would win but could accept we might lose after a closely fought meeting but I certainly didn't expect that result. Congratulations to Leicester on an excellent performance. I'm not one for knee jerk reactions. I thought our play off chance went after the defeat at King's Lynn. Let's see how we get on at Somerset, Swindon and Wolves, see what the league structure is next year and then hope that the management make the right decisions during the winter. Mark Lemon has guided us into the play offs for the last three years and I believe that we would have been there again this year but for the injury to Steve Worrall.

I've said many times that riders who don't have a current UK average should be given an average based on their current average abroad using a properly worked out mathematical multiplier. Just as we do between the PL and CL. Woffinden should have been assessed on his current averages abroad in 2016 but Iversen next year would be given his current UK average. If SteveBrum can't see the fairness of that then it explains why he can't see any difference between the to completely different situations.

I don't think it is likely to happen but if it did, the situation with NKI and Woffinden would be quite different. NKI would be coming in at the beginning of the season on his current average achieved the previous season. Woffinden, having turned his back on the UK, came in late in the season, when coincidentally, his races abroad were drying up, to strengthen the team for the play offs and on an average, not from the previous year but the year before that and the evidence clearly showed that in 2015 and 2016 he was a much better rider than his 2014 average. It was those factors that caused some Aces and some neutral fans to be less than happy about his return

We lost by 4 on our last visit. I don't think the changes have made the Lions any stronger but I think our reserves will do better than the 2 points they scored on our last visit and that Cook will score more than the 4 points we got from r/r in his absence. A must win for the Aces, 41-49.

I think that answers your question. The DVD should tell us if the referee was right.

This is a must win for the Aces. My heart says a 40-50 win but my head keeps telling me the same score but for the Stars. This has to be the night when Steve Worrall gets back to his pre injury form and the rest of the team discover their trapping gloves.

The evidence of the Football PL shows you are wrong about modern fans. No play offs and not only do supporters turn up in huge numbers but the vast majority of fans know that their club has virtually no chance of winning the league or finishing in the top 3. They realise even before the season starts that success for them is finishing mid table or, avoiding relegation and that is sufficient to keep them interested and turning up to matches.

That isn't how it was in the pre play off days. Yes, fans wanted to finish top of the league but with a league of 16 - 19 teams that wasn't the only interest just as it isn't now in the football PL. Interest was retained because it was an achievement to finish in the top 3, because you wanted your team to finish higher than your local rivals or the teams you disliked or because you wanted to avoid the wooden spoon. Just as in the football PL you had an expectation for your team, which wasn't necessarily that they would finish top or thereabouts and the interest was in watching to see if they could achieve your expectation or hopefully, exceed it. With play offs the interest isn't there until about this time of year when the real fight for a play off place begins. In fact, as Mark Lemon has highlighted, there is an argument not to do well in the earlier part of the season to drop below the team building total and give yourself opportunities to replace original team members with better riders at the business end. Fans know that meetings in the first half of the season are often meaningless and some pick and choose or wait until they become more important before spending their hard earned money. People will always point to the attendance for the play offs as the justification for them. Those attendances are not what they were and what we need to be looking at is the attendance figures over the season not a few meetings at the end. If we hope to attract people to the sport we have to ensure that every meeting or, at least, as many as possible have relevance and importance. If they don't matter many fans won't be bothered about attending.

I was disappointed that Mark Riss was beaten by Jorgensen who started on a 15 metre handicap in heat 14. I've not seen it mentioned elsewhere but Fricke said at the press conference that he had a flat tyre. Other than that race I thought Riss did ok on his debut.

I think that the track had been over watered, which is why it was so grippy in the early part of the meeting. Congratulations to Kings Lynn on a deserved win. Good to see Iversen doing well, one of my favourite riders. A good size crowd, brilliant atmosphere and although not as many good races as usual, due to the grippy surface, an enjoyable meeting helped by the closeness of the scores. Highlights for me were heat 11, which was superb, Drozdz fighting all the way and beating Proctor to the line in heat 12 and the battle between Iversen and Bewley in heat 15. I would have put Fricke in heat 15 with Bewley but I can understand why Lemon chose Tungate. He and Bewley were out best two on the night. The reality was that the previous four heats had been won from gates 1 and 3, the gates King's Lynn chose, so I think the odds were against us, whoever we picked. Cook is still not at his best at the NSS although our best away rider and Worrall is still struggling after his long absence through injury. We need to see what the format is next year before we start planning who should and shouldn't be retained.

The addition of Erik Riss, who scored 13 from 5 rides when guesting for us earlier this year and MPT at reserve, who gets good scores at the the NSS, and who will be able to replace any weak links is going to make this a close meeting. Worrall and Cook will need to be back to their best, Bewley and Tungate in the engine room need to easily outscore Jorgensen and Proctor and our reserves need to ensure that they don't drop any points to S Lambert. I'm looking forward to an exciting meeting and some brilliant racing.

Not according to the Aces website so we'll have to wait and see. BELLE VUE V KING’S LYNN - 7:30PM - MONDAY, AUGUST 6 [SGBP] Belle Vue ‘Rentruck’ Aces: Craig Cook, Steve Worrall, Dan Bewley, Rohan Tungate, Max Fricke (C), Mark Riss, Damian Dróżdż; TM: Mark Lemon King’s Lynn ‘Tru Plant’ Stars: Robert Lambert (C), Michael Palm Toft, Ty Proctor, Thomas Jorgensen, Niels-Kristian Iversen, Simon Lambert, Jason Garrity; TM: Dale Allitt

This could easily go either way. Steve Lawson is obviously far from his best after his serious injury and Riss will need time to settle in. Lambert and NKI can both do well at the NSS and both Jorgensen and Proctor have shown they can score points there. Garrity could be the deciding factor. One of his good days and we could be in trouble. Overall, I think we shall win but it could be close.