Aces51

I can't be bothered to read through it all again but if you read all of the comments you will see that comments on Facebook of that type were made by a very small number of "fans" and who were condemned for doing it by other Aces fans. I have also read the Wolves Facebook fans page and there are equally disgusting comments by Wolves fans on there. Every club has its share of idiots and it is this type of incident that tends to bring them out of the woodwork. I like to watch Freddie because he does give 100% and I wouldn't put him in the same category as NP but his upturn in form was accompanied by him being much more aggressive and on occasion a danger to others. People have commented on it previously on the BSF and didn't Woffinden say much the same? Having said that there was nothing deliberate about his accident at the NSS, it was a racing accident or what Wolves fans tend to call over riding.

And why the rules were changed.

It's devalued because the rules don't allow it. It would be yet another example to support those who say that it is a mickey mouse sport. Whether it is a sensible change to make for the future is a matter for debate. As for tonight's meeting I don't think Wolves have been weakened as much as some say. Lindgren, by his standards, does not do well at Swindon. This year he effectively scored 8 from 5 and 10 from 5 rides and Harris is capable of a similar score. R/r for Thorssell is unlikely to replicate his score, 9 and 12, both from 5 rides. So weaker but not necessarily the walk over some are predicting. It is an entirely different situation at Monmore where Lindgren and Thorssell can be brilliant and often are. Even with their home advantage I can see Swindon keeping it very close there or even winning.

I feel very sorry for Wolves losing their two best riders to injury, particularly at home where those two would drop very few points. As an Aces fan I know how you must feel, having lost Bjerre to injury in the play offs in 2005 and not being able to replace him. I know you are asking particularly for the views of Swindon fans but this would affect all of us. I believe that you can't now change the rules that everybody has/was supposed to, abide by this season. A lack of credibility is one of the major problems with the sport and to allow such a change for the final would be farcical. Imagine, if Wolves then won the final, the competition would be totally devalued. If rules need to be changed then make those changes before the start of the season.

So in your little world referees are 100% correct no matter the video evidence, no matter the opinions of others. We are fortunate indeed to have recruited such a group of infallible people to officiate in British speedway or perhaps these super human qualities are shared by speedway referees everywhere. Meanwhile, in the real world most of us know that, just like us, from time to time they get things wrong.

I hope so.

The facts are that there were a very small number of Belle Vue fans in the South Stand and even fewer in the Grandstand, who thought it appropriate to boo the Wolves riders. It may be childish, it is not something I would do or like to hear but fairly harmless. Nobody that I heard cheered after the crash in heat 13, it was a heart in the mouth moment because it was obvious that someone could be hurt and why would fans cheer when it could so easily have been Bjerre or Cook who were injured. The referees decision was met with astonishment and jeers, Bjerre was cheered when he walked back to the pits and gestured to the referee and Lindgren was booed by a very small number of fans as he walked back but the vast majority of fans clapped. My impression was that the few boos were most likely because they thought he was responsible for the crash. I don't see anything particularly terrible or reprehensible about any of that behaviour. I don't like the booing but it happens virtually everywhere. What is unacceptable is the throwing of the plastic bottles. A look at the Belle Vue fans Facebook page shows how many Aces fans have made clear that they consider it totally unacceptable behaviour and want the culprit(s) identified and banned.

Let's hope that the further tests and MRI scan don't reveal any breaks and that he can soon be back racing. Wolves need him and there are no adequate replacements.

Bjerre is a good number 1 at home and Cook does it away. I hope both are back next year. Kenneth chased Lindgren after he made the gate in heat 1 last night and was never far behind and could well have beaten him in heat 13. Bewley is a must and I hope we can fit in Smith after his improvement towards the end of the season. The rest deepends on the points limit. A Pole like Drabik may be ok if we get the fixed nights here, that would solve the problems when they are recalled for practice etc.

Stevebrum would be apoplectic if they use KK. Let's hope that Lindgren is able to ride and that we get two brilliant meetings. I have no strong preference as to who wins. Normally, I favour Wolves but as Swindon finished top of the league that swings it for me and I hope they manage to do it.

It is clear that Bjerre did nothing wrong. It was Lindgren that leaned on him, locked up, turned left, take your pick and was the cause of the accident and the race being stopped.

Fricke has been based in Andorra for most of this season. We need to know the league set up and points limit before thinking about teams for next year.

I think most of us thought we had a chance, not that it was all over for Wolves. With the best we could hope for in heat 13 being a 3-3, we knew we needed to pull back 6 points from the last two heats, so not by any means an easy task. Any news on Lindgren. Reported as going to hospital with a neck injury.

I watched that this morning. Interesting that Bjerre says that Lindgren turned left on him, which is how many of us saw the incident. Bjerre's last comment was that he was glad to have walked away uninjured and it was immediately after he said that, that everyone clapped. Nothing wrong with that at all. Bjerre then said he couldn't feel bad for Lindgren because it was his own fault. I think many of us might feel the same way soon after the event if someone had done something that so easily could have caused us serious injury. The clapping after that was because it was the end of his interview, just as everyone else was clapped when they had finished speaking.

Congratulations to Wolves on a deserved win over the two legs and I hope that Lindgren isn't too badly hurt and is able to take his place in the final. My view of the Lindgren crash was that Bjerre was on the inside and ahead entering bend 3, Lindgren was alongside him and moved left into Bjerre. I couldn't see if he locked up or just turned into Bjerre. Cook was taking a wider line and was fortunate not to get caught up in it as Lindgren careered across the track. Lindgren looked very shaken as he walked back to the pits and although there were a few boos the overwhelming majority of fans were clapping him. The what ifs, for Wolves if Lindgren had been able to take his last two rides, for the Aces, Tungate's engine failure when second, Bjerre's exclusion and r/r for Fricke scoring only 8 when he would probably have got at least a couple more. R/r for Thorssell got 8 which is probably what he would have scored. However, what ifs are exactly that and despite the defeat it was an enjoyable match not spoiled by a very few idiots who childishly booed every Wolves rider. Every rider on both teams gave 100%, there was some decent races and a good atmosphere. We've still got the KO Cup final to come. The Colts are in the play offs and our last three seasons have been excellent compared to our recent history. With the likes of Bewley and Smith in the pipeline our day will come. Nothing to get too despondent about, I drove passed the canal without even thinking about jumping in, well perhaps I did just for a second or two. We you there Steve?

Bewley is capable of scoring double figures but from memory he's only done it once this season and that was in his last meeting, so certainly not a given. The difference between Fricke and Thorssell is that at the NSS Fricke is good for at least 11 or 12 on current form and r/r usually produced 7or8 whilst he was injured whereas Thorssell is good for 8 and r/r will probably match that. So a swing of about 8 points to Wolves plus the 13 point lead means an almost impossible task. Of course that's on paper and my heart says we can still do it but my head knows it's going to take an exceptional performance from everybody to do it. Hopefully, with the weather now brightening up and the good forecast, lots of Wolves fans will be making the journey and we can witness a tremendous meeting with lots of atmosphere.

Unfortunately, with the riders available that is our best option but I doubt r/r will score as many points as Fricke. He has been on fire since returning from injury and would have scored about 11/12. We need to see who is the second reserve now but unless it's Smith and he can straightaway regain the form he was in immediately before his injury, I think that will be more points lost. It's going to be difficult but we've just got to give it our best shot and who knows, we may still do it.

If they meant it to apply to teams that are knocked out of the play offs they could have said - no rider whose team have qualified for the play offs may appear as a guest in the play offs. Normally, if the meaning isn't clear you look at what the legislators intended, the mischief they were intending to prevent. In this case their intention isn't clear. Did they intend to stop a rider of a team knocked out of the play offs from guesting or did they intend to stop a rider whose team had qualified from guesting even after his team was knocked out? On balance SCB is right. Words are given their normal meaning as defined in the Oxford Dictionary. A team no longer in the play offs is not in the play offs. If they intended the restriction to apply to teams who had qualified until the competition was over they could easily have said so.

It's a question of priorities. I doubt that Belle Vue had any option but to race the semi final against Wolves on Friday with the televised final set for Monday. I suspect that any promotion would make the same decisions faced with having to decide whether to weaken their NL team to give their PL team the best chance possible of progressing to the PL final or to weaken the PL team. The PL team is the most important both in terms of the financial benefits of getting to the final and the prestige to be gained by success. I think it's terrible that we are in this situation and feel for the Colts, who I also support, after all their efforts this season. However, once a choice had to be made only one decision was realistic.

I suspect that most people would think that someone with a lot of experience of watching Speedway at a crap track is more qualified to pass judgement. He has a benchmark against which to judge the others.

I have a lot of sympathy with the views expressed by B.V 72. It is bad enough that we have to race without Fricke, during his spell out injured r/r at home produced about 7 or 8 points, whereas Fricke on his current form is worth at least 11/12. We are already going to be 2/3 points worse off because of the injury to Smith and combined that is going to make it very difficult to claw back the 13 point deficit. Wolves are without Thorssell but I think it very likely that r/r will cover the points he was likely to get. The rearranged date is also damaging the Colts who will go into their play off semi final without their top 4 riders. The two injuries they have to accept but the loss of Bewley and Shuttleworth is ridiculous. They have fought hard all season to get into the play offs and now have their chance of progress to the final put at serious risk through no fault of their own. Racing on Friday, presumably to pander to BT but I suspect we shall never know if the powers that be actually spoke to them to see if the option of racing the semi final on Monday and the final on Wednesday and the following Monday was a possibility, has seriously affected the credibility of the competition in both the PL and NL.

Worrall, Cook and Tungate have all proven they can score well at Monmore yet all had falls. Cook and Worrall have both had lots of experience of small tight tracks as their home track, so it seems ridiculous to suggest they don't have the ability to ride them in all conditions or have no throttle control.

It may not be the fault of the Aces management. I suspect they were told by the BSPA that it had to be run before Monday and Friday would obviously be Wolves preference. Any night other than Thursday and we would be missing one or more riders.

Fricke is a bigger loss to us at the NSS than JT is to Wolves. He would score more but can only be replaced by Cook, Worrall, Tungate and a reserve whereas JT can be replaced by top 5 riders. Even if Bewley rides it is certainly now advantage to Wolves.

I think you're being overdramatic claiming a lot of Belle Vue fans would be happy if Wolves closed down, not something I've seen them saying. Cheering when opposition riders fall happens everywhere, so nothing different about Wolves fans. I think what has caused some of the reaction is that there were clearly problems with the track, especially turns 3 and 4. This was due mainly to the weather and not helped by the additional shale put down to help dry it out.