Bagpuss

Far from it, Lynn and Ipswich are in a three way battle for 3rd and 4th with Sheffield. Plenty to race for last night! I suspect Poland's aim eventually for the real golden nuggets like the Young Danes, Poles and Cairns/Rushen would be for them to just ride for their Polish club and a league in their own country or Swden in the Poles case. And I suspect the once a week routine of Denmark and Sweden appeals more than the UK.

Enormous crowd but a poor meeting really, two passes after the second bend all evening. Needed the bonus point but never really looked like getting it. Still in with a chance but gonna need the bonus out of Leicester and that seems unlikely. And have to win at Northampton first!

Apparently so 👀

Which is exactly why, if we want GB to be successful, we need our youngsters over in Poland as soon as possible and being part of their club set up, like Cairns and Rushen. Given time their improvement will be enormous as long as they get rides, the U24 league and training sessions will be important as well as first team opportunities. If that means ditching our Championship in 2027 then so be it. Cairns will have learned much more in one meeting gor ZG than anything he has done for Poole this season. The next 2-3 years are critical in their development, look how that crop of young Danes have come on with the correct treatment. Thompson and Brennan unfortunately seem to have missed the boat now and are suffering from being left on the sidelines in Poland, hopefully Flint might get picked up for 2027 (I believe he has one U24 left?) by a Polish club in the top two tiers as has shown glimpses this season of breaking through. There needs to be a plan for the next crop as our three leagues don't work on their own, its been said for years but our youngsters need much more exposure to the big, slick, fast circuits and all that that involves.

I think Flint has to be in after his British Final showing and score last night. I'd probably go Wright and Ellis as the other two. We are coming fourth whatever in all likelihood but its too early to be throwing youngsters in 'for the experience'.

Not sure its a 'reality check' as I imagine its going just as people expected. The only way we are going to get near Poland and Denmark is for our youngsters to get affiliated and riding for Extraliga clubs; Cairns and Rushen have their feet in the door and if they have what it takes they will improve quickly. The next batch whoever the are need to do the same (Norman, Binns, Bovington, Ralph?) so that riding Polish tracks is second nature and not alien.

Massive gulf between Poland & Denmark and the other two, far more experience and laps on Polish tracks in the two strongest teams to be fair. Perhaps a Polish track isn't the best idea for a venue, it clearly wasn't to generate a crowd. Difficult to criticise the younger Brits but feel that Thompson and Flint should be getting amongst it a bit more. Denmark going to be a hell of a side in 5 years time.

Leicester, you had one job 🙄

One wonders what the point is of announcing the line up in that case.

I presume its the Euro U24 Team Final (Sat in Poland) but Flint and Cairns are also in it.

Latest Pride of the East episode:

Our latest episode previews Monday's crunch clash with the Witches and we even had an Ipswich fan on the show 👀

As in Mick Norris?

Well Etheridge and Akroyd are a pair of wallies aren't they? Dear me.

Yep fair point but I'm not sure he would have maintained that form having gained most of his points from reserve, his absence enabled Harris, Nicholls Hans and Bjarne to all have an extra ride which doesnt always work but did pretty much perfectly that year. Agree about Hans and MPT, P'boro were certainly up against it in that final (think Kerr guested in the away leg and got 0?) but got the job done.

With all due respect to Ulrich I'm not sure those two absences can be compared and in essence his absence ultimately made P'boro stronger IMO.

I think riding all types of track makes you a better all round rider and Cooper can ride the tighter ones, he's shown that at Plymouth, Leicester, Northampton, Oxford etc. Hes arguably better on the big ones and obviously has struggled at Armadale but I think gating and bike set up probably feeds into that too. I'm sure he'll want to master that track but ultimately if his goal is to be a GP rider and a staple in the Extraliga then its probably not vital. I think what was most impressive from him up to the final was his composure, intelligence and the way he handled the occasion. He is without doubt a superstar in the making if his career progresses smoothly.

https://www.kingslynn-speedway.com/news.php?extend.31907.1

I suspect they may get used more often in the Leszno & ZG senior sides.

Prem I would have thought seeing as both have done so well in it this year.

How about the four finalists from last night plus Dan? Have a feeling Cairns will be in there somewhere though.

And be patient with them. The home advantage BV are experiencing this year had been cultivated by giving time to those middle and lower order riders.

'Team planning being underway' can mean anything from writing some names down on the back of a fag packet to having conversations with riders. I expect to some extent every team has starting some form of planning with several league structures/limits in mind.

The irony 😂