Wee Eck

I’m very positive about the future of GB. There’s some very talented riders coming through to follow Tai, something that’s not been the case for too long. Sweden have produced next to nobody worthwhile for too long, young Danish riders were plentiful but seem to hit a peak too early. The exception being Madsen, but he’s not one of the young ones. Poland, of course, is a rider producing machine, but even they seem to get so far and no further. The country has been crying out for the heir to Thomas Gollob since he won his title in 2010. Hampel looked promising but then was blighted by injury, the Pawlicki brothers rose and fell, Przedpelski was another the same, as, by his 2019 performance, has Dudek. I don’t think Janowski will go much further, and it’s too early to say about the three under 21s. Drabik, Smektala and Kubera. The stand out, of course, is Zmarzlik, but, with Madsen on the prowl, will he be another with only one Championship? The immediate future looks like it belongs to Poland, and so it should with its subsidies, but I reckon GB will be the next best. Our likely SON team of Tai, Robert Lambert and Dan Bewley looks pretty strong to me, especially round the NSS.

Many people are saying that but what level of achievement would you define as “good enough”? Keleher’s problem is his age. The “give him time” argument doesn’t apply to someone his age (27 on Saturday) - he needs to hit the ground running. Let’s face it, for all the whinging that comes out of Australia, there’s not really been a great outpouring of talent in recent years. Take Fricke and Lidsey out of the equation, and who else has shown potential to follow the Aussie greats of the past?l Ryan Douglas is another who hits 27 this year, so again, not up and coming. Maybe we’ve been spoilt in recent years with Sullivan, Boyce, Adams, Crump, C Holder, Ward and Doyle, but the wealth of talent of the past seems to have dried up.

Teletext? Did the two days between the press (and probably all of the teams) getting the fixture list, and the date of agreed publication for all - press, BSPA, teams websites/social media resources - make a big difference to you?

Why? Fixture list was embargoed until Thursday to ensure everyone had time to release them at the same time. I believe that British Speedway needs the Star as, without it, there would be no central source of information. So it’s a simple trade off that the Star gets to release their information at the same time as everyone else. Not before, and not after. It’s how media works best, in my view

This is called working with rather than against the media.

On BSPA site this morning too

But it isn’t broke! The 4s as a one track one day event works.

I think this winter has benefited Dan Bewley hugely. No “proper” test matches but plenty of competitive action. I expect there to be a fight for the number one race jacket at BV between him and Jaimon Lidsey

Not a problem. I know you’re now a tv fan but, if that and this forum are your main sources of information, it’s easy to get the wrong idea. The former is full of hype and fake enthusiasm, the latter, doom and gloom. As with much in life, the truth lies somewhere in between. For all it’s ills, British Speedway is producing far more good young riders than Sweden, Denmark and the USA combined. I’d also contend that we’ve got far more promising riders than Australia. Although I would concede that, if you had a full GB vs Australia test match this month, the Aussies with their top end power of Doyle, Fricke, Batchelor and the Holders would be the likely winners, give it a couple of years and I think GB would win, simply because there are far fewer Australian riders following on behind them, than there are up and coming Brits. It’s taken ages to get anything going in this country, mostly because promoters adopted a “what’s in it for us?” approach, but a great start has been made in recent years by Neil Vatcher with the British Youth Championship, and this is now supported by others. You should try to get to one of the 2020 Championship rounds and see for yourself the raw talent and enthusiasm on display. There are already 34 riders registered across the three classes and no doubt more will follow.

I think you miss the point. This was a friendly match between a few Australians and a bunch of young Brits (all under 21 I think) wintering in Australia (plus Tai Woffinden). It was not a representative test match and neither country would put up teams like that if it had been. What should be taken out of it is, after so many years in the doldrums, how positive the future looks for GB with Bewley, Edwards, Flint, Kemp and a whole load of others all coming through.

The reason for starting with the NDL (and this is just my opinion) is that it’s one of the worst offenders when it comes to riders buying equipment way beyond their ability. Young riders turn up with two near GP standard bikes in the belief that it’s all to do with the bike. The incidence of injury is greater in that league largely, it seems to me, due to riders riding bikes faster that they can go. They need to learn to ride in a progressive manner until they reach the stage that they are faster than the bike. The advantage of a low lift cam and fuel restrictor is there’s no benefit having a Peter Johns engine as it won’t be any faster than one put together by the rider’s dad. The cost isn’t great compared to everything else - these guys spend £600 on a Blixt carb after all - and there’s the added advantage that they can use the same engine, with the cam replaced by a standard one and minus the fuel restrictor, in any other meeting anywhere in the world, something you can’t do with a 2 valve or an F2.

Can I assume you are referring to F2 as an idea? This is an “idea” that has been around for 15-20 years and hasn’t caught on, so it’s reasonable to ask why not? I saw them at a meeting at the NSS two or three years ago, doing exhibitions using riders like Carl Stonehewer and Andy Mellish. After a couple of rides, most of the riders were refusing to ride them and the last race, maybe the last two races, were cancelled. I simply don’t believe they are the answer. There are various answers to cutting costs, but it has to be driven by the team owners, because the riders will always want the latest gizmo, and latest is usually also most expensive, The GTR engines were a joke, cutting costs by making riders buy engines costing four grand doesn’t make much sense to me. But a low rise cam plus, perhaps, a physical restriction on fuel flow, would cost, maybe £120 per engine, which would be saved straight away due to lower maintenance costs. Make it compulsory in the NDL with confiscation of the engine being the penalty for breaking the rules. Anyone riding in another league, would simply have to swap cams and remove the fuel flow restrictor. I gather two well known - and well respected - engine tuners suggested this to BSPA before they blew a fortune on GTRs, but, for reason I neither know nor understand, the idea was turned down.

Nobody makes the riders buy the most expensive equipment but they all do from NDL upwards. F2 is a red herring and always has been. Why buy a bike that can only be used in one league or one country? Why learn a different style of riding that can only be used in one league or one country? Promoters and supporters have been subsidising riders’ vanity for far too long. The riders need to learn to use what they can afford and not expect others to pay

Maybe because the Chairman didn’t want his team to be restricted?

Once a rider, always a rider.

In my view, Keleher is being over hyped. Interestingly, though, only by a couple of people, and not those that Poole rely on for guidance. We’ve had plenty of late start ex-moto crossers, but they all take time to get used to only turning left. The plus side with Poole, though, is a rough track won’t put him off He’s had a couple of decent state championship though the majority of riders were pretty inexperienced. Looking at the field for his home state championships, he should have walked that, but didn’t take part. He was unfortunate at Albury in the Australian championships but maybe inexperience caught him out? That ruled him out completely so he wasn’t able to show how good he is when up against a more competitive field. We know what Todd Kurtz can do (flashes of brilliance but a dependable 5 pointer) so he looks the easy choice. Having said that, I think Poole’s masterplan for CL domination is in the bin and they must be thankful that the transfer restrictions announced yesterday don’t apply to this league. Matt Ford must be a great David Bowie fan: Ch-ch-ch-changes!

That’s Skidder speak for “there will be no rider announcements tomorrow”. So what else could it be? Sponsors? New promoter? Matt coming back full time? Go on Skidder, you’re usually in the know so give us a clue

Not at 10am when I wrote it! As I said, it’s only my opinion

As I said, an interesting year. I don’t see much room for improvement in the team which is why it doesn’t excite me. Allen should increase his average a little and Palin should go up by a couple of points, but who else? There’s a lot of hype about Ayres but I’m not sure there’s more to come. He’s fast but reckless (look at what happened at the British Final) and I think a five point average is his limit. Having said that, I wouldn’t put money on my predictions, so don’t expect anyone else to

The easiest prediction to make is that very few, if any teams will end the season with their starting 1-7. Also, I think many of the usual favourites will find it far harder that many think. Poole’s inability to put a team together suggests that they’ve discovered that the previous “magic” of attracting good riders isn’t working in this league. Whoever they go for as their last two are likely to struggle if they are new to UK. Who was the last new rider to this league who hit his assessed average from the start? Indeed, how many struggled to get there at the end of the season? My guess is Poole will take too long to settle and, by the time that they do (if they do) the play offs will be beyond them Glasgow look vulnerable in the middle and Ostergaard and Sedgmen are unlikely to be there at the finish. Ricky Wells needs to find what it was that he lost last year. They do, however, have two very good reserves, maybe the best two in the league. Leicester will struggle with their reserves and need the rest of the team to cover for them until they find their feet in this league. I can see a lot of heat 1 5-1s and heat 2 1-5s Redcar look strong and Eric Riss has had some great meetings in Australia Their heat leader trio must be the league's strongest but, like Leicester, their reserves will struggle For me, the team to watch will be Edinburgh. They’ve done it before and will do it again - a solid team at Fortress Armadale with enough away points to make the play offs, but which time the team will have gelled to become play off winners. Oh yes, and everyone’s whipping boys, Newcastle and Berwick will do better than predicted. Berwick have a great team spirit which means the perform ahead of expectations, and the Newcastle management won’t hesitate in making changes if faced with disastrous results. Wooden spoon team for me is Scunthorpe. Although they might have to fight Birmingham for the race to the bottom. Whatever happens, it’s going to be an interesting year.

Mine and I suspect, many others.

I prefer the following definition of a journeyman: “a workman or sports player who is good but not outstanding”

Now who’s being negative?! If you own a business, and it makes money for you, are you not allowed to take money out? And, is it really “dry”?

I don’t have a club close enough to attend, let alone one to support. I’m maybe negative about the Premiership because of the way it’s slipped over the years, but do believe the Championship has a great future. Indeed, if Poole make a financial success in 2020, I can see every other Premiership team following their lead for 2021. A few teams might fall by the wayside, or become part of an increased NDL, but, in my view, a 15, 16, maybe 17 strong league will give supporters a better product, whichever league they currently support.

If you really want an answer...Batchelor had a great 2019. But he’s still not a number one, is he? Kurtz and Holder J didn’t really improve in UK in 2019 in what was a weaker league. BK put less than half a point on his average, Holder 0.1. Even Grajczonek improved by more. Holder had 16 home meetings, 10 riding at number 1, 6 at number 5. You need and expect your number one and number five to win their first outings or, if they’re up against a top opponent, at least get 2nd. JH had one win and one paid win out of 16, 7 2nds or paid seconds, 3 thirds and 4 lasts. That’s third heat leader performance at best. Journeyman position. As far as Dan Bewley is concerned, it would be great to see him continue to improve. He should certainly kick on from 2019, a season that started slowly after his bad accident. And he’s having a good winter in Australia. He’s got the ability to improve in 2020, and his target should certainly be to outscore BK and Kildemand. Will that make him a proper number one? As good as Jason Doyle? Robert Lambert? Craig Cook even? Time will tell