MD

I'd be disappointed with Jake Allan for MPT at Leicester. He isnt known for his ability round more technical tracks though appreciate its hard to find guests in October. Hoping for a Redcar win but just dont see it now.

Well done to the riders, another final to look forward to. Unfortunately it looks around a fortnight away.

Decent meeting, Tigers threw away a few points that they shouldnt but 12 points is a decent lead. Only half time though. Ht4 should have a second added on to the heat time, Rory jumped that early he was throttling off for the first bend as the others were dropping the clutch, and the ref never saw it! He then started pulling the other jumpers back later in the meeting. If you set the agenda at the start the riders will fall into line. Not rocket science. Inconsistent refereeing can ruin a high stakes event like this. Anyway, very impressed with Anders Rowe, the Rebels top 3 were decent and Covatti quieter than normal. We outscored the Somerset reserves by 10 points and need Bailey and Bickley to put in another good shift down there. All to play for.

So its on to Tuesday, rarely a good night crowd wise and MBA goes to reserve. Hopefully the weather sorts itself. M'on the Tigers.

Has he ever had an injury free season?

Looking at Twitter quite a few fans arrived to an empty stadium. Never good. So we roll into October again for the playoffs. Pack your thermals.

Hopefully Harris brings his 2018 bikes.

If the forecast becomes reality would prefer if they called it early rather than get it on for the sake of it, like the Scunny meeting.

He hasnt really done anything wrong. Young riders are often inconsistent and Bickley got extra spotlight on him when the middle order went soft during the mid part of the season. He started the season well when tracks were slick and has struggled to recapture that form. However the alternative was that we stuck with Lawlor and he hasnt exactly outperformed. Kyle does need to become more aggressive right from the off rather than waiting for an incident drawing it out of him. He can play a key part in our play off chances if he steps up.

Well done to Glasgow, sounds a great meeting and a good practice for going to Somerset in the play offs next week.

Picking guests can often be to your advantage, especially in the play offs where you can find riders more suited to certain tracks and outperform the original rider.

Brilliant nights entertainment if a bit long. Sheffield must have the best reserves in the league, 15 points between them and Kennedy is a proper racer. Unfortunately the rest arent though unusual to see Sedgmen so motivated, their best rider by far. Shame Kyle Howarth couldnt come, he was due a vote of thanks from the faithful. Connor Bailey and Sam Jensen were excellent in both meetings and have to say Claus put in another sterling shift, never settling for second. Etheridge again ended up embedded in the first bend fence, Barker wasnt great and Doolan got almost half his teams' points. In amongst all that Gappmaier won a heat. No home speedway next weekend though hopefully we get the play off dates soon so that us the paying customers can actually make arrangements to attend.

He will get an average after completing tonights meetings.

Another brilliant away win from the rather inconsistent Tigers. Thats more the Riss we know. Sounds like MBA is injured which is going to be a problem going forward however now the play off teams are pretty much confirmed hopefully we can get fixtures planned asap.

Looks like MBA is riding at 4 tonight.

Naturally the best money could buy. It is us after all.

The rain ruined an excellent meeting there. Sam Jensen got stuck in, twice running Worrall from behind and Connor Bailey was brilliant to win ht7. Oster started very well but ran a last in his third then surprisingly never came out in ht8. Ht10 was a bit ropey and was never going to go any further however its more points in the bag.

Forgot about MBA.

Supposing we beat the weather can we beat Ostergaard at reserve?

Get over yourself, if he gets banned he gets banned, you'll be pi55ing yourself regardless.

The bottom four are fragile. We changed Sarjeant as the team owners thought the middle of the team was softening. Its positively mush now. Bailey cant take any of the heat as he's only three months into UK speedway and Bickley is only in his second full CL season. He has tailed off after a good start but young riders are often inconsistent, just look at Bewley still. Sam Jensen is in the team at the wrong time, he has shown potential in the match at Leicester however we cant groom a young rider in a struggling team whilst we are at the business end of the season. Next year he should be a serious consideration though for now we need Starke back pronto. Speculation on here that Cook will have his appeal heard on Friday, not sure how true that is, we should be kept aware via the SCB website which hasn't had an update since 15 August. If he does get banned that adds another layer of difficulty altogether.

Someone better get Starkey on laser treatment, a poor showing from S Jensen and the pitiful MBA. Hopefully Paul will be returning sooner rather than later.

Except by the governing body which made it.

Making the more sizeable support go second is better for business.

Many tracks no longer fit with modern engines. Look at what is served up at some tracks that were superb even less than 10 years ago. Whilst its not the only reason for the lack of entertainment, team owners need to adapt their product (track shape/width etc) to suit the modern era. Very few have or will bother to do so. Entertainment IMO is about passing not necessarily speed and the ridiculous gulf between abilities at the top and bottom of the riders averages wont achieve that. Nor will poorly prepared tracks. If last night the riders were on £250 for the meeting that is likely to be around a quarter of what most of the top enders will take home. I'm not surprised they don't take it seriously or put themselves out. There is no prestige in these events and wont be again unless the competitors are adequately rewarded for taking part. Speedway doesn't even give out medals to the league winners far less reward the riders and their teams for being better than the rest over a season. The whole ethos up is fundamentally flawed but we already know that. Unfortunately we also accept its not going to change.