Edward Barrett

Well I am just glad it is back on Sundays, due to a change in work I was not able to go for the past 4 years. I got to the final EL meeting and met up with folk who I had stood with for many years. That is what speedway is about, the friendships built up with other supporters, mainly home but away also. Hopefully the south east will help in discovering new riders of the calibre of Dave Jessup and Gordon Kennett to re-build the England squad in the next 2/3 years.

Why pick on those two?, Harris was crap, 4 points from somewone who "pretends" to be a GP star, surely he has ridden that track in his long and industrious career?

NP is a character who puts that extra " something" into the sport. How many of you who are castigating him for his riding would not want him in your team, or even riding over here in the so called "Elite League" this season? He would add extra supporters on the gate wherever he rode. Gollob had a reputation for being a dirty rider, who remembers the incident at the now defunct Hackney when Boyce decked him after one of his moves, and yet he is now revered as a former rider. The sport will be the poorer when he finally hangs up his leathers.

I was not having a laugh or sticking the knife in, yes I could have worded my last sentence differently, but I voice my opinion as I see it. There is a big difference between the GPS' and league racing, sadly he just has not got that "something" for the former. In league racing he is still a force to be reckoned with, and when he has guested for us he's given his all, unlike other guests we've had. Hope that clears that up.

Harris ought to do the decent thing and quit the GPS', he is not doing himself any favours, and he is making British Speedway a laughing stock. He is a good league rider, and can give s lot of decent advice to up and coming riders, but please, stop embarrassing yourself on the world's stage. You haven't got it anymore.

It is all well and good saying we are "Miles ahead of them", ...but we did not beat them, did we? So we aren't,are we? It is easy to blame the Team Manager, but the bottom line isif the riders go out on the track and do not beat the opposition, then it is down to them, end of We have not got the "quality" of riders any more, and that is something the BSPA need to address, not Middleditch; he can only work with what he has availabe, and that is only Nicholls, Woffinden, and who else?.......................

Typical of him; "Me, me, me." Not one word of contrition that his dirty tactics have wrecked another riders' season.

Mmm, I must remember this post should a similar incident occur down at Wimbourne Road between Pooles favourite rider, Lewis Bridger!!!, and Chris Holder. Anyone care to bet that Mr Shovlar would be definately singing from a different hymn book!!!!!!! :wink:

Well, looked at from the u-tube recording it seems that Batchelor had 2 goes at Smith, the second one being the one that did the damage; a correct decision by the referee to penalise what was a blatant piece of unfair riding, (fairly typical of Batchelor, unfortunately!). As posted elsewhere, no doubt Mr Shovlars dismissive comment would be somewhat different if Holder had been on the receiving end of Batchelors antics!!

The simple answer to that question is no. Harris has had his chances and is just not good enough, his performance last night was dire. Out of Barker, Bridger and Kennett possibly offer Barker a wild card at Cardiff next year, of the three he showed some fight in the WTC.

It would be nice to think that somebody would be behind Harris when he is in the GPs!!!

Good to see that the organisers are doing things the "British" way, we reward bank failures by giving the billions fo pounds, and then a few months later do it again, they give a rider who is a failure in the GPs' a wild card for the following season; terrific No doubt if Harris comes 12th next year they will say the choice is justified.

Surely the mark of a true quality rider is one who can ride all track surfaces? The riders know what surface Olsen prepares for the GPs', he's done it often enough, and the riders should be competent enough to adapt their set-ups to adapt to them. Sorry, Harris is a good and exciting rider, but he is not in the same league as the top riders, if he was he would have been their by now. People are still living off his Cardiff performance, which unfortunately was a 'one off'.

Have to agree with you there Parsloes; it was said in the Star that he needed a decent show to push his case for a wild card, well he did not provide one, so on the form of this season he does not warrant one. If the other "contenders" for a British representation are not deemed mature enough; shock!, horror!, perhaps we should have a season without any British contenders, let's face it, the ones we have had this year have not covered themselves with any glory, but served only to show that when it comes to the biggest world stage we are "also rans".