mikebv

The other side of the debate though is the crowd level that attended last night... Must have been 3000+ there and getting that many there for a non play off match, regardless of "winning the league that night" would be highly unlikely I would say.. Again. The counter augment to that is how many stay away in the weeks leading up to the play offs knowing your team are through? The play offs do provide for some teams the opportunity to keep their season going when, if the system wasnt used, you could have your season "over" by the end of June due to being miles behind the top team in the league.. I think for the theatre and publicity alone they are definitely worth doing, however, as has been said often on here, some recognition (like Super League do in RL), should be forthcoming for the team that tops the table.. Ideally, of course, the league being completed BEFORE the play offs...

I would like to see Max Fricke replace him...

Get Robert Lambert in...

Dont they have a "top of the table" clash with Sheffield... Winner decides the title I believe it has been said.....

Cough. Cough.. 3 changes when only allowed 2... Cough. Cough...

I would give it Robert...

For me... Kurtz quite rightly went for a clear gap, then it quickly closed. - Correct decision.. - Similar to Holder/Wright at the NSS.. When you watch Ellis in super slow mo, which the ref did, he locked up very slightly a couple of times to, I would imagine, try and stop him drifting over to Brennan, unfortunately on the second time he couldnt quite manger to avoid contact... The ref would have considered "could he have gone further left?" Thus avoiding Brennan. - A very tight 51/49 correct decision... As for Kurtz/Musielak - Kurtz defended the line brilliantly and Musielak must have thought he had "cleared him", given the angle they hit the bend.. I had a great view and if he had gone in a fraction nearer the kerb he would have block passed Kurtz and rode him up the race track.. As he came in about 2m from the kerb he caught Kurtz . - 60/40 for me in Kurtz's favour... Overall I thought the ref did well over the 2 meetings, and decisions like those made always will be contentious but always add to the atmosphere.. An atmosphere driven by having so many away fans there.. Surely clubs would benefit by either letting away fans in at a heavily discounted rate, or even for free? It would be easy to police to ensure no home fans get access to tickets.. As my lad said "Every meeting should be like this"...

As we walked past the pits on the way out from the fourth turn, several Aces fans did actually trip up over his bottom lip due to it protruding so far ...

What a great advert for the sport the Finals have been.. Never a great fan of Owlerton as it is too narrow for the speed and the angles the bikes hit the bends nowadays, to ever be a "great" track, but it served up some tremendously fast close racing... With riders literally knowing that one slight mistake whilst out in front would cost them points... (Evening Jack) There most have been around 500 Aces fans there tonight and they delivered a truly awesome atmosphere.. My lad said how great the sport could be if they could deliver away crowds every meeting to add some noise, and that "the pyro" must have made the sport look worth watching to those who may be less acquainted with the sport but watching on TV.. Incredible at the end to see what it meant to the Aces riders, and Matej in particular... We sometimes feel that these lads are mercenaries travelling the globe riding for all and sundry to earn money, and they never really develop an affinity with the club or fans... Well tonight Matej proved how much he loves riding for the Aces and what this meant to him tonight.. And my lad caught his sombrero when he threw it before Matej jumped into the crowd and celebrated with them..!! Charlie doing a "John Terry" was a nice touch too.. A fantastic nights Speedway both on and off the track, and one that will live long in the memory.. Although I did say to my lad... "It was very good, but it wasn't as good as '93 at Wolves"... Well Done to the Aces. Unlucky Tigers.. Both teams served up 30 heats of great sporting excellence and drama...

Yes... But the Aces' lawyers are on the case... Robert will be able to take two by around 7 o'clock..

Depends on sponsorship... Woffy a few years ago said it cost him around £150k a year to race.. Massive sponsorship packages though so maybe they cover that? I watched his blogs last year and Chugunov had an £80k Merc... Not bad for a young lad his age..... The TV and wider media deals are worth Millions of Euro's per year... Even the "2nd Tier" will pay out £50k signing on fees.. The U23 league is pretty much being paid for by the better TV deal last season.. You only have to watch "normal" Polish TV to see several riders appearing in adverts for products during the breaks within prime time TV programmes to give a sense of the cut through Speedway has over there... Maybe one day it could get somewhere nearer the same over here... (I wont say near as that would be too much of a pipe dream)...

"Hoy Marra, while yer 'ere, yer wouldn't ring up Plymouth Speedway, an tell 'em yev said me alternator's Donald Ducked would yer.?"...

28 day ban...? From the 1st of November... Finishes 29th of November.. Can't ride between those dates...

Jonas Knudsen? Jake Allen? Theo Piper? Could they ride?

3 seven seater Ubers with a spare seat... Would imagine the Aces have at least 250 there tomorrow.... Should all stand together to get a bit of atmosphere going...

If the Tigers gate like they did last night they will run out easy winners.. If you get out gated, you dont pass at Owlerton like you can at the NSS.. The Aces will need 30 from the top 3 I would think..

And has a 12 point average there...

Isnt the loan fee based on a % of the riders average? I think it used to be...

To be honest I would think Sheffield should feel a little bit annoyed at how many points they lost from winning positions... They seemed to gate in a fair few races and led a good many heats coming out of turn two... Made for some great racing though watching the Aces come from the back, particularly flying around turns 3 and 4... Lambert passing two at once has fast become a trademark..

What utter nonsense... No way will Zmarzlik be replacing Wright... It will be Dan Bewley replacing Etheridge... Three letter first names you see... Dan/Jye... All in the rules... All in the rules...

Fantastic nights racing... Truly World Class Heat 13... And 15 was going to be a cracker too. Polish racing but in the UK... Tough, everything on the line Speedway, with massive trust and respect between the riders... Breathtaking racing at times.. And a perfect set up for Thursday I would suggest... Big crowd, great racing, thrills and spills, and brilliant atmosphere.... When Speedway is done this well it has few peers... Hopefully more of the same on Thursday.. Best wishes to the two injured Aces.. Could they get Dan Bewley for Thursday as a replacement..? Hope Old Bob tuned in....

I get some of the points but .. FTG has always been around since I started 50 odd years ago with PC at Hyde Rd (when he trapped), often a half straight ahead of a couple second strings and 2 point reserves... You still invariably got that "moment" though which took your breath away when he failed to make a start.. And tonight you will hopefully get at least one "moment" the same.. No out of their depth reserves and second strings are bona fide 2nd Division HL's nowadays.. Personally for me, the racing has never been better at tracks like the NSS, Peterborough, Redcar and Glasgow, and the overall standard from No1 to No7 has never been so high.. Tune in tonight Bob and I am sure you wont be disappointed, I am there with my lad, and to be honest the result is secondary to the racing for me.. And the NSS seldom let's you down on that score... Fair weather... Big Crowd.. Two World Class GP stars.. And a support cast made up of seasoned internationals and very decent riders... What's not to like?

Weather set fair... Looks like a very good crowd expected looking at the ticket sales.. Let's hope for a great night's racing...

The Mickey Mouse nature it often appears to be ran in, 100% impacts the many thousands of fans who will still turn up to watch "proper Speedway" both here and overseas each season.. Yet wont travel even a few miles regularly to watch their local team... And it would certainly, I would suggest, impact any potential "large" sponsors coming into the sport given their name will be linked publicly to a "brand" that often looks amateurish in its self regulation and process management.. It is interesting to see the way riders at the higher levels, and national teams, seem to get backing from bigger companies yet the league itself doesnt seem to have any company interested... Many of the issues are down to a lack of "serious money" in the sport in the UK. Unfortunately when everything looks so contrived at times, you wont ever get that investment into it..

But the plan should last five years... Due to the fact it has been planned to cover five years... Hence... The Name... All five year plans in business have several milestones in them to ensure they remain on track to meet their ultimate aim... Disbanding some of a five year the plan in Year One, then removing it completely in Year Two, could be seen as "a bit radical"... Todays U23 performance shows just how important an effective development system for young riders is for the growth of the sport... A huge gap still exists from the likes of the Poles and the Danes... Going back to filling reserve slots with 4.5 point journeymen foreigners isnt going to help sort that...