mikebv

There was a good interview with Jason Doyle in the Speedway Star and he mentioned how some riders are basically "starving themselves" up to three days before meetings to drop weight.. Tai, and others, have mentioned in the past how much of an advantage being "lightweight" can be on the big circuits where speed is key.. When the tracks were deeper, maybe a bit of weight helped drive the back wheel into the grip, but on today's wide, big, fast, slick circuits, getting off the start line and riding full gas has never been so important given the straight line "rocket ships" they race on.. Bikes get checked for weight, so maybe both man and machine should have a minimum combined weight too? Doyle suggested that the weight loss can be draining and weaken the strength of the riders, which obviously means a potential safety issue could exist... They changed the weigh in time in Boxing due to fighters "boiling down" and losing weight right up to the morning of the weigh in, the day before a fight, meaning so much strength and endurance had been lost come fight night, even after trying to pile pounds back on in 24 hours.. Would a "minimum weight" for rider and bike even up the playing field?

Keeping them away from riding at 3 or even 5 would still have been the issue for both these teams... Ipswich have both these "very decent" riders riding at 2 and 4, a perfect position for both...

Didn't Brady Kurtz miss out one year as well? And who can forget that season where their best rider, Max Fricke, had to be replaced by a rider with a lower average, (thus weakening the team strength)... Luckily for the Aces, that rider (who was unattached which brought credibility to the competition), managed to step up to the plate, and Max missing didn't impact them too much...

Don't forget all those usual Ipswich injuries to all their seven riders might impact things.... As we know, the ONLY team ever to have been impacted by injuries in the history of the sport...

Of course it is a major sporting championship that is worth winning... A fact clearly proven last night by an Ipswich rider being the second highest scorer for Oxford...

Quite radically.... First against fourth and second against third this season... Controversial.... "There's nothing to see here, move along please".....

Spot on.... Especially following a team that has had regular success over the last few years... It could get "boring" being so successful.... And another potential impact to crowds is having so many high profile non Aces meetings chosen to be held there due to the entertainment level the track provides.. Meaning their fans forking out for so many major international and domestic meetings to attend... Plus of course being one of the very few top tier teams to run a development team season after season... Much better maybe to run just one team, using talent that has been developed elsewhere, and regularly coming close but ultimately failing to win the top prize, but bleating (every single season it appears), about being unlucky with injuries...?

That was my initial thought too.... I hope Ben isnt on one of those contracts that will cost him money if he gets injured riding in another league.....

A "slight" difference in opposition levels..

But apart from that?

Baddum Tish!!!! I thang yow.....

KL, like Oxford and Birmingham, have collectively, top fives made up of 15 second strings...* They are hoping to "get by" at home enough times to maintain their own crowds interest... Ipswich this year have King and Ellis riding as second strings, their true positions . The three teams mentioned above would have similar level riders at 1, 5 and 3... No surprise that away from home some teams will regularly struggle... *(Maybe 14 if Magic can recapture his better days)..

This looks like entertainment.... It will keep packing them in I am sure....

It just needs one less team in the top division, unless more top level riders become interested... Eg An amalgam of Oxford and Birmingham would have a very decent team this year... It would also be mean plenty of mid level replacements to come in rather than guests being used... Birmingham are not a top tier team given their issues in maintaining crowds, and sourcing "top level" riders, therefore they should be allowed to ride in tier two on Mondays.. Or Oxford just run two teams and remain a tier two team and Birmingham stay top tier using the likes of Magic to ensure they remain competitive.. Six teams would also deliver 2 x 3 team leagues for the KO cup, meaning a minimum of two extra home meetings, with the winner of each group meeting in the cup final.. Do it at the start of the season in the first month.. Salary caps are easily circumnavigated, look at PRS in Football, and how "sponsoring themselves" (through complicit third parties), has enabled some teams to spend far more than their "real income" would allow... Another three top level riders, split one each, for each of the bottom three teams each season, and the league would be very competitive indeed...

And also, you won't get to feel so superior, as well as obviously getting that wonderful satisfaction at laughing at the odd Neanderthal that still roams the world... Seriously though, I think questions should be asked in Parliament about the issues facing the Lions and the Bandits from the Leicester and Berwick Upon Tweed MP's... It must mean so much to the lives of so many of their constituents.... I am sure Sir Keir would take great interest in such a major situation, as it will dwarf whatever else he currently is dealing with... Edit. Sir Keir has just answered a question about the issue and his response was... "Speedway? Is that still going?"...

Not one BV v Ipswich/Sheffield...? Nor Ipswich v Sheffield...? Showing them ride against each other later in the season when all three will already be a shoe in for the play offs takes away from the meeting... It would also showcase top level GP riders, plus Emil and Chris Holder, early in the season... The Aces a week after the BF also isn't ideal as it could also impact the attendance for the Leicester meeting for them...

When the play offs get confirmed so early, it can reduce attendance's at the meetings that are still left to be completed... "Dead Rubbers" against a clearly bottom 3 team don't always stimulate those less regulars that make the real difference financially.... The die hards will be the ones always there regardless...

When you are paid per point I would suggest zero complacency... The Home meetings are where the vast majority of riders make their money, so will "fill their boots" if they get a chance to... The only threat to the Witches this season for me is their own fans getting bored of them hammering teams at Foxhall and then picking and choosing meetings... (5-1's can be some of the most boring races to watch given one rider often just follows their team mate as the rider in third can be miles away)... Ironically though they will attract some good attendances away from home, with their opponents reaping all the financial benefit... I am even debating whether to attend Sheffield when the Witches are there.. And I haven't travelled anywhere other than BV for years as no team match ups have given me any interest in attending...

Disgraceful comments... Alcoholism is recognised as being often directly linked to mental health issues therefore anyone isn't "just an alcoholic"... I presume therefore that a rider must also have let down his team because he has broken his leg? Oh, hang on, that's visual isn't it? He MUST be genuine because we can see the plaster his leg is wrapped in.. It is only Speedway, a very, very tiny sport watched nationally by a very small portion of the country.. And by just a few hundred in Berwick... If he doesn't ride this year, I am sure the world will move on.. No idea what is wrong with the lad, if anything at all, but, if there is, hopefully he can sort it... Best Wishes to him...

But.But.But... Peterborough...? But that was in a league with a lot less GP riders in it than now and they were able to bring in loads of very good guests for Ulrich due to his great early season average, which he couldn't hope to maintain.. Too many top riders are over here now, who race in lots of the fifteen heats, and can swing a match by 8 points in Ht 13 and 15.. The year Peterborough won it was a season of mainly 2nd division heat leaders doubling up...

Red, Blue, White and Yellow....

But if they all dress the same I won't know which mechanic is which.... You could only tell them apart by their mechanicing styles.... Much better as it used to be... 25 year old Monsters Of Rock T shirt, dirty jeans at least one size too small, meaning plenty of arse crack on show when you are bent over sorting out the bike... We don't need progress...

They are using a bloke stood next to the tapes with a Polaroid camera.... It's a colour one mind.......

100%... The big difference isnt the overall racing but the size of the crowds... An "average" meeting (of which most were just like today), didn't seem so average when you had decent crowd numbers who brought noise and a fair few away fans to add a bit of rivalry and increased the atmosphere...

Last season they would still have had to go head to head v the Aces... With a not too good record at the NSS, even with a full team... With the Aces having NKI instead of Cook too.... This year, if they can keep that team together it should be a shoe in.. But, given the injury record of several of that team, you never know... Should injuries strike though they will have some big averages to bring some very good guests in..