szkocjasid

So Oxford have no Championship matches between July 10th & August 5th, but still have 2 rearranged fixtures to fit in. I'm surprised clubs take so long to find new dates, it can't be because they are waiting to ensure they have a full team, as they ride most weeks with riders missing anyway?

Harris didn't have an easy route, Paco did, he qualified because he's Italian. Harris certainly hasn't performed as well this year, of course being Speedway, that may suit his team next year being on a lower average.

There's no rush to find someone, even if they don't have a rider signed for the next match, doesn't mean they won't have one soon. I guess the delay (if you can call it that) shows they are taking their time & trying to sign the strongest rider possible. A quick option could've been Lasse Fredriksen, who's already set up for riding over here. Could the delay be work permit / visa related?

Totally agree, the issue isn't calling this particular match off, but the fact they've had long gaps without home fixtures, will be well into July with only 2 home meetings raced! If there's a cut-off date for the play-offs, it shouldn't be moved back when clubs only have 8 home league fixtures to fit in. How would clubs ever cope running 2 home & 2 away, that so many ask for?

Musielak was picked for heat 15? I don't get the talk of waiting for 2027, teams should want to be successful every season, Ipswich have had chances to improve if they were ruthless (& riders were willing to come).

Fricke has 6 points according to the FIM 🫢 Corrected now!

I'm not denying what you've said, but also think Kvech laid it down. You see riders make contact all the time without falling, so I don't think contact should automatically mean an exclusion for the non-faller. I'm not saying the ref was definitely wrong, just that it's not a stone wall decision imo

I don't think it was as straightforward as that, yes there was contact, but Kvech made no effort to stay on!

What's happened?

Would need to be a low 2 pointer to fit Wright back in. I've been back & forth on whether that double change strengthens the team. But as a top rider can get 5 rides & a 2 pointer only needs 3 plus they'd still have one strong reserve, probably worth a try.

If only Northampton won at home, the play-off fight would've been even more exciting.

I guess MPT being a former Plymouth ruder, Battye having never ridden there before & Smith being notoriously bad there, I can agree with the guest choice. Mind you if MPT helps Berwick to am away win, that could harm Scunthorpe's play-off hopes 🤔

Totally agree. It's the same for both teams & up to the riders to adapt.

I'd say there's a difference between being competitive & being successful. Northampton haven't been successful, but mostly have been competitive. How I'd explain it is a rider with 4 last places, but only losing out on the line is competitive, a rider half a lap behind isn't. Likewise a team losing by 2 or 4 points each week is competitive, losing by 20 or 30 points isn't?

Actually the team has been competitive more often than not, rarely get beaten by a lot, but unfortunately are getting beaten a lot.

With some quick thinking by Dayle Wood by either rolling into the tapes, or pulling back & waiting for the red light, Oxford could've had Ritchings in the re-run of heat 4. Lost points perhaps?

I wasn't at the match, but considering Lidsey beat Klindt in heat 13 & had scored 10 points, I wouldn't call it a strange decision. Sounds like the had a choice of 3 options, none of them wrong.

Leicester have a good chance here

Middlesbrough (Redcar) have already called off their NDL fixture.

The problem with points per meeting, is that it doesn't show a home / away split. I'd look at away points gained - home points lost (bonus points count half) for a truer "ranking". Although the two systems give pretty similar results anyway. Glasgow + 5 Scunthorpe + 4 Poole + 2.5 Edinburgh + 1.5 Berwick - 0.5 Redcar - 2 Plymouth - 2.5 Oxford - 3.5 Workington - 4.5 After that I'd look at meetings remaining. Oxford only have 2 away matches left, so not much opportunity to increase their "ranking". Berwick have ridden only 1 away match, so plenty opportunities to pick up away points. Interestingly at home every club has ridden 3 or 4 home meetings, so that's very even. Apart from that, you could look at who still has to race Poole at home, as that's the most likely home loss, although less so now Cairns & Rushen are in the top 5.

Most predictions are based on who can improve their averages, Scunthorpe had one rider who was clearly going to lower his average in Pickering. So they would naturally be ranked low. If you go by current rolling aves Scunthorpe are 3rd lowest fractionally above Workington & Plymouth, who would be higher with Cook or Thomsen, you can't legislate for team changes pre-season. So predictions based on finishing averages would be quite accurate. What Scunthorpe have done, is perform really well in a couple of away matches & if they keep winning at home, will deserve a play-off spot. Well done to them, but I still feel it was a sensible pre-season prediction as you could argue only Pickering & Ingram have exceeded expectations.

Zagar couldn't replace Batchelor as that would be over the points limit, so had to bring him back for his injury replacement. With management committee "approval" Northampton could now bring Jeppesen back in for Batchelor.

For a professional sportsman, phoning to say you are running late isn't a good look in the first place. But if he's well enough to drive home, he should be well enough to make it to the track to see a doctor right? Be far quicker than using the NHS to get a sickline.

The 7 day suspension should stop that happening though? Mind you with fewer fixtures these days, riders probably won't miss much. What I don't get about the guest rules, lets say I suggest you shouldn't get a facility if a rider misses a match to race abroad, the response is normally "that will lower the crowd / it's not fair on the fans / it's not fair on the team" - but in an instance like this when no facility is allowed, all those reasons don't matter?

Pleased for Northampton.