waiheke1

there should be a definitive cut off official figure), but that should be on number of meetings ridden as a HL in generating the riders CMA, not the CMA itself. Otherwise, please explain what benefit having a list of HL brings?

THJ should be a second string, and would be a brilliant signing on that average. Would be a stronger option than Kurtz for 2016 anyway, if THJ Holder and Watt are your remaining signings I think you can start engraving the trophy now.

Of course it makes a mockery of the HL concept if Hans or Bucz are not on the HL list. The reason the HL list is needed is becaucse, as SCB has pointed out, riders who have ridden as HL have artifically low average. So the criteria for a HL should be having ridden x% of meetings a a HL in 2015 (or 2014 if that is the source of CMA). Otherwise you could have a legitimate team of something like Woffinden Holder Andersen Nicholls Bjerre Newman Ellis If the criteria is simply a cut off average, there is absolutely no point in having a heat leader list.Zero point. I've already stated that that is not a criticism of Poole. If there is an average based cut off criteria, then every promoter who voted for it is to blame, just as they are for the ludicrous rule that converted PL averages are used for the FTR reserves. What it would prove is that the majority of promoters do not have clue of the implications of the rules they vote for, or Ford has some hold over them. No question Ford is the best of them at team building. If Holder,Watt and Kurtz are Poole's remaining signings, then I have zero issue as Watt and Kurtz would be rightly classed as strings (though it is still ridiculous that Newman comes in on one of the lowest tier reserve 1 averages). and that is the worrying thing, how few speedway fans seem to "get" averages. And more worrying still, how few promoters and managers!

if hans or bucz are classed as 2nd strings it makes a mockery of the voncept of 3 hl. surely poole fans can see tgat. and that is not a criticism of poole

is king classed as a heatleader? clearly he was one of the few that could justifiably be included or omitted from tge list

many thanks

Hi Hoping someone has heat details for the following Oxford -Bele Vue matches: 1985 July 31st (BL) 1986 April 4th (LC) 1986 July 18th (BL) many thanks

Oy, shouldn't you be peacekeeping on the Darcy thread? Swindon's answer to Mike Tyson is on the warpath again!

terse?!? lmfao! gemini's reply was far politer than you would have got from anyone else

Wow, you really are a master if missing the point aren't you....

exactly. he averages 5 points a gp, which means against world class opposition he will lose to two riders, and beat one. that is competitive, far more so that the Eastern European dross that used tmake up a third of the field on world final day. If he can make the odd final, get close to top ten, that's all we hope for at this stage, and if he enjoys it (and who wouldn't?), then good luck to him.

none of that article mentions swindon, which was where i specifically referred to? Can you nprovide me with a link that says Swindon has a housing crisis? I guess also it depends on your definition of "crisis", which seems to be extensively used, but is a very subjective term. That article refers to increasing unaffordabiliy of houses to buy. As a comparison, Auckland house prices are now approximately 11 times the average full time Auckland salary. Yet we don't describe it as a crisis, though from what I've seen Britains houses are not at that level? The article says evidence of the crisis is that there are approximately 2000 Brits without a roof over their head. While clearly not desirable, that's a tiny fraction of the population, and I would think comparable to most western countries?

for a newcomer, the rules are pretty simple. four laps, points are 3-2-1. that's all they really need to know. If there is a double point heat, in they may also need to know there two times table. I used to fill in the programme as a 4 year old, so there's no reason why any newbie can't grasp the fundamental rules on their first visit. Certainly I'd say its a lot simpler than understanding rugby or cricket the first time.

Davis I ranked 13th in the world in 80. as you say, his best ever season. world class - perhaps in that one season (and at a push in 85 when he was again in the top 20), but over the whole of his career, no. i had Batch at 45th, a couple of places below Bomber. as subsequently pointed out, actually only three riders did it after the nominated heat came in in 88. Alan Grahame I was surprised, I have ranked top 20 in the world from 81-84 (though never top 10). Andy on the other hand was only in the top 20 once, that in 82. Yes he won the British Final (but so did Steve Bastable the year before), and was arguably world class in 82. but otherwise, was he really that much better than say Craig Cook? again though, we're not saying the Grahame's were mediocre. Just that under a different heat format, perception would have been that they were nowhere near as good as we preceive them under the BL pre 88 format.

quite like the Steve Evans qualifying system, though I'd give the 16th slot in the ic final to the world u21 champ.

What do you mean "get real?" I live in NZ it was a genuine question. IT's also quite rare for a housing crisis to impact a whole country, generally it impacts specific areas only, hence the question with regards to Swindon. certainly I've seen quite educated/knowledgeable folk, such as SCB and Sir HA, dispute that there is shortage of housing in the UK, and they have pointed out that there are actually many vacant buildings in parts of the country. TBH, that doesn't sound like a housing crisis, that sounds like the standard case of people moving "one suburb/town" out to be able to afford a decent house in a commutable location. Auckland has a housing shortage (wouldn't use the word "crisis"), which has seen prices rise by over 30% this year (some suburbs by well over 50%). . I'd expect prices to have risen by at least that if there is a genuine "crisis" in swindon, but that doesn't seem to be the case (Sid will be laughing if it is). If prices rise too much, people will look a further suburb out, if prices aren't rising enough then people won't be incentivised to sell. Looking online at Swindon house prices, they seem pretty reasonable? crisis is quite an emotive word. Personally, i'd consider it to be a housing crisis if you had people out on the streets, because there are literally not enough houses for them to live in, or they cannot afford to rent in even the most basic accommodation. Is this the case in Swindon? In UK as a whole?

surely you can understand why, to travel Europe (and Aussie) riding in the world championship, even if you know you wont make top three, is what it is all about for any sportsman. HArris wont be making money, but i doubt he's losing a fortune either. HE clearly doesn't spend as much on his bikes as the top guys, i'd say he spends what he can afford. I'm sure it ensures some extra sponsorship income as well to cover the costs. I just wish Emil has Bomber's attitude.

why? they could have simply had a different conversion rate for his average? as it is it seems there is one rider (Howarth) who didn't have an EL average from 2015 earned from an FTR position. There is one rider who did have an average earned from EL FTS spot, but didn't have a 2015 PL average (Ellis). Maybe there are a couple of others ( R Worrall, Barker have been mentioned?), but I don't see that as a good reason to throw common sense out of the window - use the method which most accurately reflects the bulk of riders, and work out a fair way to deal with the "exceptions." i disagree. surely the Jerran Hart thread is one of two contenders (the Mason Wear thread is the other one) for unintentional comedy threads of the year.

60% of pl average, or 3, whichever is higher.

SCB is not complaining, he's stating a fact that the heat leader list should be based on number of meetings ridden in 2015 as a heat leader, not on average attained. If it is done based on average attained it makes the concept of having a list a nonsense, as the whole point of it should be to restrict the number of riders a team can have who have artificially low averages due to the heat format. Otherwise you could put together a team of Holder Nicholls Andersen Bjerre PK Newman Barker for example and be under the points limit. So, the likes of North, Bjerre, Andersen, Pk who ended FY15 with very modest averages should be on the list. Someone like Zengota should not be, even though he averaged a couple of points more than PK.. to answer your question, SCB is very fair, he'd be the first to say it's a nonsense if a Coventry rider ends up mis-classified.

which is exactly why he should be on thr hl list and zengota should not be. why can people nit grasp the reason fir this list and more worryingly, will tge bspa realise the reason tge list was needed and implement it accordingly?

See what I mean!

I'm not sure I follow that logic. I think it certainly can get worse without him

Has that been confirmed? Was ellis really the ,2nd to last pick of the tier 2 riders?

Didn't both ride a similar number of meetings as hl last year so both could be on the hl list?