g13webb

Correct. If the Stars go through to the final then they have first choice because of their league position. . If we were to lose to Belle Vue, then whoever won the other semi-final would get the choice of the location..

When looking at the teams when they were first announced, apart from Poole, I thought Belle Vue had an impressive team capable of pushing for the title. the injury to Worrall, who had stated the season on fire, had an immediate effect on results. They continue to hold their own until Bewley accident. I appreciate Worrall was back riding, but was only a shadow of the rider that started the season. It appeared all the cards were against you.. This season hasn't been all plain sailing for the Stars. Of the original 7 riders we have retained most of them, and were forced to employ cover for those who pulled out or were injured. MPT for Rose was an obvious replacement, he has been connected with Kings Lynn for many years . When Kerr got injured, we were struggling to find an adequate replacement, Simon came as a 28 day replacement when Andersen got injured, but the stroke of genius came when we collared Erik Riss to replace Kerr. By incorporating him into the team, it enabled MPT to move down to reserve and retain the services of Simon Lambert. From that point on we have been on a roll. Cant remember a season when everything has falling into place like it has..... Long may it continue...….

Have always had a soft spot for Belle Vue, and whenever we have failed, my second thoughts are always directed to them hoping they will succeed. Even this year, I had hoped if we cant win it then I hope they do. So it is with a heavy heart I say, they have a mountain to climb. Even without their bad luck and with a full team, to come here for the 2nd leg 8 points adrift they would find it hard to overcome. To do so with a scratch team, they will take a minor miracle. I know they will try 100% and give it their all, but it would need the Stars to have all the bad luck in the world to lose this one. I'll go for 52-38 home win

Its hard to imagine the difference a year can make to a speedway club. Where 2017 was a year to forget, 2018 has seen a complete turnaround, where the fans have been treated to some fantastic racing. With this never say die attitude' we are safely through to the KO cup final and here is the second leg of the play-off's...... Having done an unbelievable recovery job at the NSS, we now have the chance to compete for the league and cup double . This second leg is as important as the first and will be approached in the same way, They say ' its not over till the fat lady sings', but we have to be confident with an 8point advantage... We have been waiting for this a long time.....

How much could that be proportioned to the state of the track?? I think the slick track and afternoon practice was with the intention to upset the Stars riders, bearing in mind how they enjoyed their previous 2 visits, when there was plenty of grip. But as the evening wore on the Stars sorted out their bikes, got dialled in and were equal to the conditions. Even though the track was not of the normal standard it was still better than anything else we had raced on this year providing plenty of racing lines, and close racing..... There's no denying the fast outside lines and once a top rider hits that outside he will take some catching. If I lived near the NSS, I would be going to every single meeting. Cant believe the low figures issued by the club. Many times I went to a packed house at Hyde Road, as good as we thought it was, the track could never be compared with that at the NSS...….

But that doesn't make it right . Most finals in most sports are held at a neutral venue and the competing teams have no say in the charging of admission, it is normally done by the governing body. I appreciate the promotion wants to earn a few bob out of the occasion, but to charge those fans extra, who have stuck by you for 50 odd years don't sound right to me. I would have thought the PO final would, in itself bring in double the crowd, hence more revenue coming in to club. Personally , if we could be assured of filling the stadium, I'd reduce the cost to attract Joe Public to come in and witness the best speedway has to offer... Nothing would compare with a full stadium generating an unbelievable evening.... Just think of the revenue Buster would gained from all the shops and bars

I cant remember ever cheering for Ipswich. always the arc enemy, going back to the (much respected) John Berry days . Those wonderful local derbies which we always managed to lose....

As a Witches fan, it must be horrible to see Lynn doing well. In every match, there are many Ifs and maybe's. I am well aware if you pick out specifics score you can get a any predicted outcome, but the facts remain, we finished top of the league, scoring 10pts more than most, and that included scoring the most points away from home than any other. I am well aware of other teams strengths and weaknesses and feel quietly confident that whoever we meet we can give a good account of ourselves.... Win or lose.....

You have to forget that meeting and the more recent one at AFA. Them meetings mean nothing to what can be expected if these two teams meet in the final. You can rest assured both teams will be applying more ability and desire to win a play-off final. No doubt both teams will be giving it their all and whoever wins will be after a closely fought encounter separated by only a few points. Them who think it will be anything else are kidding themselves...….

Strange you think that, I was of the impression that most 'middle order' riders are there because they blow Hot and Cold. Rest assured all of those riders have proved they are capable of winning races for fun. Yes, they can lose as well , struggle with set-up and miss the gate, but when the chips are down they usually come to the party. They may not be the quality of Lambert and Niels, but they are an integral part of the team.... When looking at other teams I believe our middle order are as good or better than the rest... The fact that MPT is still at reserve proves how well the engine room really is....

Strange meeting, BV started off well, winning most of the races, but it was only a matter of time before the Stars got on the pace. MPT was a revelation, but he always goes well at the NSS. Heat 9 proved massive and was the critical turning point. From then on the confidence went sky-high. All that was needed was to someone to beat Fricke who had reigned supreme early on. Once Robert and Niels got dialled in there was only ever going to be one winner. Felt Sorry for BV. If any team were to lose their best 2 riders, they would all suffer. They were already up against it losing Bewley, but then lose your best rider on Saturday makes the task impossible....

Always liked to have my twopence worth, To me those Wembley finals where always special. every third year, we never missed one from 55 onwards. It wasn't that the track was great, or the racing being top notch, but the atmosphere and the crowd always made it special. Every race had an angle to it, the World title was up for grabs. The Buzz around the place made it an event that will never be bettered... The SGP's are a different animal, yes, I enjoy them but feel they become much of a muchness. I would never miss a Wembley Final, but I've missed two rounds this year already.. They don't have the same cut and thrust approach as the single final did and most riders will adapt it'll do attitude, knowing its points that count at the end of the day. Its a pity the FIM cant accommodate both, with a single final being held at the end of the year . As for the best British Rider of all time, Woffy is as good as any I've seen. Being a die-hard Lee supporter, its hurts to admit that Woffy is that good. Its difficult to compare riders from different era's , but what make Woffy so special, is he is the only British rider able to compete with the top riders in the world... I'm hoping Lambert will progress to that stage in the near future. ....

Wouldn't it be great if the supporters were briefed on the changes before they were implemented.... After all we all want the sport to be successful .

Too true!!! I have no problem with Buster doing a extended track grade to assist in Niels recovery, but why not bring the interval forward 2 heats instead of keeping the fans hanging around forever. A little bit of thought could go a long way.....

So envious of the Belle Vue fans being able to watch speedway on the NSS super raceway, this would help off set most of the bad luck you've had this year. I am amazed the attendance figures aren't more encouraging. Having been fortunate to race there twice already this season, I feel confident the Stars will compete for every point and the end result should be close. Would obviously like to win, but a close lost will do just fine..... If Bewley had been riding the task would be much greater.... Do hope he is progressing well, he is such an awesome talent to have missing.....

Having just watched the recording of this meeting, I find the comparisons between this meeting and our 2nd leg KO against Swindon were a world apart. You couldn't find two tracks so different, At Somerset the track was uneven with ruts galore. the grooves on the corners were so important in finding that extra grip. Lynn track was as smooth and flat as can be, but the racing was so processional. . Somerset was far better with positional changes every race.. Some of the overtaking was from the top drawer. So in hindsight, are we to say that, the worse track surfaces produce better racing ????

You are so wrong !! The Ref will never overrule the trackman. once the trackman is doing his work, he will continue until he thinks its ready. A Ref sitting in his warm seat would know nothing about the condition of the track unless he comes down from his ivory tower and they don't do that very often. Only when the trackman has finished, will the ref resume his responsibility .

I cant imagine any of the riders were complaining last night, they were all riding it so well. All I was saying, with a little bit of thought going into the procedure, would it not be possible to either wait another 2 races and have a big track grade in the interval, or if the track was that critical , couldn't the interval have been brought forward, rather than having 2 lengthy breaks... They don't have this problem in Poland, they run a tight ship with every option programmed in. A 5min track grade, after every 4 heats. The meetings are run to a strick timetable... Its not that difficult. Also sitting up there in the Royal Box was quite chilly with a sharp cold breeze keeping everyone awake. It was only at the end, when at ground level, did we realise how cold it was up there.

True !! it was from where I was sitting , facing towards them.. Musielak actually moved immediately to his LEFT, squeezing Lambert between himself and Batchelor. All four back was the right decision, but the Ref could've issued a warning to Musielak about his erratic move....

Not being a track man I am no authority on how to prepare a race track. To the naked eye, I thought the track looked perfect, smooth, with evenly spread of shale. allowing for multiply racing lines. But unfortunately the racing was dire . After the first corner the riders were well spaced out, more like follow the leader than actual racing. The most important part was the start. I think the biggest problem with the sport is that the bikes are way too quick, and every rider is riding full throttle. Don't think you can blame Buster for that... What you can blame him for, is the tractor racing we had to endure. I too was aware of the time wasting. 8-40 we have done well and had 8 races when it was decided to have a 15min track grade. I asked then is this the interval, but it was noticed the First Aiders were still on the track. We then had another 2 races when it is announced the interval will be taken after heat 10, when we had another 20 mins of track grading. Sitting/Standing around on a cold night for 35mins is not the way to enthral your supporters.. Won't they ever learn... ???

Well we must have gone to a different meeting last night, cause I see a totally different race than the one you are describing. Sitting up in the royal box looking down onto the track you see anything quite clear . That heat 15 was the all important race, tension was ripe, The tapes go up with Riss on 1 and Batch on 2 make decent starts, But it is Musielak who creates the problem, immediately he gates he moves LEFT squeezing Lambert. Robert has nowhere to go and is squashed into Batchelor. all 3 are tangled way before they get to the corner. It was amazing they didn't all go down. eventually Musielak freed himself and shot across Lambert's bows, taking his front wheel completely. By that time the bikes were controlling the men. Robert veered off into the safety fence at some speed , thankfully he was OK for the rerun. All the talk of blaming Batch was ridiculous, he was a victim of the situation as much as Lambert was. If anybody was to blame it was MUSIELAK who moved into Lambert. I thought the abuse Batchelor was getting, was related to comments he had previously made about the club and the walking out he did last year, but if it was by fans and Posters thinking he was to blame for the accident then they are all wrong..... Batchelor did nothing wrong...... Strange meeting this. Swindon arrived with a scratch team made up of weak reserves and RR, Lynn on the other hand were a heatleader missing. Initially it seemed to be plain sailing for the Stars, but it soon became apparent this was turning into a gate and go extravagancer. When Niels got injured the emphasis changed. Swindon appeared to have more race winners and riders who could get out to the traps. We were hanging on to a 2 point lead. only the exploits of Robert and Riss were keeping us in the match. Then came Heat 15 (above) I can understand the excitement of the fans, and the relief to reach the final, but one has to feel sorry for the Robins, if they had a full team they would have won, no doubt One thing that became obvious last night was, Although we are not a one man team, without Lambert we are short of race winners when it matters.... When Niels pulled out we were in trouble,. Yea, we got there, but only just......

Looking forward to this one, will be disappointed if we fail to make that final. Judging by our home form of late we should have enough strength in depth to see us home. But Swindon are no fools and have several riders who go well here. Had this been an ordinary league fixture I would have said an easy home win, but with a final up for grabs, this will be no pushover, and each team will be up for it. I can see this one going to the wire, and will be more than grateful, for a 50-40 scoreline...

The best race I’ve ever seen is an impossible task. Over the years I have seen some truly magical races, even from riders you wouldn’t believe. There have been many times when I’ve wished the rider to miss the gate, knowing full well he would win from the back, and you imagine the excitement before it actually happened. So I started to reason what makes a race so special, Be it an impossible task, or the value of the race, the execution of the overtake, the consequences of winning, the value of the race, does riding for your team make it more important than riding for your own being. One race that includes all those attributes was back in 2012, heat 15 when Lynn held a narrow lead against Poole, and needing 3 pts to be assured of victory. Guesting for the injured Darcy Ward, Davy Watts with Chris Holder shot from the gate. Niels, with Magic in tow, gave chase. Losing 5-1 would have been disastrous. Coming out of the 4th bend, lap1, Niels takes Watts and goes after Holder. L2 B1, Magic joins the party relegating Watt to last place, giving us the 3 pts we need for an impressive win. As they start L3 the gap between Holder and Niels has halved, with Janowski not far behind. Holder is looking round in amazement as the posse closes in. As they start the last lap, Holder chooses a tight line going into bend 1, Niels goes high. Holder sees Niels line and moves out to block, but Niels is aware and he himself cuts back inside. Side by side down the back straight they go into B3. Both are going too fast and are forced to take the high line, but Niels has a narrow advantage and edges ahead. To put the icing on the cake, Magic takes advantage of the out-of-shape Holder, and moves into second for a memorable victory that was against all the odds. No, Poole didn’t have Darcy that night, but Holder was on the verge of being World Champion. Nobody had expected him to beaten that race after he had established a healthy lead. But to be relegated to 3rd was an unbelievable achievement by both Niels and Janowski, giving the Kings Lynn Stars a welcomed victory against the all conquering Pirates. A race that had it all ……….

I always have this feeling that when the chips are down the pirates come out with all guns blazing. If May has a normal track with plenty of dirt on the outside it would be a massive gamble. There's no one better than Bomber riding them wide lines. Most of Poole riders favour the wide spaces that Somerset could use, so we have to expect some white line racing where the gaters will benefit riding them tight lines.. This will play right into the Rebels favour, who have been practicing this for a few weeks . I cant imagine this will be pretty to watch, but I can see a substantial home win.. It would surprise me if Poole managed to get 40 points. I think that's what they need to aim for, to stand any chance in the 2nd leg. If I were Middlo I would suggest they lower the gearing to get out that gate and then worry about them behind, once they are in front. Be interesting to see what Monday brings... But I haven't dismissed the Pirates just yet...…..

You ought to realise by now that Speedway is dictated by the TV schedule. The KO 2nd leg could have be on Wednesday for all we cared, but would that have clashed with Denmark?? Of cause the Lynn fans would want to see the PO 1st leg, so would the travelling Swindon fans, but we will have to make do watching the recording....