stevethelion

If that's the case Lions better pile up those points tomorrow, because they'll need them! Lions guests looking a bit limited for next Friday. Edinburgh v Newcastle now rearranged for same day, which rules out S.Worrall & Pickering. If Redcar decide to use Lawson then Allen could swap sides. Only other candidates are Howarth & Ellis.

Correct, no Lawson now, average will be to high. Nichol was no longer guesting for Greaves anyway, he had been declared fit to ride, although the preview yesterday on the Lions website still showed Nichol. I think it was written before Greaves was declared fit.

If either or both meetings are postponed, it's highly likely to be October before they are ridden, in which case the October averages will be in force, these aren't yet on the SGB website so I can't check, but it could mean the original guests aren't eligible to ride because their averages no longer fit. Obviously now only applies to R.Worrall & MPT, as Greaves is now riding. Lawson was only 0.01 of a point inside Richie's average for September. I've just checked SGB website & October's average's are now showing. If friday's meeting at Redcar is off, Lawson won't be able to guest if the rearranged meeting is in October, he will have gone up to 8.32. MPT's average goes up to 8.18, so the original guests that were booked would still be eligible.

Somerset V Glasgow play-off SF on Wednesday, Harris & Covatti riding in that.

Can see your point, but what Stewart Dickson said, when interviewed before the last meeting, was he'd narrowed it down to a choice of 2 opponents( didn't say which 2), & would discuss it with the riders to get their opinions, but ultimately the final decision was his.

Definitely think the Bears will be stronger, just by having Nichol at reserve. With ex Lions men Wright & Riss they will certainly be strong at Leicester, both ride the track excellently. Wright looked the best visiting rider i've seen all season, in the league match that was cut short when the curfew was reached. If it gets close towards the end Redcar will certainly have strength in heats 13 & 15.

Redcar won't now be able to use him in their home leg either, because Newcastle are now at Edinburgh in a re-arranged fixture. So I imagine it could be Adam Ellis or Jake Allen.

The way it was announced it seemed for both legs, but as you correctly say Eastbourne are riding the same night as the home leg. I'd quickly ask Steve Worrall before Redcar grab him to replace MPT, although might be too late already. If they get Worrall for MPT & Nicol to replace Greaves, they'll definitely be stronger.

If they meet in the semi-final, presume that will be 27th-29th Sept. If it's in October, possibly not.

If they have to go to Glasgow, the obvious guest would be Richard Lawson, who now fits for Richie Worrall by 0.01 pt.

On current form Glasgow look the one to pick, but if Starke returns from injury & comes back into the side that puts a different complexion on it. As ever injuries will have a big part to play, it would be nice if all 4 teams were at full strength & which guest Lions can get for Richie Worrall ( if he isn't returning). A few of the regular guest's that they have used this season now won't be available because of average changes & injuries & also you can't use guests from the other play-off sides. I just hope that the amount of guest bookings Douglas & to a lesser extent, Perks, are getting doesn't result in an injury before the play-offs start.

I think you're spot on, you can't just add the 2 riders averages together that you are replacing & replace them with 2 different riders. You can only replace like for like , if you're making a double change both riders need to average the same or less than those they're replacing, if not you would have to re-declare at the points limit & as you say Lions are 3.80 over, so no way are they in a position to re-declare at the 40 pt. limit, it would make them far too weak. Like you say might have been practising today but I'd say highly unlikely he's coming to Leicester.

Not much to pick from in terms of guests, imagine it could be Kyle Howarth again.

The problem is Lions are currently 43.38, which is 3.38 pts over the limit, so to make 2 changes that aren't like for like they would have to re-declare at the 40 pt limit. To do as you suggest ,presume you mean Hume(3.27) for Lawlor at reserve & then replace Proctor, would only leave 1.87 for the rider to replace Proctor, which can't be done as the lowest average possible is 2.00. So looks like they're stuck with Proctor unless they have a new rider lined up. The new averages are out in a few days & come into effect on Sept .1st, I don't know what that means in terms of possible changes, but no way will they be in a position to re-declare at 40 pts. it will leave them far to weak.

8.66 is only to replace him at home because you get an extra 5%, for away matches it's the regular GSA, which in Richie's case is 8.25. Like you say not many guests available, wouldn't be surprised if it's not Steve Worrall.

If it's 2 guests, surely it'll be Masters & Palm Toft, whose average is exactly the same as Vissing (6.80). That won't weaken Glasgow at all ( probably strengths them, if anything). Masters already has a 15pt max. at BP a couple of weeks ago & Palm Toft usually goes well at BP & will have ridden there many more times than Vissing, who I can't recall seeing there recently.

Chris Harris.

Agreed, but more than would have turned up in the conditions that prevailed the evening before!

Just the 1 against Newcastle, when the rain arrived later than forecast, but the temperature was about 8 degrees with a gale force wind blowing. It was re-arranged the next day when the weather was better, a very sensible decision at the time.

I think the lack of Saturday meetings has had an affect on the crowds, the 3 shield matches at the beginning of the season were on Saturdays & attracted pretty good crowds, if I remember correctly, but since then 3 Saturday meetings have been rained off, leaving just 3 league meetings on Saturday's so far, 2 of these were re-arranged for different days, with 1 still to be arranged. Sundays & weekdays always seem to attract smaller crowds. The signing of Scott Nicholls meant having a number of rain-offs & progressing in the cups/play-offs(hopefully) was always going to be risky, in that any GP Saturdays when Scott is doing his TV work, are ruled out for re-arranging matches. Although Scott has been great on the track, there was always a chance this could happen. The next 2 meetings are both Saturdays, let's hope the weather is good & the crowds are up. The promotion & team deserve to be rewarded after the efforts of this season compared to what we have had to suffer in season's past.

No, if done today comes to 40.39, from 1st August 41.65

Klindt for Worrall won't fit, but Proctor for Bates will fit today, but not tomorrow, when the new average's come into force.

Josh's average at the minute is 7.00, but from the 1st August it drops a fair bit to 6.35 , so to get someone in like for like, they really need to get someone in before 1st August, which doesn't give much time. Don't know what average a newcomer to British Speedway would come in on? Does it depend what country/ league he rides in ?

No

Ok , seems weaker that way round, but was probably booked before Bates was injured.