Ommer Mon

I think Ivan Mauger once said the best way of learning is to ride against riders who are better than you are. I'm not going to argue with that! I think it will do the Brits good. Many will fall by the wayside but there will be a few who benefit from the experience. I think the current crop of youngsters look promising. Let's hope so.

I agree with that SCB.I think the quality of British riders hit a real low a few seasons back and as you say we had very little to trouble the Grand Prix scorers between Loram and Woofy. I've seen quite a lot of National League speedway since the Heathens came back in 2010 and I think there have been some real successes flowing through. Craig Cook, Steve Worrall and Paul Starke are mixing it at top level. Not forgetting Rob Lambert though I know he only featured in the NL briefly due to his 'schooling' abroad. I think the addition of NL riders in the Elite League also helped to bring them along and learn from some of the top guys. I hope we have made some progress and that some of the products will now start to develop into international riders to take over from Chris Harris and Scotty. Hopefully we will see the benefits in the World Cup in future.

Just seen the line up for the British Semi Final at Newcastle and the thought crossed my mind that apart from Schlien, King and Lawson this could have been a National League open meeting from a couple of years back. Is this a sign of how well the National League is doing in producing a new crop of Brits to compete at this stage or that standards of British Speedway have slipped since the days when Collins, Simmons, Lee, Wilson, Morton etc etc could have been involved at this stage. What do you think?

Hmmm TWK you got me thinking he's not the first, small, red haired Englishman with a spectacular style to ride for Belle Vue and do well!. Is that a 'PC' comment. (LOL) Perhaps too early for comparisons on that level but he must have a great future ahead of him.

Dan Bewley was superb against the Heathens on Monday and paid for double figures against Wolves last night. He is a real talent and could have a very successful future ahead of him. Luke Harris has improved beyond all recognition from the rider he was for us a couple of seasons back. he's making a total mockery of his starting average.

Yep, we were mauled by the Moggies! Dan Bewley is a class act and was about three seconds faster than anybody else. He was the main difference but Dan Greenwood's crash and bike problems didn't help. Tom and Danny are great racers but neither of them are too hot off the gate and that does make life difficult (and may continue to do so when we are the second half of a 'double header' at Monmore and the dirt has disappeared). I agree that Luke Harris is a different rider from the one we saw at Perry Barr a couple of years ago. Good to see him make progress. Over all I agree with Will Pottinger. There's no need to panic yet. I still think we are good for a top 4 spot. Final word, well done Armo. You can't take it away from him. He's still got it at this level! PS Hope Dan Bewley makes the most of his practice tonight!

I agree Dan Bewley could cause us some problems tonight but I still fancy the Heathens by 6.

Useful choice of guest. He should be good for double figures,

And I would agree with you. Lets hope those residents put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) when the plans are considered.

The Bog Moggies are coming! I think this could be a very good meeting especially with Mountain, Halsey and Armo in town. I think the Moggies' shrewd work last year in avoiding an average for Jordan Jenkins is now going to produce dividends. I expect him to score plenty. If Dan Greenwood and Joe Lawlor have sorted their bikes out I think it will still be a comfortable win for the Heathens though. I go 51-39. Fingers crossed.

I remember many years ago standing on the bank by the pits and looking out beyond them. You could not see any lights let alone any houses. It was like being on the edge of the world. With the rapid expansion of housing in the immediate area I fear for Speedway once the noise and parking complaints start flying in. I really hope they don't go the same way as Coventry and the many more that have passed before them (including us!). Speedway is a very different sport these days to the one I grew up with. Very sad to see all these great venues disappearing.

Really pleased with the result and performance. Looks like we could be in for a pretty decent season. The balance of the side is identical to last year with three big hitters and the rest hoping to improve on their averages. The difference is in the bottom four. They all look very lively indeed and are all capable of putting a couple of points on their starting averages. Bring on the Brummies next week..

I quite like the look of our team this year and fancy us to run out winners by about 20 points. Probably far too optimistic but its the start of the season so hopes are high. Don't forget its at Perry Barr!

I couldn't agree more with most of the comments here. Waiting round in the cold is no good for any body and certainly kills off any enthusiiasm in the kids. One of the biggest issues for me is the tractor racing after every 4 heats. In the days of track rakers the dirt was dragged back after every race and it worked and was delivered in a quarter of the time it takes to get tractors out there to do their job.

Yes Brian the planning laws are stacked firmly in the favour of developers. I think it took Barratts 7 attempts to finally get permission to redevelop Dudley Wood but 5 'nos', 1 last minute withdrawal and a single solitary' yes' still ended up as an overall 'yes'. Good luck to all at Oxford. They know they are swimming against the tide butare prepared to carry on doing it for the good of the sport.

I'm very sad to see the Bees frozen out of the League. Having suffered similarly at Cradley I can say its a very long, hard and painful road to get back. I hope they have more luck and a more helpful Council (not difficult as Dudley have been somewhere on the scale of useless to downright obstructive). Good luck to those who try to sort it out from here.

I see OAPs will have to pay full price at the turnstiles. Has that always been the case at Perry Barr?

Fixtures out this morning. 3 certain fixtures at Perry Barr and two reserved dates. With 'double headers' at Wolves too it is obvious how difficult it has been for the promoters to get us some racing this year. It must have been a close call. Hope the Heathens fans will support their efforts in large numbers. Well done to Nigel Chris and Gary.

Thanks for that Stevebrum. All explained. A chance to support the away team at a knockdown price - worth considering I guess.

Very good signing if he stays the course. Best of luck to Buxton. They do a fantastic job up there.

That's what I find odd in the arrangement. I don't think there are large numbers of either team's fans who will want to watch the other so if whoever goes first is charged double header rates I would have thought there would be objections (unless you can get refunds on the way out which I would have thought unlikely). With an hour between the end of one and the start of the other I'm not sure you could call it a double header anyway. I would have thought Cradley in the morning and Wolves at 7.30 would have been the best solution but I'm not sure if there would be any dog meetings (that's real dogs not dog heads)during the day. Very interested how it will work. PS Two programmes or one?

Just wondering how the shared Bank Holiday Monday's are going to work. Dog Heads start at 5pm with us at 7.30 I think. Will those attending the Dog Heads match be charged double header rates or will our match be a freebie for them? Carparking will be interesting at about 6.30.

Have to agree Adam Roynon is the stand out candidate for this award and I agree that his accidents have rarely been his fault. Very safe rider with lots of bottle and an absolute hero for Cradley after signing himself out of hospital to attend the end of season gathering.

It could well be an open competition this year with a number of potential winners. I think the overall standard is down compared with a few years back to be honest. There are pleanty of very good riders in there but the only potential superstar I can see is Emil. I'm delighted to have him back in the field. It's a great shame that he and Darcy won't be having a head to head over the next decade. That would have been back to the days of Mauger / Olsen, Nielsen / Gundersen, Crump / Rickardsson and Penhall / Carter. Top class riders at the top of their game. I expect Greg to be in the mix again this year and still to have the beating of most of them due to his experience and mechanical expertise. The day can't be far away though when the youngsters finally get the beter of him. No sign of it yet though but I think Emil could change things on that score.It's about time somebody could! Should be a good season.

I have known Tony for 20 years or so and put simply he has been the greatest asset that Speedway has had in this Country during that time. As Martin Mauger said he did seem to save and reopen tracks for fun but it does make you wonder how he can do it but so many others struggle. His other sporting passion is football and he has been a regular at Kidderminster Harriers for many years. Now there's a challenge!!!