Sings4Speedway

Certainly something that NL promoters need to look at both at the AGM and when completing signings. It would certainly make any rider who signs for a championship side who ride regularly on a Sunday far less appealing but its certainly important not to stand in the way of riders who are progressing. Its down to the promoters who make the signings to judge id they wish to include doubling up riders in their sides with the risk of them being missing X meetings a season or not but i would say that an initial max of 2 per team is plenty?

Good Luck to Joe. As with several signings Stoke have made at reserve over the years i feel it might be a year too early for him but i hope his pockets are deep and he has a successful season.

Sadly thats a sight i have seen repeatedly at Stoke, Kings Lynn & Mildenhall over the years

With regards to the cr@p track from memory the comments about the NLRC were that the racing was good? Perhaps it appears poor at the higher levels because of the gulf in difference between the riders. More tracks does mean more riders but that can only be a good thing. If we expect anyone to take up the sport there must be viable chances of progression opportunities. Added to that the simple fact that if you throw enough at a wall some of it will stick, how many potential top class riders have already retired due to lack of opportunities.

Hope it works out for Coventry. Maybe they will pick up a few speedway fans that cannot attend midweek Leicester meetings? Would also be nice if an MDL side could be tracked be it Long Eaton / Mercia Vikings etc as it will be a prime opportunity to help develop up and coming riders.

Rowe will be at Kent & Hunter most likely at Eastbourne. Verge who knows where he will be? I do suspect one of the Eastboune reserves will begin with B though but not Bulley

As we have the rules aficionados gathered here what about helmet colours this season? The number of riders using a helmet that has some red on it has increased, likewise black and yellow helmet designs rather than quarters and in multiple meetings riders have come to the tapes with yellow only. Surely these are basics like making sure you ride in the correct race and should meet with fines if not correctly followed?

Having a quick look i would say the limit is bound to go up next year. Every team finished above the 39 point limit. Will be an interesting winter as ever with a few riders on bargain averages, several on inflated ones that may hamper chances of getting a ride and obviously a few that have outgrown the league and will move onto better things

Think for the Eagles Baseby & Brennan are certs for next years line up. Wood also providing his Championship team doesn't clash too much (assuming he gets one). Definitely don't think Kelsey will be included it just doesn't work for him at Eastbourne & a season ending average of 6.09 for Powell is probably his swan song as i can't see any team touching him on that number.

Drew Kemp has stuck within the rules as far as i am aware and should not be penalised with an average of anything other than 3.00 to start the season. Its clear he has a talent and he will achieve a true average over the season and quite likely follow the footsteps of Jordan Jenkins into the main body of the team at Mildenhall. If a change of rules is to be brought in for the future then fine but you can't change them retrospectively just because it suits/doesn't suit certain teams.

You are correct that im not Lens greatest fan but im equally happy to admit that he has done a huge amount for the sport over the years and in bringing speedway back to Kent. I generally find the racing and entertainment good st Sittingbourne and that is what i am looking for from my speedway so no complaints from me there. I was purely stating that this season he built a side based upon the 40 point limit then got caught out when it was dropped to 39 hence no place for Shanes and Stoneman was included instead as all the others had been announced. Could Kent have finished even higher with Shanes + 3.00 pointer rather than Stoneman & Clifton? We will never know......

Just goes to show that yet again the sport shoots itself in the foot. The number of teams that offer MDL/SDL opportunities is appalling and these will be the first clubs to complain when there are no decent 3.00 riders around. Unless teams start showing an interest in who is going to be coming into the sport the following year there will be no following years. (apologies to Islander15 as the thread has been hijacked)

All depends if they ban trebling up? If they do the likes of Bewley, Smith, Zach Waj, Morley, Ayres etc may well step up out of the league. Going to be very hard for all sides to build competitively in that scenario, some will but some will be severely weakened and will make for an even more divided league

Makes no difference to Len. He will sign who he likes in advance (just like this year) and worry about the consequences after (like Shanes missing out this season). I would be very surprised to see Andrews back especially on that average & equally as surprised to see James Laker in the side although id expect him to be number 8 this year.

We can both agree that speedway has some very unique problems but from a personal point of view i watch speedway to be entertained and i dont like to see sides name a rider they have no intention of using so they can then have their pick of unattached riders instead. If the 8/9 system was brought in it would encourage teams to bring those lads up to speed as quickly as possible and show an interest in them rather than leave it for someone else to do as is the approach of many teams. With regards to the Drew Kemp argument there are riders every year that come in on a 3.00 that are widely known to be way more talented than that and affect results for large parts of the season. Zach Waj, JPB, Smith, Bewley, Bickley, Jenkins....... With a higher points limit its easier for teams to build stronger in the 1-5 and thus keep the result changing riders at reserve for longer whilst at 39 for example a lot of teams build with 3 x 3.00 pointers and the match changers are up into the team at the first set of averages

For me it would be limit the number of times RR can be used per season (2 x home 2 x away?) and then have to track NL rider (either at RR position or at reserve and move reserve up to RR position). That would make teams think a little more before signing doubling up riders. Doubling up only no trebling. All teams to run some form of development league second half side (doesn't have to be every week) to give extra track time to developing riders. All brits get 1 point average reduction at end of season to make them more appealing to sign the following year. Run league meetings at the beginning of the season with cut off at June/July? any team who has not completed all home fixtures cannot enter the KOC etc Ban tyre warming at the starts like the have in the GP's 2 minutes to be ready to come under starters orders, riders holding back, fiddling with fuel taps & clutch cables for the 16th time etc go off 15 meters

Couldn't agree more especially with the way the averages are handled (or not handled) we are on the cusp of a strong new rider deciding not to sign for a team and staying unattached then taking whatever bookings they like & charging whatever they like. Why not name a number 8&9 in a squad and be made to use them when either a reserve is absent/injured or when RR is in place.

I guess the opinions will vary over should every current rider get a place next year or should there be competition for places and riders waiting in the wings when form drops or injuries occur? This year it was clear with the number of teams that it was a real stretch to fill all teams competitively. If the 39 limit is stuck with i can see several of the 7+pointers missing out / moving on as many teams will go with two of them and then build the rest around 3,4, & 5 pointers. To be fair there are probably several who may not want NL next season anyway so sticking with the current limit wouldn't do much harm. For me i would want to see maximum 1 other team so no trebling up, potentially a limit on the number of riders who double up from each team (2 each?), a limit on the number of times RR can be used & unattached riders being given averages as per any 1-7 rider.

From what i can gather its not the failure of the engines in terms of running but the drop off in performance after a certain period. Its been proven by several that they will do 200 races etc but most comments i have heard are regarding the drop in power performance after 100. To get them off the ground it could do with an experienced successful team either NL or Championship that will become a factory team, supply the engines & X points money to their 1-7. Obviously if its a bad season the engines will be blamed but if they have a decent year it will be a case of look what can be achieved etc

Challenge matches if a team must but then how about crack on with league racing. Get those fixtures done and dusted by July and those that have not completed their home fixtures cannot enter the KO cup / Nat Trophy etc. Plus trebling up has go to go. Max 2 teams per rider to lower fixture clashes etc.

Congratulations to Stoke for finding some re-staging dates even though they will probably cost the club money with very few turning out on a Tuesday night? (which is a shame as nobody does anything on a Tuesday so its a perfect speedway night). Either way it would be good if they can complete their fixtures after so many failed attempts over the past few years. Im not going to go into the failings of Stoke as i have other things to do today but there is a scruffy charm about the club and i would hate to see it fold. As for fixtures as mentioned by someone else league fixtures need to be run first then KO Cups etc can follow. If a team hasn't completed their home league fixtures by X date they don't go in the hat for the knockouts?

Right first to bite & using every point available..... 7.13 Kim Nilsson 4.39 Todd Kurtz 6.39 Edward Kennett 5.08 Paul Starke 6.77 Steve Worrall 3.24 Danny Ayres 2.00 Tom Bacon 35.00 Total

Nothing against this mystery rider but here lays the majority of the problem. NL riders should be looking at their earnings as subsidising a sport they enjoy whilst still holding down a full/part time job. Riders of higher divisions and with more matches to complete are fully entitled to be a full time rider but should only be looking to cover the costs of living & racing a sport they enjoy. Everyone would love the opportunity to be paid to do the thing they love most but there are far too many riders trying to make a fortune out of the sport rather than embracing the opportunity to be paid to do something they enjoy and are good at.

Of course the rates for those who "make it" are considerable and some earn a very nice living out of the sport but the cost to get there are astronomical. As stated already development league riders are not paid anything which really begs the question why anyone would to take up the sport? The general consensus from riders is that they are largely treated like second class citizens by some people at most tracks they visit, the number of tracks willing to offer a venue to use is pathetically low, even if a fixture has been arranged there is no guarantee of it going ahead due to curfew (and lack of urgency by the host clubs) without the considerable costs involved with tracking a league standard machine, travel, time off work etc and thats ignoring all the additional costs loaded against individuals who even attempt to run development league sides

Personally react / anticipate the start is all fine with me as long as riders don't touch the tapes. The majority of the problems lay with the bikes not being close enough to the tapes to prevent rolling. A second line was added (this year?) that the wheel spindle should be over and remain in that position until the tapes go up. However even if starters do call riders up over this line (and many don't) as soon as they walk away riders pull back onto the top of the rut then roll down just before the tapes move. Its this behaviour that needs to be stamped out to prevent constant movement at the starts & re-runs. If a hard line was taken by either the referee or assistant start marshall it would be easy to stamp out if applied consistently. There would obviously be a couple of horrendous meetings at the start of the season getting all riders to stay put but once it became clear no movement would be tolerated the riders would mostly regulate themselves.