Sings4Speedway

Big shame for Eastbourne as this should have been a big crowd puller however with the mockery of guests etc it now looks quite flat. Has probably swung my decision to attend from very likely to very unlikely. Belle Vues team was always liable to have riders missing given so many double uppers but all 3 heat leaders is a bit of a joke.

If every club face charges for lying Speedway would close down tomorrow. The Saul thing was just badly conveyed and nothing would ever stick.....could have had work commitments, they changed but Eastbourne honored the guest they had booked, equipment not ready in time, race suit still having adjustments made the list would be endless.

Could be wrong but certainly looked like Jack Thomas blew his GTR up at Kent on Monday?

Wish Daryl all the best for the future. Ive given him a hard time in the past but he was a solid NL rider who never really got the chance to kick on due to injuries. Obviously if his heart isn't in it then its the right decision.

It was all about how Layne handled it. If he had waved or taken a bow fans would have laughed along. It was out of character for several Brum riders to be so gee'ed up so i suspect Mr Drury may have some influence on that.

Completely agree. Bit of banter amongst fans is great but heckling & booing is deplorable. Very nearly changed my forum name after monday night. Edit - have changed.

Anybody know which engine Jack blew up on monday? Looked like his GTR to me?

Agreed although he looked back to his old self on Monday & with much higher confidence. That said he is clearly struggling at P'Boro. I personally think he has what it takes to make it in the Championship but feel its the wrong home track for him to excel.

I think you would be wise to stay clear of Stoneman for a while. Accident waiting to happen. He has the brain of a hard top rider but lacks the skill set required to complete half the time and a step up a league would see him out foxed by more experienced guys and straight onto the injury list. Big miss was not securing a deal to get Bacon from P'Boro he looked sublime at Kent the other night.

There are plenty of possible permutations perhaps IOW operate how i believe all clubs should run which is with a pay bracket for the position you are riding at in the team therefore it would have been less £'s per point. Who knows but rightly those agreements are and should remain between Tyler & IOW only although i commend the promotion for not being held to ransom as im certain the last thing they would have wanted is to track a 6 man team. I definitely feel Govier let IOW down and if he wasn't happen with the situation should have declared earlier so another rider who would have been grateful for the NL ride could have competed as there are scores of riders looking for their break who would have ridden for almost nothing.

I was surprised that Greenwood missed out on the initial picks so not a bad signing. Think he has been held back with equipment over the past couple of seasons as it used to be top drawer but if he gets it sorted he could prove a very capable signing and certainly an improvement on Coles.

It never rains for the poor IOW side/promotion. Im assuming a minimum 14 day ban will follow for Govier although with his negative influence it might be better if it was longer. Such a horrible sign of the times that the promotion showed loyalty to 2 riders who many raised eyebrows about but stuck by them regardless only to have it thrown back in their faces.

Any reason given why Govier didn't ride?

Lets be honest £1000 these days is a new set of wheels, some covers & if you are lucky there might be some change for some new clutch plates. I know you would miss a grand if you lost it but in speedway terms its not a lot of money.

Only takes a quick look at the old green sheets to see the number of riders who have stepped away either due to finances or mostly because they were included in teams way too soon and became disillusioned with the sport and have stepped away. Almost the whole starting 1-7 of the 2014 Scunthorpe side are no longer riding. Its great developing new talent but pointless if they cannot be retained.

You are right there and looking at the bigger picture the most positive number is 20 125's so plenty of future riders. As you say its also good that riders give a class an extra year as far too tempting to be jumped up before the young lads & ladies are ready.

Good guest in Waj & if Carr can get his bike sorted he will go well as it was driving hard on the straights at Kent. Be interesting to see how Govier goes upon his return & guest of the moment Spooner scores.......fingers crossed he arrives earlier than he did last night.

Does anybody know if action was taken against Jack Smith after gestures made to the crowd last season? Sadly i think the precedent has been set after soft punishments during the Coventry fracas a couple of seasons ago? Very out of character for both Cupitt & Leek so both had clearly been fired up. However unless this behaviour is stamped out it will only continue to get worse especially when you consider the latter gestured directly at the referee.

Must have been a crowd of 700 plus last night which is pretty good going for NL side starting early on a Monday night. Sure plenty of clubs would be happy with that especially as there was a much smaller number of travelling Birmingham fans than usual.

Thoroughly enjoyed last night some excellent racing on show and a little drama thrown in. I agree i thought the ref was excellent and got everything spot on (except perhaps the awarded heat 1 as i didn't think enough laps had been completed) but every rolling start was brought back as it should be. Birmingham were clearly fired up which showed with a couple of over eager falls. Didn't agree with booing of Carr after his bike took off and he was understandably annoyed. Cupitt should have known better, went down at the back so no chance of all 4 back, looked up to see Davey 2nd and took his time. He knew what game he was playing so getting riled up by the fans & reacting was poor on is part but i suspect he will be poorer when a fine drops through his door. Tom Bacon was class yet again & should take a bow regarding how to perform & behave like a professional. From Kent Bowen was excellent, Hopwood, Thomas, Rowe & Andrews all did their job. I can see why Stoneman has been in the wars recently though, certainly no need to overtake Jack when they were already on a 5-1 and very fortunate with 2 hard attempts on Bacon in the rerun of heat 14. Personally id watch a spectacle like this every week but i know there are very few meetings like this these days.

Thats alarming actually. A rider of his caibre dropping over 3 points off his average. That said im sure he will come good again but a bit of a worry.

Think with Bacon, Carr, Cupitt + a reserve taking his rides makes Brum slightly stronger if not level regarding what Ritchings would have scored. Would be nice if Spooner gets to take at least 3 of the RR rides as he is travelling down yet again but ultimately hoping for a good close & fair match.

NL is a business & and an expensive one so no complaints there. Sadly over the years teams have become mis-matched due to multiple reasons (points money, location, day of week run on etc) i like many enjoy watching entertaining speedway between two closely matched teams regardless of the result. Hence why i am picking and choosing which matches i attend this season as a 60+ home win is not value in my eyes. If two teams turned up and both had 3 pointers from 1-7 i would still be happy as long as the racing was even & entertaining.

However what we have got at present is a league full of plenty of riders that were put in because they were the "correct" age and have levelled out into being NL standard riders only and will never be any more. There are some that have had 5,6,8 season in the Nl and never progressed but have averages that fit so keep getting included. The other issue i have is with promising youngsters getting a place over a rider of higher ability but who is older than the preferred age bracket. Why can they not continue in the amateur leagues until they have improved sufficiently? In my opinion if you are good enough you are in age, fashionable backgrounds (Moto X, Grasstrack, skateboarding etc) should not come into it.

Ditto. With Rounds 3&4 now completed at Rye House t would be nice to see how the Championship is stacking up. Slightly alarming though that of the 33 Young Lions competing 20 were in the 125 class but only 4 featured in the 500cc class? I guess this shows how many riders are already moving up and focusing on NL racing?