Sings4Speedway

Whilst im sure Birmingham will be happy with the lead i expected a bit more from Bacon,Ritchings & Davey (although didn't expect both reserves to be so powerful). 5 heat wins at home would be a slight cause for concern but the result was still achieved. R/R ultimately decided how this leg went with 8-1 in favour of the big B's. As many have said it does make this a nicely poised tie as i can see Eastbourne strong at home but some Birmingham riders will have better nights also.

If its a head start for age how about Armstrong - 7.82 Atkin - 6.86 Cockle - 7.06 Mason - 6.54 Tedham - 3.93 Clifton 4.22 Burnett - 3.23 Total 39.66 Under the 40 point limit and that team wouldn't be bottom

1. Grajczonek - 8.90 2. Wilson Dean - 5.02 3. Robson - 7.09 4. Newman - 6.61 5. J.Holder - 7.16 6. Branford - 4.60 7. Perks - 3.00 Total 42.38 Get your cheque book out Rye. If you can afford that lot you can afford me as manager

As an outsider with not real bias to either team i would like to see Brum take the play offs & Eastie the KOC. Brum have been the best team all year although hit by injuries late on whilst Eastbourne were rocked by injuries early on and got off to a slow start but have really hit form now. Fingers crossed for 4 close meetings without any dubious decisions (although i cant see that happening)

I wish and expect many riders to progress into the PL next season however i feel several will benefit from doubling up & the additional rides. I also expect the points limit to come down and clearly this thread is just a bit of fun for the numbers nerds / a compliment to the riders we expect to improve further in 2017.

First in Kent 2017 1. D. Ayres - 8.56 2. A. Bowtell - 4.21 3. D. Greenwood - 6.82 4. B. Hopwood - 6.00 5. T. Bacon - 7.70 6. C. Widman - 3.53 7. J. Jenkins - 3.00 Total - 39.82 Never going to happen but all have gone well around Central Park and has a nice solid feel to the team.

Much will depend on which Rye House riders can get their sick notes in quick enough to avoid the trip? But if Morley,Branford & Priest travel it should be straight forward for them. The match will then be decided on whos reserves lay on the track less? Could be a long afternoon though

A return to the old heats format for me and a point off all British riders averages in the EL & PL accross the board to make them more attractive than foreign imports.

R/R can be a blessing for some teams and a curse for others. Much depends upon the strength of the teams reserves. However i would much rather see a full 1-7. Perhaps its time to amend the rules so that a guest can be used in place of a heat leader and an unattached 3 pointer / number 8 used for missing second strings / reserves? After all its supposed to be a development league and there are plenty of riders who would benefit from the extra track time even if they only got 3 rides.

I cannot agree strongly enough with the last sentence woofers.

From memory although rules may have been updated since? An MDL side can include 2 x NL riders as long as one is on an assessed 3.00 average. From the Line ups both sides tracked 2 x Nl riders that had averages that were over 3.00 so both teams are ineligible and the result null and void? The important issue is that the MDL ran this year and long may it continue. The riders mentioned benefited from it as have many NL/PL/EL riders over recent seasons. Its a shame the season finale has been dragged through the mire but fingers crossed for bigger and better things next season along with lessons learnt.

I think Kennett has said he would pick PL over EL plus he has Longtrack aspirations so a move away from a Saturday night track would suit him.....

Exactly im that confident. I wouldn't take reckless chances with my health otherwise

Think you will be stuck with Risager again. Ayres or Hume but both is too much of a gamble but on a positive note i would put 50p on Kennett being your number 1 next season.

From Stoke Website: Stoke Speedway wish to clarify the situation with regard to Ben Hopwood to ensure that all parties are aware of the exact position. Ben has been suspended by the club following events that occurred last Saturday. The Club cannot within the rules change the team declaration and will use R/R for Ben in the remaining matches who thus remains available to ride for other Clubs as a guest. The Club do not wish for Ben to be prevented from taking guest bookings. The Club do not wish to comment further on the reasons for this action STOKE: Mitchell Davey, Ben Hopwood rider replacement, Tony Atkin, Danny Phillips, Shaun Tedham, Chris Hay, Paul Burnett BUXTON: Jack Parkinson-Blackburn, Shelby Rutherford rider replacement, Conor Dwyer, Ryan Burton, Lee Dicken, Lee Geary, Joe Lawlor

What the heck! Any details of the dispute been released? and what does Hopwood have to do to retain a team place?

Very true however unlike football speedway is on its knees and has to consider any option to retain visitors be they first timers or regular. What was your opinion regarding the likelihood of returning to said football grounds with the rank facilities?

If its not Wolves i will eat a Coventry cheeseburger....all of it! Jason Pipe it is then!

All very valid points. What would the possibility be of charging the full rate upon entry and then receiving a £3 discount on the next meeting if spectators choose to leave before the NL meeting starts? Don't know how easy that would be to administer but would keep the PL only fans attending and i suspect several will stay on to watch an extra match as its only £3......?

Given the price per unit its a big gamble for many riders to order one. As shown so far by the Bomber/Lingren comparison its clear these engines can work extremely well when they are set up correctly/they suit the riders style. However if every rider had one the know how on getting them set up and working to their optimum would eventually become common knowledge (to exeryone except Bomber) and then they would end up being cracked open and fiddled with. Exactly the same thing happened when the 250cc Jawa was first launched and many times before. In my opinion the only way to reduce the monies spent on tuning is reduce the funds riders have available to do it.

Whoever takes over i hope they continue to run the club within its means. Any clubs recording a break even figure have done extremely well so showing a profit is hugely commendable. As exposed time and time again clubs who over stretch themselves and go under and we all know how difficult it is to resurrect a team. I do have sympathy for the long suffering Redcar fans but i would much rather have a team to support (however rubbish) than no team at all.

I believe he is talking about Stoke which is somewhere in between grasstrack & speedway/ Agreed. Im not sure i have been to a grasstrack this season that hasn't had better facilities than many clubs including reasonable toliets, a working PA system and food that you would want to eat. As some may state it might no bother them individually if the sport is to continue the families, wives, partners etc need to buy into the idea and let it become a way of life. Much in the same way that i wouldn't attend drag racing regularly for example if they only served quorn salad, insisted you sit on small wooden stools and had to listen to nordic death metal between each race.

From a personal point of view i would travel to the showground much more often if it was double headers for £18? Obviously people have differing views of differing leagues and that has been well documented many times but i would consider £3 for an additional 15 heats a bargain!

What the reaction like to the prospect of an additional NL team for next season?

Its not unreasonable to think a top PL rider will get around 400 points a season including bonus points. Whilst there are some on £100+ per point most are not however £50 per point would give 20k and most are going to be well north of that. There is the dreaded expenses to deduct but when you consider tyres, fuel (bike & van), kevlars are covered it leave bike maintenance to be covered from wages/any additional sponsorship. Obviously there are plenty of other permutations to the above as its a very basic model (and ignoring out of season wages earnt) but i see very few PL riders struggling yet all too often many are still happy to wave the begging bowl about.