Sings4Speedway

From the times i have seen him his pace isnt too bad but he cant gate for toffee so has much to do before hitting the first corner. That said if he can sort that he could be a useful acquisition.

This could be the signing to really help Cradley kick on is its Andrews or Purchase released / rested. Layne has plenty of potential and the best possible advice for the Monmore track. In fairness he needed to get away from Lynn before he got the push so i call it a positive move all round.

Whilst obviously riders need somewhere to live am i the only one that thinks it stinks that an overseas rider is required to have accommodation supplied for them whilst British riders have to pay their own rent/mortgage and are not paid significantly different?

Sadly Alex shutting off still makes the bike goes straight so its a no win situation. Sounds like a racing incident that happens up and down the country over the course of a season. The nature of the sport means that time to time people will end up in the fence. So a few toys have been thrown around & i doubt Christmas cards will be exchanged but its not exactly Hancock / Pedersen is it.

I would say that 2 seconds between NL & PL is excellent pace whatever the track conditions. Ive seen he blue groove appear at places like Rye, Kent and on hot days at Mildenhall within 5 heats in the NL as riders can attack the corners hard and attempt to scrub the speed at the last minute before hooking round and powering up the following straight. At Eastbourne due to the shape of the corners a different style is used to enter the corners and therefore the blue groove is not so evident. Add in the differing shale types used as some are more prone than others and the likelihood that most NL riders will be geared higher than PL riders creating more wheel spin there is an argument to say that the track could be in a worse state if the NL meetings went first.........

The NL riders are more than good enough to ride slick / bald tracks, blue groove or not. As you say there is often one at Rye, Mildenhall & Kent for that matter quite early on but the riders don't struggle. 2nd halves take place regularly at Mildenhall on a track as slick as Fonz's hair and nobody complains about it. Obviously watering a blue groove is stupid but the PL will always get the tracks with grip & dirt on and the NL will get what is left when it comes to double headers and that will never change.

Nail on the head there. If Leicester plan to continue running Saturday nights they need to start thinking about targets for next season now. Ignore the so called big names / has beens that ride in Poland and look at a more home grown side. 2 x decent EDR's like this year. 2 double uppers who ride the track well e.g Garrity, Summers, Masters then look for EL only riders like Nicholls or Morris then add a Swede/Dane if required? Build strength in depth rather than being obsessed with a "big name" and start to build the relationships between riders and fans so they have a team to back rather than ask "who?" or "where is.....?"

Its always going to be swings and roundabouts at Rye. Last year when the Rockets were pants the Raiders were flavour of the month as they were having a decent season. This year as the Rockets are showing some good results the attendances and enthusiasm for the Raiders will fade (especially with an iffy team).

Whilst 2nd halves are a mixed bag in terms of quality i personally find it satisfying to watch the riders progressing and keeping an eye on those for the future. It may not add loads to the attendances but does offer better value to those who do attend and you could see the next star in the making? Im sure those who used to stay behind and watch the Rye House MDL team have enjoyed the progress of Danny Ayres from constant faller to PL rider. Its also worth remembering that many of the Brum team learnt their trade in the 2nd halves & those teams who have long tails this year should look at themselves and what they are doing about it? Rye House, Stoke etc have both dropped the MDL in recent seasons and now struggle to find any usable reserves. The 2nd halves may not always be entertaining today but they are there to help provide the entertainment of tomorrow.....

Not a classic in terms of quality but very entertaining meeting none the less. Mildenhalls top 3 were excellent value, Armstrong the evergreen looked superb, Mountain looked like a true number 1 and Halsey was quick and brave. The rest of the fen tigers blew hot and cold though. Widman should be much stringer at reserve than he currently is, Bowtell had a patchy afternoon and Coles is having a shocker this season and looked was slow. For the Kings it was a case of better late than never but lacking in heat winners early on was a big worry at home. The Clifton/Mason partnership at 3/4 didnt seem to work with Mason always gating but Clifton faster but stuck behind. Shanes got shown up on occasions by riders who use the conventional line quickly. Then Bowen 747 who threw the bike everywhere in ht15 to try and pass the fast gating Halsey, i personally didnt think it was going to happen and then off the final turn the home crowd erupted. Hard on Mildenhall who i felt deserved the draw for their efforts but reminded everyone that on their day they are a potent force.

I believe there is an amateur dragons at Kings Lynn on 5th June. Free entry, a quid for a program (i think) and 40-50 races to enjoy. No prima donnas just riders of all ages out to enjoy themselves and run by a club who rarely make a profit but run because the genuinely want to give something to the sport and long may they prosper. If you want to visit one new venue / meeting this season an Amateur Dragons would be a very good investment of your time.

Sadly your tail would be average in the MDL this season. Locke & Bowdrey with little / no speedway experience & Banks with little / no commitment. The buck stops with the promotion though as they picked the riders and chose to let them learn in the NL.

Oh what could have been if the raiders had followed Mr Sampfords advice. 2 very inexperienced rookies and Sam woods was never going to be the answer. There are plenty of riders out there who can stay on board and pick up far more points than the current crop given time. Leek is proof that you need some speedway experience before hitting the NL

Is it going to be a full strength IOW side at Somerset on Friday night for the challenge against Weymouth?

Interesting line ups now the averages are out but well done to little Josh for getting into the number 1 jacket. Both sides lower orders seem a little odd to me? Layne clearly needs a confidence boost so getting out of the sticky number 6 jacket would help that surely? Geary must also be slightly annoyed at getting pushed into the team whilst a debutant gets the reserve ride? Even so unless things go very much amiss it should be a comfy home win.

Nice to see the Raiders back to something near full strength but that's about all i can say for this one. "If" Morley, Branford & Priest are all in top form, Hunter chips in a few and Brum throw some away Rye might squeak an away point. Perry is a big miss for Brum though & hopefully a short term replacement can be found soon.

Hope not. I dislike RR but am coming to accept it as a necessary evil but holding a place that somebody else could take seems criminal. Does Richard Andrews fit? Could you cope with 2 Andrews in a team?

Missed the boat i think? (not literally) with Bewleys average shooting up it makes any changes very tricky whereas previously they had nearly 3 to play with plus a 3 pointer. Could have had Richard Andrews in for Mellish and made a really solid top 5.

How long can / should a team run RR for a rider who has stepped down? Not a dig just a genuine question?

Any whispers about who will replace Kingston? Do you have a declared number 8?

Is it open to guesses / educated guesses?

I don't really see too much of an issue with this move and suspect that after appeal it will go through. Hall "should" be head and shoulders above anyone in the league however on recent PL showings he isn't cutting it anymore. Ive seen plenty of comments stating Hall would get beaten by the 2nd halfers etc so lets see what he can do. I don't think he will have it all his own way although with the run of home meetings coming up he might be ok. If it was a string of away trips to Rye House & Eastbourne etc it could have been a very entertaining signing.......

That would be a major blow. I suspect he might be getting a bit tired of that van.........

Branford is a top number 1, JPB has heat leader potential and Ryan MacDonald will be present. I can see Wood, Knight, Powell & Harris all having a liking to a bigger circuit with their grasstrack backgrounds so wouldn't worry too much about the Eagles + friends. The Belle Vue team looks solid but no Bewley is clearly a big miss and a lot will hinge on how Wooley & Holt perform. Think Eastbourne are capable of a point at least if all the guests are putting the effort in but im going for 45-45.

To be fair i didn't take into account that the Young Stars have hardly had any meetings so some riders will still be a bit rusty / getting new equipment set up. I still think that the Kings Lynn team is one to watch and everyone is entitled to have a bad day at the office but when several do and you come up against a strong team like Brum there is going to be a bashing.