Robert Lee

Did he dust off one of his old engines from 1993 then? Only joking, Sam. No offence intended.

Why didn't he just say so? You can lower the compression just by using a packer or thicker gasket, so I don't understand all the guff about more material in the head. Actually, increasing the capacity (by the accepted definition, i.e. swept volume) would be a better idea. Whatever, I agree with many others on here that riders will continue to spend megabucks on tuners and special parts as long as they an afford to. A ban on certain exotic / expensive materials would be a start.

I'll be back in fashion then............

Blimey! Things have changed since I went to school. 10/4 used to equal 2.5.

Forgot to mention, the wedges are attached to a rod held by a (brave!) start marshal. Thinking about it, it works so well in hillclimbs and sprints because there's only one bike or car at a time, so once they are in position they can start whenever they like. As soon as they move, they break the timing beam and their elapsed time starts. A version could work in speedway, but how about plan B: Better tracks and lower-revving engines so that overtaking is possible, there's more onus on racing skills and the start won't be so crucial.............. In my dreams! Agreed, as long as the start marshals make sure that they line up within the regulation distance from the tapes.

I still think that everyone is making it too complicated. Train the start marshals to bring them up to the tapes, shove wedges behind the back wheels once they are in position, then the only way they can move is forwards into the tapes. Tape touching = exclusion. In speed hill climbing they have a little ratchet device on the wedge which is used to inch the bike or car forwards until it is in the correct position in relation to the start line. And if you want to see slick organisation with never a hiccup on the start line, go and see a hillclimb. All done by amateurs. By the way, it's cheaper than speedway.

Steve Soper and Tim Harvey. Oops, wrong sport. Still, this has gone a bit off-topic, hasn't it?

Exactly. Most of the problems arise through poor marshalling at the start. Do refs confer with start marshals and explain the rules to them before or during the match? Seems to be a consensus on this: Start marshals should be better (a barrier of some type behind the rear wheels would help), refs should stop interfering, the only startline offence should be hitting the tapes and the penalty should be exclusion, no second chance. Why can't the SCB or whoever controls the refs see it? By the way, if those were the rules, Sergeant would be on about a 10 point average, he very rarely hits the tapes.

That's two......... I'd make them joint top with Sam & Ronnie, or Peter Karlsson & just about anyone when he was at his best.

Fair comment. Team riding is a lost art these days. Not really very fast. 1 to 2 sec off the pace except in ht 10 when the track had just been graded.

Spot on! Don't know what was written on Twitter, as I don't do tweeting (I always thought that's what birds do 'cos they don't have the brain power to do anything else). However, I was not impressed with Hans last night. The reporter on the Bees website must have been at a different match, or he/she was just being politically correct. Yes, Hans did get some rough treatment in the first turns, but that's what happens in speedway isn't it? And when he complains about it, pots and kettles spring to mind. As I saw it last night: Heat 4, makes the gate and clears off, leaving his weaker team-mate to fend for himself, thus turning a 5-1 into a 4-2. Heat 6, gave up when he lost out in the first turn. Heat 8, fences same team-mate, again throwing away a possible 5-1. Heat 10, good ride. Why did Danny run into the back of him instead of covering the inside in traditional team-riding formation? Heat 14, same as heat 4. Heat 15, childish and futile, pots and kettles. Got it stopped when Harris was well away in front. Five of those six rides could have cost us the match against half-decent opposition.

In the hope that BV will complete their fixtures and get into the play-offs to give us a better chance of reaching the final...?? Spot on !

I guess this answers the question. They hide behind a nom-de-plume (nom-de-clavier?) so that they can make arrogant, sneering remarks like this without any comeback.

Not the first. I did it from the day I joined. Can't understand why so many don't. Could one of the anonymous ones explain?

Maybe. We'll find out over the winter which clubs are living beyond their means (or at least how far they all are beyond their means, Poole excepted).

If the club can't afford new riders, it can't. Probably Swindon can't afford that very expensive team they are now running - where's the money coming from to pay for Ward, Batchelor & Zengota? By all accounts their attendances are even lower than ours. With luck, we'll be here next season - will Swindon? Or, here's a conspiracy theory: Poole are subsidising Ward's wages, a) to keep him match fit for next year and to stuff Coventry.....

All this clamouring for team changes and slagging off the promotion is all very well, but what if Mick Horton is one of those stubborn, opinionated people who don't like being told what to do and instinctively do the opposite? (I can relate to this!) What we need is a petition along these lines: Please, Mick, don't go making changes just for the sake of winning matches. Stay loyal to your hard-trying team, as they have stayed loyal to the Bees' cause. Don't go dipping into the Polish rider market now that their season is nearly over. And whatever you do, don't bring in some Johnny Foreigner like MJJ to replace good old Robbo. Might work if enough people sign it.

This seems like a good time to re-ignite the "to play-off or not to play-off" debate. Without the play-offs, we'd now be in a huge battle with Poole for the league title, with Swindon coming up on the rails. What a finale to a season of ups and downs! Would probably have had big crowds for the last few matches, especially as two of them are against Swindon. Under the play-off system, with the current team, our season is already over. Any of the other play-off contenders will trounce us over two legs. Just saying...........

Ta. Even I can grasp that, and it makes extremely interesting reading!

Oh well, never mind. I don't think even Voltaire himself made that one stick. They locked him up in the Bastille, later commuted by a clever bit of plea bargaining to exile to England of all places. He lived in London for a while, probably supported Hackney.

Calm down, dear. Take a deep breath and repeat slowly after me: "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." (Voltaire). Didn't say she was attracted to me, just that I deluded her into kissing me..

I can't understand why you are being so aggressive towards me. I haven't felt so persecuted since I kissed Jimmy Smith's girlfriend behind the bike sheds and he swore to get even with me one day. Hang on, you're not Jimmy Smith are you...???

Thanks. Many people more intelligent than you don't think so. You really need to look at yourself.

You are confusing facts and opinions. The fact is that Wolves won the match. My opinion is that a side scoring 46 points away from home deserved to win, ergo Wolves did not. That's my opinion - yours differs, but I don't accuse you of being deluded for that.

delude vb (tr): to deceive; mislead; beguile. I assure you, I am not deceived, misled or beguiled - I just have an opinion on the current rules of the sport. I'm entitled to that as you are entitled to yours, but, unlike you, I don't believe that anyone who doesn't share my opinion must be wrong (or deluded).