DubaiTiger

I was there for that meeting as well. The stadium went totally quiet, everyone instantly knew it was terrible. I was 16 at the time so the memory may be not be that clear, but I seem to remember it was a hard race, neither giving way, and they locked together down the home straight, and into the first bend. I can still picture the lead up to it, but to be honest if it was a deliberate fencing I didn't pick it up at the time. Amazing that Simon lived after that, I remember the report saying that he recovered mostly because he was in great shape, a normal person would probably not have survived.

Interesting stats, so with the no7s it's currently 35/36 British with a couple more to come. Must be the highest % of Brits in the Premier for a long time. With the NL mostly British and more in the Elite than used to be the case, it's looking more promising for British Speedway. I hope they keep the structure and keep pushing young British riders through it, hopefully in 3/4 years we'll see the impact at GP and World Cup level. The structure of amateur meets, Development league, National, Premier, Elite and then onto the world stage seems to be the best structure for producing British talent, certainly in the last 30 years. It may not have been planned, but at least it's got the chance of working now....

Great team building from Sheffield, and well done to the promotion. Thinking back to the Neil Machin years, much as the reason there is a Tigers team at all is down to him, I can't remember many years where the team building was carried out with this professionalism. All completed before Christmas, and real thought put into the selections. If they can finally get some luck on the injury front, this could be a great team in 2016. Stead- great captain, if he can keep to 9.5/9, a solid number 1 and there aren't many available. I don't think he would be back if he had any question marks over fitness and the mental side of it. He's come back from worse injuries before, I hope he can do it again Berge- interesting on a 4.2ish average. Given an injury free run, and decent equipment, hopefully another one who can push on, certainly at 19 should be seen as an opportunity for improvement (feels like a French version of the first Sheffield no2 I ever saw, Richie Musson) Howarth- great signing, 7 average and rode at no1 for Workington at times last year. Many times riders have come to Sheffield and used it to get to the next level, I hope he's another. Young, British, and showing ambition, 2016 might be his year? Bates- totally different rider from the raw reserve who crashed a lot. Still has a rush of blood, but his scoring from august onwards last year was great when the rest of the team was falling apart through injury. He says he wants to put 2 points on his average, 1 would be a big step forward. Again, young, British, ambitious. Garrity- BIG step forward last year and exciting to watch. If he pushes on again next year, Sheffield will have 2 no1s in the team, again young British and ambitious, what's not to like? Hall- wasn't sure about him when announced, but at 4.1, surely Richard will take his (last) chance and look to get back to where he was? I don't know anything about his perceived attitude, but with the new promotion, a desire to prove a lot of people wrong, and the opposition reserve berths not being that challenging, if he doesn't put 2 points on that average then I'd be amazed. If he gets dialed in, and takes it seriously, could be a lot more than that. So is it a gamble? Well, if it doesn't come off, hopefully Sissis will be fit mid year and could step in, but I hope Richard takes the opportunity and returns to what we know he can do. After all, it's not age, ability or injury that's left him where he is. An attitude change back at Sheffield is the easiest thing to fix surely? Greaves- don't know anything about him, but he had 9 meetings in the prem for Workington last year, got better towards the end of those, and a solid, if not no1 NL rider, so will be interesting if he can learn and improve Overall, an interesting, mostly British and balanced team. Can't wait to see them in action when I'm back in the UK in May (hopefully there won't be an injury curse in 2016 and the team will still be in 1 piece by then!)