STEVEHOLS54

Would love to have Mcdiarmid at Poole. Considering this guy was 17 in March and his first season in UK at Poole Stadium alone he scored a 4 ride av of 6.77 or 7.38 incl bp from 3 matches and 13 rides. Very impressive for a 17 year old in his first season. His GSA is only 5.18 and he rode in POL U24 Lge and finished runners up with Zischke in the Son FIM U21 World team Champ. Definitely got a future in the sport.

Was Batch situation a case of nearly no other options as from memory thought most teams were already signed up when he was announced. Nobody wanted him in Prem so it was Worky or sell the bikes ?? Incredible really for a guy who was once a Grand Prix Rider who rode in 28 GP's. He is getting on but was only 38 in August so still has a few years left in him.

Also to back track a little. I think Tate Zischke (20) and Mitch Mcdiarmid (17) are other promising Aussie talents. Was gutted when Poole didn't sign Darcy prodigy Tate in 2023. Unfortunately a serious injury kept him out of UK in 2023 and a more serious one in 2024 curtailed his undoubted talent. Until his second one he was av 7.70 incl BP from just 12 meetings in his first UK season with Worky. I think Darcy Ward felt the Workington track was more suitable being more open for his first season hence why he started there. Mcdarmid has done well for a turned 17 in March in his first UK season. Still a big fan of Ziscke and would love to see him at Poole still on his arguably low 5.76 when the guy was rediscovering his form & Fitness after his potential career ending injury in his first match for B.Vue in 2024. Most of the Worky fans on the forum think he will be back there though for 2026. Fingers crossed we get Bailey as I read that Middlo has plenty of accommodation for riders who want to lodge/board there. Just like both Cook's did.

Plus I think the Aussies will assist all they can in trying to help one of arguably their biggest young speedway talents in a good few years develop his obvious talent in the UK.

On that score just found this last couple of line interview with Bailey posted shortly after his 3rd place in the SGP3 Final last season. He said: “I’m done with the 250s now. I wanted to give them a crack this year. I’m going back to Denmark on Sunday to train on the 500s until I go home. Then I’ll do the Aussie and state championships, and hopefully I will get a visa for the UK next year.” Lets hope he does qualify.

I think most Danish sides sign 7/8 riders for there 5 man teams. They also I believe have to field a DK Junior & senior. Bailey has a similar situation being one of 8 riders signed and in his case he will have to compete with 2 decent young Danes for maybe 1 position. One of them WON SGP3 last season (Bailey was 3rd) plus the other one was a decent rider in POLU24 Lge. He is 19 and Villards Pedersen the SGP3 winner in 250CC Class is 16 and 6 months older than Bailey.

Nope it was Villads. Type it into Google and see. Bastian is over age and rode some SGP2 last season but didnt win it. SGP3 is also the 250CC under 16 Championship. Bailey finished 3rd.

Not sure how it works for young Aussies just turned 16 in Oct I think. P.S: Pedersen won the FIM SGP3 in 2025 with Bailey 3rd - Heiselberg is 19 and spent last 3 seasons with Varde - Scored 7.56 incl BP per 4 rides last season as well in POL U24 for Torun. Pretty hot competition for that junior slot then.

For those who think Bailey will be tied up most Wed in Denmark riding for Region Varde. Mateusz Cierniak, Jonas Jeppesen, and Fredrik Lindgren have joined the team. Gleb Chugunov, Villads Pedersen, and Nicolai Heiselberg have also confirmed their involvement. Daniel Bewley is also joining the team, returning after a failed partnership. Adding Bailey I make that 8 riders for a 5 man team (normally). Most DK teams have at least one young Danish rider riding for them so even allowing for a squad system I would be surprised if he get too many outings. Unless he is another Darcy Ward 🙂. The above was posted on POL site today.

If it was Lawson/Rowe/Cairns/Bailey/Rushen/Bowes and Kerr on his 6.77 after Brit reduction the total would be 0.83 below the 40 point limit. Would they really go that far below the 40 points ??. I know team building is a juggling act, but having to shed 4.53 points - losing Cook who av just over 8 per meeting at Poole stadium and 9 incl BP, I think Kerr inconsistency could cost Poole next season if they retained him. Factoring in we could have 3 new riders in Rushen/Bailey & Bowes. Suppose ultimately it may come down to how ambitious the Ford's want to be. I am sure Kerr would have his good meetings but it's his bad ones which would concern me. All riders have off days but with potentially alot having to hit the ground running, would it be too much. Of course none of us (or should I say most of us) know if Bailey & Rushen plus Bowes are definite or ultimately just Forum rumour

Yes its easy to forget not everyone uses the Forum so a % won't be aware of Zach not returning or Cairns & Rowe were signed on 2 years deals. As a side note i read this morning that the POL EXL squads are near enough agreed subject to ??? in some instances and Bailey is down to sign as one of 4 Juniors in the Grudziaz EXL team. Think they may allow 1 junior other nationality now but he will be 1 of 2 out of 5. Nailed on no doubt to ride in their U24 POL EXL team though which has I believe a new meeting format. I wonder if he will do UK if he does get a qualifying slot in one of the Aussie meetings this Winter. Also Kevin J Pedersen leaving his POL EXL 2 side for 2026 and now too old for the POL U24 Lge as well. No new club in POL National Lge on the horizon either at this stage so I wonder if another rider who will look to UK if he cant seek employment except maybe DK. Believe his scoring was also poor in POL hence why not offered a return.

Maybe the Fords see something in Bowes that I am missing. His POL stats are poor for 2025. In POL EXL 2 (so 2nd POL Lge) he was 55th of 59 regular riders with 4 ride av of 3.4 and won only 2 of 47 rides. In POL EXL (U24) he was 38th of 59 regular riders with 4 ride av of 5.64 - won 16 of his 74 rides. Will turn 24 in NOV and has ridden POL for about 4 years. A lot of his opposition in POL U24 was against riders a lot younger than him with less experience. Yes there are talented young rider in that Lge but he doesn't seem to have gone forward to any real degree. My personal view of this is based on his stats and time spent in POL (4 years) considering he was also based there. Maybe that one performance of 13 from 6 rides (incl one retirement) at Poole on 23rd July showed them something. Although his 2 from 4 rides guesting for Glasgow late August was not good.

Probably a sensible signing if true. They are faced with having to lose one of their 8 plus point riders (Wright or King) on top of having to shed 4.07 off team total to get to 40 points and find a replacement for Riss. He also did well there in 21 & 22 where his AV ranged from 7.51 to 8.46 plus BP. For them it would be a sensible signing probably. I think that IF we do get/have Bailey/Cairns/Rushen as our bottom 3 then we have more scope to sign a better mix/team also depending upon how determined the Fords are to invest in a really good top 4. Knowing we will have Lawsom/Rowe would give us 13.23 for 2 decent riders. That even includes possibilities from places like the POL EXL who have never ridden in UK like Hellstrom Bangs and others as well as those who have ridden in POL EXL2/POL National LGE (Div2) POL EXL U24 and SWE. I excluded DK only because of the WED race day clash. To be honest I am struggling to come up with riders from the last GSA who would fit that would have scope to improve except for the likes of Morris (obvious massive improver on his current GSA) Joe Thompson (who probably will get similar or worse GSA next season), Edwards (who I don't think will improve much), Zichke (lots of potential) but the Worky Fans are confident he will be back, Mcdiarmid (lots of potential) but maybe happy at Oxford), Luke Harrison (lots of potential) but think Scunny will do everything to keep him. As for Bowes - After what he has achieved (not much in POL)and the Worky end of season saga, I honestly couldnt have seen many fighting to sign him up but who knows ?

I also hope they don't take the easy route and sign Kerr again. Too inconsistent for me as we witnessed last season (especially that last match).

Be even better if it was Lawson/Rowe/Morris/Hellstrom Bangs/Bailey/Cairns/Rushen and still 0.37 below the 40 point limit. Morris is on a bargain GSA and assuming Cook served reasonable notice of his intention to move up/on, you would have thought the Fords would have made a big effort to bring in a third H/L on a crazy low GSA. We/They all knew the limit would be kept at 40 as it was already agreed last season for 2026 and with Promotors in regular contact as well, many would be well advanced in seeking out the best top end combinations for 2026. For me the likes of Bowes is not an upwardly thinking possible signing. Done nothing really in 4 years in POL/SWE and if anything in POL has gone backwards. Add in cannot qualify for the POL U24 anymore and unlikely anyone wants him there after his performances in POL EXL2 and open criticism from his POL Team Manager. He was also one of the lowest point av riders in both POL EXL U24 and EXL2 last season. All of that after 4 years of riding and basing himself there. No thanks not a fan of Bowes. If tapped up and accepted to me its because he will not get a job in POL so will probably be desperate to probably get a UK slot.