21st century heathen

The good the bad and the indifferent sums up this year's AGM for me. The good - 40 point limit is a little higher than I expected. That'll help teams accommodate riders on higher averages and means everyone should have an out-and-out number one, assuming they choose to build their team that way. The bad - The PO's return. As a fan I much preferred what we had this past season. However, I have it on good authority that the gate receipts tell a different story with less revenue from the cup meetings last year compared with PO meetings in previous years - hence the POs return. The indifferent - The tactical rides. I don't like double points rides so I'm glad to see the back of them, hopefully for good. I am an advocate of the old style tac rides but understand the argument against it with heat leaders coming in and taking easy (er) rides in heat 8 which takes vital track time from your number 2 and/or reserve. A solution to this would have been quite simple to bring in. No tactical rides in the first 4 heats so every rider has had at least one ride. No tactical rides in heat 8 or heat 14. This means your number 2 and reserve are guaranteed their ride in heat 8 and your second string and reserve are guaranteed a ride in a potentially vital heat 14 which prevents top heavy teams having heat leaders in all the latter heats. Other than that a tactical ride in any heat in which the home or away team is 6 or more behind - maximum 2 tac rides. All of that said I don't car enough about this compared with other issues within the sport to make a big deal of it. The recent grumbles about the Eastie track are daft in my opinion. It's a major plus of racing in Britain that we have so many different tracks in terms or size, shape and surface. I don't think Eastie is even the most tricky for new riders to get the hang of anyway. That is surely Buxton? It's uphill, downhill and off-camber in about 5 different directions all at the same time and even has a trench running across turn 3!! The surface is like nothing I've seen at a track in this country too (though I've not been to too many tracks) - rock hard with some gravel on top about sums it up. As a fan it's everything that is both right and wrong with the sport. The track in terms I've stated is all wrong and the facilities... well they haven't got any! But make no mistake, I love it. It raw and stripped back to what we all, as a hardcore fan base, love about the sport. It's all about the racing and nothing more or less than that. You can stand close to the action and the chips are fantastic. And to end on the biggest and best news - It's fantastic to welcome back BV and IoW. Having them officially confirmed makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I agree with the last couple of posts. This season worked well with Birmingham rightly crowned champions and Eastbourne rewarded richly for their form as the season drew to a close. The right teams took the major honours while interest was maintained for most clubs right up until the last few meetings.

Delighted with this news. Bradley looked very promising when he was last over here. He had a spin on a 250cc at Monmore and a few other tracks when he was (if I remember correctly) 13. That was summer 2012. I believe he's now just turned 17. It's worth noting that he has recently returned to riding after a badly broken arm. The injury kept him off the saddle for a long time. He might need time to settle back in to ring as much as he'll need to settle in to his new life here in the UK. as long as people keep their expectations realistic I'm sure he'll prove a very worthwhile addition to the Heathens team. It'll be good to see Perks return too. A link to your club's past always goes down well with the fans and both these lads should be able to build a career in racing in their own right. Welcome Bradley. Now just practice saying 'ommer um' in a Black Country accent. 😀

Jumped in our grave and nicked three of this year's Cradley team there mate. I reckon you're right with 38. In our position I'll be happy to watch any Cradley team that takes to track next season!!

Let's be honest his average will be assessed based on which club it benefits!

Chapman had a really nasty injury this season. I'd expect him to be able to average about 6 next season. To keep a strong top two and hoping for 38 point limit B'ham could look something like the following - though not to be taken literally. Wajtnecht - 9.51 Perry - 8.58 Andrews - 5.70 Chapman - 5.18 Smith - 3.00 Wilson - 3.00 Verge/Other - 3.00 = 37.97

If he signs up for the EL draft he'll have to commit his future to British Speedway. If he's a Brit he's a PL 3.00. He's already eligible for the NL so I see no reason why he shouldn't do all three leagues if he chooses to. I imagine there will be a hell of a scramble to get him signed up quickly as all PL clubs look for the bargain 3-pointers.

Making all of the relevant assumptions to play the game I would go with the following. Clegg - 9.72 Perks - 7.14 Greaves - 7.08 Mogridge - 4.94 Neale - 4.85 J P-B - 3.00 Andrews (Bradley) - 3.00 = 39.73 Clegg - 9.72 Perks - 7.14 Greaves - 7.08 Neale - 4.85 Hamill - 3.00 J P-B - 3.00 Andrews (Bradley) - 3.00 = 37.79 And if any prospective buyer is reading - I'll only charge a nominal fee for putting the team together for you!

So sad to hear this news the other day, and so close to Cardiff where many of us saw Shazzy at her best. A real blast from the forum past just seeing so many of the 'old' names appearing. RIP 'bird. Nah, y'know know what tear it up Shazzy and keep the party going for us. Best wishes to family and friends.

The bottom end struggled for pace, of that there can be no doubt. Couzins had his points 'gifted', but fair play to the lad for getting 4 safe, steady laps done and the bike kept running. So in that regard he's completing laps and in the running to pick up points rather than being in a points scoring position and just throwing it away one way or another. I was disappointed with Verge as I thought he might be a bit closer to the action more. He got a point in heat 12, holding off Harris. He held his nerve and, again, got the job done when he was in a position to. Hoskins is way out of his depth. Sorry, that is just the harsh reality. He was half a lap ahead of Perks, whose bike had packed up, and still got passed and beaten for the point having remounted his machine. Smith is a 'watch this space' rider. I saw enough to think this even though his evening was somewhat ruined. I and everyone around me immediately called Perks at fault for the crash, though nothing sinister, so he was very unfortunate not to at the very least get an all 4 back. He may have felt the effects later because it was a big off that I think everyone was relieved to see him walk away from. At the other end the top three proved very lively and were a threat in virtually all of their heats between them. I'm convinced Shanes would have won at least two had he been the lead rider as he appeared quicker but couldn't get through. Ayres got better later in the meeting and just gave it too much in heat 15. Morely had a blip on the score chart with a last in heat 13 but there was nothing in it. Superb race between all four riders and frankly any one of them could have been first or last. On the whole there were many positives for Kent to take from an away meeting. There will be some teams you come up against where there are more opportunities for the bottom end to nick those crucial 3rd places, assuming your top end are winning races on the same night!

Thanks. That cannot, of course, be answered simply yes or no as it's pure conjecture. What we do now know is that Holder is of the opinion that the meetings should never have started, that Watt (when taking a 0-5 with Starke) passed comment that he couldn't see well and almost fell despite being out front on his own and under no pressure, that both sides wanted a track inspection before heat 9. At this time, with two heats to go (as it turned out), there was no way of knowing which team would be leading if/when the meeting was called to an end. My point being that considerable concerns had already been raised. It seems to me that the 'tipping point' for Havelock was when the promised track inspection was subsequently refused. We all know Havelock is a strong character and will state his opinion with no concern for whether it's popular or not. I would suggest that he almost certainly had no concern whatsoever at this point for the meeting score and his actions were driven solely by anger at the refusal of a track inspection that had been promised just moments earlier. With regard to Holder's temporary lose of control on the first corner - What caused it is utterly irrelevant to the point I made, though a soft grippy patch on an otherwise rock hard slippery surface would have been down to the specifics of the track at that time and in the weather at the time. My point was merely that having the courage to state, figuratively or literally, that he (Havelock) believed the track to be unsafe and he would therefore not risk the safety of his riders showed integrity (or call it strength of character to take a stand in other words) and regardless of why Holder lost control for a moment almost certainly did save riders from injury. With regard to the heat 10 rule - As SCB has stated it's not the rule itself that's an issue but rather the juxtaposition of its intended and actual application. Self-interest is rife and this rule, combined with weak officiating has led us to what we saw on Monday evening. It's my opinion that the meeting referee should rule the meeting with an iron fist. He/she should have sole control of the meeting. If mistakes are made then he/she can, of course, be held accountable afterwards. To have a race director or meeting steward taking part control from the referee is utterly ridiculous. I would go so far as to extend this further and state that meetings being called off by committee with referees holding meetings with riders and team managers is also a mistake. Riders and team managers will always be accused of self-interest in either continuing or abandoning a meeting. The referee is impartial and should be trained and/or experienced enough to recognise the signs when a track becomes unfit for racing. No consideration should be given to what heat the meeting is up to nor what the score is. It should be simply the referee's decision that the track is safe to continue or it isn't. And in different circumstance I may have another opinion about the actions of any one person. You point is also why I state the opinion of those whose interest is in concluding early or continuing a meeting should not be considered at all by the referee.

I can't believe I'm going to do this because I'm far from a fan of his but I have to defend Havelock. What Havelock did showed true integrity, something that is sadly lacking. It was his opinion that the track was unsafe to race on, an opinion held and apparently agreed on by even some in the Poole ranks, before the rerun of heat 10. He was promised a visual track inspection would take place and this was not forthcoming. His refusal to allow his riders to take to what he considered and unsafe track which had not been inspected and what followed when Holder lost control probably saved riders from injury. He was the only one there prepared to actually take a stand. I also feel for Horton - not a fan of his really either. There is little doubt that had this not been a Sky meeting it would have been postponed early morning the same at the Wolves and Belle Vue meetings. I've been to plenty of meetings at Brandon in the last 10 years and I can tell you that whether or not it's on Sky it's the biggest pay day of the season when Poole are in town. Forget blame and petty rivalries for a moment - British Speedway was the loser on Monday and frankly it can't afford that to be the case many more times!!

There will be NO problems with roads and car parks around the stadium tonight. http://www.cradleyheathens.co/news.php?extend.1268

Thanks for the info. With news of a rider signing being announced tonight I think we can read in to this that the club's promoters feel things are going well enough that this is a worthwhile exercise. I'm sure they'd have been nervous about how the move to Perry Barr plays out so this can only be a good thing for Cradley Heathens. http://www.cradleyheathens.co/news.php?extend.1267

Club statement http://www.cradleyheathens.co/news.php?extend.1239

Standard recovery time from the shock of losing a meeting!! Not me. It was a funny once joke previously with Monmore Green/Wood. But as stated above we were tenants at Monmore Green and are tenants at Perry Barr. Neither has anything to do with Wolverhampton Speedway or Birmingham speedway directly, so yes funny once but we should show our landlords the respect they deserve. We should certainly not see any such reference to Monmore Wood or Perry Wood (which sounds ridiculous by the way) in any official media or at the stadium by anyone connected to Cradley Speedway. It is becoming as annoying as 'the former' this, that and the other, and please don't let be replaced in every press release with 'nomads'. Cradley Speedway are tenants in equal standing with Birmingham Speedway this season at Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium. Both speedway clubs need each other to be successful to make this venture work and both need to keep the stadium owners happy. So, let's have some friendly rivalry and a bit of banter but not lose sight of the big picture for both speedway clubs - survival!!

Super meeting last night, although we lost it in a somewhat unexpected manner. I would not have known which way to call heats 13 and 15 before the meeting but I'd not have called one side or the other to record two 5-1's. That and the terrific effort by Chapman in heat 12 was all that edged for the Brummies. As touched on by a couple of others the success of this venture depends on both clubs and in that regard I'll happily take this defeat on the chin as I think it's an absolutely vital result for Birmingham Speedway, particularly after the result previously. It's so very important to prove to the fans that this league provides good quality racing, value for money and the team has to be seen to have a degree of success too. A string of early season defeats would be a disaster. Kirby and Chapman have impressed me so far for the Brummies. It will be interesting, and very important to the team, to see if they can continue and even build on their solid start to the season. At the bottom end there was an obvious sign of slight improvement too. Ellis and Perry should be able to bang in these big scores pretty much every week so there's no cause for concern at the top end, all things being equal. A bit of a blip for the Heathens lads with several scoring below what most NL fans would expect to see. But no harm done in the grand scheme of things. It will, I hope, serve to focus the mind and make the lads realise that the hype about the club always building a team that only has to turn up is a nonsense. Yes, we have been fortunate to have strong teams for three years running but the lads have to do it on track week-in and week-out and that means 100% every race and you simple cannot afford to be below your best otherwise you will be beaten!! This season promises to be the most evenly matched since 2010 when we saw three teams finish level at the top and I can't wait to see other clubs/riders results and start to get some feel for how things may pan out.

Mildenhall will be strong. Halsey will be as dominant a number 1 for you as others have. Coles, Mountain and Kingston will likely make a mockery of their start average, putting 1 - 3 points on each. As long as one or other reserve is scoring respectably, at least, then the pussycats will be up there.

Get you're point but I was just trying to hold off on judging the new boys at the moment. There's perhaps a case for moving Kirby to 4 which means the weakest of the top 5 at 2, which is traditionally the way teams always lined up. That may make some teams, such as Brummies, feel very exposed in heat 8 though. Swings and roundabouts.

If a PL clubs wants these lads then sign them. They should not be allowed to come along and 'steal' them later. I'd accept a case that replacing an injured rider for the season is perhaps acceptable as it's good, ultimately, for the rider's career. I'd accept a case that he should be allowed to double up (NL priority on date clashes as he signed for them first) for a fixed short term (eg a month or 6 weeks etc), as again the extra meetings will help the rider's career. What I will oppose strongly is a PL club taking a rider from a NL team as a replacement for a rider who's performing poorly, especially if it's a foreigner who came in on what appeared a false average but didn't work out. We have to have some morals and integrity!!

I disagree. Arlington does have a 'trick' to it because it's not just, or not even, that it's small but it's a unique shape (though one could make an argument for it being a very small Sheffield-like D shape). All their to be ridden though, I agree with that wholeheartedly. What's most important to any club is winning at home and keeping the home fans happy and coming back week-on-week so there's nothing wrong with a bit of home track advantage, as long at the track, particularly with regard to the start gates, is graded evenly. It sounds as though there's a buzz about the place ahead of this new era for Eastbourne and I wish them well. That said I'm going to predict mid-table at best this season. There are too many other clubs that will pick up more away league points in my opinion.

You can place your 2nd to 5th riders where you want them, aside from the 1,6 & 7 positions obviously. I can see where you're coming from but I wouldn't. You can only use a tac ride up to heat 12 so I'd prepare myself for potentially using it by keeping this heat strong and 'sacrificing' heat 14. With the Brummies strong in heats 13 and 15 most weeks, assuming Ellis and Perry do as well as expected you can be looking at heat advantages in heats 12, 13 and 15. You still have the option of reserve sub's in heat 14 depending on form on the night. It's all swings and roundabouts really as you're trying to second guess how a meeting will pan out before tapes up. At face value, and on a calculator, you're right of course. But it does then put added pressure on these two lads to actually go out and win every race. They're under enough pressure as it is because there's no doubt the Brummies are placing a lot of faith in them scoring probably 12+ each in every meeting (from 5, not incl tac rides). I'd be slightly cautious about doing that. It would also mean probably putting Chapman at 5 against some stronger opposition and 'only' (forgive the choice of word) partnered by a reserve 3 times. ---------------------------------------------- I expect from this meeting what I originally expected last week. Which is to say a Heathens win but by no means a 60+ score for us. One can safely assume, or should we?, that Ellis will score much more freely this week.. I can see Wajknecht scoring a couple/few more and I see no reason why Perry, Chapman and even Kirby can't replicate their score. Add to this that I do not expect the Heathens to have such a strong performance (no failure to finish a race last week - at least one often at NL level) and I can something more like 50-40 (give or take).

NL track record for Perry Barr set by Max Clegg in heat 1 18.03.15 - 61.00 seconds

The Heathens really did hit the ground running last night. I did expect to win but by no means anything like that margin of victory. Harris was the only one not flying out the starts for us and with the Brummies needing a little time to find their feet the scoreline was very one sided. However, there was plenty of good racing mixed in too. Perry, Chapman and Wajknecht particularly were all involved in some good battles. Superb display by the Heathens, as I said, but I want to comment on the Brummies given one or two negative posts already. Riders at this level need time to settle. You can't judge them on an opening night debut and start moaning already. Winning is great but it's not just about that. Stick with it and you'll go on a journey with these lads as some of them develop from newbies at reserve to solid 2nd strings and then hopefully impressive heat leaders. It's so much better than any other level in this regard. There were plenty of positives to take from last night for your club. Ellis will be a class act at this level. He just had an absolute nightmare last night. It happens, even at GP level. Kirby was riding steadily and was solid at number 2. He scored in every ride and outscored his opposite number. Banks will most likely drop to reserve and find points easier to come by there, but on the plus side even last night he showed improvement by his last ride. He made a much better start and was in the mix when his engine let go. Chapman had a good night and was probably the best home rider from the start all night. He was involved in a couple of good races and although edged out he scored well overall and will have easier nights than against a rampant Heathens. Perry stood out with, as we know all too well, his all action style out wide. He wasn't as fast as Clegg but was arguably the best of the rest on show as he made ground and a couple of good passes. One thing is guaranteed with Perry and that's you will get your value for money. He never knows when he's beaten and he'll entertain you. I thought Wajknecht rode well and was on the pace all night. He couldn't get out the traps as quick as the Heathens though so he spent most of races chasing hard. He was getting in to challenging positions and didn't seem afraid to have a go. For me, he's the Brummie you'll see develop the most as the season progresses. He really could prove one to watch. And finally Wilson. He looked as though he was unlikely to score in his first two but then made a good start in heat 8 and rode steadily to an untroubled second place. There's improvement for you straight away. Give the lads and the league a chance. You will, in my opinion, grow to love it!!

Wow impressive list of stats. I can fill in a blank for you. The Dudley Wood track record was held by Hans Nielsen (Oxford), set on 18th July 1990. 60.7 seconds. It was rarely even threatened let alone there ever being a spell when it seemed likely to be beaten. Full credit to the excellent (unofficial) Cradley Speedway website. credit http://cradleyspeedway.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/trackrecords.htm And if you bare with us a couple of days a new NL track record will be established on Perry Barr on Wednesday night. Not sure how this will work though. Will there be a NL track record for the track regardless of it being set during a B'ham or Cradley meeting or will there be a separate one for each club? I assume the former but I don't know for sure. *edit* NL track record for Perry Barr set by Max Clegg in heat 1 18.03.15 - 61.00 seconds