21st century heathen

Leave it with me. I'm going to be putting something together. I was just waiting for all/most signings to be announced. I was hoping for the official averages too but there are none forthcoming on the BSPA website.

Amazing line-up. If we get a few dry days at the right time *please weather Gods* then it could be an epic season-opener.

I'm sure a fair few will make the trip. It's a long round trip though so perhaps not so many as do the more local ones. Lambert will be up there as a top heat leader if he has signed. I've long-since said that if he intends to ride in the British league next year then coming over to do the NL this year would serve him well. Not for the competition but for the head start on learning our tracks and bike set-up. It would prove valuable practice for the PL and EL next season. NL only won't stop him still heading back over to the Continent to do some meetings at a higher level as well. The league's top 5 should be Boxall, Lambert (if signed), Perry, Nielsen and Ellis.

Smart move to get Boxall in the team. It will take something very special to stop him becoming the league's number 1. I don't see a problem with him starting in the NL. It will only be a matter of weeks before the PL and EL come knocking on his door. Surely it's all about getting as many meetings as he can for a year so that he can blow away the cobwebs? If Lambert has signed too then Kent become the new favourites with only IOW capable of challenging them in my opinion. Mildenhall and Dudley perhaps the favourites for 3rd and 4th but the rest are very much closer this time so I'll take nothing for granted at all.

Often seen as the villain of the peace Matt Ford is never far from BSF headlines but on this occasion his comments following Ward's latest indiscretion should be commended. He's pretty much got it bang on. http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/10241146.Pirates__Darcy_needs_professional_help_says_boss_Ford/

To not even list all the current clubs is pretty poor - sorry!

I'm glad he's still interested. It would be a shame if he had not ridden again after making something of a breakthrough at this level. I'm not going to say the 'i' word, but it's inevitable so I hope somebody takes a punt on him if/when the opportunity arises for him to return.

Yeah, don't get me wrong if it all clicks it's a very lively looking team. Whether it's one that can hit the ground running and maintain it for a full season is where I begin to think maybe but maybe not. Thanks for the info. Yes, you are. And my comment was entirely serious and not the least tongue-in-cheek! I read somewhere that he's packed it in but can't remember where. Largely a victim of being lumbered with an unattractive average in the end. Shame but that's the name of game as much as anything, and always has been.

I'd love to go but a conservative fuel cost estimate is probably about £50. Hopefully I get at least four numbers on the lottery that week.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Stoke boys bang in some results but there's a lot of 'ifs' in the team. A bit too much so for my liking (well, if I were a Stoke fan anyway). I think we have the legs on you over the course of the season. We're going to have two good reserves all season I think/hope. They could prove worth their weight in gold. IOW are still the stand-out team for me though.

No they're not. You guys just make it look easy! I completely understand the point you're making, and agree with you that psychology can play a huge part. But, if as you've stated and seems to be the general view that nobody wants the titanium parts then why is anyone going to buy them? Why don't the riders just refuse en masse to buy the parts? Has any rider actual come out in favour and stated that he's going to buying in to it? Just rhetorical questions Dean.

Well if you've got something to say you might as well make sure you're heard. That has been noted. Running scared already?

What I can't get my head around is that if the riders are saying 'we do not want this' then why would they go out and buy it? I absolutely do not want a Subway sandwich for lunch today, so I'm not going to buy one!!

Dean - If the titanium didn't make any real difference it is still a level playing field, other than a few riders spending money for no reason. You've started that nobody wants it. So why doesn't nobody buy it? Surely the fraction of time made up in a race with titanium parts could also be made up by not over-locking or drifting a touch wide and leaving the door open on the inside of that's the faster line at the time? How much weight is saved with titanium parts? Enough to make it worth the expense rather than a rider losing a couple of pounds or finding another way to shed a few grammes? As I stated originally I don't have any technical knowledge so any question posed is genuine. I just can't see how it can make enough difference in a sport where so much time can be gained or lost with the right line in one corner and the wrong or a mistake in the next. That said I can understand an argument that GP riders don't make too many mistakes on super slick smooth tracks but even so... Trees - It'll take more than that to catch the rockets Ward and Holder ride!

Would a Ferrari owner moan his car cost more than a Fiesta and if he did would he not be told he should have stuck with the trusty Ford instead? If as Dean suggests nobody wants titanium nobody should buy it and then there wouldn't be a problem. If riders start to buy it then it is they that are creating the problem by buying into, literally, something that they don't need. I'm not blindly a FIM/ACU/SCB/BSPA supporter but in this case I can't see why they're being criticised for saying use it if you want to. One could argue they're simply bringing the sport into the 21st century by not banning its use but they're not forcing anyone's hand by saying it must be used.

The whole of speedway must use titanium because four GP riders, two of whom aren't going to be around too much longer one would think, may use it? I do follow your logic in that if it's used widely at the top that it will filter down to the rest over the next few years though. I just think more fool the riders if they are daft enough to pay out a lot of money on something that apparently simply isn't worth the cost. Like I said - it's like paying for an expensive paint job on your helmet then moaning it costs twice the price of an off-the-shelf one.

So why don't the riders simply boycott titanium parts and agree not to use them?

Yeah, I saw your post and I agree (though no technical knowledge to back it up). Surely to EL riders, and probably half GP riders, it will be the case that it's simply not worth the expense too? I don't see why anyone would be up-in-arms about it being allowed.

Genuine question from someone with no technical know how whatsoever - What would be the estimated time advantage over the course of four laps if one were to use titanium? I doubt it's significant. In which case just don't use titanium. Surely the regulations will not state titanium must be used!? If a handful of riders want to splash out on something that is probably not going to make any real difference then that's up them, surely? It doesn't mean everyone has to jump on the bandwagon. You can't moan about something you're choosing to do. It would be the same as riders moaning about having expensive paint jobs on their helmets or a fancy custom job on the van.

Someone has been exaggerating I think. The crowd has been consistent, within normal slight fluctuations you'd expect throughout a season, since we joined the NL. We were told back at the end of '10 that the average had been just over a thousand. I've no reason to suspect that's changed. Apparently the last season at Dudley Wood saw weekly crowds just over two thousand. There's no way that near that number are packing the short home straight at Monmore each Tuesday. It would be great to have actual numbers published, but I doubt that will ever happen.

I understand, and agree to an extent with, the drip-feed approach but time's getting on a bit. You need to leave time to promote the whole team to the media and fans. Is there a set schedule for announcing the rest of the team?

Ahh a reply without answering - the mainstay of British Speedway.

It may prove academic whether a circuit licence holder is prepared to take a stand against the SCB. How many riders will risk losing their license for what at the moment is just 6 meetings (actually it's only 2)?

I agree with much of what you've posted, and others too, except the bit in bold. The PL is a failed product too.

Wasn't that mostly rather than exclusively? And it doesn't tell you who visits when, and you can't plan away trips. It would be helpful to us poor souls handing over our hard earned to have a full (all clubs as I'm commenting from a Heathens perspective though on the Coventry thread) fixture list ASAP with the season start just a few weeks away now.