Noelinho

Heat 13 was interesting. First heat advantage in heat 14 for the Tigers. Level on aggregate going into heat 15. The tie is tense, but the on track speedway is a dirge.

Are the tapes wonky on purpose? And is the racing at Edinburgh usually more entertaining than this?

Marcin will definitely get round the corner, the only question is how many people he runs over doing i! I’m quite content with Flint in for Brennan. I don’t think it changes much. Tom is used to Belle Vue and Ashfield after all, which are quite different. What’s parking like at Armadale? I’ve never been but I’m tempted to make the trip or or both days.

Craig’s certainly not been as good coming through when he’s missed the start at Ashfield this year. More often than not, he’s struggled to make the places back. He’s not been bad, just not the Craig Cook we’re used to. Just missing that 5% that makes him special to watch, rather than just another really good rider.

He’s a monster into the bends, but he can’t gate. Not consistently anyway. I don’t think he’s what you’d be looking for from a Grand Final. You need someone who’s a bit more polished than he is right now.

That was an epic meeting. Nearly passed out from excitement multiple times!

I liked it, though perhaps it’s better suited to replay material.

Yes, it happened far too often. I think the starting marshal needs to invite riders to the start earlier too. Refs should warn both teams before the start and once the first rider is excluded, it won’t happen again.

53-37 to the Tigers. Would have taken that earlier today. We'll need Sam Jensen to be more consistent if we want to win something for the cabinet though, I think.

Yeah, and a real shame for Broc as he was in great form tonight. Hoping he can bounce back quickly.

There's a delay after Broc Nicol and Drew Kemp tangled in heat 8. Drew went wide into 3, they met through 4 as Broc came underneath. All a bit of a blur as to how they ended up together. I think Drew might have locked up a bit, and it was a reasonably aggressive move. Broc excluded. Ambulance on track but Broc is awake and talking. Taking an early interval now but we only have one ambulance...

He was walking and talking, so hopefully just precautionary. They're taking their time though.

I suspect the weather will be a bigger factor than the number of meetings, in October. And the timing of the Test match is a bit of a moot point. When else would it run? There’s no way it runs any other time this season. The Test match will also bring in a wider audience than our normal meetings. The biggest problem for Glasgow the last two weeks hasn’t been getting meetings on due to weather or available race days. It’s been having an opponent to race. Thankfully we’ve got the Monarchs tonight. Maybe we’ll get them next weekend too.

He did, though he did seem to qualify it with “before the walked on the track”. So perhaps he changed his mind once he saw it. Unfortunately they didn’t really go into any details, so it’s hard to know.

Just got my ticket. Should be great - the GB vs Australia Test a couple of years ago was certainly worth it. I only hope the weather is better - the last Test match was a June meeting!

If the track is prepared and raceable, I don’t really care if I watch the Tigers or anyone else round Ashfield. I’ll gladly pay my money and watch, because it’s always an entertaining track. Though it would be nice to see four more home matches for the Tigers…

Hans wasn’t amazing, but he only got outscored by Ryan Douglas in his programmed rides for the Lions. He got 8. Nick Morris had 6 from his 4. Douglas had paid 10, plus heat 15 and an R/R ride heat 5.

I have a feeling the Leicester match at Ashfield was called off early. Can’t remember if it rained in the end. But we had an unfortunate run where it seemed to only rain on Fridays at 5pm for a while.

Rain expected 9-11, so earlier not necessarily much better. They'll want a bit of time to prepare the track after that. But forecast could look completely different in the morning!

Yeah, I didn't see anything wrong with it. I actually thought it was a Glasgow ridder that would get a warning, but I couldn't really see a problem from anyone. They were all well behaved all night.

Nowak, Bailey and Cook were all great tonight. No idea what Marcin’s plans are next year, but I’d love to see him back. He’s entertaining to watch. Track was exactly as you’d expect given last Sunday and the time of year. It’s been hard going getting meetings the last couple of months.

Marcin Nowak might need to work on his starts but he's fearless going round the bends. Fantastic pass in heat 7 get round the Brummies riders through 3/4 on lap one. I'm not quite sure how there was room for him, but he made it work!

Forecast looks more promising than it has f9r most of this week. I’m optimistic at the moment.

Yes, Peter did not look happy at all on Sunday, though he said what he had to. In the circumstances, fully understandable they weren’t going to take any risks today. I felt bad for them and the track staff on Sunday.

I wasn’t sure, having seen the forecast earlier, if we might regret the call-of today, but looking out of the window now, I see plenty of wind and rain outside. Glad I won’t be trying to stand in that.