DaveWayne

So what are you suggesting ? All league fixtures should be programmed for April to July, leaving August free to cover any rearrangements ? Then we potentially have a whole month of nothing prior to the playoffs. That will really build up the excitement.

Nobody knew that we were going to have a record breaking dry summer when they were planning the fixtures. From the start of the season to the date of the original fixture, there were only 3 Thursdays where neither Sheffield or Ipswich had a match, and one of those was the day before the British GP. I doubt anybody looking at the fixtures at the start of the season was concerned that a meeting in August Bank Holiday week was likely to be rained off.

The original fixture was 28th August. It was rained off. The rearranged match the following week was rained off. When do you suggest they should have held it ? Should they have looked at a long range forecast in June and pulled it forward ? Blaming Sheffield for the weather is laughable.

Yes he was poor last night, and yes he is a heat leader, but he is on an age related decline. This has been one of our problems this season. With Holder senior slipping, and the loss of Tai, a rider who started the season as 4th best in our team is now having to ride at number 5 and deliver against higher level riders in heats 13 and 15. Picko has stepped up admirably, but it has massively increased the pressure on him to deliver.

He's 37. Do you still expect him to ride like a world champion ? Not many do at that age.

I have to agree with your comment about Flint, but I'm not going to slate him for it as he has been superb this season. Many said he was a gamble, but something has clicked for him this year and he has surpassed all expectations. As the playoffs approached, it was obvious the worst case scenario for us was the semi line up being the one we ended up with. Leicester have been our nemesis this year so would prefer to have avoided them. Ideally, we would have liked Belle Vue in the semis as I am confident we would have beaten them over 2 legs (awaits the inevitable pile on !!). I would then have been crossing my fingers that Ipswich won the other semi, as I felt we would have more chance of beating you than Leicester, but either would have been a good final and a close result either way.

I'm sure you will find a way to blame our dangerous track or dirty riders for any racing incidents that happen on Thursday. Looking forward to your detailed unbiased review of the meeting. 🤔 Of course, if your riders want to stay safe they can always just ride round at the back. That way they might also lower their averages and then you can keep your 'all conquering' team together for next season.😉

It's just the Ipswich fans can't wait to have a dig at Stead, completely forgetting their own manager comes across as a whining man baby when they aren't winning, and has been known to 'go missing' after a loss on TV.

But as has been pointed out every time you mention it, other people have experienced exactly the same at other tracks. It's not just a Sheffield thing - every team has dick heads !!

Makes me laugh when people think being cocky and arrogant is a bad trait in a professional sportsperson. You generally don't get to the top level if you don't have that mindset.

Yes extremely childish. He had just won a fantastic race on the last lap and was full of adrenaline. Do you not expect a rider to celebrate ? Admittedly he was poor for the rest of the night, but maybe he knew that himself and he was trying to psych himself up.

Holder's gating has been poor all season.

First corner incident ? Why excluded ?

Dunno, I'm from the Midlands, just support a northern team. 😉 Maybe you are right though as Sheffield v Belle Vue can be a very intimidating atmosphere.

It's not just a Sheffield thing. My friend and her 5 year old daughter (Wolves fans) were verbally abused at Belle Vue.

So that makes us all thugs ?

Sheffield had a break in 1989 and 1990, but have raced every season from 1991 to present day.

So yesterday they announce that 25th September was a reserved date in case either of the 2nd semi matches get postponed, then today they announce a fixture on the reserved date !!

No, because the league matches haven't been completed yet. 😉

McLaren are currently the best team in F1 GP by far. Norris had an engine failure the other week. It's motorsport and mechanical failures will happen no matter who you are.

But then again, we could have an 'Indian summer' and have better track conditions in October than in August and September. A few years back I was on holiday in Suffolk in October and we had bright sunshine and daytime temperatures of 18 degrees. On the other hand, I remember an August one year when I went to stock car meetings with heavy rain that would have called off a speedway meeting on all 5 Saturday's in the month.

Always best to wait for the official announcement of the dates, rather than making yourself look silly by ranting about something you have made up in your head. 😉

Don't worry about it. You have finished earlier. 😉

Or unluckiest ? The old system meant that 1 mechanical failure in a heat virtually ruined a rider's chances of winning a GP. The 'qualifying' process means they can still make the final.

I don't understand why you think it is farcical. For those finishing in the top 10, the heats are simply a qualifying process for the LCQs and the Final. These races then define the finishing positions and the points awarded to each rider. It may not be correct in your eyes, or anyone else who thinks the pre-2020 system should still be used, but it isn't farcical. It's no different to the playoff process that decides league champions, where the season long matches are 'qualifiers' and the winners could be any of the top 4. BriSCA F1 stock cars used to award the National Points Championship (and the right to wear the coveted silver roof for a year) to the driver scoring the most points over the whole season. But now, the title is awarded to the winner of a 12 round shootout in the last couple of months of the season, contested by the top 16 drivers at the cut off point. NASCAR in America also use an end of season shootout which means any of the top 16 at the cut off can be declared champion. These changes have been made to increase entertainment levels and public interest. They may seem incorrect to some, but farcical is just an opinion.