Jayne

With the news that air fences will be compulsory at all tracks from 1st March 2014 Buxton have set up an air fence fund. The club need to raise approx £18000 to buy an air fence or they will not be able to stage league racing next year. Obviously this is a huge sum of money for anyone so we are in the process of forming a fund raising committee and are looking into various ways to raise the required funds. The PL will be staging meeting/s to raise the required funds but the NL will need to do more than that as the riders would have to ride for free for most of if not all season.

This is not just for PL tracks it applies to all tracks staging league racing. Will be hard for most tracks to finance in the PL but I believe they will be staging a meeting/s to help fund them as the EL did. Not sure how the NL can afford them as riders would have to ride for nothing for most of if not all season!!!!. An air fence at Buxton will cost around £18000 - not sure where we can get that sort of money from but we will be trying our best through various fund raising activities. We found out less than a week ago so not much time to get organised for March 1st 2014.

Probably something to do with how hot it was!!! Unfortunately, when it is hot, the type of shale we have dries out very quickly. Great in the wet, damp days of the year not so when it is hot and sunny as it was yesterday.

Today sees the Hitmen back at Hi-Edge in action against the Mildenhall Fen Tigers. After a fighting performance at West Row last week the team are hopeful of going one better today and getting the win. R/R will be in operation for the injured Ryan Blacklock and Robert Branford guests for Tony Atkin. The Fen Tigers are at full strength so it should be an exciting afternoon in the sunshine.

It is indeed TMW, the only option is a 3pt unattached rider

no rain here today and the sun is out at the moment, will update if anything changes

Don't think that Ando is eligible anymore. I know we were told that he couldn't do NL something to do with riding in the Aussie championhsips but not sure if it is/was totally correct but didnt pursue it as Ando was having diffiulties getting to the UK at the time anyway.

Apologies to those who attended and were effected by the problems with the PA. Not sure what the problem was as it was tested prior to the meeting and was working perfectly and also worked again when tested last night after the meeting. I for one thought the Hitmen rode well against a Stoke side tipped to be there or thereabouts at the end of the year. Some of the negative comments though (mainly from Stoke supporters) do make you wonder why we bother especially in the current financial climate.

Today sees the opening match of the season at Hi-Edge. Stoke Potters are the visitors and both teams will be looking for the win despite the fact there are no points at stake. Although the forecast is for it to rain later today the meeting is definitely on as we stand. There has been no rain since Thursday and the track is very dry so should stand up to some 'wet stuff' if it arrives. Any changes will be notified on here, facebook, twitter etc as soon as possible. Fingers crossed for the weather to stay dry and a good afternoon's racing.

Not fair to blame Andy as he only puts on what he is told

Rob told us he was taking a year out so we had to go ahead and build a team without him. He has since changed his mind but I dont know what his plans are. Unfortunately the only way we could fit him in would be to make at least two changes at the bottom end as his average is too high but who knows what will happen during the season.

No, that was stopped a few years ago as it meant riders were riding for more than one team. Can't imagine any rider would choose to just race in the Trophy as not enough matches, so its not a feasible option. Unfortunately money dictates everything for riders and promoters alike and there is no magical solution.

I think the problem with that is that no matter what you call the series they are racing Speedway bikes so must adhere to speedway regulations. Hence why there is no issue with short track/flat track racing at SCB licensed circuits.

Adam McKinna returns to the Hitmen for a second season, further details at www.buxtonhitmen.co

Dudley are not in the Trophy. The only clubs confirmed for the competition are Stoke, IOW, Kent and Mildenhall.

We haven't decided either way yet. There are extra costs to be weighed up against the fact that the Trophy matches are not as well supported as the League matches and generally lose the club money which we can ill afford.

As far as I know he is taking a year out and working at home in Oz.

Yes....you have riders points money and travel money for all matches (home and away), stadium rental, insurance each meeting, BSPA and referee charges per meeting plus a bond with the BSPA. Generally speaking you would need permission from the BSPA to run regular challenge matches as a team even if you do not have any home matches.

Charles isn't ours to swap with anyone. Whoever he rides for is down to his parent club and himself.

All will be revealed at the Awards Night on Saturday

Can't speak for Kings Lynn and Scunthorpe but it is the costs that are getting out of control and have been doing since the league changed from CL to NL. Not only do riders expect/want more money each year, there are also loan/transfer fees and the usual increases to insurance, BSPA/referee fees. The more money a rider receives in the NL then the more he is going to want for PL/EL so this impacts on everyone and also can prevent a rider from making the step up. If you are earning good money in the NL with no deductions for insurance or Tyres then logically you are going to be worse off in the PL when you have to pay these deductions and may only be getting a small increase on your points money and potentially scoring a lot less points. For some clubs the finances are just not there to meet all these costs and you cannot keep on passing the increases to the supporters especially in the current economic climate. I don't think that this is just applicable to the NL and is something that really needs to be addressed across the board both for promoters and riders. There is no easy answer but the bottom line is we really need as many clubs to survive in all leagues as possible and also make it easier financially for more riders to take up the sport and continue in it.

Stockcar meetings do have a number of formulas on the same day but the F1s bring in the bigger crowds. As for shorttrack/flattrack we don't do anything different to the track when they race at Buxton and would presume it is the same elsewhere. The only problem I can see with mixing other disciplines in speedway is the crossover between ACU and SCB and the insurance situation but I guess if the will is there these can be overcome. Stockcar meetings seem to still attract the fans maybe its because they put on more of a show and it is more of a day out than just a couple of hours at speedway so the spectators feel that it is better value for money as the price structure for a F1 meeting is similar to EL.

Not sure why people think the points limit may be altered as it was agreed last year to fix it at 40 points for three years, mainly to allow continuity and to combat the late start to team building which every club complained about with the AGM not happening until February time.

Saturday's not an option on a regular basis.

Not possible due to work commitments and the fact that it has not been financially viable in the past. Also think Stoke may have an objection (quite rightly) as it is their racenight.