False dawn

Live updates is reporting that the Lions are getting out of the gate and then getting passed with ease.

Quite right (no pun intended). The way the Lions are going, I'm hoping for a Dan Thompson return to the Cubs so I can shift my focus to a team with half a chance of doing something.

Alright as long as you keep left. Yeh, that worked, eh?

There's not much that would stop me going tonight, but there are limits.

But if we follow the logic (ha, ha) of the conspiracy theory outlined above, BV want Leicester in the play offs rather than Ipswich. Therefore it's in their interest for Leicester to win tonight.

And what about tonight? Tell me my maths are wrong..... Richard Lawson's average is 7.38. With the 5% home enhancement that becomes 7.75. Dan Bewley's average is 7.49 That might add a few to the crowd tonight, eh?

Who was the ref?

Come on, you Wolves

Turns out, we didn't need Emil after all. When Bomber rides like he did last night, you just stand back and applaud him. He was on fire. As a tribute to the Bees and all the fans that were there it was most fitting. A huge thank you to Birmingham for putting on this meeting, the riders that turned out to represent our historic club and for all 14 competitors for a splendid show.

Word is that Emil is standing in for Ben. Well he did ride for the Bees in 2011. A man can dream.

Half the audience

Be nice if there was some official word on this, eh?

Not sure if it was the narrow track, 4 top riders all going for the same bit of shale or just a lucky picture. But I thought this was pretty good.....

Actual qualifying times will be available on the SGP website and the app (don't seem to be there yet (?). But the the list of riders, fastest first, was as follows: 1 Max Fricke 2 Fredrik Lindgren 3 Jason Doyle 4 Dan Bewley 5 Maciej Janowski 6 Andzejs Lebedevs 7 Anders Thomsen 8 Bartosz Zmarzlik 9 Mikkel Michelsen 10 Tai Woffinden 11 Leon Madsen 12 Robert Lambert 13 Patryk Dudek 14 Martin Vaculik 15 Francis Gusts 16 Kim Nilsson

Wildcard?

But apart from that.....

So we're happy for top foreigners to start making a return to our shores, but when Woffy shows some intent on returning, we say he's not worthy. Think on people, we don't have too many top riders on which we can pin a Union Flag. Woffy is doing a bloody good job for Sheffield and there is a very good chance he will be riding here full time next year. He's still box office and I for one want to see him up against Dan and all the others, competing for the British Championship. If you don't agree, don't tune in.

Apart from when he goes "through" Dan Thompson

He is the real deal. I saw him at the back end of last year and was impressed. His showing for the Lion Cubs have been outstanding at times. To beat Dan Thompson in recent times has been even more impressive given Dan's improvement since leaving the Lions. I'm not expecting miracles from Ashton, this year, stepping up into the Championship. But he will surprise a few, for sure. I wish he was riding in my team next year.

You have to think that this change would have been more acceptable to the Leicester faithful had it been for two proven riders. Richie vs Bomber is, for me, pretty much like for like. We all know Bomber's entertainment value coming from the back, but total scoring potential says the two riders are similar. Unfortunately, I think the same can be said for Troy Batchelor and Craig Cook. I can't see Craig maintaining a 5.96 average. Dropping below Jake Allen could still be on the cards. The really sad thing, mathematically, is that Richie could almost have been brought in for Batch without releasing Bomber. The team total would have only been 0.40 over the permitted total. Perhaps if Bomber had been as bad as some people are making out, he'd still be in the team.

Pity he didn't have a spot, since he could have stepped down to let Tai have a go.

Funny thing. I saw (for the 1st time in 50 years) a rider gardening on bend 1 last night at Wolverhampton under the 2 minute warning

Just thought the two sides seemed pretty equal. Sorry if I offended. I am a bit strange.

There would seem to be a feeling that clubs should not be allowed to make changes to their line up during the season, for strategic reasons anyway. Its a hard one isn't it? I guess we're from a different era when there were few changes mid season. There weren't none, as I recall, but it tended to be a foreign second string back in the day. Now we have teams top riders being swapped out with the playoffs coming up. Long term injuries are one thing, but the wholesale heat leader changes really don't sit well, do they? As an example, I will quote Bomber. I haven't gone through my copious records, but I wonder when he was ever dropped mid season. Oh I know he's not the very best anymore, but he is still winning races and just when you want him to. Dropping him doesn't sit right. We used to think that losing a key rider to injury was just bad luck. Now we'll build a team to "just win" regardless of allegiance.