IronScorpion

Most posters on here have said that the present race system is unfair as regards to inflated averages. 2nd strings are the only riders who ride to the old race system(against all riders) so have a true averages. Heat leaders ride against each other 3 times so most have lower than normal averages(increase by 12.5% for true average). The reserves, wether they were at 6 or 7 rode against each other 3 times with the no7 riding against an opposition no4 once(heat leader dropping down often raced at no4 as opposed to no2 ie Holder, Andersen, Woffinden, etc) so the reserve had the harder ride against 2nd string. Therefore, average decreased by 20%. SCB does an awesome job in his calculations & is a guy that I respect his views. Racers & Royals has ideas about the foreign leagues so I would put their ideas together to guage teams for 2017 & avoid average manipulation(also use graded riders). It seems to work abroad and is not tinkered with every year. 2017 is a year for change but try & keep it simple & reasonable & give it time to be adapted to.

Looking thro the greensheet averages, some teams already qualified for play offs dropped their averages to make riders more available for 2017(Somerset dropped over 2.5 pts) With Auty, something was just missing as his speed wasn't there, gating still poor & is not a no 1. Rob mentioned more matches, possible inter-league KO but with the Polish Top Leagues new agenda, rider availability could be interesting. There was a rule brought in during the AGM for 2015 where Doubling Up/Down will be restricted to 2 years per rider. Do not know if this rule is still in place or will be enforced in 2017. He also mentioned that the present team would fit in. Did that mean the points limit could be reduced to 41/41.5?

Yes!!!!!!! just got back in. Get in there Wolves. CHEATS NEVER PROSPER everyone knew on the forum what Ford was trying to do but Lindback did not live up to expectations plus dodgy stomach & the expected injury to Pederson now he'd moved back to the main body. With what Ford was saying earlier about having a squad, it might eliminate these ODD occurances.

After trying to follow where riders are riding this year, it seems that Polish Speedway RULES! OK! After the talks of progress in the British Leagues, there has been talk of fixed race nights, wed/thur or thur/fri when GP's allow. Then the Poles decided to race Sunday/Fridays with some Wednesday, the Swedish Leagues had to adjust and we fitted in where we could. Now they are stipulating to the riders - Polish League plus 1 other. What would happen to their squad riders that do not get regular rides. This might have a major bearing on the EGM/AGM to recruit the top riders to our league. The Swedish League might have something to say also.

Dirt deflectors keep the spray down low. Just the same as mud flaps on cars. They can't protect the sides of the car but protects most of it.

Anybody noticing there track grading every time scorpions have a rider 2 races on the trot

Any more Team news?

No 6 is Fritz, as posted on the OTHER thread

As I have pointed out before on other threads, in a pairing, if a rider ups his game & has a good year his partner suffers(3 & 4 - Worrall & Barker at Glasgow) aka Berge & Stead. If Berge has gated in front I think Stead, as captain, has protected him with the minimal amount of passing Owlerton has served up the last 2 years, affecting his CMA.

So what your saying is that riders at their last home meeting should be honest & say thanks but no thanks as I have been offered a better deal elsewhere. Blessing in disguise getting Branford over MPT!

I think what Rob has posted is that Fritz is not now assessed as he has completed 4H & 4A meetings. Plymouth was his 4th away meeting meaning he had ridden 39 times collecting 39 points giving him a new average of 4.00. As we know, NEW riders cannot drop below 5.00, hence his new average. Due to J Auty's illness last week & the enforced move of Fritz to reserve & Carl to the main body, they may well be waiting for Josh. I wouldn't put Kerr at 3 & MPT at 4 at the moment as it would reduce our scoring power, which is not normally very good at Newcastle.

MPT, for example, on Monday night, is not a top 3 by CMA but is a racer who gives it his all, misses a gate or has a chain break, therefore, is not a top 3 scorer on the night & is not "a qualified" rider. For the past 2 months, almost, he has guested for more than half the EL clubs & PL clubs & has put himself, possibly unfortunately for the Scorpions, in the shop window for a place in other teams choices for 2017. People pay to see riders like MPT.

It does seem a strange rule when any 2 from 6 can ride in heat 15(3 highest by CMA have poor nights & 3 others are high scorers from programmed rides). A straight rule change at the AGM ............................... Nominated Heat 15 are Nominated riders not eligible riders. Simple.

but riders are pulling out of meetings through sudden illness, migraine, toothache etc at a moments notice. Normally, you can't see a doctor within 24 hours.

A system could be used similar to motor racing. Transponders used to monitor movement, do away with tapes & have an overhead/track canopy 20/25metres down from the start with red lights for ready & then green for go. All the riders are facing forward which eliminates the chance of riders on gates 1 & 4 moving slightly with the riders on 2 & 3 going & getting penalized

As per speedway-stats.co.uk Tai's UK averages have been as follows: 2011 Tai Woffinden - 8.38 2012 Tai Woffinden - 8.76 2013 Tai Woffinden - 9.25 2014 Tai Woffiden - 7.06 2016 Tai Woffinden - 8.50 (five matches only) Spot the odd one out!?? Regardless of being legal, it stinks. Use common-sense and re-assess. With Tai being the World Champion in 2013 & racing GP's Sat, Poland Sun, EL Mon, Sweden Tue + all his Monster & foreign clubs commitments, he, also, had the extra media commitments through being World Champion & he had admitted that it eventually took too much out of him & he needed a break. He was riding at possibly 85-90%, hence his low average.

without trolling through 30 odd pages(read a few to get the gist), has any body mentioned Richard Hall? Lindback not ridden EL for 10 years & has an average assessed DOWN to 7 Hall has a PL average & had an old NL average from 12 years ago but was not allowed to ride NL as was too good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where's our normal super sub TJ? I know Skidmore had a good meeting at Scunny the other week & is an ex tiger.

No, but he can still scrape the fence!!!

We have been bottom & now 3rd bottom because of early season form & injuries. We were a 2 man team with only Auty & Douglas scoring most of the points regularly. Bailey just settling in couldn't be faulted. The problems lied with Holub & Wilko not getting bikes set up & Davies not reproducing the form we expected to run on from the end of 2015. Now we have 4, 5 & sometimes 6 scoring decent points at home & we scored 41 at Somerset & 34 at an improved Ipswich. Last night, Sheffield scored 34 with a t/r win but, supposedly, an injury hit, average lowering team as they are still in a play off position.

a close match can be affected as early as ht11 or 12 as T/R are still in play. A rider can touch the tapes allowing his partner in B/W to move to gate 2(better gate on the night) where as the rider from 15m back can choose his racing line as he will have more speed, the riders at the tapes gate and all go mid track/fence allowing rider off 15m to dive up the inside. edit. interpretation of close match comes into play. Obviously 10 points behind allowing the T/R to be played & team leaders out in heats 13 & 15. How often have Somerset been behind in meetings then won out scoring their opponents in the last 5-6 heats.

There is, also, another point to bring up! What night do we race on? Has Sunday racing worked? It looks as if the support has been marginal where early season defeats didn't help against the improved results which has seen a few faces return. Friday was always the issue of travelling after work for the home/away support(the road works of the M1 towards the M18 was an issue raised on the forum & conversations) & the 2 shift workers where one week 6/2 & the other 2/10 therefore missing every other week. Sunday has raised the issue of rider availability during injuries & the use of r/r, not just for us but Berwick struggled with the loss of Seb Alden. Family time is important too & that may have had an impact on some staying away. A lot of decisions to be made by Rob & the Promotional Team but at least know we are running in 2017. Hoping the support does improve but it needs to be marketed more. If people don't get the telegraph or travel down Normanby Rd, people would not know about us. Just this last fortnight I have been talking with pool players & they didn't know speedway existed in town. I told them if they like it on Sky(which is mostly boring ftg racing) then get down to the EWR for a better standard of racing. I have encouraged other friends to come, some have but if they picked a poor meeting they havn't returned plus cost. For new supporters a 3 match ticket for £30-£35 might encourage some to come more often. Also, I still see too many freeloaders coming in via the pits either ex riders or sponsors. Not too sure of the monies involved but for arguments sake, if it costs £300 to sponsor a heat & you offer 2 free tickets for the sponsors at every meeting that's 10 meetings paid for. If more turn up for free entry & go to more meetings then there is a serious loss of income. Yes, we need the sponsors to survive but at what cost. It needs to be monitored & better controlled.(rant over. lol)

I think the problems most teams will have is trying to get a team for 2017 that will fit the probable changes to the rules & regulations at the EGM & AGM towards the end of the year. My personal view is that we are not far off with the team we have & Rob's ability to bring a team together within a budget, but it might be, in 2017, he will have to speculate to accumulate. The "new" bar/entertainment block should bring in much needed revenue which, some, must be passed on via wages. He has admitted in the past that TJ wanted to try pastures new & almost signed Bellego, so is it financial when missing out on riders. Other riders have moved on & then we miss out on their improvement. Of this years team, yes, I would keep most of them but there lies the problems. Bez is not far off in my thinking, also. We really do miss a powerful No 1 but he would come at a cost & possible double upper MPT a proven No2 but, after guest appearances in the EL could, also, be a double upper Kerr has said he enjoys it at Scunny & would like to come back but, again, is already a double upper Auty will never be a No1 in my eyes as his gating needs to improve against better riders. Again, is already a double upper Dougie now has more self belief after his injuries hampered his progression but has proved he can be a No 1 but, also, capable of an EL place Wallner we have got to keep as he will improve. Unfortunatly, at the moment, riding with Kerr has meant his scoring is not what it could have been(blessing in disguise as he could come with a CMA of around 5 to 5.2) Bailey or Smith as we have seen what they can do in the early part of their careers, scoring well in the NL So, as you can see, there are many possible problems to overcome & the AGM should be earlier than Nov to iron out these new rules to be brought in in 2017. From what I have read somewhere, the new rules are being thought through by the SCB but I would have thought a NEUTRAL BODY should have been put together with input from all parties involved ie; SCB, BSPA, Promoters & Referees so the rules were easier to understand & not have differing interpretations for personal gains.

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