IronScorpion

Please enlighten me on which bit is cr a p? It is just talk, whispers or what we see! Is it, also, cr a p that after seeing Josh & David square up with "handbags", which led to them being split up & later Ash & Jorgy. We have seen them race each other through out this season because of the non payment of bonus points that most teams are adhering to but, & I have posted this before, it would do nothing for team spirit. Just an opinion!

One match does not prove he is fit or "race fit". I have, also, heard he is asking for different terms & conditions from when he first signed. An option to sign Mellgren would mean one would have to go. Although still not race fit in his head, possibly, due to incidents in the Scorps v Newcastle meeting(just my opinion), Birks could be the change but it would be tight when the new averages come out. The new look would then be Mellgren, Klindt, Auty, Douglas, Howe, Jorgensen, Williamson. A very potent team.

There will be a change in the next few days. Keep an eye on social media as we use twitter a lot.

The Devils were a 3 man team but not impresive. I expected more from Simota as he was a rider i mentioned last year as a temporary replacment for David. On that performance, thank god he didn't. As has been mentioned before, Rob has set this team up so anyone of the top 6 could ride at no1 during the season(awaiting Mellgrens return from injury but we could get Klindt, short term, as he knows what we are about. The top 5 all recorded wins but only 2 last places between them & that is the solid scoring we need. A good meeting which kept us entertained to the end but required the bowser to be used more frequently to keep a bit of moisture in the track & keep the dust down in the last few heats as the wind blew in from the east.

I have said this before as we seem to have set the team up similar to Newcastle last year. No outright no1 but if riders do well any of 6 could be in that position during this season. It is, also, set up that the top 6 riders can win races & race team mates, hopefully, finish 2nd or 3rd. Definately, not last! This means that their averages would stay around the same. We have lost our no1 & we are not firing on all cylinders. Is this due to lack of match practice, no friendlies. We, also, are blaming our track & the uneveness of the gates at the start. Again, lack of practice especially when we knew the track would be dug up then re-levelled. I have faith in this team barring Matt, sorry mate, but like Bates last year, not ready for the PL.

He is also on Sky Sports Saturday morning so his mum, Sue, is doing a cracking job. His profile has shot through the roof since becoming World Champion & also Minority Sports Champion(i think that was the title) & MCN Man of the Year. He & his team have done plenty to promote speedway & himself. How much air time do you want for the lad. He, also, needs time to chill, relax & refocus for 2014.

http://www.speedwaygb.co/news.php?extend.24062 That's good news so we should hear something Sat(2 days later). Probably monday now. Fingers crossed.

This is just my view on things but Ryan was signed pre AGM so he knew where he was working in 2014 prior to his '13 visa expiring. I would tend to believe Rob's view in that everything was sorted before he went back home. This year, many riders did not know they had a place until post AGM which meant their visa's ran out before they re-applied & went home. A similar situation to Masters & i think the other was going to ride for Glasgow last year.

I am hoping Ryan continues where he left off but a problem i see, & hope it's a little one, is that Ryan should have kept the engine he finished the season with as well as buying some of Hans Andersons gear. It might not suit him or our track but with a little tinkering, the quality of the equipment should shine throgh.

Now we know who the last pieces of the jigsaw are, and most were hoping for Birks to be back, that is a strong top six who are all capable of winning races & getting big scores, even though, riding together, they will take points off each other aka Newcastle starting 7 early last year. Hope, also, for Josh & Ash to get some sort of place back in an EL side as it showed in their progress last year, learning off better riders & the wages for better parts/tuning. Welcome Matt to our family, hope you settle in in time & do a job & score the points Rob can see in you. I like to see teams that can score points throughout as, hopefully, it means few last places which can give good results both home & away. Good luck to David & Josh in the Cracker on Sunday.

Exactly. There is a 1.5 points difference between Nick & Ash so other people would, also, have to make way.

It is in our Telegraph that the main sponsors for 2014 will be Fluid Air Power Ltd who are local & have been advertising in the programme & on billboards for a number of years. They have, also, done rider sponsorship.

17.2.4 Where Riders transfer between Leagues, a conversion is necessary; the factors being: From EL to PL = divide by 0.6. From PL to EL = multiply by 0.6. From PL to NL = divide by 0.6. All the above are subject to the minimum / maximum converted MA’s being 3.00 / 12.00. From NL to PL it shall be 3.00. Oops, sorry my mistake

Thought double up riders have CMA divided by 0.6, hence 3.11/0.6 =5.18 in NL. NL to PL & PL to EL

Going by THAT post with out a "probably" before only means you might have knowledge of the 6 riders. With 3.11 to play with(unless we get an extra .18 with Birks reduction) means we could go for a NL rider of around 5.2 as a new asset. If Bates was not up to it last year early on, & he performed better than Matt Williamson in the NL, that should tell the story. Bates even progressed to guest appearances in the PL towards the end of '13.

Well, my thoughts were correct (post#96)but did not give too much away. My suspicions were that David carried a no2 on his bike, back up to Mellgren(a cracking 1 & 2), also, speaking to his dad, as i didn't speak to David as he was busy on bike & speaking to Rob, that's why he was setting an engine up that was not right last year, but setting it up on a track he would not be riding on. Put 2 & 2 together &, thankfully, got 4. Welcome home David.

Checked archives & 2011 rode for Sheffield, 2012 & 13 for Scorpions. Also found Howarth in 2011 23 matches 111 rides 120 pts ave 4.32 2012 38 matches 185 rides 253 pts ave 5.47 2013 ave 6.86 3 years with an effective CMA riding in the same years as Ash. What's the difference?

On reading this on other topics, it was in the 2013 Regulations so if it didn't apply last year, it won't apply in 2014. Do not know why tho'!

i saw Matt Sunday at practice. Didn't seem particularly quick but practice tracks(never graded) are not race tracks plus i think there are better 3pt or possibly 3.4pt riders out there. Now that the EL have published a list of 23 riders for EL reserve positions, things might become clearer. Newcastle gone with big top 5 to keep same or similar reserves in those positions.

I was at the practice hoping to see a few riders testing themselves & their bikes. I could summise who our no2 could be but i would not like to give the game away until it is official. I could, also, be wrong & mess things up for both parties. Rob said announcements would be made soon, but the season does't start while end of March. Be patient. Soon be Christmas.

I would be WELL HAPPY with that, but again, 2 riders coming back from previous years injuries. Saying that, though, i would rather have them in my team now, knowing what they can do, than miss out later in the season. Rob said, at first, the team that ended last year was the way to go with the improvment in the team, but then came out, again, with a rethink(possibly along the lines of how Newcastle did & how they coped with missing a top rider with r/r). Could possibly change Greenwood for Lambert(Robert) as i think he will go PL in 2014.

Richie would be an excellent choice to bring back as our no 1. Maggs didn't like our track prep before so whats changed(even tho he had a great last meeting here for Leicester with David as his mechanic filling in at short notice. Rob said he would like Jorgy back. I would have David back without a doubt. He's too good to ride for anyone else plus even tho he has some doubters at scunny, most would feel like me, he's scunny thro & thro. Hope all is going well in your recouperation David, as seen you are posting on here to keep us informed. Thank you. An issue might be trying to get your reserves. Now, the top NL riders will be EL reserves so doing all 3 leagues might be a problem. This is where strength in depth might come into fruition with 1 strong & 1 weaker reserve but hoping he will develop.

Sidney here is my reply but above all things need simplifying, it is getting diificult to encourage new supporters the way we are going. The league re-structuring, in my opinion, boils down to money or lack of it. Sky.s contract coming to an end will have massive implications for the EL that is why there is the talk of one league. But is that too many teams? Top riders have stated that they do not race in Britain as there are too many meetings & on different nights. The Polish EL ride on a sunday & Sweden EL ride on a tuesday. As far as i can gather, their lower leagues race similar to us-on differing nights. If the PL was restructured then a team max of 16 would give 30 league meetings, the KO cup would be easier with no byes, a pre-season of no more than 4 friendlies with about 3 spare/empty race nights to accomodate rain offs. Also, the tracks should be made raceable & not rideable-we need to entertain. Subtle changes need to be made over a period of 3 to 4 years to get more brits coming through minimising the amount of foreigners racing in our leagues. Give the brits the chance to ride, improve, move up as we are lagging behind the rest of the leagues. Before other people say that practice what you preach, we had to sign the Swedes & Danes to compete as our home grown talent that we tried to nurture at Scunny was taken away.

Well that's the 1st one signed or anounced for 2014...............A tick for me please!