MrMungo

I concur BCD - it would be the most sensible at face value, but in a recent edition of S/Star, Fridays was mentioned as a possibility.

Mondays won't attract many riders riding in Poland and Sweden. Reckon Wed - Fri are the best options.

They may both be unavailable on Thursdays due to PL commitments. As for the subject title question, I suspect everything was a little bit more dubious this year (more so than previously!) so they wanted to keep it quiet?

Wouldn't have thought so. He averaged 4.14 in the EL last year, according to SpeedwayGB figures, so it can't be that either. Puzzling!

IIRC, his PL average is/was 4.67, so really can't see where the 4.89 comes from. Maybe they are introducing 'inflation' onto averages now? You never know with this lot!

*scratches head* How did they figure that out? Still, a very strong reserve pairing for Poole, as expected

I assume this is the part you are referring to? Over on the Coventry thread it has been suggested Howarth will start on his EL average, and not his PL average converted (4.19?), as per the quote. I guess we may find out in March. Maybe.

What average would Andersson come in on (if signed)? If it's lower than 5.52, does it mean a reserve will start the season at reserve despite having an average higher than one of the top 5?

I'm sure Simon will

I honestly thought I was having my leg pulled...apparently not!

Could it be because there are doubts whether some teams could field a side close enough to the points limit?

But, to be fair, if they are both back and 'ready', then Lakeside have a very strong reserve pairing

I think they both must have been T1 riders

How would you propose they grade a rider who only rode PL this season?

Scunthorpe

7.09, assuming you mean from matches he did last year

I was actually told that the FTR picks would take place today, but I have to imagine the person got the wrong end of the stick...surely! Right?!

6.84 * 0.60 = 4.10(4)

Sunday is surely the start of the week?

Doesn't he have 2 teenage sons?!

I suppose it depends how you look at it. There's no reason why Richie Worrall couldn't be included into the draft, since he's obviously the same age as his brother and with a lower average. If he and Belle Vue can patch things up, there's no reason why BV couldn't pick him seeing as he is their asset, and then sign Steve Worrall in the top 5. His PL average is only a half a point away from Grajczonek, so on paper, should do a solid enough job. Then the other 4 in the top 5 could be retained. Still, it's too early to speculate on the draft. There was talk of Garrity wanting to go into the top 5, others may want to do the same. With Birks and Blackbird not in it either, the draft could look very different next year.

Is he doing a 'Palm Toft'?

Will their averages be altered in some way? Or could we see a situation where a "heat leader" starts as a HL with a lower average than a second string, or a heat leader will start in a second string position because of averages?

Yep, the percentage is: EL average compared to their PL average for all the draft riders. It throws up some interesting percentages, but for T1 riders it's surprisingly consistent (mid - late 80s). It's less of an issue for T2 riders, as I would imagine most of them would start on an assessed 3.00 average.

I make it 91.9% for T1 riders, and 77.5% for T2 riders. For the record: Newman 103.7% Birks 103.1% Kerr 95.6% Wright 88.7% Blackbird 88.1% Auty 85.8% Garrity 85.2% Worrall 84.6% Nielsen 96.0% Ellis 88.7% Sarjeant 86.2% Starke 77.2% Rose 74.2% Morris 72.8% Bates 69.9% Lambert 55.3%