MrMungo

3 points from 3 rides.

The draw for the Final has been made. LINE-UP: Tom Perry, Kyle Howarth, Robert Branford, Ben Morley, Marc Owen, Kyle Newman, Joe Haines, Adam Wrathall, Steven Worrall, Ashley Morris, Stefan Nielsen, Richie Worrall, James Sarjeant, Jerran Hart, Jason Garrity, Joe Jacobs. Reserves: Ben Hopwood, Richard Franklin. http://www.speedwaygb.co/news.php?extend.15216

Niall Strudwick in for the unfortunate Josh Bates. Assuming the meeting goes ahead. The forecast doesn't look too wonderful!

Rayson was one of those who didn't get a team place this year. Probably due to the NL going to 8 teams from 10. He didn't ride in the Under 21 qualifier either, so maybe he's having a break from the sport at the moment. Heavy shower(rain/sleet/hail) before the meeting made the track a little tricky to begin with. Still some good races. Stoneman continues to impress me. Heeps looked a lot sharper this week and was a class apart. Very impressive showings from Halsey and Blackbird, too. Stokes very impressive and solid for the Young Stars. Cockle was always in the thick of it, and the rest of the YS were competitive but not really threatening, perhaps a little race rusty. Bates and Nielsen didn't have luck on their sides. Bates just lost control down the back straight, clipped the fence, looked like he had saved it but lost control on the 3rd bend and Campos did really well to lay the bike down as quickly as he did. It could've been a lot worse than it was. Neither rider rode anymore but Campos looked okay in the pits, whereas Bates has a possible dislocated shoulder. Nielsen put in a couple of good rides before the chain snapped in the last bend of his third ride throwing him off the bike. Borrowed Jacobs' bike in the next ride and treated us all to a kangaroo impression at the start! Hopefully both riders will be okay for the trip to Dudley on Tuesday.

I was reliably informed that the curfew is at 10pm. However...@ approx 9.30pm Jake Knight had a suspected broken ankle and we were waiting for a county ambulance, which is the norm at most tracks I've visited. Effectively, they had 30 minutes to get Jake Knight seen to and taken to hospital and to stage the next batch of races (4 heats). This was never likely to happen in 30 minutes time, so someone somewhere made the <correct> decision of calling it off early and to ensure that no more time was wasted.

I'll be there cheering on Mildenhall

Expecting Dudley to be much sharper today. Heeps aside Mildenhall riders have had very little competitive track time. Think it'll be a very tight match and wouldn't be at all surprised to see it go down to a last heat decider.

You mean other than he's Australian?

2 L's in Worrall, too

He's a Scorpio.

Dan Berwick confirmed for Stoke.

I only saw him once last season - got a double figure score at Scunthorpe! Or pretty close to it at least. Looked Dudley's best rider on the night. Definitely think he's worthy of a place in the NL.

Would Matt Bates fit? Or is his average a tad too high?

I think the Scunthorpe side will surprise a few people this year. Despite what Godfrey, Parnaby et al say, once the new riders get dialled in to EWR, they will be a tough nut to crack at home. Very strong top 2, lots of potential improvement in Wrathall, Young & Greenwood. I personally think Greenwood will be one to watch in 2012.

I don't think it would do any harm having 1 NL rider in the team. A young reserve, for example guys like Josh Bates, Max Clegg, Daniel Phillips, etc. Would be a good way for the non-NL riders to see how close they are to being NL standard.

When the Grand Prix first began, I would have said GPs 100%. In recent years, however, it's all gotten a little bit silly. They're just putting on GPs for the hell of it. European GP, Nordic GP, etc, etc. Going back some 15 years, I really, really used to enjoy the GPs. There was about 6 of them, and they were really something to look forward to. I used to go to GPs quite regularly then. Now I don't bother. I don't think I have been to a GP for 6 or 7 years. So, for me, I would most definitely say the old World Final.

Both Stefan Nielsen and Josh Bates were in action at Scunthorpe today. http://www.scunthorpespeedway.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1327797430&archive=&start_from=&ucat=8& Stefan won the A Final, and Josh scored a very creditable 7 points.

What average would Ben Hopwood come in on?

8 is a little low. 10 would be good, 12 would be ideal from my point of view. However, on the plus side, 8 is a good number to work with. I assume all 8 teams will be in the KOC this year? Could have 2 groups of 4s, as some sort of regional competition? Or maybe as some sort of 4s qualification. I also think it should be mandatory that each club holds some sort of individual for NL riders only at some point during the year.

Saw Mr. Bates at Scunthorpe a fair few times last year, and I have no doubt he'll have no trouble making the step up. He always looked impressive when I saw him. Interesting make-up of the side so far. I saw an article some time last week where it suggested that one of the last signings rode for a club last year that was quite local to Mildenhall. I assumed it was hinting at Tom Stokes, but then he signed for Lynn, and Olly Rayson doesn't fit (by a whisker)...

Didn't some team try to get special dispensation (from the BSPA) for him to ride in the NL before? I want to say Rye House, but I may well be wrong!

Yes, Montie. Nothing to do with money. Mildenhall is very local to him. He doesn't have to do a 250 mile round trip on a Friday afternoon/evening (which can be pretty horrific at times), and he gets to gain more experience on a small track, which he feels will develop his career.

Chessell and Stokes?

Isn't that the point of Speedway?

Adam Wrathall also confirmed for Scunthorpe. http://www.scunthorpespeedway.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1323732703&archive=&start_from=&ucat=7&