T.N.T.

Don't know about Shamek but I was with Nicolai last week and he has sold all his British equipment and has no plans or interest in riding here. He does much better in other countries but has failed to get to grips with racing in Britain for some reason and will look at returning in 2016 possibly.

Absolutley no rule broken at all and while some may claim to think Matt Ford gets the rules put in place to suit Poole but the harsh reality is that he does his homework and will look at every statistic available to help build a title contending team year after year. At Cradley Heath, Colin Pratt did the same and not only knew every rule and every average but also how to get them to work in the best interests of the club to gain success. Matt Ford is doing the same and if he gets Gomolski on a sub four point average then well done. I will add though that if a rider has clearly improved in the time he has been away then there should be a rule to say a rider will be reassessed if they have reached a clear higher level and finishing on the rostrum in the World U21's clearly shows Gomolski has done just that. Has some very good mechanics at his side in Carl S Berg and Jack Daniels For me on the occasions I saw Lambert ride he was very impressive and to achieve an average over five was quite an achievement for such a young rider. However as you point out, under the current format second strings can easily score points due to easier rides and that only proves that there should be (but isn't) a rule that any returning rider after missing a season could have his average reassessed. The only way it would be allowed is if Greg Hancock was declared in the starting 1-7 and if Darcy is allowed to return, hope that Greg's average hasn't dropped below Darcy's 8.70.If his average has gone below Darcy's, the team would have to be rebuilt to the 34 points limit and if Gomolski is on 5+ then it would be big changes needed just to fit in boy wonder. Overall they have Chris Holder sorted. A former World Champion and GP Star and could have Maciej Janowski also in the GP's in the line up. That is the sort of team you want to promote and advertise and frankly a year out or away from Poole would do both club and Darcy a world of good in the long run. Sign Magic and Gomolski and Poole will be the strongest line up of the eight ..... What more could they want ?

Although my all time favourite rider was Hans Nielsen, I would have loved to have seen some of the old time riders like Peter Craven or Ove Fundin but there are names even further back that I look at like Ron Johnston who was my fathers favourite. However the one rider I would have loved to have seen is BLUEY WILKINSON just ahead of Split Waterman and Sprouts Elder.

No doubt they will go all out to get Gomolski in as their fifth rider and no doubt he will make a joke of his starting average as he has clearly progressed from the 20 year old that last rode here and averaged over six points a match for Tarnow last season which was better than that achieved by Fredrik Lindgren, Shamek Pawlicki, Greg Zengota and Troy Batchelor. Yes he was a reserve, but he was the fifth highest reserve in the rankings behind Zmarzlik, Pawlicki, Przedpełski and Museliak and is clearly better than a sub four point rider over here now. But rules are rules and no doubt he will be the final name on the Pirates list and finish the season averaging over six a meeting and never seen again !! 76 111+18

Kasper Gomolski last averaged 3.90 (3.97) but since then he has progressed to a top three position in the WU21 and it would be likely his average will be recalculated if he was to return. It could be Lukasz Sowka who at 21 is no longer a key reserve and Rzeszow have invested in some good riders so he may not get a regular team place in Poland. When he was at Wolves (averaged 3.00) he was poor but it was felt he was sent over to gain experience without putting himself at danger and now and again we saw he had something that could be developed. Ziggy Suchecki had a low average last time he was here but that was some time ago

Let's say Freddie goes at #1 and PK at #2 .... or Freddie at #3 and PK at #4 HEAT 1 1c-d ...... LINDGREN - 2a-b....... Karlsson 1d-c........ANDERSEN === ZAGAR ==== IVERSEN ==== JONSSON ==== Holder 2b–a........ Robson === = Fricke ==== Porsing ======= Kennett ===== 4.50 HEAT 11 1b–a........ LINDGREN - 2d-c........ Karlsson 3a-b........ KING ===== Stead ===== Schlein ===== Lawson === Watt 5c–d........ HARRIS ==== Nicholls ===== Bjerre ==== Bech ==== Janowski HEAT 6 3a-b........ LINDGREN - 4c-d........ Karlsson 1b–a........ ANDERSEN == Zagar ===== Iversen ==== Jonsson === Holder 5d–c........ HARRIS ==== Nicholls ==== Bjerre ==== Bech ===== Janowski HEAT 14 3d-c........ LINDGREN - 4b–a........ Karlsson 3c-d........ KING ===== Stead ===== Schlein ==== Lawson ==== Watt 4a–b........ Bridger === Cook ====== Lambert === Nilsson ==== North Some pretty tough heats there and that is going with what many think possibly is our strongest pairing ? To me the format really suits a team built around a strong top four with a low average rider at #2. You can possibly carry one rider but hope they can hold their own and this season all teams have two very good reserves that can score points. Belle Vue in Zagar and Nicholls backed by Stead and Cook look formidable in this format and their bonus will be Max Fricke who many think could be challenging for a heat leader berth in his first full season. Coventry are built a bit like Belle Vue with Andersen / Harris backed by King / Bridger, two riders that have all ridden as a #1. Robbo may not be Fricke but can still score points. Those two look the strongest but Poole with Holder and possibly Janowski are very strong and in Watt and North they have two solid scorers. Who their last rider is remains to be seen but we do know they have possibly the best reserve pairing in Newman and Starke so in my opinion those three teams are looking the best eqipped using this format. Hopefully Wolves can rise to the occasion and all get in the points and if all seven can be solid, it is hard to beat a team that hardly has any last places in races.

PK was looked at as better in the earlier heats which is true in a way as he never once won his final ride in an EL match last season but won 12 of his first rides. However last season as a heat leader for a large part of it, he was often in three of the last five heats but at #4 he wouldn't be

Magic and 4.47 OR Shamek and 5.22 When you consider Wozniak at Leicester is starting on a 5.50, any rider on a 4.00 from Poland would have to be roughly a Division 2 youngster otherwise you could have looked at Oskar Fajfer but he would be around 5.50 also Think if it is a 4.00 rider it won't be anything like Milik who was on the cheap. Dream On - Plus with the World U21's and the team Leszno have compiled this year he is very unlikely to be at all the meetings but would be there for quite a few ..... if they allow him

#2 and #4 ride against the same riders so there is no difference there. There are two differences though. The heats they go out in, like who do you want in heat 14 and who do you want them to pair up with. #2 has two rides with the #6 and two rides with the #1 #4 has two rides with the #7 and two rides with the #3 Given that PK seems better at #4, it would suggest he is better off with #7 Josh Bates and #3 ? That would then put Ricky at #2 with two rides alongside #6 Lewis Blackbird and two rides with #1 ? Although it is likely thy will go with Freddie at #1 I would be tempted to go with Tobiasz at #1 and Jacob at #3 leaving Freddie at #5

Top three rider (Freddie, Tobiasz and Jacob) are to be placed in any order at 1,3 and 5 The second strings (PK and Ricky) are to be placed at any order at 2 or 4 HOME #1 appears in heats 1 - 7 - 11 - 13 #3 appears in heats 3 - 6 - 10 - 14 #5 appears in heats 3 - 7 - 10 - 13 The three heat leaders face the same opposition through the meeting and the two second strings also face the same opposition, so where they line up doesn't really matter apart from when they appear but #1 and #3 don't appear together. Therefore it could be better for Tobiasz and Jacob to be at 1 and 3 and Freddie at #5. So putting Freddie at #5 means all you have to do is decide who rides with him in heats 3 and 10 and who rides with him in heats 7 and 13. However as #1 and #3 has to appear alongside a second string, would you want Freddie to be in those heats ? ...... however that then means that Tobiasz or Jacob at #5 who only ever appears alongside a fellow heat leader AWAY #1 appears in heats 1 - 6 - 10 - 13 #3 appears in heats 3 - 7 - 11 - 14 #5 appears in heats 3 - 6 - 11 - 13 So you have to decide which heat leader you only want to appear alongside a fellow heat leader in all four programmed rides ? Think the second strings are pretty obvious as you would like to have PK in heat 14 (with a heat leader) rather than Ricky 1 = 2 = Ricky Wells 5.88 3 = 4 = Peter Karlsson 6.12 5 = 6 = Lewis Blackbird 7 = Josh Bates NOTE; Reserves can be in any order and both appear with the same team mates and opposition so no difference being at 6 or 7

Darcy was led to believe by HIS team of lawyers Dudek was drug related and he took the verdict and has not been fighting it saying he only took a flu remedy or something and it was a pure mistake. He was tested positive and is taking his punishment. While it may be taking a long time, should Darcy still be banned, it will be back dated any way. Trouble is that should he be allowed to return, he now has very little chance of getting a visa in time for the season and would have to be based in Torun rather than Midlo's B&B I do not know who is going to sign for Poole and can only speculate like most that the last two places are going to be filled by an asset (Ward or Janowski) and A N Other which as Gordon Bennett correctly points out is why the question marks are there. Where does the name Pontus Aspgren come from in my suggestion. Well I do know that he turned down Somerset due to the fact he wanted to ride in the Elite League and impressed on his first appearance at Wimborne Road in 2013. Also his average fits when you look at who could be signed if Magic returns. With the format yet again showing second strings have much easier races yet again, having Dakota North already is a boost for Poole and I'm sure if he was included, Pontus who averaged over seven in the PL would be capable of mainting his 4+ average ...... if he was to sign ?

Who is Tom ? Looking at the format in more detail. Freddie needs to be at #3 preferably at home as the #1 and #5 dont have their second ride until heat 7 which is quite a wait for the #1 after appearing in the opening heat. This may be best for Tobiasz to come straight in at the #1 position The trouble is do you want to go into heat 13 with Jacob and Tobiasz ? ..... Why not as you will in other heats and having Freddie in heat 14 (with PK) could be a strong finish in the last few heats and hopefully get a few points away from home. On further studying of the format, I would go with 1 - Tobiasz or Jacob 3 - Freddie or Tobiasz 5 - Jacob or Freddie

I think they may well have changed the rule slightly after the comments made by a number of riders like Iversen but also like Rohan Tungate who simply pointed out he has problems touching the floor let alone gardening and has to get off his bike at times. What would happen if at the interval a rider (or two) came out and started preparing their gate. Would they be excluded or punished ? If a rider is punished for getting off his bike way before the two minutes has started, then where is the difference (apart from obviously having the bike) Other new rules I can see that have been bought in are going to have an adverse affect in some meetings. Riders not being allowed to leave the track / return to the pits for one is going to be interesting. If its returning to the pits, at Monmore Green you can leave the track without having to have a gate opened and can ride 50+yards before returning to the pits. Can a rider leave the track and get repairs done 20+ yards away from the track ? If a rider does leave the track and is classed as returned to the pits, is he excluded ? can he be replaced by a reserve ? Can see some fun and games ahead, especially at Monmore due to the exit not being a gated exit

Wolves v Coventry example 1 LINDGREN ------ 1 7 11 13 ........ 1 ANDERSEN --- 1 6 10 13 2 WELLS ---------- 1 5 9 11 .......... 2 ROBSON ------- 1 5 8 10 3 MUSELIAK ------ 3 6 10 14 ........ 3 KING ------------ 3 7 11 14 4 KARLSSON ----- 4 6 8 14 .......... 4 BRIDGER ------ 4 7 9 14 5 THORSSELL ---- 3 7 10 13 ........ 5 HARRIS -------- 3 6 11 13 6 BLACKBIRD ---- 2 5 9 12 .......... 6 GARRITY ------ 2 5 8 12 7 BATES ----------- 2 4 8 12 .......... 7 SARJEANT --- 2 4 9 12 By the time heat 7 comes the away team heat leaders have all had two rides each (6 races) but the home team just one has had two rides (4 races) so the away team should be at an early advantage unless the top home rider is at #3 Imagine Poole were to start with Holder and Ward backed up by Watt as the three heat leaders. At home Ward and Holder may have only had one ride each but away those three could have raced to 15 points between them already after 6 races but the home team have only mustered possibly 8 from their heat leaders 4 appearances upto heat 7 ...... that gives a big advantage to top heavy teams away from home Whats more is in the last four programmed rides (of which one is a reserve heat) the away team have 5/6 of their spaces filled by 1,3 or 5 compared to 4/6 for the home team Quite agree and instead of doing a new format it has been tweeked a little and we are still going to see the reserves and second strings getting big points in the easier races while the top riders battle hard for 5-8 points

#1 = 12 - 34 - 35 - 15 ===== #1 = 12 - 34 - 35 - 15 #2 = 12 - 26 - 47 - 35 ===== #2 = 12 - 26 - 47 - 35 #3 = 35 - 15 - 12 - 34 ===== #3 = 35 - 15 - 12 - 34 #4 = 47 - 15 - 26 - 34 ===== #4 = 47 - 15 - 26 - 34 #5 = 35 - 34 - 12 - 15 ===== #5 = 35 - 34 - 12 - 15 #6 = 67 - 26 - 47 - 67 ===== #6 = 67 - 26 - 47 - 67 #7 = 67 - 47 - 26 - 67 ===== #7 = 67 - 47 - 26 - 67 Must admit it is pretty much the same home or away which is helpful but the inside gate is used by one team much more earlier in the match and the other team later in the match

Depends what they call FULL CONTROL Does that entail being seated ? Is a rider allowed to get his leg over ?

The away #5 looks to have a tough night Wonder how many would put their top rider at #5 instead of #1 ?

Wolves v Coventry EXAMPLE The #5 especially away looks to have a tough night !! Meanwhile Blackbird and Garrity don't get to meet anything stronger than a second string twice and face each other three times and can't even be rewarded with a Heat 15 ride even if the meeting has been won HEAT 1 1c-d ........ LINDGREN 2a-b........Wells 1d-c........ANDERSEN 2b–a........ Robson HEAT 2 6b–a........ Blackbird 7d-c........ Bates 6a-b........ Garrity 7c–d........ Sarjeant HEAT 3 3c-d........ MUSELIAK 5a-b........ THORSSELL 3d-c........ KING 5b–a........ HARRIS HEAT 4 4d-c........ Karlsson 7b–a........ Bates 4c-d........ Bridger 7a–b........ Sarjeant HEAT 5 2b–a........ Wells 6d-c........ Blackbird 2a-b........ Robson 6c–d........ Garrity HEAT 6 3a-b........ MUSELIAK 4c-d........ Karlsson 1b–a........ ANDERSEN 5d–c........ HARRIS HEAT 7 1a-b........ LINDGREN 5c-d........ THORSSELL 3b–a........ KING 4d–c........ Bridger HEAT 8 4a-b........ Karlsson 7c-d........ Bates 2d-c........ Robson 6b–a........ Garrity HEAT 9 2c-d........ Wells 6a-b........ Blackbird 4b–a........ Bridger 7d–c........ Sarjeant HEAT 10 3b–a........ MUSELIAK 5d-c........ THORSSELL 1a-b........ ANDERSEN 2c–d........ Robson HEAT 11 1b–a........ LINDGREN 2d-c........ Wells 3a-b........ KING 5c–d........ HARRIS HEAT 12 6c-d........ Blackbird 7a-b........ Bates 6d-c........ Garrity 7b–a........Sarjeant HEAT 13 1d-c........ LINDGREN 5b–a........ THORSSELL 1c-d........ ANDERSEN 5a-b........ HARRIS HEAT 14 3d-c........ MUSELIAK 4b–a........ Karlsson 3c-d........ KING 4a–b........ Bridger HEAT 15 Top Scorer’s Heat: see SR 15.14 (NB. not #6 or #7)

A few little changes but would have liked to have seen the reserves protected less with only one reserves race and the #6 (Tier 1) having to face a few heat leaders / second strings instead while the #7 (Tier 2) meets the opposing #7 more often. Also would have liked to have seen a change in the heats where a teams 1-5 meets the opposing 3-4 in consecutive heats. Would rather have seen 1-5 v 1-5 twice or 1-3 v 1-3 in another heat as these heats at present are often 5-1's or 8-1's Do like the fact that heat 14 is now a race that is generally the 3rd and 4th strongest in the teams ..... Second strings are going to be vital as many of the Tactical Rides could be taken in heats 8 and 9 17.2.1 = The 15 Heat Format for all Elite League Meetings is HEAT 1 1c-d 2a-b 1d-c 2b–a HEAT 2 6b–a 7d-c 6a-b 7c–d HEAT 3 3c-d 5a-b 3d-c 5b–a HEAT 4 4d-c 7b–a 4c-d 7a–b HEAT 5 2b–a 6d-c 2a-b 6c–d HEAT 6 3a-b 4c-d 1b–a 5d–c HEAT 7 1a-b 5c-d 3b–a 4d–c HEAT 8 4a-b 7c-d 2d-c 6b–a HEAT 9 2c-d 6a-b 4b–a 7d–c HEAT 10 3b–a 5d-c 1a-b 2c–d HEAT 11 1b–a 2d-c 3a-b 5c–d HEAT 12 6c-d 7a-b 6d-c 7b–a HEAT 13 1d-c 5b–a 1c-d 5a-b HEAT 14 3d-c 4b–a 3c-d 4a–b HEAT 15 Top Scorer’s Heat: see SR 15.14 (NB. not #6 or #7)

Have heard a rumour that Poole will be naming their team this week Are they finally getting the message that Maciej Janowski 7.50 is the safer option and more likely to improve and carry on from last season. Last rider ...... Pontus Aspgren ?

The rider that worries me is Tobiasz Museliak as he starts in order of averages as our second heat leader and with a 6.50 average I just hope people don't expect him to be the new Piotr Pawlicki and give him time to get used to riding in Britain. He is without doubt a great talent and I would say that it's only the exploits of Zmarzlik, Dudek and Pawlicki in recent years that has kept him under the radar. He could get straight into it and score well, but I would more expect him to have a few glimmers of what could be and when he drops to a second string he could really get going. However being a second string won't be as easy as last season as the reserves are much stronger and there are some quality 6+ riders like Bridger, North, Cook etc in that section. It looks like being a difficult year ahead at Monmore Green but as ever we can be assured of one thing. A great race track and some excellent racing.

Back in the mid 80's there was junior teams alongside the top division so as a Wolves fan we saw Andy Phillips rise to the team and the Overseas Final, plus some good riders like Andy Hackett, Carl Stonehewer and many more progress through the ranks. Now this is a return to the old days but I have very little knowledge of the heat format or how teams are formed. IE How many in a team ? Averages ? Age limit ? ......... so what do Wolves have to do to get a team for the new season ?

The old 18 heat format can easily be adapted to accomodate reserves. Run half of the format, 9 races 2 reserve races = 11 races then 4 nominated races featuring all 8 riders = 15 races This would mean the main six riders would get four rides and the two reserves three rides .... but there is a problem with this as reserves have easy races and riders like Garrity, Blacbird etc would be the sixth rider in the team and not at reserve. It would also mean the top riders like Iversen, Zagar, Lindgren etc would only get 4 rides and therefore possibly losing £20,000+ a year in possible wages

So it is ... BELLE VUE have priority over Steve Worrall. Stefan Nielsen is owned by ? COVENTRY have Jason Garrity not doubling up and own James Sarjeant KINGS LYNN have priority over Lewis Kerr ..... the other reserve ? LAKESIDE have priority over Adam Ellis but not Ashley Birks LEICESTER; They don't have priority over Auty or Lambert POOLE have priority over Newman but Starke ? (think he is a NL asset) SWINDON have priority over Lewis Rose but not Charles Wright WOLVES do not have priority over Bates but Blackbird is an asset of a NL club so ? Weirdly it was expected to be Blackbird and Starke at Wolves so it would be interesting to see who does get priority over NL assets ?

Last season the only real bright point was the entertainment and form of Piotr Pawlicki who averaged 7.92 from his meetings with Wolves but his rolling average finished on just 7.32. His season was of course only cut short due to the pressure of Leszno being in the play offs in Poland and Wolves not in the same position in Britain While there was hopes he would return in 2015, he is still a reserve for Leszno and therefore very important member of their powerful looking squad with Pedersen, Sayfutdinov, THJ, Hampel, Shamek Pawlicki and Wolves new boy Museliak making an unbelievable team that don't want to miss out again. At the age of 21, I have no doubt Piotr could easily return in 2016 but when he ruled out this season, it was hoped Tai Woffinden would go back on his plan of missing Britain and returning on an outstandingly low 7.03 average. This of course was not going to happen and with Lindgren, Museliak and Thorssell already signed it became a guessing game who could fill the last two places. With Greg Hancock not having a Polish club it was hoped he would fancy a season in Britain instead and be joined by a low averaging second string but when he signed a deal with Rzeszow that dream was over Bjarne Pedersen and Lasse Bjerre as a Danish double act could have been an option and while BP is looked at as a former number one, he still scores well and would have done a decent job as a second heat leader and Lasse Bjerre was outstanding last season for Wolves averaging 6.13 in his seven matches. In the end no new faces were added and back has come club legend, Peter Karlsson and crowd favourite, Ricky Wells. Both are popular riders with the fans and as second strings they could be seen as great signings to support three heat leaders. Trouble is that two of the three prosposed heat leaders are young 21 year olds who are now under extreme pressure to score points and back up the only one recognised heat leader of Fredrik Lindgren who returns on an 8.94 average obtained under a much easier format in 2013 and will do well to get anywhere near that in the new season. A team based around old faces but Museliak is a great talent and I'm sure he will be a hit with the fans and score points, as long as they are not expecting him to be like Pawlicki ....... he is however a better rider than Jacob Thorssell or Oliver Berntzon so Wolves have a good signing in this lad who thankfully is 21 and no longer a reserve at Leszno Jacob Thorssell 6,24 (6.51) ...... home 7.08 (7.38) .... away 5.21 (5.43) Ricky Wells 6.12 (6.57) ......... home 6.98 (7.53) .... away 5.19 (5.53) Not much between them really and when Ricky was dropped, they both had virtually the same away averages and its only the rolling averages that seperates by 0.37 instead of 0.12 that they were different by in 2014. Wolves will not be giving up their licence to anyone and should CVS ever decide to leave I am sure he would ensure the club carries on as it is under the new owners. Good to see that Wolves have entered the Midland Developement League in 2015 at the last minute. Hopefully this will give Ashley Morris a chance to return after his injuries from last season. Two possibly with Piotr Pawlicki and Tai Woffinden ........... and Jason Garrity