T.N.T.

They all knew it went to the final race and no one can complain about the format just because GB didn't win. BEST TEAM WON in my.opinion and that takes nothing away from the gallnt efforts of Team GB who gave it everything but as a team Russia were stronger. They gained SIX maximum heat wins and SIX bonus points where as GB gained just two maximums and two bonus points. Tai was unbelievable in the final with 35 from a possible 36 but 11 points only from 12 races backed him up. Look at the rostrum and you have five of the top GP riders up there so to have Lambert at just 20 years of age to be.up there is a credit to British Speedway. With Dan Bewley coming through like a steam train and riders like Leon Flint Drew Kemp and Kyle Bickley coming through we can see Team GB being up there in the SWC in the.futire years and not.all on one riders shoulders. Tai and Rory are running these training schools and this will get them into test matches and more rides abroad and the set up now that Tau wanted is already showing up well and no kebabs and pizzas included. Well Done Russia you deserved it as a team but be warned Emil and Magic we are coming

Auty isn't at the level of Harris or the others you mention and while he shows potential Bewley is also in that bracket. As for Cook and Worrall they are above these and Lambert above all listed but Woffinden is on another planet compared to any other Brit and 35 from 12 rides compared to 11 from Lambert and Cook shows that clearly. Give it three years and I'm sure we will see it as Woffinden still clear but Lambert Bewley Bickley Flint and a few others as the leading Brits

I have said for decades that any rider from abroad coming into Britain should keep their assessed average until they reach that standard and never go below that figure. Should they be ruled out of a meeting injured then that team can only cover for his real average not his assessed average. So if he comes in on a 7.00 but is averaging 4.28 then they can.only use upto 4.28 to replace him which is most likely going to be a British rider getting the rides. It also means next season will that track want to bring back a rider still on a 7.00 average when he is no where near that standard. Yet again more chances for home grown riders and most if not all second strings and reserves will be British

Magic 50 more Emil 50 more Milik 100 less

Wolves just don' have the strength away and Rory is the only one in great form but Jacob can spring up with a big display. Sam is struggling with the bigger heats and may not have enough in their bottom three to trouble a strong home team. 53-37 about right but hope Wolves can rise above and grab a point

Freddie Lindgren Jason Doyle Bartosz Zmarzlik Emil Sayfutdinov Tai Woffinden Patryk Dudek Maciej Janowski Matej Zagar Arden Laguta Greg Hancock Nicki Pedersen Martin Vaculik Peez Pawlicki Chris Holder Craig Cook

lindgren 10 - 12 £40 More Holder 7 - 9 £60 Less

This is British Speedway Different year different rules as usual

May have the odd nightmare but overall a nine pointer easily

Zagar Woffinden Pawlicki (both) are affected by the rescaling of averages for GP riders and only Holder wasn't so only benefit was for Poole as Tau was highly unlikely on this format but Piotr was a contender to return depending on other riders first. Both Pawlicki brothers were possible signing and only the reassess of 8.00 stopped one of them signing up As for Tau he always said if it went to fixed race nights he may be interested but not doing 28 plus and family is the key this year with new builds and daughter. So can't blame him really

Poole do look like they have the advantage early on with some modest averages and potential in the team they have built but it looks quite tight behind these. Kings Lynn and Somerset are both going to rely on bug hitters at 1 in Iversen and Doyle but not a great deal after that in terms of heat winners. Looking at the Predictions Wolves have been written off by many but they have a great top four and the perfect team manager to get the best out of the rest and surrise a few again and may be another play off final

Harris Nicholls and KK are as strong as any top three elsewhere really and in Kennett and Barker they have the two strongest back up riders plus the strongest reserve in Robbo. Think they could be the dark horses Don' under estimate JT as he achievd that average with good scores home and.away and quite.a.few.heat 15s. Would rate him no.weaker than Cook or Kurtz or Harris and in Sam Masters you have two riders going to be swapping and changing as the season goes on.

Why didn't Sheffield just bring their top six to Leicester and add Vaculik Can see Leicester facing Wolves and Simon Stead brings out Daniel King to beat Kyle Howarth Then on the Thursday at Owlerton he brings out Kyle to beat King ..... This shows that one league was the way forward

Going to be a rush to do Belle Vue at 12 Then Monmore by 6 as I guess there will be a Cradley meeting after ? Tough start for Wolves with Poole, Aces and Swindon to open

Forget Iversen and go for one of the following to get a number that has less commitment. Lindgren Hamper Zagar Pawlicki All have said they would look at riding here and all have good points to make them a better choice.

POOLE Brady Kurtz is coming on great and looks to be the next big Australian star of the future and should hold his own in this league. Holder on a modest average is a must but the strength is Kacper Woryna who will be a heat leader and Mateusz Szczepaniek at reserve will be a trump card and Shanes will improve. RYE HOUSE Might not be the most obvious of choices but they will dominate at home and a team of battles away and will always have a strong reserve. Big heats maybe a concern but if KK is back he could be the number one. SWINDON Formidable top four and Ellis is improving all the time and riding abroad is paying off. Reserves a bit weak but they have top end strength to cover. WOLVES Might be missing Lindgren but don' under estimate Thorssell and Masters could be their number one by mid season. Schlein is a wise choice who is finally settled and a good captain to help Heaps and the reserves perform. Reserves are a concern but should be capable at home and Howarth doesn't get the recognition he deserves. BELLE VUE Cook is really under the hammer this year and will the pressure of the GP and Poland be too much for him. Fricke should challenge for the number one jacket and they should be solid at home. Starting with Bewley at reserve will help and if Drozdz can settle in they have a rider that could surprise a few. Think they will make a change but at moment will have them close to play offs. LEICESTER Great top two in Vaculik and Andersen ad a solid back up to them but away they could be inconsistent and just fall short but not by much. SOMERSET DOYLE is going to clean up most nights and in BWD and Jeppesen they have a great reserve pairing but can't see them being better than the teams already mentioned. KINGS LYNN Lambert returns but does he have his heart in it after clearly wanting away and below that they have very little to even challenge Glasgow or Lakeside. Will it be Iversen at number one or should they go for the more reliable Lindgren or the entertainment of Pawlicki. Hamper and ZAGAR were also looking to ride here but whoever is the top man could be fighting a lone battle most weeks.

Only signed up in Poland and the GPs I think this year and certainly appears to be committed to get back on form with fitness and bikes. Still has a house.in Northamptonshire so would be a great signing for club and British Speedway Lambert back but who else as they haven' named much officially yet

Many years ago (well over a decade) I came up with the idea that became known by some as the TNT Master plan and that was having one big league at an affordable level. Then the tracks that want to run at a higher level ALSO run a top league on Mondays only meaning the one league can run on any other day they wish so clubs won' have to change race nights apart from Wolverhampton. If Wolves for example had a team in the one league of Thorssell Schlein Howarth Heaps Morris Greaves and Clegg they would use the main five from this team plus two riders taken from a squad of 4 riders they nominate at the start of the season. Wolves could name Lindgren Woffinden Pawlicki and Drabik with two riding in the 14 league meetings during the season on Mondays. Lindgren may do all 14 while Woffinden and Pawlicki could do 7 each and Drabik on standby should he be required and travel over with Woffinden or instead of. This means also Drabik could be used if Thorssell or Schlein are injured while Greaves and Clegg get used if any of the others are missing. The one big league would run pretty freely and the club' not also running a top level team could be put into two groups for the Craven Shield to even up the fixtures and give two local derbies in some cases. Exactly. The mistake before was making the small clubs employ riders they couldn' afford against teams they couldn' beat. If Poole or Wolves or Belle Vue or Swindon etc ran in both leagues the fans would still go to meetings as they still wear their teams colours and five of the seven are the same riders in both teams. Plus Swindon may do poorly in the top league but be top in the lower league and you only have to look at Belle Vue Colts to see the fans support both levels now even though those two leagues were further apart. One big league.is the way forward for the sport like it or not One top league of just 14 meetings can be done as it is in Sweden and Poland and then could attract more riders back and entrance to the two levels would be different at say £12-15 for the big league and £20 for the top level as many would pay the extra to see Sayfutdinov v Woffinden v Doyle v Pedersen etc

Quite a few of the riders like Masters Howarth Lawson etc that would be the top riders in one league are owned by Championship teams and with a limit set right the level would be like the current Championship so affordable for Berwick Redcar Workington etc See above. Why does everyone think the little clubs would have to come up in strength when it' the bigger tracks coming down Firstly you promote the National League riders that need track time and revenue to be reserves. This creates more riders coming through 2 The level would be as it is for safety as they would be riding against riders they already are facing and without the pressure of having to meet the big guns. The leagues have been coming closer and closer and personally I think it should have been one big league in 2017 but as it is now they have to do it in 2018 to create a better selling product. CORRECT No find 30 National League or newcomers that would ride for £50 a point and you have the level you need and is affordable It has to be a product that ALL tracks can afford to run and while the big tracks may have better resources it will be more level but most importantly a product that can be made affordable at the turnstiles to not just keep the ever decreasing die hard but also attract new fans, firms and families to come regularly

WHY DO WE HAVE TWO LEAGUES ? We go into the 2018 season still with two leagues which is fine if both leagues were vastly different but now the only difference really is one rider and some Championship teams look almost just as strong as some Premiership teams. Yes having two leagues creates more meetings for riders doubling up which years ago was just the odd rider but now most riders operate in both. But to create more meetings means seeing the same teams twice and sometimes the same team visits just weeks after their first visit. However the real reason we have a Premiership League is to give places for the few top riders that still ride here for one reason or another. In 2018 the only riders that come into this category is Jason Doyle, Jacob Thorssell and Martin Vaculik as the other number ones that have been named already have Championship places and both Vaculik and Thorssell start with averages lower than Nick Morris who is signed up in both leagues so having one league should mean those two could get places in one big league. Morris, Masters, Harris, Cook and Schlein all have Premiership averages higher than that of Nicholls and Kennett yet these two Brits are having to fight for the right to ride in the second tier in their own country wile riders like Ellis Perks, Tom Perry and others are looking to sell their bikes as they can' get team places while riders from other countries can get places on averages they achieved that is short of the average they first came in on and fill up the lower berths in the second tier while National League riders await the chance to ride. If there was one big league featuring the 8 Premiership and 11 Championship tracks it would generate 18 home and 18 away (36 matches) which is just 12 less than running two leagues (28/20) and if the season started with the forgotten Craven Shield or Young Trophy meetings using regional groups then it would be about the same.number.of meetings overall. So basically the only real reason we are still operating a Premiership is to accommodate JASON DOYLE and to satisfy the few clubs that can afford such riders and keep the prices at £18 a meeting for a product that has got weaker and weaker each season and this season doesn't even have a rule in place to ensure tracks use British riders. SO SHOULD WE HAVE GONE ONE LEAGUE ? Well one league would have created a more varied fixture list bringing back the days when you.only had.once chance to see that visiting team and didn' want to miss it. It also creates local derbies such as Belle Vue v Sheffield or Lakeside v Rue House but most.importantly it creates spaces so plenty of places for.not only new riders but.reserve places for National League riders that need track time and revenue to make it pay. So in my opinion we have again missed the chance to rebuild British Speedway at an affordable level and getting teams to be your team once more just to accommodate the World Champion VIEWS

Polish U21 riders are a gamble especially when they are with the top clubs like Wroclaw and Leszno as they are the vital members of the team. Maybe a rider over 21 could be worth taking on and one Pole that has a low average but cetainly improved vastly last season is Jakub Jamrog at Tarnow who had a brief spell at Coventry but struggled big time.

Depends where they have been riding and to what standard. If they have ridden in the top leagues in Sweden and Poland then it depends on what average they achieved unless of course he is joining a southern club and has an average when he was just 19 and since improved dramatically then he keeps his old low average.

Called in on Peter Adams the other day and he spoke to CVS on Christmas eve and the operation appears to have gone well but obviously this is the start.of a long fight to get better but hopefully all is going in the bright direction. On previous posts above there is obviously some concern over Jacob taking over as s number one as he has mainly ridden as a secnd string not just this season but for the last few. Yes he has had the easier heat 14 rather than 13 and ridden with Rory Schlein in three of his four programmed rides but he has improved vastly in recent times and his scores away have been much better but despite the league losing more big names there is a small concern he can do the job that Freddie would have done. Maybe he may lose the number one slot to Sam Masters anyway by the first set of averages but he is a rider that loves riding for the club and I'm sure he will do a good job with Sam, Rory and Kyle leading the team. My concern with the team is Cameron Heaps and Ashley Morris but have to admit I'm not that well up on Heaps at first hand and can only go on figures from match reports largely while Morris just seems to have been around for a while without really improving that much to make him the main reserve. With Max Clegg available on a 2.00 average I would have thought he was just as effective as Morris and that would have left enugh to have bought in someone like Ricky Wells in the top five as a few teams are going with two low average reserves. Hopefully the team will prove me wrong and hit the ground running but looking at the possible matches ahead it has to be said that most teams don' look that apealling and think a number of tracks may find attendances down this year ahead.

ZAGAR or COOK Seems they are very close to each.other in what they are looking for in wages and whichever one Aces sign then the other could be at Kings Lynn so which one would Aces fans prefer ?

DOYLE FOR ROCKETS World Champion Jason Doyle could be on his way to Rye House as BMR want to get a serious attempt at reaching the play offs with a possible powerful top five and will join Harris, Nicholls, Kasprzak and Wells leaving two reserves on 2.00 averages to complete the team for 2018. Have only heard this could be the case if talks go to plan and the thought is that in 2017 they lacked a true heat winner on a regular basis. Personally I think this would be a good call if that is the way they are going as a strong main body of the team could virtually win a match on their own scoring 45 points from 22 starts as the reserves are sure to score at least one point from 8 starts. If this is their plan then well done as they could be the team to beat.