SPEEDY69

Both legs of the final made for great TV - think we all saw why Poole avoided Belle Vue in the semi final! Just for fun thought I'd check the averages for the final: Poole Holder 7.11 Watt 6.00 Gomolski 5.50 North 5.78 Janowski 7.11 Starke 7.11 Newman 10.00 Belle Vue Zagar 8.00 Fricke 5.00 Gracjonek 5.00 Nicholls 9.78 Cook 10.00 Worrall 3.00 Nielsen 3.00 So, the three best riders were British - who'd have thought

final race devalued due to inept ref. Nicholls had to lay it down due to someone out of control in front of him - amazed they stayed on. Would have been a good batlle between King, Wilko and him otherwise. Some tired looking riders at the end.

Can't imagine what you might be referring to

Coventry should win this with comfort. JK replaced by Lindgren makes them even stronger in my view, I'll go for 50-40.

People do get hung up on engines/tuners. Speedway bikes spend a lot of time with the back wheel skidding and therefore it's not all about power. It takes a skilled rider and mechanic to ensure the bike is set up well for the track and delivering the right grip/slip combination to be as fast as possible. Things like gearing, ignition and jetting make a huge difference and Tai/Greg seem to have this sorted.

I much prefer league racing as well. Individually, I don't really care who wins.

The crucial difference of course is that qualifiers are for the following years' GP, not that year and as KK has shown, a year can make a big difference! I've re-read my post and I don't think that's what I said. Two examples of potential wildcards for next year were Hampel and Ward, neither of whom contested qualifiers but would have deserved a pick in my view. The other wildcard places, if we have to have them should go to the next highest finishers in the GP, so 9th, 10th etc.

Agree, except the bit about Vaculik - he seems to have hit a plateau and don't think he'd add much to the series. Anyone who enters the qualifiers but doesn't make the top three should not be considered for a permanent wildcard in my view but I think this will happen with Kildemand and Lindback (at least he's Swedish Champion so has more of a claim)

I can just imagine the track staff rushing to pick up these wedges, wherever they've landed, before the riders come around for the next lap! It's reasonably easy for the ref to see if anyone is moving before the tapes rise. In the UK they can be 75mm from the tapes, 100mm in Sweden I think (there will always be a gap to allow for the tapes to move in the wind) so there's always room for them to creep.

Lindgren has been a big let down this year for Wolves as surely everyone expected him to be in double figures every match. When that doesn't happen for your number 1 it puts added pressure on everyone else and the mood in the pits changes. As people say, sport is often as much about mindset as anything else and losing becomes a habit - someone has to be bottom, or 8th from top!

No wonder there's so much inconsistency! There's also been more than one exclusion for moving this year, sometimes in the same race as someone else touches the tapes. It should be a simple sport - no moving at all or excluded would be clear.

Was pants against Swindon though wasn't he? Shame about Zagar but if they do pick Harris then on the new engines I'm sure he'll do his best. If the rest of the Aces do the same they have a good chance of winning. Still fancy Wolves to nick this one though.

I think the same as you really - all down to money, nothing else. Yes, deserves his place next year. He hasn't been in there on merit very often (last year was knocked out in the quarter finals of qualifying) but this year there can be no arguments. At least he's not a gate and go merchant and that's the type of rider I prefer. Not sure Smith EVER relied on a pick?

Well done to the qualifiers and pleased harris has done it on merit this year. Lindback and kildemand will both get wildcards - think they knew that.

I reckon he's already been told he'll have a wildcard place if he doesn't get through tonight - he is Swedish Champion so would not surprise me in the least.

Unless the rules have changed, they say that once they are at the tapes under green light they must remain stationary - couldn't be clearer than that. For me, the punishment for moving is simple - disqualification. After a while there wouldn't be many chancing their arm. If the rider moves after the tapes have gone up then let it go. If they make a quicker reaction or whatever the ref should not be pulling those ones back. Nielsen, Wiltshire, Doncaster are three I remember who regularly reacted quicker than others.

This helps Lynn, no doubt about that

That seems pretty good to me, just shy of 13 points each meeting - very much doubt Harris would better that. Most riders will accept guest bookings if offered and they're not somewhere else - extra money as it's a long winter! Don't think it will matter in BV win or not, they're very unlikely to get into the play offs.

He may have done and at least it showed he recognised his failure but coupled with Cooks 3 pts still meant no points for the Aces of course

I'm not nearby, I just looked at the latest forecast: http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2645456 I agree it's been wet but at Lynn I have seen them completely re-lay a track with fresh material in two hours, so rain over the last day or so is not so relevant for them as it is at other tracks, usually.

It's looking even more likely now that the Aces will be fifth.

I am surprised by this given that Buster has always managed to produce a decent track given two or three hours of dry weather, which it is forecast to be after the morning rain passes through. Still, I blame the promoters - fancy organising fixtures for the middle of summer when we know the weather is dodgy, should all be in March & October

Thanks and I realise where he is is the averages. I wasn't implying Lynn have done anything wrong - Lindgren started at No.1 this season and is recently performing much better so this is a good move by Mr Lyon.

But you haven't seen it before, what you describe is what happens very frequently. Only one of them gets disqualified. Zengota was disqualified for delaying the start which must have been before Cook touched tapes, making that act irrelevant in my view. Think ref got it wrong.

I think Belle Vue will miss out. Swindon are odds-on and Lynn have booked another teams No.1 to replace a mediocre middle order man so should continue their home streak, which will see them gain enough points. Lynn to finish on 54, Swindon on 53 and Belle Vue on 50