SPEEDY69

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

No

Baffles me and I see other on here how a rider can be disqualified for touching the tapes when at the same time another rider was also disqualified for delaying the start - surely one comes before the other????? Put it this way, if two riders touch the tapes once the green light is on, one after the other, are they both disqualified - don't think so, only the first one. What a poor performance from the ref, which ultimately gained Swindon a point.

If Andersen is riding then hope he turns up and gets away with a few rollers to help give Coventry the 4 points I don't really mind if Lynn win as long as Coventry beat Swindon 3 times so that they don't make the play-offs as having seen them this year and from reports out of Belle Vue last night they are a team of rollers, never mind Andersen & Cook! On a serious point then I think they should change the rules for next year in that rolling at the start is not deemed unsatisfactory but actually warrants a penalty the same as tape touching. It's becoming much more common and is really frustrating given the delays and more so when it happens and is not picked up.

Postponement seems a bit early as having looked at the forecast it only mentions possible thunderstorms not continuous heavy rain - are Swindon hoping Coventry will be easier to beat on a slick bald track later on when it's been decided if they'll be top or second in the table? Should've been on TV then it wouldn't have happened

Thought Doyle was lucky in the GP as well when he turned left sharply in front of a rider (can't remember who) going into bend 3 - think it got a "whoa" from Tatum. He's lucky not to have been seriously hurt riding like that this year.

It would make it more dangerous. Being able to turn effectively around the bend, the back wheel needs to keep skidding and the more it does the sharper the turn. Having brakes would counter this and although someone could use a rear wheel brake to give them more grip on a slick track, it would risk the bike straightening violently and endangering that riders and others. A front wheel brake would make turning more difficult as when the front wheel skids, which it would, the bike goes away from the rider and they're more likley to fall off on the low side. Down the straight then the impact of a rear wheel brake could be to make the bike gain traction and lift if applied with any force to stop colliding with a rider directly in front but is not necessary because simply closing the throttle really knocks off the speed due to them being four stroke single cylinder engines. They used to have front brakes in grasstrack where you have different types of machines but they were largely ineffective. Of course another component which can come adrfit and maybe jam a wheel or hit a rider is also not something they need. Hope this answers your query in a not too techincal a way. p.s. Zengota did well on Monday, shame for Belle Vue he was worse than poor at Lakeside the previous Friday!

Ahh, then I should surely bow to the powers of clairevoyance held by the promoters. The fact at Coventry was that the track was fine for the majority of the 10 heats run. I think they should also be allowed to call off fixtures when they feel their team is weak or they might not attract a good crowd, or they'd rather be somewhere else beacuse if they are able to accurately predict the weather then they possess skills even the Met Office cannot match - they said it wouldn't rain where I am today and it's pi&&ing it down.

Have to grin at all the talk about loyalty. Rosco is only the team manager at Swindon and this decision is all about money, not loyalty. From a business perspective the moves are seen as the best ones for Swindon financially.