The one i remember with James Grieves was the 1999 cup semi final where he was "Ill" when Edinburgh visited.
they replaced him with Paul Pickering and won by a few points with Pickering scoring well
The future is going to be electric engines for bikes, like you say that would get tracks into cities again, and with no exhaust fumes, into indoor arenas if possible, although i do realise for regular racing that could be a problem
i would imagine 9 after a run off
First four races everyone scores 3 2 1 0, and then four riders get 3 points from the last four races, therefore four on 9, and a runoff for first place
could be wrong though
have another guess, third time lucky, in the last 24 hours 47 people have died within 28 days of having a positive test, what they died of we don't know
On a related note, the Sheffield team in 1973 had less than an average of 2 points from 1-7 at the end of the season, and still managed to let Reading win the league
3 maximums, Sheffield v Belle Vue 1968, cant remember who but three Sheffield riders got 12 point maximums
Edit see someone beat me to it, with the riders names as well