Grachan

Very true. It's a nice idea, but if they want to do that (and I've seen nothing saying they do, just people suggesting it) they should set up a benefit challenge match specifically for the purpose.

It's not coming into speedway. It's been part of speedway for years. I remember there being s hoo haa at Oxford once when Ali Stevens did it when Swindon were on a 5-1. It's one of those things you boo when the opposition do but are secretly quite pleased about when your own side do it.

Another form of team riding that I always enjoyed was a rider in front forcing the opposition to slow down so he could get his partner to overtake them. Andrew Silver and John Cook come to mind as riders who would do this. I also remember Rory Schlein doing it for Coventry against Swindon. Didn't go down too well, that one.

Enjoyable meeting. I was up on my feet when Rosie won his ride. That was the difference between having a big number one and not having one. Anyone else notice Kildemand had no 43 on his race suit. Not sure if it was a tribute or maybe it was Darcy's suit.

Did Howarth have point to prove when he guested against us for Lakeside and got beat by Eduard Krcmar?

Swindon look a lot weaker to me without the almost guaranteed wins of Darcy Ward at number one. Peter is a decent replacement, but with him riding on a second string leaves us slightly vulnerable at the top. I think Coventry might win this time, but I reckon we're still pretty solid and good for a point. Maybe even a draw.

Because he could be taking those points from heatleaders if his average allowed it. He's probably the best rider in the team so it's a shame he can't ride there. Troy, Nick or Greg could also score big a a second string away from home, but may drop the odd point here and there that Peter might have scored. It's all 'in theory', but you want your best riders taking points off the opposition's top end. Garrity has scored big by being the best at his level. Had he been riding at heatleader he wouldn't have scored half as many.

To be honest I'd rather see Kildemand as a heatleader. He's wasted riding against reserves.

Teams aren't doing reduced admission as a favour. They are doing it to try and get people in. It's a business decision. This is particularly relevant on a Monday as is not clubs' normal night. For Wolves this is a normal race night, so I can understand them not reducing admission. I doubt Swindon, for example, would do reduced admission if Sky were there on a Thursday.

I'm glad that it is Kildemand that is coming in to replace Darcy, as it keeps it at a more "Swindon" level and has more meaning than, say, Tai or Emil being brought in for the play offs. Also Peter apparently turned another team down, saying he would only come back if it was for Swindon. So that's nice. I would guess that must have been either King's Lynn or Coventry, as I can't see anyone else trying to bring him in at this stage.

I see the Ben Fund collection last night raised 3412.41. Not bad for a crowd of about 1500.

Last meeting already? And Leicester a Saturday track too. Shows it can be done.

Totally agree with you Sidney. He's been sensational. In his last 4 meetings for the Robins he was beaten by an opposing rider just once (Niels Kristian Iversen) and also bagged the Wolverhampton track record. I'll admit that when there was talk of him signing I wasn't sure about it. Even though it meant having a good number one, I thought it might be cancelled out by losing points at the bottom end. What I hadn't taken into account was the sheer effect it had on the whole team. In recent years I've been a bit of a casual fan, taking in maybe two or three meetings a year. With him in the team there was a magic about the side, which had me going to watch. I even went to Coventry on the Saturday, to see what turned out to be his final match. The memory I will take from that match is seeing him gate with Aaron Summers. It was almost as though he pulled Aaron out of the gate with him. He was looking over at Aaron as they went to the first bend, slowed, and let him go ahead of him to follow him round for a 5-1. Tremendous ride. How many meetings did Darcy have for us? I think it was 10. Is that enough to allow induction into the Legends Lounge before the season is out and the stadium closes? Would be a fitting tribute I think, bearing in mind it looks as though his career will have ended as a Robins rider.

If he's got a possible spinal injury why was he lifted onto a stretcher?

Really? I was at Coventry and was shocked by small attendance. Then I read several comments by Coventry fans saying it was a good crowd. Sort out the presentation there, which is practically non existent, and you might encourage more people to make repeat visits.

Great result for Swindon, although Bees were very much weakened. Even so, they showed little fight other than Chris Harris. Darcy Ward was so good again. Oh if only he was a Swindon asset. He was already team riding Summers before they reached the first bend, and in heat 13 was pulling wheelies down the back straight while winning by half the straight. Shades of Michael Lee there! All the top 5 were good value. A shame Wrighty no 2 faded after a good first race. I remember when he was a bright England prospect. Not sure why he's now at this level. Looking good for a play off place now.

The problem then, though, is that their average isn't actually their average. The race format certainly throws up strange figures, just as everyone predicted it would.

What's going on with this weather forecast?? First it says a bit of rain in the morning. Then it says a bit of rain in the afternoon. This morning it showed no rain at all all day. Now it's got it raining in the evening!!!

I think it should be used for team building too. Rather than having "two riders over 7" have "2 heatleaders", but still use the averages for total team strangths. It's only because the heat formula causes a big imbalance with the averages. If this was the same as the good old days, Lindgren would probably be averaging about 9.

The argument doesn't fall down at all, although my assessment of who would be classed as a heatleader at King's Lynn might not be correct as I don't follow the side. Not convinced Milik would be a heatleader anyway, as he was fifth in Poole's averages last year, so got his average as a second string rider. I guess that's where you get problems with grading. At what point does a high scoring second string become classed as a heatleader?

So who is guesting for whom here? North for Lambert seems a fair enough like-for-like guest. Is Lindgren in for Milik? This is why, I think, there should really be a grading system for guests because of the racing system. (I've said this before in case people think I'm points grubbing here). There should be a heat leader and second string grading (which should also be used for team building, rater than the "over 7.00" rule). Lindgren would be classed as a heatleader and Milik as second string. So a guest for Milik would have to be a second string up to his guest average of 6.74. (I don't see why you can have a guest with a higher average than the rider he is replacing either btw). This would rule out people like Lindgren as a guest for a rider like Milik (and, possibly, Harris for Morris too, as Morris would have been graded a second string at the start of the year). King's Lynn's heatleader are, presumably, Iversen and Bjerre. So another heatleader could only guest for one of those two. Eligible guests for Milik would then be people like Craig Cook or Ricky Wells, who actually has a higher average than Lindgren but wouldn't be classed as a heatleader.

Flipping heck! We could lose to that lot. How come nobody is complaining but everyone made a big fuss when we had Chris Harris for Nick?

The ref caused the accident. Red lights should have been put on before they got to the first bend. Garrity is innocent!

Absolutely. Even though he didn't.

Well isn't that just typical. Trying to find a good guest and R/R to help you win. Cheating Bees.