Grachan

I know we've had this headline before, but the Adver is now reporting that work has started on the new stadium. Work starts on Swindon Speedway's new Abbey Stadium | Swindon Advertiser

Oh Rory Schlein no no no. Bloody Covid made him touch the tapes.

I agree. Maybe not a season ticket, but certainly free entry to meetings. Get the neighbours on board then you not only stop complaints but get bigger crowds and a better atmosphere. Photo id and proof of address. Let them in. And put ads through all the letterboxes so that they know about it.

From what I can gather, they are keeping the track as it is, putting a few modular buildings around it and knocking the rest down. I think the plan was to do one side as a time and keep the other open, then do the other side once the first is finished.

As I recall, the problem at Mildenhall wasn't with race meetings themselves but with noise from the stadium at 2 or 3 in the morning from Banger racing people.

Based on last night, I don't think it matters who Peterborough choose. I can't see them getting into the final unless they improve dramatically.

My first speedway meeting for about 2 years and really enjoyed it. One of the good things about Peterborough is the pits view and you could see the great team spirit in the Tigers' camp. If they can keep that up they could win the title. I knew Batch would do well for me! Surprised to see people moaning about the track. It seemed fine to me. There seemed no hint of track issues. Interesting to look into the pits and see that it was Steve Brandon instructing the riders when to go out onto the track.

It definitely helps if you watch a rider regularly. Nothing will ever convince me that Ray Wilson was better than Martin Ashby!

I'm not so sure with Chris Morton being among the best riders never to win a world title. Riders like Adams, Crump, Moran and Knudsen were riders who really should have won a World Final. I'm not sure you'd say the same with Chris. When you look at some riders who finished on the podium, though, I think he would have a case for being better than them. EG Doncaster, Kennett, L.Collins, Handberg, Boyce etc. But none of those are really riders that you would have expected to win either. I'd even go as far as saying he achieved more at World Level than some riders of similar standard such as Ashby, Schwartz.

Yeah, it must be hilarious when fans that no longer have a club to support still show an interest in the riders that rode for them.

How about Reading Racers, who took their nickname from defunct Harringay.

White City Rebels kind of worked though. Maybe because it wasn't Oxford's traditional nickname.

I agree. That just wouldn't work. Remember the Eastbourne Dons?

I would still have the top 3 in the final as the top 3 on the rostrum. I'd give 20 points for winning the final and go on race points for all the others. that way every race still matters, but you still get the big points for winning the final.

Batch is always better without the pressure of being expected to be the top scorer. Putting him at number two was a good move by Stead.

I always liked Bobby. I remember he really struggled at reserve in his first year at Swindon and then top scored with 14 in the final match of the season. He then went on to be a heatleader from there. Was never the same after his coccxyx injury though. I read somewhere he decided to retire after Vic Harding's crash.

I remember that match. It was the first time I ever went to Oxford. I had no idea who Alan Johns or Gordon Kennett were so it meant nothing to me. I even wrote A.Jones in my programme as the replacement. Martin Ashby had an ef in his first ride and gifted Henk Steman a point. The same thing then happened in the return match at Blunsdon, when Oxford got a pretty hefty revenge.

In 1974 it would have been.

Didn't Charles Wright opt out last year? Yet he was still invited this year.

Something occurred to me last night while watching the telly. I'm not sure why it occurred last night, but it did. Remember when all the house lights used to go off when a race was on, so the stadium was in darkness and only the track was lit up? When did that stop? Probably about 30 years ago, but it just came to me last night!

He has now tweeted to say it's a shame he wasn't involved and to congratulate Adam. So maybe he would have.

It's also easy to forget, of course, that Robert Lambert is actually younger than Adam Ellis.

It will, but can Tai and Robert match the might of either Russia or Poland in this anyway? I agree, they probably have a greater chance than Adam and Dan would, but I still can't see it. Tai isn't quite the rider he was before. At what point do we consider moving Dan and Adam up. The SON format gives them little chance of representing us at World level now that both are over 21. It's a shame they have butchered the World Cup really. It would be nice to have a team of all 4 as I think they would be a match for most countries.

I have no problem with having Woffinden and Lambert in the SON, and they probably give us the best chance of winning it. Having said that, picking Bewley and Ellis would definitely have a long-term benefit and might also give riders an incentive to keep riding in the UK once they hit World Class. I wouldn't normally consider going without the two GP riders, but I think we now have a couple of really useful riders and would be happy to see them represent us. I think the crowd might feel a greater attachment to them too. It would be a bold decision, but one I feel might get a lot of support.

I wonder what the reaction would be if we went with Ellis and Bewley in the SON. They might not win it, but they'd have a damn good go. Normally, I would go with Woffinden and Lambert but, in Adam and Dan, there are now a couple of riders who would benefit a great deal from riding in it and I'm sure they'd be competitive.