lucifer sam

I'll be channel hopping between the actual races. All the best Rob

Seems to be a bit of understandable frustration on his part. As for an "improving performance", how's he supposed to deliver this, without being out on the racetrack? All the best Rob

Well done to Kent on their big win, although the big question on the night is why on earth they didn't give No 8 Adam Sheppard any rides. All the best Rob

CHEETAHS FINISH LAST AT WOLVES OXFORD CHEETAHS finished last in the Retro Fours at Wolverhampton last night (Monday). But the evening was more about a Cheetahs side taking to the track rather than the result. The Cheetahs simply didn’t have any luck in the meeting at all. One race continued after David Howe took a nudge on the first corner and fell, while another carried on despite Nicolai Klindt being slow from the tapes when they went up crooked. Oxford were reduced to three men, when Ashley Birks took a nasty tumble on the final corner of Heat 11 after his chain broke. A battered Birks withdrew from his final ride. A couple of late wins from Klindt, in Heats 12 & 14, added just a little bit of respectability to the final scoreline, after the Cheetahs had spent much of the evening stranded on just three points. Birmingham were victorious, after looking the strongest team all night, while Wolves snatched second place from Cradley Heath, after a controversial last race exclusion for Cradley’s Gino Manzares. Klindt nearly gave the Cheetahs’ fans some joy in Gary Peterson Trophy individual race. He appeared to be sweeping around the outside into the lead, when he lost control and fell, thereby handing victory to Ricky Wells. Oxford Speedway Supporters’ Club Chairman Gavin Beckley said: “It was more about seeing the Cheetahs back on track tonight rather than anything else. The riders battled hard, but had little luck. “Tonight was all about reminding people about Oxford Speedway, and that we want to return to our own stadium.” The battle to save Oxford Stadium is ongoing, with speedway and greyhound enthusiasts fighting under a single Save Oxford Stadium banner. Property developers Galliard Homes had plans to build 220 homes on the site rejected by Oxfordshire City Council in January. BIRMINGHAM 34: Ben Barker 10, Ludvig Lindgren 9, Danny King 8, Paul Starke 7. WOLVERHAMPTON 28: Ricky Wells 9, Rohan Tungate 8, Lasse Bjerre 6, Cameron Heeps 5. CRADLEY 27: Stuart Robson 10, Aaron Summers 9, Gino Manzares 4, Kyle Newman 4. OXFORD 10: Nicolai Klindt 6, David Howe 3, Ashley Birks 1, Rafal Konopka 0. GARY PETERSON TROPHY RACE: Wells, Summers, Klindt (fell), Barker (fell, excluded).

You might have thought differently had Peterborough not come to the tapes in 2014, and the Panthers were involved tonight. All the best Rob

Blimey, can't this thread stay as Kent vs Scunthorpe, rather then relative strengths of the NL teams yet again (although Scunny now only have two 3.00 men, the rest have increased from that). The other promoters voted Scunthorpe in, after the original press release where it stated Stags were intending to track six rookies - the other tracks knew what they were getting, but still welcomed Scunny in. But can't we discuss tonight's meeting instead? I'm really interested to see, in particular, how Reece Downes fares at No 4. He's a got sensible head on his shoulders, so I think he'll take it in his stride. And can Arron Mogridge mix it again with riders with a lot more speedway experience? Cradley seemed to think they were going to whitewash us, but Moggo Jnr had other ideas. All the best Rob

BWitcher, when they have the next series of "Grumpy Old Men", why don't you go and apply to be on it. Yes, we get the idea, you're not keen on this meeting. Some of us are. See you there tonight? (do you still go to Wolves every week these days?) All the best Rob

CHEETAHS BACK... FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY! OXFORD Cheetahs make their first full appearance for three years tonight (Monday, 7.30pm), in a one-off Retro Fours competition at Wolverhampton’s Monmore Green stadium. The Cheetahs last staged speedway at Oxford Stadium in Sandy Lane, Blackbird Leys in October 2007. The fight to save the stadium continues, but in the meantime, there’s a rare chance to see a team representing Oxford in action. Wolverhampton, Cradley and Birmingham form tonight’s opposition for the Cheetahs. Birmingham fans' recently suffered the heartache of their Elite League team closing down mid-season. The Cheetahs will be led by 32-year-old Englishman David Howe, who rode for Oxford in 2006, their penultimate season. The former British Under-21 Champion currently rides for the Scunthorpe Scorpions in the Premier League, and is a former Grand Prix wildcard at Cardiff. The classy Nicolai Klindt is currently in great form for both Elite League Leicester and Premier League Scunthorpe. The former Danish World Cup star is just five rides away from qualifying from the 2015 Grand Prix series. 23-year-old Ashley Birks is a fine young English prospect, and has recovered from serious back injuries sustained at Plymouth in September 2013. The Sheffield-based Birks won the National League Riders’ Championship in 2012. Along with Howe and Klindt, he currently rides for Scunthorpe in the Premier League. The Cheetahs’ line-up is completed by Pole Rafal Konopka, who is in his first year of British racing at Premier League Redcar. Another former Oxford man, Ben Barker, is riding for the Birmingham Brummies tonight. Oxford Speedway Supporters’ Chairman Gavin Beckley said: “An event like this gives us the chance to show that interest is still alive in the Oxford Cheetahs. “For the Oxford fans going along tonight, please take along your team colours – be it a jacket, scarf or whatever.” New race jackets have been produced for the Birmingham and Oxford teams and these will be donated to the respective supporters’ organisations to assist with fund raising towards the revival of both clubs. Admission has been set at a bargain £10 for 16 heats plus a top scorers race for the Gary Peterson Trophy, a rider tragically killed during a Wolverhampton vs Oxford meeting in October 1975. Teams: WOLVERHAMPTON: Lasse Bjerre, Ricky Wells, Rohan Tungate, Cameron Heeps. BIRMINGHAM: Ben Barker, Danny King, Paul Starke, Ludvig Lindgren. OXFORD: David Howe, Nicolai Klindt, Rafal Konopka, Ashley Birks. CRADLEY: Gino Manzares, Kyle Newman, Aaron Summers, Stuart Robson.

Can't see a thread for this one yet. Should be a good night. All the best Rob

Then follow in F1's example. Riders have a flying lap; order determined by drawing lots. Rider with the fastest time has first choice of draw number (most likely to go for 1, 5 or 13). Second fastest rider has second pick. Down to 16th rider having whatever is left (no 3 is a bum draw, good chance this could be left). Media then not only has a draw to publish, but also qualifying times. Could create a story, e.g. if there's a surprise top qualifier, how the championship contenders fare against each other, etc. If practice is cancelled, then riders pick in championship order. All the best Rob

Moggo Jnr is a very decent speedway rider - despite very limited experience. Gutted to be missing this, it was down in my diary but the 4TT at Wolves featuring Oxford is where I'll now be. From an entirely selfish point of view, I wouldn't mind a rain off at Kent tomorrow, so that I can get down for the restaging. I hope all the riders stay safe and don't worry about the entertainment value, the Stags' lads always give 100% and nothing less. All the best Rob

Meeting off. All the best Rob

Thankful for an early call off. Would be handy to know a re-staging date fairly soon. All the best Rob

If a rider wins their first three races and has 9 points, if they then run a third, they might be not too unhappy to sit in that postion. Where under the KO format, if you did that, you were straight into an eliminator, even if you'd been previosly unbeaten. You couldn't affort a duff ride in the KO format, you can under the current format. It favours the top riders too much now, whereas under the KO format anybody could get into the mix. There was cut-throat racing throughout the KO format, you only tend to get that from Heat 17 onwards under the current format. It's too safe for a high-octane motorsport. Make it dramatic. All the best Rob

That's not backed up by the stats, which reveal that Rickardsson (with 6 wins in 2005) and Crump (with 4 wins in 2006) both had their most dominant years outside the KO format. I don't think any rider ever won more than 3 GPs in a season while the KO system was in place. It mixed things up a bit, and was unquestionably dramatic, with eliminators as early as Heat 5. It's what the GP should be.... full or drama. Whereas the current format, which guarantees riders 5 rides, is far too cosy. The KO format was cut-throat. Time to bring it back, to give the GP a much needed shake up. All the best Rob

Restaging date is Friday, September 5th (7.30pm). All the best Rob

Go back to the KO format of 1998 to 2004 - that was brilliant! All the best Rob

Facility was still in place. Rained off - already raining up there and forecast for tonight is truly dreadful (slow-moving heavy band of rain does not sound encouragaing!!). All the best Rob

MEETING RAINED OFF All the best Rob

But that's just your own personal intrepretation of the rule. I can't see why it can't be applied to Longtrack, neither can SCB. The rulebook just states "International or National Championship duty". FIM events are recognised by the British authorities - and tomorrow is a FIM event. It could be argued it could be also implemented for e.g. an FIM Ice Racing commitment (not many riders doing both at the moment, but some e.g. Cribby, Erik Stenlund have done so in the past). Nowhere in the rule does say it has to be a Speedway event. All the best Rob

Good point, although I guess the official response may be that the BSPA/SCB recognise FIM events as "International duty" but not SEC events. Yes, I do see the point about Rye House and Tressarieu, and why they may feel wronged. But surely this has now pointed the direction that Rye or other teams need to take in the future. They need to get the rider involved to directly contact his Federation and for them to order him to ride in the Longtrack meeting. And then 16.5.1 C can be implemented. All the best Rob

And again I'll ask the question of whether it's because Scunthorpe followed the full procedure and did everything by the book, whereas other promotions did not? A shame you've started resorting to personal insults, but a sure sign you are losing the argument. All the best Rob

Now you're just being daft. David Howe was told by the ACU not to ride at Scunthorpe tonight - we have that straight from the rider's mouth. Hence the implementation of 16.5.1 C. Tresarrieu is French. The ACU have no juridstriction over him. For Rye to be granted a facility, it needed to go through the French authorities. Maybe they didn't do that, I don't know. Scunthorpe have done this by the book, contacting all the relevant authorities plenty of time in advance. I can't see how they can blamed if other promotions have not done the same. All the best Rob

I'm afraid you simply don't understand how the rulebook works - it's only necessary to fulfil one of those criteria to be able to use a facility, not all of them. If you are going to start quoting the rulebook, try and get it right. In this case, some of your earlier posts were misleading. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and put it down to lack of understanding, rather than a deliberate attempt to mislead. At the end of the day, Scunny are using a facility, and are doing so legally. If you can't see that, even after the clear explanation by David Howe, then I slightly despair. All the best Rob

But it doesn't mention what it applies to. You have to go by the actual rule, you're trying to add bits which aren't there. C can apply to Longtrack as easily as it could Speedway. Scunny have followed the rulebook - simple as. All the best Rob