lucifer sam

Surely Danny Ayres has been a terrific signing? With Jedd's average not allowed to drop below 4.00, he was going to be stuck in the main body of the side, before Scorpions made a team change and introduced Danny. Keeping Jedd at either No 4 or No 2 would have destroyed his confidence. Now Rob's plan is that Jedd will come in at reserve, alongside Ryan Kinsley, and it's all possible due to the signing of Danny Ayres in the meantime, who is maintaining an average of over 4.00. Without Danny, we could have easily lost one or two more home meetings - I think his signing was inspired and has been essential. As well as scoring the points, he's also an entertainer, a team man and a positive influence in the pits. I think one of the best things to happen to Scunthorpe this season is Danny Ayres.

Indeed. Meeting finished at around 8.45pm!

Positive feedback: http://www.scunthorpe-speedway.com/?p=9969

Kyle Howarth guests for Jake Allen tonight.

TONIGHT’S speedway meeting at the Eddie Wright Raceway between the HEB Scunthorpe Scorpions and Newcastle Diamonds has been postponed due to a waterlogged track. The call-off was made at midday. Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey explains: “It’s largely down to the torrential rain we’ve had over the last 48 hours. “It rained heavily on Wednesday, which we were expecting, but then it was heavy rain again yesterday (Thursday), which wasn’t forecast. “This morning, the forecast was due to be a dry day and we could got have got the track back. But it started raining again at 11am, it’s still raining now (12.15pm), and the forecast has changed and there’s now a possiblility of further rain later today. “I know we can’t get the track back in time, and I hope everyone appreciates the early call-off, rather than wasting their time tonight.” There is no re-staging date as yet, although the two clubs are in contact about a possible new date.

Looking forward to this one. Given the two line-ups, it should be an absolute belter around the EWR.

Scunthorpe: Yes.

Incidentally, why did the referee stop Heat 7? It was weird - the red light seemed to be on almost before the tapes went up. No reason was given and no mention of there even being a re-run in the referee's official programme. What was he up to here?

I thought last night's meeting was entertaining enough. With the rain due to arrive, I think it made sense to get on with the meeting (as much as was possible, with last night's referee!) rather than delay it with track grading. The best two races were probably Heats 13 and 15, suggesting it was the correct decision to carry on with the meeting. I prefer to see racing than tractors!

Yup. Ruled changed a few years ago. All in the rulebook.

Jordan Palin did rather well against older riders at the Isle Of Wight on Tuesday. I'm sure he'll be fine after a whole year with Belle Vue Colts in the National League. Problem with Jedd is that option was not available to him and also that his average cannot go below 4.00. It was into the deep end.

I reckon it's a 6-hour journey on a normal day - probably a 7-hour journey on a Good Friday. Poole should ride on Easter Monday instead.

I thought Premiership fixtures were supposed to take place on Mondays and Thursdays?

Going by the above, what are you predicting? A 50-40 win for Scorpions?

The other point around this era is that Graham Warren was the dominant force in 1950, but fell in one race at Wembley while chasing Freddie Williams. He won his other four outings to finish in third place on 12 points. Given a GP series, the favourite to win would have been Warren. The old style World Championship and current GP series were/are BOTH very tough to win. But, under the GP system, the top rider in the world is more likely to end up as the World Champion. Although the cream normally rose to the top in World Finals as well. Both systems have their merits. I miss the trips to the old one-off finals, but at the same time, I appreciate being able to see a number of Grand Prix rounds on the TV throughout the year.

Jack Young was top qualifier in 1950 (i.e one year before he was World Champion), which suggests he would have won the 1950 Grand Prix challenge and therefore qualified for the 1951 Grand Prix series. PS Just checked there are currently 64 riders in the international stages of qualifying. And many countries use the results of national championships, etc, to determine who goes into the qualifiers. It's not a closed shop. If you're good enough, you get into it pretty quickly, as Emil did at the age of 19.

Thought the racing was decent enough - especially from Heat 9 onwards. Not the complete classic of the previous week, but still plenty of good racing. By my reckoning, Josh Auty gated on 3+1 but scored 13+1, plus there was Jake snatching Heat 11 at the death, while the proverbial blanket could be thrown over three and four riders respectively in Heats 12 and 14. The later race had a thrilling conclusion, even if it didn't go Scunny's way. Believe me, the meeting was around 10 times better than the bore-fest that I witnessed at Leicester eight days previously. I was also grateful that the whole meeting at Scunny was completed in 70 minutes - the wind was freezing. Track grading would have had a negative effect on the racing, and also you can't keep people hanging around when it's that cold - you have to consider the spectators.

I dunno. Zmarzlik doesn't seem quite as good under pressure as Tai. I tip Woffy for No 4 this year. I realise he'd already won in 2013 and 2015, but IMO Woffy seemed to step up a further gear last year. He's going to be hard to live with for the next few years.

I've had my run-ins with Tsunami on the political threads, but you can't question his speedway credentials. Involved in one of the most successful spells of Newcastle Speedway and then running some invaluable training schools.

Very poor team - no Woffinden, no Hancock, no Doyle, no Lindgren - I presume they want Poland to win

Nah, just the two

Farndon's death was only the year before, so I'd say it counts.

Max Grosskreutz... favourite to win in 1936, but got injured and missed the qualifiers. He lent his bike to fellow Aussie Bluey Wilkinson, who raced to a 15-point-maximum at Wembley on his steed. Grosskreutz subsequently retired and became manager of Norwich. He raced the odd meeting for them, and made a brief comeback post-war.

Arne Pander is a prime candidate for this one! It should also be pointed out that it wasn't just the injuries, but also his decision to prioritise riding in Britain, which didn't go down well with the Danish authorities. Arne took out British citizenship and entered the British qualifying rounds in 1966, having missed out in a few key seasons in the meantime.

Vic Duggan, Vic Duggan, Vic Duggan, Vic Duggan and Vic Duggan. Easily the best rider in the world for a number of seasons between 1946 and 1949, yet never World Champion. Even given CHR has used 1948 as the start-date and therefore Duggan's incredible 1947 season is missed out, Duggan was still far ahead in 1948, and won the biggest event of the year. Never has another rider been so utterly dominant and not ended up as a World Champion.