lucifer sam

Polish feed has the interviews in English as well. Commentary in Polish, though, plus Poland's version of Andy Jaye and Scottie in the gaps. All the best Rob

Thanks! All the best Rob

Don't be an idiot. Tomorrow was always down as the re-staging date of the World Cup Final. Polish speedway is farcical in any case. All the best Rob

I've sent a polite tweet to British Eurosport as to where I can view live coverage of tomorrow's Speedway World Cup - I suggest everyone does the same. All the best Rob

So no Edinburgh rider has ever moved at the tapes and got away with it? Those blue & yellow tinted glasses of yours are pretty powerful, Youngy. All the best Rob

Massively enjoyable meeting last night. Ashley Birks was a brilliant guest with five classy wins, and the whole team rode well. Some great racing as well, with a number of races won from behind, including a great win for Theo Pijper in Heat 13 around the outside. All the best Rob

Well, considering only ONE team qualifies from tomorrow into the final, it's slightly impossible for both Great Britain AND the United States to get through, isn't it? All the best Rob

BIRKS IS A WELCOME GUEST FOR SCORPIONS SCUNTHORPE club asset Ashley Birks will guest for the FluidAir Power Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, when they entertain the Workington Comets in Premier League action at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday evening (7.30pm). The Scorpions have been badly hit by injury this season. David Howe is out indefinitely, after aggravating an old shoulder injury in an off-track accident, while it will be a few more weeks before Josh Auty is ready to return from a broken hand. Last Friday, both Ryan Douglas and Alex Davies crashed out of the latter stages of Scunthorpe’s 53-37 Knockout Cup victory over the Newcastle Diamonds. Unfortunately, Douglas seems set to be ruled out for 4 to 6 weeks, after suffering a small fracture to one of his vertebrae. However, Davies will ride through the pain barrier on Friday with a badly lacerated thumb. With ‘Honourary Scorpion’ Ben Barker (the regular guest for Josh Auty) in action for Berwick at Plymouth on Friday, the Scorpions have turned to an old friend in Ashley Birks, to guest in place of Douglas, while rider replacement will operate for Auty. Birks rode for the Scunthorpe Saints in the National League in 2010 and 2011, and then was promoted to the Premier League Scunthorpe Scorpions between 2012 and 2014, and was captain for much of that period. He is riding for his hometown club Sheffield this season, where some of his main sponsors are based. Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey says: “I know that Ash (Birks) is a rider who will always give his all when he rides for Scunthorpe. “He is still very much a friend of this club. Last week, for the Newcastle home match, he came along to help out Ben Wilson. “But Ash also ended up providing invaluable assistance to Nike Lunna. He looked at Nike’s clutches and, by the end of the meeting, Nike was getting out of the start much better than before. “We looked at the various options for Friday, and decided it was best to use the guest for Ryan in this case.” The Scorpions have yet to win a league match in 2015. Their two victories have both been over Newcastle, in the League Cup and Knockout Cup (both by 53-37). “We’ll give it our best shot on Friday”, says Godfrey. “That’s what we did last week and we ended up with a valuable lead over the Diamonds in the cup. “Workington have got some riders who can ride our place well, but I think we can beat them. Last week, it was our strength at reserve which went a long way to our success and that could well be the case again. “This season certainly hasn’t gone to plan so far. But what the fans will see every week at the Eddie Wright Raceway is a Scorpions’ side giving it their all, plus some fabulous racing.” There are 24 heats of action in total on Friday, with a nine-race second half comprising of a six-heat Midland Development League match between Scunthorpe and King’s Lynn and three 125/150cc Youth races. Admission prices for Friday: Adult: £15.00 Student/OAP: £13.00 Child (10 – 17): £5.00 Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult) Family Ticket £35 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17) Match Programme: £1.00 Expected teams for Friday: FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance: 1. Rider replacement for Josh Auty, 2. Theo Pijper, 3. Ashley Birks (guest for Ryan Douglas), 4. Carl Wilkinson, 5. Alex Davies, 6. Ben Wilson, 7. Nike Lunna. Workington Comets: 1. Kenneth Hansen, 2. Ricky Wells, 3. Rene Bach, 4. Matthew Wethers, 5. Kyle Howarth, 6. Nicki Barrett, 7. Nathan Greaves. Midland Development League teams: Scunthorpe Stags: 1. Tom Bacon, 2. Sam Darroch, 3. Paul Bowen, 4. Luke Whitehead. King’s Lynn Lightning: 1. Adam Portwood, 2. George Hunter, 3. Sean Phillips, 4. Kyle Roberts. Workington Comets at EWR Ave Ave Best Name Lge M R Pts BP (no BP) (w BP) Performance Rene Bach PL 5 21 29 6 5.52 6.67 7 + 3 from 4 rides (2012) Nicki Barrett PL 2 7 3 0 1.71 1.71 2 from 4 rides (2014) Nathan Greaves PL 1 4 2 2 2.00 4.00 2 + 2 from 4 rides (2014) Kenneth Hansen DEBUT PL MEETING @ EWR Kyle Howarth PL 6 32 31 2 3.88 4.13 7 from 4 rides (2013) Ricky Wells PL 12 56 80 11 5.71 6.50 9 + 2 from 5 rides (2014) Matthew Wethers PL 9 36 37 4 4.11 4.56 7 + 1 from 4 rides (2008) Other Notes Rene Bach Member of Denmark's World Under-21 Team Cup Winning Team in 2011. 2010 Danish Under-21 Champion. Member of Newcastle's Premier Trophy, KO Cup and Play-Off Winning Teams in 2010. Member of Workington's 2012 Premier League Pairs Winning Duo. Nicki Barrett 2004 FIM Youth 80cc Champion. Made his Premier League debut for Berwick during the 2012 season. Nathan Greaves Twice British Youth 250cc Champion (2011 and 2012). Twice British Youth 500cc Champion (2012 and 2013). Member of Dudley's National League Championship, KO Cup and National Shield Winning Teams in 2013. Member of Cradley's National League Championship, KO Cup and Four-Team Championship Winning Teams in 2014. Kenneth Hansen 2003 FIM Youth 80cc Gold Trophy Winner. Made his Premier League debut for Workington during the 2007 season. Kyle Howarth 2015 British Under-21 Champion. Rode for the Scunthorpe Saints in 2009 National League. Member of Poole's Elite League KO Cup Winning Team in 2012. Named as a 'doubling-up' rider with Swindon for the 2015 Elite League Season. Ricky Wells Twice USA Under-16 Champion (2004 and 2005). Twice USA Under-21 Champion (2007 and 2008). 2009 AMA American Champion. Member of Wolverhampton's Elite Shield Winning Team in 2011. Has represented the USA in World Cup meetings. Matthew Wethers Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Championship Winning Teams in 2003, 2008 and 2010. Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Play-Off Winning Teams in 2008 and 2009. Member of Edinburgh's Premier Trophy Winning Team in 2008. Workington Comets' Results at EWR 09 May 2008 PL L Scunthorpe 47 Workington 43 03 October 2008 YS L Scunthorpe 51 Workington 39 03 July 2009 PL L Scunthorpe 51 Workington 39 20 June 2010 PL L Scunthorpe 56 Workington 36 22 October 2010 YS S/F L Scunthorpe 47 Workington 43 15 April 2011 PL W Scunthorpe 44 Workington 46 18 May 2012 KOC W Scunthorpe 44 Workington 46 03 August 2012 PL L Scunthorpe 49 Workington 40 07 October 2012 PLPO SF L Scunthorpe 62 Workington 28 30 April 2013 PL D Scunthorpe 45 Workington 45 31 August 2014 PL L Scunthorpe 53 Workington 37 (stats by John Eyre)

If only the rulebook was written in plain language in the first place, and there would no need for various interpretations of it! All the best Rob

No I think Glasgow have the 7.50ish, because the rule you've stated is not applied in the manner that you have described. At least it wasn't when Scunthorpe and Sheffield tried to make team changes in 2013, and those team changes were rejected, because the rider retained their old average until they had done 4 home and 4 away, despite what this rule says. All the best Rob

Scunthorpe use Ben Barker, Richard Hall and rider replacement for Josh Auty, Alex Davies and Ryan Douglas. Jason Garrity guests for Nick Morris for Glasgow. All the best Rob

A tricky one, since both reached the heights of World No 3. But looking across their whole careers, I feel John Louis just shades it, courtesy of some stunning performances in the World Team Cup and World Pairs, plus slightly greater consistency at league level (not looking at averages for the aforementioned reasons, but rather position in the final averages). All the best Rob

SCORPIONS OUT TO MAKE CUP PROGRESS FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, take a break from Premier League action, when they entertain the Newcastle Diamonds in the first round of the Travel Plus Tours Knockout Cup at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday evening (7.30pm). The first leg of this Knockout Cup tie was due to take place at Newcastle’s Brough Park on May 3, but was rained off. The Brough Park leg will now take place on Sunday, June 28, in place of the Premier League meeting scheduled between the two sides on that date. Scunthorpe’s mission on Friday night for what is now the first leg is simple… to build up as big a lead as possible to defend at Brough Park for the second leg. The Scorpions and Diamonds will see plenty of each together during 2015. They were in the same League Cup group, and there are still Premier League clashes to follow between the two sides. The League Cup clashes suggest a very close KO Cup tie over two legs, since the Scorpions defeat the Diamonds by 53-37 on April 17 at the Eddie Wright Raceway, while the Diamonds won by 53-39 at Brough Park two days later. Although it should be pointed out that, since then, the Scorpions have bolstered their line-up, with the introduction of Ryan Douglas and Ben Wilson. Both Douglas & Wilson will make their second appearance of the season in Scorpions’ colours on Friday night. With Josh Auty still out with a hand injury, Berwick’s Ben Barker again comes in to guest in the No 1 spot. Barker also guested for the Scorpions at Somerset, and was due to guest at Plymouth in the postponed meeting last Saturday. Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey says: “We’ve booked Ben Barker as a guest once more. Ben is a rider who will always give 100% in every meeting he races in, whether it’s for his regular team or a guest or whatever. “He’s the common sense choice at the moment, because his average isn’t that far from Josh’s. “If we’re looking to progress in the cup, and I can you assure that we are, then it’s not just about winning on Friday, but also building up a lead that we can defend when we go to Brough Park. “Cup meetings always have a slightly different flavour, because you don’t have to defend from tactical rides, because they aren’t allowed in this competition. “I’m sure Friday is going to be a night of some awesome racing, while we will doing everything we can to ensure we come out of the meeting with the result we require.” The Scorpions won the third-tier Knockout Cup in both 2006 and 2007, but have only reached the semi-finals at Premier League level once before in their history (in 2009). A good omen is that the side that the Scorpions defeated in the first round in 2009 were Newcastle. Admission prices for Friday: Adult: £15.00 Student/OAP: £13.00 Child (10 – 17): £5.00 Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult) Family Ticket £35 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17) Match Programme: £1.00 Expected teams for Friday: FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance: 1. Ben Barker (guest for Josh Auty), 2. Theo Pijper, 3. Ryan Douglas, 4. Carl Wilkinson, 5. Alex Davies, 6. Ben Wilson, 7. Nike Lunna. Newcastle Diamonds: 1. Lewis Kerr, 2. Anton Rosen, 3. Steve Worrall, 4. Christian Henry, 5. Ludvig Lindgren, 6. Simon Nielsen, 7. Lewis Rose. Newcastle Diamonds at EWR Ave Ave Name Lge M R Pts BP (no BP) (w BP) Best Performance Christian Henry PL 9 41 48 6 4.68 5.27 9 + 2 from 6 rides (2013) Lewis Kerr PL 4 17 23 4 5.41 6.35 7 + 2 from 4 rides (2013) Ludvig Lindgren PL 8 38 62 3 6.53 6.84 14 from 5 rides (inc 4 pts T/R (2009)) Simon Nielsen PL 5 19 10 3 2.11 2.74 4 + 1 from 4 rides (2013) Lewis Rose PL 2 11 10 0 3.64 3.64 5 from 5 rides (2014) Anton Rosen PL 2 11 21 2 7.64 8.36 12 + 1 from 5 rides (2015) Steve Worrall PL 31 128 114 26 3.56 4.38 10 + 2 from 5 rides (2011) Other Notes Christian Henry Member of Glasgow's Premier League Championship Winners in 2011. Member of Newcastle's Premier League KO Cup Winning Team in 2012. Member of Newcastle's Premier Shield Winning Team in 2013. Lewis Kerr Member of Newcastle's League Cup and Premier Shield Winning Teams in 2013. Made his British League debut with King's Lynn's National League side in 2010. A Fast-Track Reserve with King's Lynn for the 2015 Elite League season. Ludvig Lindgren Member of Wolverhampton's Elite Shield Winning Teams in 2010 and 2011. Member of Newcastle's Premier League KO Cup Winning Team in 2012. Member of Newcastle's League Cup and Premier Shield Winning Teams in 2013. Simon Nielsen Made his Premier League debut with Workington in 2011. Winner of the 2005 Individual FIM Youth Gold Trophy (80cc), unofficial Under-16 World Championship. Lewis Rose Made his British League debut with King's Lynn's National League side in 2013. A Fast-Track Reserve with Swindon for the 2015 Elite League season. Anton Rosen Member of Newcastle's League Cup Winning Team in 2013. Swedish rider who made his British League debut with Newcastle in 2013. Steve Worrall Former Scunthorpe Scorpion and Saint. Member of the Saints' National League Winning Team in 2011. Member of Newcastle's Premier Shield Winning Team in 2013. Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Championship, KO Cup and League Cup Winning Teams in 2014. Member of Cradley's National League Championship, KO Cup, NL Shield and NL Fours Winning Teams in 2014. A Fast-Track Reserve with Belle Vue for the 2015 Elite League season. Newcastle's Results at EWR: 04 April 2008 PT L Scunthorpe 55 Newcastle 38 16 May 2008 PL L Scunthorpe 56 Newcastle 36 08 May 2009 KOC (1) L Scunthorpe 65 Newcastle 25 07 August 2009 PL L Scunthorpe 51 Newcastle 45 14 May 2010 KOC (1) L Scunthorpe 49 Newcastle 41 23 July 2010 PL L Scunthorpe 52 Newcastle 39 01 April 2011 PL L Scunthorpe 47 Newcastle 42 30 March 2012 LC L Scunthorpe 46 Newcastle 44 13 July 2012 PL L Scunthorpe 48 Newcastle 42 12 April 2013 PS (1) L Scunthorpe 50 Newcastle 43 05 July 2013 PL L Scunthorpe 46 Newcastle 44 18 April 2014 LC L Scunthorpe 49 Newcastle 44 27 June 2014 PL L Scunthorpe 58 Newcastle 38 17 April 2015 LC L Scunthorpe 53 Newcastle 37

But: 1. Jason Garrity would be a "1" or very close to it, because while nutty, he's also exciting. 2. Teams would have seven Jason Garrity's. 3. Meetings would then take 6 hours to complete due to the 50 re-runs and everyone would moan. All the best Rob

Nope, it's a foregone conclusion. The Stripey Cats are much stronger than the Stripey Cats and will walk it. All the best Rob

It was for about a decade post-war Humph Although they had 8-man teams then (top six 4 rides each and two reserves 2 rides each). All the best Rob

No, you're wrong. You've worked out average race points. It's average match points. 13/6 = 2.1666666666666666 (recurring) 17/8 = 2.125 Glasgow & Newcastle both finished on 13 points, but Glasgow subsequently have better race points difference. All the best Rob

I think Barrycuda is on a deliberate wind up. No-one could actually be that thick. All the best Rob

I was under the impression that Berwick's official colours have always been Black & Gold. OK, occasionally, the gold ends up looking yellow, but then again the colour Gold is a shade of yellow! All the best Rob

I suspect it's because of the original fixture list. Scunny had Fri 29th reserved for the League Cup semi-finals, so therefore Plymouth vs Scunny was down as Sat 30th. As for the call off, it's annoying when the forecast proves not to be correct, but I can understand why the Plymouth management called it off early. If you put on a meeting on an evening when the BBC (the forecast most of the public go by) predicts rain all night, the crowd is poor. Simple as. All the best Rob

Just to confirm Lewy's post - this meeting was called off first thing this morning. The BSPA website and Scunthorpe website both reflect this. Hopefully Plymouth will update their website soon. All the best Rob

HT, I hope I'll bump into you during the evening... as long as the weather forecast improves! All the best Rob

OXFORD CHEETAHS’ legend Arne Pander has died at the age of 83. The Dane rode for the Cheetahs between 1959 and 1968, and became the first World Class superstar to ride for the club. Born in Herning, Denmark in 1931, Pander won the Danish Championship in 1956 and 1958, before joining the Cheetahs in 1959. It was considered a risky signing, since Danish riders did not have any kind of pedigree at that time. He made a sensational debut for the club on Good Friday, March 27, 1959, dropping just a single point to the opposition, as the Cheetahs thrashed Coventry Bees by 53-37. By the end of the season, Pander had established himself as Oxford’s leading rider. Inspired by the Dane, who had the beating of all the world’s top riders, the Cheetahs were surprising National League contenders in 1960, before having to settle for third place in the table, behind the mighty duo of Wimbledon and Belle Vue (Manchester). Pander was just one stage away from reaching the 1961 World Final, when he suffered a fractured skull at Coventry on July 29, 1961. He scored a brilliant 15-point maximum for Oxford at Brandon (half the team’s total), but was then involved in an accident with Coventry ‘hard man’ Les Owen in the second half individual event. Pander survived the accident, and returned to action with Oxford in 1963, after 18 months out of the saddle. In 1964, new promoters Cyril Melville and Rodney Rycroft took over at Cowley. They brought in Ron How and Jimmy Gooch; these two, along with Pander, formed the heat-leader trio of the Cheetahs, who swept to a glorious treble, including the National League championship. 1965 saw the formation of the British League. Former rider Danny Dunton (who died earlier in 2015) became the promoter, after Melville & Rycroft left, leaving a trail of debt behind them. Pander, who was retained along with How and Gooch, had a brilliant season, ending the year with a string of maximums and registering a 10.03 average. Pander remained the leading light with the Cheetahs in 1966 and 1967, although his ’67 season was cut short with a broken leg. Further injures blighted him in 1968, and he left Oxford during the season. He rode for Poole later in 1968 and Halifax in 1969, but suffered further with injuries, which prompted his retirement. He made just a handful of appearances for the Pirates and Dukes, having spent the vast majority of his British career with the Cheetahs. Arne Pander is considered one of the very best speedway riders never to reach a World Final. A combination of injures, plus a dispute with the Danish authorities which led to him riding in his latter seasons under a British licence, prevented him from reaching the big night. Nevertheless, his place in the history of Oxford Speedway is assured. He joined Oxford in their third season of top-flight action, and became the first Cheetah who could consistently mix it with the biggest names of the sport, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Ove Fundin, Barry Briggs, Ronnie Moore and Peter Craven. Apart from 1960, 1964 and 1965, Pander often rode in poor Oxford teams, and ended up carrying the side in many meetings. Long-time Oxford supporter Cliff Peasley said: “Arne Pander was our first world class rider, who could beat anyone. If he hadn’t suffered that fractured skull at Coventry in 1961, I’m convinced he would have been World Champion. He was simply brilliant before that injury. He was still good enough after that to be our top rider. “The Swindon fans used to hate him, because every time we travelled to Wiltshire, he would return with a maximum. He was almost unbeatable around there when he was at his best. “We had some pretty poor teams at times, and sometimes Arne would score more than half of the team total. For ten years, he was Oxford Speedway. “When Hans Nielsen, another Dane, came along in the 1980s, he surpassed Arne as our greatest rider. But Arne was our very first superstar, and that will never change.” Pander’s latter years are largely undocumented, but he stayed in England, living around the Norfolk area. To Oxford Cheetahs’ fans, he will always remain a hero.

Cheers Iris, Morian Hansen had popped out of my head when I posted. Arne Pander was still Oxford's original Danish superstar - in fact, he was Oxford's first world class superstar, full stop. All the best Rob

RIP to Arne Pander, the original Great Dane, and one of the true superstars of Oxford Speedway. All the best Rob