MattK

That's just what the speedway needs. Fans who piss off the local residents and give them something to complain about.

Very strange. http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/10989517.Park_and_ride_set_to_get_a_new_lease_of_life/ Why would contractors need to park in the park and ride when there is a massive car park next to the stadium? Unless they are planning to build on it already?

Does anyone have a list of track records for National League riders?

Obviously it would have been a good idea to agree the rules BEFORE clubs signed their riders, but beggars can't be choosers!

There is a simple solution to this. Make teams line up in average order. Then allow any rider to be replaced at any point in the meeting, by any rider below them.

I'm sure there were threads on the equivalent WSB, BSB, TT etc forums. I think this proves, if we needed any further proof, that there is a genuine underlying interest in speedway, if only promoters made an effort tap into it.

So if a heatleader is injured in their second ride, their two subsequent riders will have to be taken by the NL reserves?

The thing that depresses me is when you look at an aerial view of a venue and see just how much space the stadium and associated car parking takes up. I can't see how any of the clubs you mentioned will avoid having their tracks turned into something more profitable in the near future.

DO we know there'll be 15 heats? Foe example, scrapping the nominated heat would save clubs tens of thousands of pounds in a season.

This is the crux of the matter, isn't it. I wonder which Elite League club will be the first to issue a thinly veined "use it or lose it" threat to their fans, despite treating them with contempt all winter?

I assumed the 2013 company, whose only director is Rosco, was purely for the merchandising?

Sorry, we digressed on to the subject of Swindon based on the question about which stadium will be built first. My understanding is that the council is borrowing £4m to build the stadium and will then lease it to a private company run the management of Belle Vue speedway.

Think about it objectively for one minute. A new stadium costs £4m and let's say it makes £400,000 profit per year. It'll take 10 years to simply replay the cost of construction, before the developers see any net gain. The land where the new stadium is proposed could site around 200 houses. If each house costs an average of £100,000 to build and sells for £200,000 that's £20m profit. Which would you rather do? Built a stadium and wait for 10 years before you see any return or build houses and make £20m the moment they are sold? It's a no brainer.

Work has commenced to built houses on the land around the current track. Let's wait and see when they start work on the actual stadium.

Swindon's stadium has already been granted outline planning permission, however as Orion says, it will never be built. Belle Vue haven't even applied for planning permission yet, unless someone can say otherwise.

The problem is Sidney, while die-hards like you and I will go every week regardless, will the majority of fans be happy to turn up week-in, week-out and pay their £17 if a rider like Ritchings or even Worrall are struggling badly and the team are losing more often than not?

I think 6.50 is a very realistic target if Morris rides the whole season as third heatleader. If he achieves that then I would deem his season a success.

Apparently, the Bob Kilby Memorial, which is scheduled for 30 March, is the same day riders are flying to New Zealand for the GP.

I think the format posted(!) by Andrew PT is pretty much what we'll see.

They wanted to announce speedway alongside egg chasing, Scottish football and WWE!

I think that is wildly optimistic. He'll do well to maintain his average when you look at who he is up against. For example, against King's Lynn he'll be riding again NKI, Bjerre and Schlein twice and Lambert and Porsing once. He should beat Lambert and Porsing, but won't get much change out of the other three. Same if you look at the top three riders from Belle Vue and Poole. He should have the beating of other third heatleaders such as Kennett, Hansen, Woodward, Bridger, Hougaard and Proctor and might be able to take points off the top two from Birmingham and Leicester. Can't see where an average over seven is going to come from though.

The line-up will make little difference in the new heat format if the reserves are protected. Your top three will likely face the same opposition riders (#1 twice, #2 twice, #3 twice and #4 and #5 once), then your two secondstrings will face #1, #2 and #3 once, secondstrings three-times and reserves once each and reserves will ride again each other six times and secondstrings twice. As I said, Morris is arguable in the "worst" position, as his rides will be as difficult as Kildemand's and Batchelor's but he is on the lowest average.

It will be interesting to see how he gets on against the opposition heatleaders. I can see Morris and Gustaffson switching places several times during the season.

With so many riders missing Elite League meetings due to doubling and trebling-up, will we see a rider appear for every Elite League club in a single season?

It's quite easy to work out roughly what the format will be and TNT to his credit has posted a few decent examples. If the reserves are only racing against each other and second strings, then the top three riders of each team will be forced to ride against each other multiple times.