flagrag

The question is will the riders that get called into the meeting and their mechanics get their Russian visas in time ? I know for UK there has been a 5day wait for an appointment to take your fingerprints and then takes around 24-48 hours to get issued.

Another bit of good news for Leicester fans is Pawel has escaped without any breaks from his high speed crash/ fencing by Fast Freddie It seems that Pawel will be fit to ride for Torun on Sunday subject to treatment this week. Hopefully back in UK in couple of weeks the month flying restriction is due to finish next Tuesday i think.

I am very pleased with the result as not really expected but have a feeling the Lions could have won it by taking the advantage in heat15 but the track was clearly too wet. As much as Jim Lynch is a nice guy he has made so many tactical errors and have seen at home meetings struggles to keep up with things he really needs an assistant to help him out with tactics especially when we have to run with RR and guests so much.

As explained last night to fans and was also posted on here this morning. Pawel is not able to fly with the surgery he has had due to a high risk of DVT and a blood clot. There was not time to ride at Leicester and then be in Rybnik this afternoon by driving.

Pawel himself admitted that he came back a bit too soon last week and was in quite a bit of pain after the meeting. So has a medical certificate until Sun where he will undergo a fitness test. What is unclear is what happens on Monday when he doesn't ride at Somerset in the TV meeting maybe another Polish medical note

I think what Marc was suggesting was that the Belle Vue meeting may be when all the injured riders will be back and Yes Saturday 19th looks like Leicester will be missing King and Newman so maybe 26th against Somerset we will get a full Lions team

Update on Leicester website with Schlein in for Kim,Heeps for Erik, guest to be confirmed for Lasse and RR for Pawel. Just awaiting update on the Rockets team and guests Being used. Interestingly Pawel is riding for Torun on Sunday but has doctors note for Saturday so will he be fit for Somerset on Monday or will he aggravate his injury again like last week.

Yes Steve looks like you are correct with Riss,Wells and Barker riding for their Championship club. It will also be interesting to see if KK appears for Rye House as well with Gorzow having an important fixture on Sunday

Leicester are due to welcome back Kyle Newman who has declared himself fit and will have a guest for Kim Nillson who is reserve at the GP in Sweden. The big question mark will be whether Pawel is available to ride he is keen to ride as long as no flare up from injury but it all depends on Torun giving him the required start permissions and whether they would prefer to have him practice in Poland. They did originally agree to this date but obviously things have changed a bit since then with him picking up the injury and their league position in doubt. Just have to see how they wish to deal with this.

Philip Rising- I am not sure why the CloudBass OB lads keep putting the comms team in with the referee. This caused issues at Leicester and Luckily Chris Durno agreed as a one off otherwise they were going to have to do it from the truck

As is already documented on here there has been been a cut down on the amount of cameras being used this year due to costs and budgets. I am surprised people have noticed that BT are turning up with less equipment than Sky as they still have the OB unit,Support tender,Generator and Satellite Uplink unit. The only extra trucks Sky used to bring was a catering unit as there was more staff involved now they have to make their own tea & coffee. As I stated before BT have made some good improvements and managed to keep the costs down well. Previously the Sky production team were reluctant to use footage from the track DVD companies as felt that it would look out of place in the tv production but BT have proved well with by using some effective graphics and effects it can look ok. To make sure Speedway remains on tv in 2018 I mentioned before it is very important that viewers interact with BT on Facebook & Twitter so keep sharing and commenting on the Speedway content they upload as they measure a lot of audience reaction from this as well as the viewing figures. Another little cheat is if you are watching at home on the TV and also have an IPad or phone have it playing on the BT sport app there as well as they look closely at online viewing as well

I have now had a chance to review the coverage from tonight and also from the World Cup back in June. To me some of issues people are reporting with the production is down to a lack of cameras. When you watch a few of the World Cup races there is on a Average around 22 cuts to different cameras during a race where as compared to the league racing tonight it is around 12 some of which are to the camera pointing in from the tapes which to me offers no benefit and also the managers shot. Another positive I like from the BT production is the round up of footage from around the tracks and I think Natalie is definitely the right person to front Speedway as has so much knowledge and knows the questions to ask.

The Return - I cannot say obviously from a BSPA/Go Speed side about Speedway returning to Sky sports whether they would be interested but from a Sky side the door is not closed and locked, if the conditions were right and some of the improvements that Sky have previously suggested have been implemented like reduced entry fees and more promotions combined with the positive viewing figures has not gone unnoticed by the powers that be at Sky especially with how some recent tv rights auctions have gone for other sports and rebranding of channels. Speedway would actually be a good fit for Sky sports Action channel with regular live content. Unfortunately the end decision is not with me otherwise we would be having a UHD 24camera & Dolby Atmos super production 😀

I must say I do find the production,directing and vision mixing of the league Speedway quite confusing this year. The guy in charge is very experienced and in fact would say he is the master of directing Speedway tv production having done 100s of GPs and has done the world cups as well but not really sure what's going on with the league coverage. I am unsure whether he is being let down by a more junior production team and vision mixer than he is used to or whether as there is less cameras is struggling to produce it in the way as you can the GPs. This may be why they keep cutting to Debbie and Colin Pratt as they haven't got the on track angles to make the coverage seem varied. I have also noticed that now the nights are starting to draw in that more of the meetings are being done in the dark the age and quality of equipment being used is starting to show as needs more light than what new kit can operate with. This year was always going to be difficult as has been said many times on here it is being done to a tight budget to keep costs as low as possible. Let's hope that 2018 it can continue to be on TV whether it be on BT or back on Sky the main thing is live British Speedway on TV whichever way there will be improvements to coverage as can be budgeted and funded correctly.

Pawel himself is very keen to come back to Leicester and get racing as well as earning some money. It was my understanding that he was always going to practice after the meeting and has already had a session on Thursday and Saturday When he returns will all be in Toruns hands as will they demand that he stays in Poland next Saturday to practice or will they see riding in U.K. Is better for him

It looks like Sheffields chances have taken a bit of a blow as Lasse Bjerre was saying at the end of the meeting at Leicester that he didn't feel that he could ride again tomorrow in the 4s as his leg was even more swollen and painful.

This could be an interesting one as my understanding was that both Peterborough and Poole did not sign the Polish control contract for Jack Holder to prevent Torun doing this earlier in the year. I have a feeling that money has talked and Holder may get a ban for withholding his services

Where is Robert Lambert on Saturday I thought that him,Simon Lambert,THJ and Huckenback were available for this meeting

I think I counted 5 guests and two RR in this meeting with both clubs struggling to get adequate guests. Looking at the forecast the weather may be the winner of this clash but then got to try and find an alternative date.

One bit of positive news for Lions fans is Pawel has been back on the bike this evening having a practice in Torun so may well be back in another week depending on how the injury reacts after practicing and maybe after a meeting in Poland.

The running of this fixture is now going to be very difficult to do as Rye House have already got a lot of midweek matches planned and Saturday's are a no go. A number of Sunday's are ruled out unless Rye House want to run without Bomber and Robbo also no Pawel for Leicester. The next problem is trying to fit it in among all the other Championship meetings that riders have. The only solution I could think of would be to see if Swindon could change their fixture with Leicester on Bank holiday Monday so that Lions can go to Rye House to ride in double header with Poole. I think this would be a non starter anyway as Swindon are already doing a double header that day with Somerset I presume due to lack of dates.

Even though this is my Lions nearest away match the forecast does not look good so am instead going up to Leicester to hopefully watch some T20 Blast Cricket

The Gomolski situation I understand was a bit different as Kings Lynn signed him and then realised that he was in SEC series so would be missing at Leicester on Saturday with no facility and also that he had a meeting in Poland that clashed with another KL away meeting

So who are Kings Lynn going to use on Saturday at Leicester with Auty and MPT riding for Scunthorpe at Workington whIch also takes out Thomas Jorgensen. Then Porsing will be missing after picking up concussion in Poland so by my reckoning will be left with THJ R Lambert Simon Lambert and 3 guests & R/R

Don't forget that other teams may be making changes today or tomorrow before the cut off so may be a rider coming in from another club to Poole