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If any Eastbourne riders leave and head to Glasgow I would put money on that being Tom Brennan heading up the M6

Unfortunately I do fear that could have been Eastbourne’s last meeting this season, With riders owed significant amounts and money that was promised tonight didn’t materialise. All the signs are there Eddy K not travelling ( Was obviously tipped off that the money was not going to be paid ) Kyle Newman pulls out with mystery injury, Richard Lawson refuses to do RR ride and then both Lawson & Kerr refuse to do heat 15 so only went with one rider. As expected Tom Brennan was very impressive and hopefully has a bright future ahead of him, I am sure if Eastbourne do close then a few clubs will be trying to fit him in with Glasgow the favourites if he don’t mind the drive up the M6 from his Midlands base I thought there was some good racing tonight but the crowd seemed a little down this week possibly due to Leicester City playing and not being an attractive fixture for neutrals which Leicester seem to pick up on nice Saturday nights

Really not sure why Eurosport have chosen not to broadcast a meeting tonight with so much choice of meetings, No Live sport on their channels tonight or live PL to go up against seems very strange decision to me. So we have the British final next week and then week after 23/08 they have choice of BV vs KL or Peterborough vs Wolves (But did televise A fixture)

So sad to read this sad news, Myself and Phil had a number of conversations in the past and he was a lovely guy. He always used to give a good input to this forum and will be greatly missed

The last I heard was that Eurosport events had invited tenders for UK coverage but with BT sport up for sale they are reluctant to bid on any rights at the minute until they know who are their new owners and which direction they want to go in. Some possibly bad news for Speedway fans is that new online broadcaster DAZN (Just taken Boxing away from Sky sports ) has indicated that Speedway may be a sport that fits their profile but that would be another payment required and is an online only channel. Eurosport events are in a good position really as if they cannot get the figures they want for UK coverage then it can go on their own Eurosport UK channel but I would expect some to just be on Eurosport player especially when Tennis is on and European & Olympic athletics as well

The Bates family have various other successful business ventures outside of Speedway and as the Lenny the Lion has indicated own & run both Sheffield and Leicester for their Love of the sport . This passion for Speedway goes right back to the early 80s when both Damian and Mark were mascots at Sheffield often going out on track before meeting along with dad Paul a sponsor to many riders over the years. The Bates family prefer to have very good promotors and key staff working for them with the likes of Stewart Dickson,Julie Reading,Peter Mole,Alan Jones and Karen Hudson key to the clubs operations. This means that the Bates family can operate their other businesses and not have to worry about all the administration and logistics of running a Speedway club. With regards to Iain B comments about outsourcing of merchandise and catering at Leicester that is not unusual at all, Even the mighty Leicester City and Tigers have outsourced their conference & banqueting so they can focus on the score product the sport . I personally think the variety of products offered by Jaybea to be good but do think the catering is lacking especially in the summer the bottom bar should be open after meetings so fans can socialise more if they wish

Doubt it would be Sundstrom due to Swedish league meetings that he has to ride in on Tuesday & Thursdays If reports are correct that Rohan Tungate has been released from his Polish contract and is joining a Premiership team soon maybe he will be doing two leagues in the UK although he may have to drop Swedish league but may consider worth it for extra meetings he would get for Kent

I have a feeling that if Batch can drop on to CL he will be going to Kent

I understand that Leicester & Glasgow tried to get Fraser Bowes into UK racing recently but it wasn’t an option due to work permit limits

Personally I would put Dan at 4 and put Douglas as 2 as that gives us a strong rider in heat 8 and also a good pairing of Andersen & Douglas It would also benefit Dan to ride with Kyle who may be able to assist him more while Hans gets fully dialled into the updated Leicester track

Hans meeting is still going ahead in Latvia (Polish 1st Division)

Hans will be at Leicester tonight he flew in from Germany this morning and is currently on his way to the track The fixture for his Polish club is a rearranged fixture and if missed Leicester could face a 28 day UK ban which would mean missing 14 meetings that’s a lot of money

I would imagine Lions will line up against Scunthorpe as 1.Hans 2.Dan 3.Morris 4.Douglas 5.Howarth 6.New Signing 7. Joe Eastbourne away next week may be different though

I wouldn’t say Hans signing has disregard for the club’s finances, Leicester have had good amounts of fans coming to watch the racing which always goes up during the summer when the football & Rugby are having their summer break it’s not unusual to have an extra 800 fans on a nice summer Saturday night. Leicester are also fortunate to have some very good sponsors who help support the club along with a strong supporters club with 50-50 draws nearly always being over the £350 mark meaning that riders don’t have to pay for tyres. Looking at the league table Leicester do still have some catching up to do to go above Glasgow and I can foresee Poole being strong challengers for the title as well. I understand that Hans was very keen to ride in the Championship but his options for clubs was quite limited by overseas commitments with Denmark on Wednesday & Friday and Polish league on Sunday so only left Saturday clubs as an option

I am unsure whether to come up for this meeting as the thought of watching Love Island with the wife & daughter fills me with dread. What is the weather situation looking like in Peterborough as do not want a wasted journey if can be helped so any updates would be most appreciated

The twins are involved with Team GB and Young Lions but with riding for a Saturday home track and having already had away matches at Scunthorpe,Berwick and Newcastle over weekends hence they have not been involved in any meetings on the continent. I think it’s fair to say that in their first season of professional racing they are doing well but are probably a bit behind the more experienced riders like Kemp,Flint and Rowe so when limited places are allocated in meetings then places go to these riders.

Leicester will have RR for Josh on Saturday against Newcastle and Tom Brennan guests for Ty Proctor.

My understanding is that the once the required matches are completed Dan will move into the team possibly above Ty with Josh going down to reserve with Joe which is quite worrying with the amount of time Josh crashes out of meetings and is missing through injury with guests very limited at reserve

I wasn’t at Newcastle myself but from reports of people who were Ty Proctor looked uninterested in racing and even when he got in front soon found himself at the back by going too wide and shutting off too early. To make changes even with the Bates family blessing is difficult due to Dan Thompson and both Douglas and & Morris improving their average. So to make one change there is not the riders out there that would make that big difference. The other option is to make two changes and bring in another heat leader and then sign a 2-3point rider but then more pressure on Dan Thompson who would be at 2 or 4 although he seemed to handle the pressure well this weekend. This option may have progress if the right rider becomes available but is complicated with the restrictions on admission to pay for these changes. I agree in principle that the season is fast pushing ahead and if Leicester want to push for play offs need to get wins on the road as well as assuring home wins and not allowing visitors to gain any points on their visits to Leicester

There was no victory parade last night as Leicester riders were keen to get home to prepare for Newcastle today and also rain was forecast from 9pm

The comments I actually made Phil , Was about coverage the week before at Wolverhampton and the Peterborough coverage was a lot better. I just wish Steve would sort out with his OB provider Cloudbass what is going on with the start line camera as it looks like it’s coming from a 90s mobile phone so blurred and out of focus

It’s pleasing to hear that Josh Auty has escaped serious injuries other than deep concussion as at one point he was quite poorly and it looked like it was going to be a major incident hence why it took so long to get him off track and why none of the medical staff could return to the track until he was in the care of county ambulance who to be fair to last night were very prompt once they knew the potential severity of the injuries. Hopefully Josh he will be back on a bike in the next few weeks and to me was just a racing incident Stewart was very open and admitted that the track was too slick to start with but one of the issues you have a Leicester is bends 3 & 4 are not in the sun at the same time during evening meetings so if water heavy just before the start it is very wet coming out of bend 4 . With regards to Sun breaks these are essential for rider safety and a prime example of this was at Scunthorpe on Friday night Adam Roynons crash in heat 15 was caused by sunlight in his eyes On the team front it was good to see Ty Proctor looking more comfortable on the bike and scoring good points, Josh Bates form is very concerning and it’s not a speed issue he is not getting out of the start and riding wrong lines not just for Leicester but also for Sheffield

Tonight will be a crucial match for some of the Lions riders, It’s time to show what they can do otherwise the Special one will need to be having a delicate discussion with the Bates family

I must admit that the TV production didn’t seem as good this week, with on screen graphic errors and some strange camera work and vision mixing showing close up of race leader while a pass is happening behind and lots of crowd shots which made it harder for Nigel and Kelvin to justify the gaps I just wonder if Steve Saint who usually directs British and GP Speedway was away doing WRC this week and that is why production was not as per normal

I don’t think it is as simple as just saying going back to Mita’s tyres as British Speedway has signed a large commercial deal with Anlas for a certain quantity of tyres so it will need to be proved that they are not as specified in original contract. This is why SCB and FIM have become involved and have taken a number of tyres away for independent inspection