cyclone

If Lindgren, who had a decent first race, had matched his recent performances at the Dale, the Diamonds would have run out winners. With a couple of passengers at reserves, Monarchs look fragile at home, and if their lineup remains unchanged, I would fear that a quite a few home defeats will be on the cards. The slight positives tonight were the seven point returns of Pickering & Andersson in the main body of the home team, but Newcastle can hardly be classified as strong opposition. One quibble on the inconsistent interpretation of applying the 15m handicap in a re-run when a race is stopped when one side's riders are on a 5 - 1. When Robson fell in heat 15 & failed to clear the track, the race was stopped on the second lap, with the Monarchs comfortably leading Kus on a 5 - 1. Unfortunately for Edinburgh, the ref (Ronnie Allen?) did not put the Diamond on a 15m handicap in the re-run, which the rulebook appears to indicate should be the option used in such circumstances.

Teams as per Official Edinburgh website:- STAGGS BAR MONARCHS: Ricky Wells, Joel Andersson, Josh Pickering, Mark Riss, Erik Riss (capt.), Coty Garcia, Max Ruml. NEWCASTLE BOILER TECHNICAL SERVICES DIAMONDS: Ludvig Lindgren (capt.), Stuart Robson, Matej Kus, Ashley Morris, Tero Aarnio, Carl Wilkinson, Matthew Wethers. Based on results this Season, neither team will be considered as likely to be Play-Off contenders. With Monarchs weakness at 2 - 4 apparent, most visiting sides will fancy their chances round the Dale. Given this is one away track where Ludvig flourishes, and pairing him with Robson at no.2 should form a powerhouse opening pairing. Also having ex-Monarchs Morris & Wethers in their side should provide good support. Kus has had the odd race win here, but Aarnio has still to master the circuit and often misses this fixture for one reason or another. However with Matty at no.7, no doubt Geo English will not hesitate to give him an extra couple of rides in place of Kus & Aarnio, should they be struggling. With Ruml moving to reserve, it remains to be seen if he improves from hereon. Of course the downside is that Pickering cannot now be given extra rides as reserve replacement. Garcia has looked the part early on in meetings, but his "bag of nails" bike usually slows up after a couple of rides. Another close meeting looks on the cards.

Are you sure? When the Nicholls debate about CL eligibility was ongoing, iirc it was stated that the under 6 PL egiblity to enter the CL would not apply to those who rode in the 2016 CL. As Grajczonek rode for Sheffield in 2016, reckon he could still return to the CL, irrespective of his current PL GSA.

IMO the same thing is happening in Speedway with SGB Championship programmes now mainly costing between £2.50 - £3.00. With the Speedway Star running a rating feature on each track's programme, it appears that some Promotions have entered into a vanity contest to be top dog, with the result that larger, in terms of size and number of pages, are being produced, which in turn has resulted in the prices rocketing. If they reverted to producing a more compact & smaller sized version at about £1 - £1.50, I wonder if those who now print off a basic scoresheet to fill in, might be tempted to purchase a low cost Official programme instead?

Worky tonight showed why six of their riders are potential heat winners, whereas Monarchs weakness at 2 - 4 was apparent for all to see. No hard luck stories for either side, as on the night Comets were simply the better side, and to have been unbeaten throughout the Borders Group, thoroughly merited being overall winners of the Borders Group. If Klindt can maintain the level of performance he showed in his last 4 rides, imo Comets could be serious title contenders, although I still rate Lakeside as favourites. For Edinburgh, the gamble of going with two overseas newcomers has so far not proved to be a positive move, with both averaging well below their 5.2 starting GSA. Ruml in particular has regressed as the Season has progressed, and I am puzzled why, unlike the Riss brothers, who tonight when due to the early finish took the opportunity to put in some practice laps, Max did not do likewise, as he was in more need of further practice?

Teams as per Official Monarchs Website:- STAGGS BAR MONARCHS: Ricky Wells, Joel Andersson, Max Ruml, Mark Riss, Erik Riss (capt.), Coty Garcia, Josh Pickering. THOMAS ARMSTRONG COMETS: Rene Bach, Rasmus Jensen, Ty Proctor (capt.), Dan Bewley, Nicolai Klindt, Kyle Bickley, Mason Campton According to the above, both teams will be at full strength, which does not happen that frequently at the Dale. Whilst Monarchs are also-rans in the Borders Group, should Comets manage at least a draw, they would progress to the semis, at the expense of Glasgow who would also then not progress as the best runners-up. As Monarchs last competitive match was their away victory at Ashfield on 27th May when they knocked the Tigs out of the KO Cup, it might take them a few races to get up to speed. Expect a close match and plenty good racing As an added bonus, the introduction of a big LED screen to Armadale Stadium, believed to be the first in the SGB Championship, is expected to be running at full capacity on Friday. This will show live feeds and replays of the action.

Pity no one told Pearson tonight that it's Team GB not England, especially as the sponsors are a Glasgow (that's in Scotland btw for Nige & Kelv's benefit) based Company.

Interesting you do not comment on the why track preparation at Glasgow appears to be a problem as highlighted by previous posters who were there Are you not "someone in the know" who may be able to clarify to us all what the cause of the alleged poor track conditions are?

Summers for Nielsen & r/r for Worrall would probably be best option for Scunny As Riss has no further UK fixtures with Monarchs until 8/6 he might have gone home for a break. Re Worrall, is there a time limit on how long a Guest Facility is permitted if a temporary injury replacement has not been found?

Woo Hoo! Oh me of little faith

Eh? - I take it you were referring to the brilliant ht 12? Have a look at the video of ht 12 on the BSPA website & tell us all how Riss "was a bit naughty" with Vissing. Overall there was some good races, with Monarchs generally struggling to match Tigers gating prowess, adding to the entertainment. As I expected a 10pt duffing from the Mighty Tigers so to claw back an early 6pt deficit and end up winning on the night was a surprise. As the ref had announced, praise to both sides in completing the meeting super quick

Teams as per Edinburgh web site:- STAGGS BAR MONARCHS: Ricky Wells, Joel Andersson, Mark Riss, Max Ruml, Erik Riss (capt.), Coty Garcia, Josh Pickering. ALLIED VEHICLES TIGERS: Chris Harris (capt.), Lewis Kerr, Claus Vissing, Paul Starke, Richie Worrall, Jack Thomas, James Sarjeant. Having previously lost at home to the Tigers by seven in the Shield, imo Glasgow will be favourites again. Although they had a blip at home to Worky, their riders seem to have had a good week riding for their other teams, with Sarjeant in particular having an 8 pt return for Leicester on Monday. Monarchs will hope that Mark Riss can replicate his form in the Scottish Open, but I do not hold out much hope that Andersson will shake off his mediocre form. If Starke is fully fit, would not be surprised if Tigers post 50 points tomorrow

This was the best match of the season with plenty of quality racing & passing from Nicholls & Wells in particular. Scotty is such a class act and showed how to ride a "technical track" and gave Erik Riss a lesson on inside passing three times in four clashes. With Lunna offering good support, and MPT coming to the party late on, Panthers deserved their one match point. For the Monarchs the main plus point tonight was a vastly improved performance from Joel Andersson, whom I was told was given advice prior to the start on how to ride the Dale by a former exponent. I feel that Max Ruml would benefit from some after match on track coaching from either Wells/Erik Riss or Joel's tutor also, as imo, there is a talented rider urgently needing guidance to realise his potential.

First of all Tigers thoroughly deserved their victory, with both sides throwing away points to each other. Must admit the racing was mainly processional, apart from when riders got into problems on some areas of the track. Hopefully the track preparation will improve as the surface recovers from the weather ravages of the opening month, otherwise they need to bring back Alan Bridgett pronto. Even the performance of the referee, Stuart Wilson, was like the Monarchs, below par, when he correctly stopped ht 10 when third placed Vissing fell on bend 3 and fourth placed Starke laid down. However obviously he is unaware of the new ruling that for the re-run, Starke should have started on 15m in such circumstances. Whilst I recognise that it's early days, the abject performances of Joel Andersson so far, even for a newcomer, is a cause for concern. By all means give him 4 home & 4 away in Official fixtures, but if there is no significant improvement, then let's seek someone else (Kasper Lykke Nielsen or Frederik Jacobsen or Oleg Mikhailov or Patrick Hansen?) as prolonging the agony will do no favours for the rider or the fans. To end on a positive note, rather than slit my wrists now , Max Ruml impressed again with a further improved performance.

Hard to tell how the Monarchs will perform as the 3/4 of Mark Riss & Joel Andersson appear to be the possible Achilles Heel, given their starting averages are both less than Worky's now injured Campton. BDW could well be a potential matchwinner for the Comets, all of whom, apart from Bickley, have had more track time at Armadale than Ruml & Andersson, with the latter possibly still feeling the after effects of his horrendous ht 14 crash last Friday.

Are they affiliated to the Freemasons by any chance?

I have in my collection a programme for Hamburg Motordrome which I reckon is 15th September, 1929 & the first name on the list of riders is Ginger Lees.

On the International Forum, I noticed Racers & Royals has listed Chris Harris at no.5 in the Pila side to race at Rybnik on Saturday

No they haven't - ask Richie Worrall!

Thanks , see it now but it's not prominently displayed and you have to dig down to find it. Also noted that there's a 50p booking fee per transaction, so if only purchasing 1 adult ticket online, the total cost will be £18.

Cannot find PATG prices listed on Official website, mind you if they're the highest in the UK, this might be intended. They've also bumped the progy price up from £2.80 to three quid - imo this is too expensive & will probably encourage more to bring their own pre-printed score sheets. Think whoever is responsible is trying to "persuade" occasional punters to book online/obtain a blue card instead. Also noticed that Sam Masters is still listed as Team Captain under club info. - tut tut.

Saw him in action at Sittingbourne in September and was very impressed by him. Has a classic effortless style and thought he would have been snapped up by Scunny for their no.7 this Season. Having also seen JPB riding, personally I would have chosen JT ahead of him. Think the Tigs have just improved their prospects for 2018 with this signing.

Time for a reality check for those who believe that noise is not a problem in the environment that Speedway operates in the UK. If some believe that the background noise is such an intrinsic factor in the Sport, then if Speedway is to continue in areas with residential housing nearby, the only option to keep both the sound addicts and the local residents happy would be to build/alter stadia to be totally enclosed with all-encompassing roofs. This would probably be too costly to do in the first place, but would have the added bonus of preventing cancellations due to rain. The other alternative is that Speedway circuits have to relocate to remote sites, and assuming there is no protected wildlife in the vicinity. If this was the case, then I wonder how a viable support could be attracted to travel to such locations. Continuing to ignore other alternatives, such as quieter bikes, is more likely to the last nail in the coffin, if we wish to retain the Sport within, or near to population centers.

It's the crowd that should create both the level of atmosphere & noise in a stadium, rather than relying on an artificial surrounding created by exhausts which travels well outside the venue. Major sports such as football can create plenty atmosphere without relying upon artificial means of noise. In fact if we had quiet bikes, the comments shouted from the terraces could enhance the atmosphere, rather than be drowned out by the noise from the bikes.

Who said they might like it? If you had bothered to properly read what I stated namely """If electric bikes can match or better the level entertainment of the current conventional Speedway". My point was that it's what we watch that is important, not the background noise, which causes more problems with the surrounding neighborhood for existing and proposed tracks. So if a form of Speedway engine/silencer was developed that minimised noise but did not impact on the quality of racing, would you still be against it? I am aware that electric speedway bikes have not so far matched conventional machines, but they are a far quieter alternative. Still if it's the noise that turns you on, turn your deaf aid up a bit more