Boothers

DW, check out posts 123 onwards (and my post 198) on this thread. Don't worry plenty of comments were passed at the time of the original staging regarding the inclusion of Stonehewer (in particular) and Wright. Workington should NOT have been in the first incarnation of this event because Stonehewer was still 'retired' on the cut off date - but can't argue with them being in the re-staging as they do qualify using the real time averages we were told were going to be used. Glasgow should NOT be included in the restaging because Watson was still an Elite League rider with Poole at the cut off date (or what should have been the cut off date if the advertised qualification 'rules' had been applied). I am not anti-Glasgow, anti-Workington, anti-Birmingham or anti-anyone, I am however very pro-Redcar. My one and only complaint is that MY team who qualified for the original event (under the advertised qualification rules) have still been kicked out of the restaging DESPITE being the top qualifiers for the event (under the advertised rules). Much was made of the best riders riding in the event due to real time averages being used but because the meeting is rained off the rules have just been abandoned and the meeting has become an invitation event.

OK let's cut the crap:- "Super7even is the best British Speedway has to offer. The top riders and the top teams" Super7even Qualification:- "This will be the 1st time ever that British Speedway has used real time averages to calculate the qualifiers, this will be done 30 days before a meeting" PL 4TT Qualifying rules:- "7 teams will qualify on combined averages of their top 4 riders (excluding bonus points) plus 1 team as a wild card" Absolute rubbish!!! Real time qualification has gone completely out of the window and the meeting has become an invitation event. As of 08/06/07 (30 day cut off, surely not too difficult to work out especially as the meeting had been put back by two months) the qualifiers should be as follows:- 1 REDCAR (Yes that's REDCAR, remember us, the team that originally qualified in third place for the original staging of the event) Riders and averages (not including Bonus points):- Havelock 10.43, Grieves 8.80, Tresarrieu 7.11, Kerr 6.46 TOTAL 32.80 2 WORKINGTON Wright (J) 9.46, Nieminen 8.84, Stonehewer 8.53, Branney © 5.90 TOTAL 32.73 3 ISLE of WIGHT Holder 10.03, Bunyan 8.54, Stojanowski 7.04, Phillips 6.45 TOTAL 32.06 4 KINGS LYNN Nermark 9.56, Topinka 8.88, Lee 7.02, Harding 6.13 TOTAL 31.59 5 SHEFFIELD Compton 10.07, Ashworth 7.45, Wilson 6.84, Parsons 6.72 TOTAL 31.08 6 SOMERSET Zetterstrom 10.34, Kramer 8.90, Hawkins 6.79, Katt 5.00 TOTAL 31.03 7 RYE HOUSE Woffinden 8.36, Boxall 7.81, Neath 7.81, Allen 6.15 TOTAL 30.13 Birmingham (Ostergaard, Lyons, Sanchez & Armstrong) would actually qualify in 8th place with 29.65 and would not require a Wildcard inclusion. Unfortunately a Glasgow team of Parker, Leverington, McAllan and Dicken - top 4 at the cut off date - would only finish 11th in the qualification list. Including Craig Watson in the meeting is a mockery - the man has an earned Elite League Green Sheet average of 3 (7 home/6 away as per the BSPA website) and therefore has a 4.50 Premier League average and as this is less than Lee Dickens 5.17 he shouldn't even be in Glasgow's top 4. If Mr. Chapman would like to explain why Redcar have been excluded from the Chapman Invitation Fours then there are a few North Eastern fans would be very interested to know. I'd also like to know where the averages quoted on the website come from - Kings Lynn 36.46 ??? Even if these are correct and are the most current that Mr. Chapman can find (I've just returned from holiday and am still a week behind with other teams) I would still like to point out that Redcars top 4 (with Josh Auty replacing Chris Kerr) are currently averaging 31.77 (ie 4th place)and yet still no sign of them. Super7evens ? Best of British Speedway? My Arse

At least I got a reply (however meaningless) from JC. More than I've ever got from the BSPA

By my reckoning (totally unofficial & probably wrong ) Woffinden 8.39 Robson 8.26 Boxall 8.07 Neath 7.93 Neath would leapfrog Boxall if bonus points were included.

OK cut off time gone by, I'd have to go with the following qualifiers:- 1) Somerset - Zetterstrom/Kramer 19.24 2) Kings Lynn - Nermark/Topinka 18.37 3) IoW - Holder/Bunyan 18.29 4) Glasgow - Parker/Stancl 18.06 5) Workington - Wright/Nieminen 17.78 6) Sheffield - Compton/Ashworth 17.30 7) Birmingham - Lyons/Ostergaard 17.07 8) Rye House - Woffinden/Boxall 16.46 9) Redcar - Grieves/Tresarrieu 16.04 10) Edinburgh - Correy/Lawson 15.33 ** or 10) Newcastle - Henry/France 15.22 ** **Unsure at the moment of the status of William Lawson - if he has moved full time to Wolves then he would be replaced by Henrik Moller reducing Edinburgh combined averages down to 14.51 and they would be replaced by Newcastle as shown Averages not including bonus points. Riders fit to ride at qualification date. All riders to have ridden at least 3 home & 3 away fixtures.

Here is the reply I received (for what it's worth!):- I'm afraid it's to early to tell you that as more injuries could happen to any of the teams, a decision will be made nearer the time. Regards JC

Havvy in the British Final ?? But surely Super7even Unwritten Rulebook Section 143.7 subsection 2 states that No Redcar rider however valid his/their qualification shall ever darken the door of a Super7even meeting. I'll believe it when I see it. The Redcar 4 are innocent!! Arthur Fowler WAS innocent! Free Nelson Mandela!

Thanks for conceeding that point Seanisnumber1. We do have sympathy but it isn't Redcar's fault that the original staging was called off - and we were highly unlikely to have bought on the day after being booted out were we? All that is required is to refund any monies to anyone affected by the restaging, any fans lost in these circumstances would be replaced by the 'new' teams fans so no-one will lose out. And anyway if the correct action is taken - that of 'new' teams qualifying at the 'new' cut of date of 08/06/07 Sheffield stand as much chance (and probably more) of being amongst the qualifiers as everyone. Everyone starts back on a level playing field and all teams have another 3 weeks before the qualification period is over. Redcar fans are just upset that as valid qualifiers for the original staging and being kicked out due to injuries if we can field that original qualifying team for the restaging but aren't allowed back in then something is wrong somewhere. By the same token if a new cut off date is given (and let's face it much was made of the fact they were using up to date averages to determine qualification!) and Redcar do not qualify by right then we can hardly complain, can we.

Really don't understand how Hans Andersen qualified for the Semis in this GP. Surely the fact that in heat 2 where three of the riders who finished on 6 points met both Hampel and Holta finished in front of Andersen should mean that one of these two riders should have qualified as per 77.9.2. - other than the fact that in one of their other rides Hampel and Holta didn't finish the race for whatever reason. Bit of a mockery as far as I'm concerned.

Look forward to a full strength Redcar side being able to take their rightful place in the rerun of this meeting then. YEAH RIGHT!

Nope, believe you me last night would not have been a good night for me to ask Mr. Chapman anything Would have made last years "Security to the Referee's Box" pale into insignificance All in the past and forgotten now........ ........until the Pairs eh?

My apologies for the 'bought and cheated' jibe last night. Bit of a stressful evening! Calmed down a bit now. Nothing will change my mind that Redcar should be in the Final though. Best of luck to all the finalists (...as if I care )

After losing Chris Kerr tonight in another horrific looking crash it matters not a jot to Bears fans anymore anyway! Good luck to all who fought, bought or cheated their way into the final ! Shoddy, wasn't shooting the messenger - I've no axe to grind with you whatever SCB - Redcar didn't drop anybody! Losing riders to injury and replacing them is a completely different matter.

Sorry Shoddy but it is. If it wasn't then I'd quite happily forget about it (well maybe happily is the wrong word, we all want to see our teams qualify don't we ) As stated in my other posts at the cut off for qualification the combined current averages for Grieves, Tresarrieu, Kerr and Kessler was higher than that of the top 4 of Somerset, Sheffield and Birmingham - all of whom are now in the competition! I know I'm wasting my breath (not with you, but with the 'powers that be' ) but it's so infuriating to be kicked out of a competition you should be in just because someone obviously doesn't think your side is attractive enough without it's star man.

It doesn't matter who Kessler is replacing, at the moment he has signed for Redcar for a month and is a Redcar rider. Redcars top 4 available riders (the only qualification needed as far as I'm aware) are Grieves, Tresarrieu, Kerr and Kessler. As I stated in my last post at the qualification cut off date their combined 'current' averages were higher than both Somerset and Sheffield. I wouldn't give a monkeys if the averages for our 'second' team were less than Sheffields and Birminghams but this isn't the case. Redcar have 'qualified' twice for the final of this competition but are still booted out.

According to the Star today Redcar were given a deadline of last Friday to indicate whether Gary Havelock would be fit and as we couldn't guarantee this 'Redcar had to pull out under competition rules' Ha Bloody Ha ! It also states that 'the Teesside club made a late appeal to stay in by including new signing Robbie Kessler in their quartet. Said Sheffield chief Neil Machin: "The rules are quite clear.." ( ) "and even though Redcar wanted to include new signing Robbie Kessler on his starting average this season rather than his current figure, they had to pull out" Right that'll be the Neil Machin whose Sheffield team are replacing us in the competition. The fact is that we don't need to take Robbies starting average, or his current average all that should matter, and "the rules are quite clear" is his average as at qualifiaction shut off date 13/04/07. Robbie average then was 4.76. If you replace Gary's average at that point (10.52) with Robbies 4.76 you have a difference of 5.76. Take the 5.76 off our qualifying averages from the Super7 PL 4TT details on the website and this leaves us with a combined average of 29.89 for our quartet STILL above both Somerset and Sheffield. And I don't want any of this crap about Robbie's average being for Sheffield - at least he'd ridden official matches this year - Workingtons quartet contain Carl Stonehewer who on the cut off date was still in retirement and hadn't turned a wheel in anger. UNFAIR

Where does this come from Marron? Todays Gazette says a small tear in his lung and he's expected back in a month?

Billy Janniro will be replacing the injured James Wright for Thursday's meeting.

STONEY’S BACK FOR KEVIN! The great news for Speedway fans and for Kevin Little in particular is that THE Premier League Legend Carl Stonehewer will be riding in the Legends’ heats in Kevin’s Benefit at Redcar on 5th April. “I don’t think I’ll sleep tonight!” said Kevin after Stoney had phoned him with the news. The former Workington hero hasn’t ridden since receiving a serious arm injury in 2005 but he will be donning leathers again in two weeks time. Kevin says “As far as the Premier League is concerned, he was always THE man to beat home and away. The number one. “I spent most of my career trying to beat him and then in 2005 I ended up paired with him! What a privilege that was – he was great to ride with, I just had to look and he was there. “He is a fantastic character and it is a great boost that he’s prepared to come and ride in my meeting.” Stonehewer will be paired with Martin Dixon, with whom he won the 1997 Premier League Pairs in the colours of Long Eaton 10 years ago. TEAM LINEUPS IN THE MAIN EVENT SO FAR: REDCAR: Gary Havelock, Shane Parker, Chris Kerr. NEWCASTLE: Kenneth Bjerre, Stuart Robson, Richard Hall, George Stancl. EDINBURGH: Rory Schlein, William Lawson, Ronnie Correy. WORKINGTON: Joe Screen, Kauko Nieminen, James Wright. The PREMIER LEAGUE LEGENDS are – MIDDLESBROUGH: Martin “Mad Dog” Dixon and Carl Stonehewer, EDINBURGH: Peter Carr and Kenny McKinna, BERWICK: Scott Lamb and Sean Courtney, NEWCASTLE: Paul “Banger” Bentley and David Blackburn. From Mike Hunter's press release.

George Stancl and Ronnie Correy also now confirmed starters.

Oops just noticed that JulieR has mentioned this on Kevins Meeting thread. Admins may wish to delete this or merge the threads. Sorry

See the following link to an e-bay auction for the chance to be the referee at Kevin Little's Farewell meeting at Redcar on 05/04/07:- BE THE REF LINK (PS Tried to PM an admin to see if I was ok to post this, but you cant seem to PM the one I picked - although she could PM me! Hope I'm not breaking any rules )

Joe Screen is now a confirmed starter - riding for the Workington Team.

Kevin stated at last nights Redcar Bears 'Meet the Riders' evening that Richard Hall has also confirmed. A class field for the 'real' meeting and the 'veterans' running a mini pairs meeting. Kevin and his team have put together a very attractive looking evenings entertainment. N.B. The Meeting has so much to get through that it will start 30 minutes earlier than normal at 19:00 (that's seven o'clock in english time!)

James Wright now confirmed for Workington.