Fourentee

You should have seen him at last year's Elite League Riders. I thought he'd be going out as the milkman came in.

Harsh. Plenty of riders have tracks where they can't reproduce their normal form and, yes, Holder's is probably Monmore. But he does have the occasional good performance; had a net 11 from five (stripping out a TR double-point win) as recently as 2015 when, curiously, riding at No.2.

Shame. No-one should have their entertainment spoiled, least of all in a niche sport that needs all the support it can get. I've had the odd unpleasant experience at other circuits, but I'm aware those 'supporters' are not remotely representative of their clubs' backing as a whole. Personally I enjoy mixing with fans of other sides, you get fresh faces to talk to between the races plus a different perspective on the match.

Woffinden tweet: 8 points not bad! 24h NO rain and they prepare a track like that for the best riders in the world to wobble around!

Me neither (my elder son gets them occasionally). It was the new injury aspect, as you mentioned, that made me think no facility would be granted. Rye's press release clearly states that the migraine was present before the match began.

I'm no rules expert, but in that case I rather think it would have been reserve cover only.

Apparently he arrived with the migraine; it may have come on quite late. Don't know if RR would have been permissible by then or whether he just decided to give it a go and hope for the best.

Having checked last season's scores (5pts on each visit by Lakeside), you may be right! Back in the day Kennett was the default Monmore guest (home and away sides) but perhaps at my advancing age his performances are taking on something of a roseate hue.

Wolverhampton Speedway acknowledge receipt of Mark Riss. Unpacked and found to be bright, shiny and in excellent working order. Many thanks!

Rye's press release after the match said that Kennett (and he's normally very good at Monmore) had been suffering from a migraine.

Tremendous night's racing; Rye contributed far more to the action than the scoreline might suggest and I hope their travelling fans enjoyed the evening despite the result. Branford, from memory, is decent at Monmore and might have chipped in with a few while Harris appeared mechanically stricken and didn't hit his stride until later on. Robson always a pleasure to watch at the Green. Wolves very impressive with Lindgren different gravy, opening a gap for Howarth in one race and closing the door on a rival to protect him in another. Schlein impressive on debut and Mark Riss (not a rider I had seen before) very neat and tidy, can turn it on a sixpence (Edinburgh upbringing, doubtless). Daft as it may sound it was his last place that made me sit up; he was on the pace in what was a hot heat. Good stuff!

That's an interesting observation and would seem to echo Peter Karlsson's comment last year about the importance of a quick first lap to generate momentum throughout the race.

Thanks for the info. A terrace discussion on Monday with a friend touched on the difficulties of trialling something different; when things go wrong, the problem -- and, more pertinently, the solution -- is perhaps not as obvious compared with, say, a GM which will be more familiar mechanically to everyone concerned. FWIW I thought Adam more than did his job on the Monday (not a league match, of course) -- two wins, including negating a tactical ride, and two thirds in home 4-2s.

Point one, "the bigger picture", is precisely why I drew the comparison with Rye House and Wolves. Point two, your congratulations to Somerset, carried the immediate caveat pointed out earlier. Point three, thank you for accepting that what you put forward as fact was actually opinion (and I'll willingly admit that your anticipated outcome was highly probable). Point four, I have at no point accused Poole fans of being unfair, as detailed in my earlier post.

Missing the point, as usual. I wouldn't necessarily expect supporters of a defeated team to congratulate the victorious opposition and nor did I accuse them of failing to do so. My remarks concerned seeing the wider picture rather than the narrow focus on a win or a loss. Amusing, however, to see your praise of Somerset: "Everyone has said they deserved the win" immediately tempered with the sneering caveat "by beating the team put in front of them" followed with the assertion as fact "a full strength team would have picked up the win". Probability is not certainty.

Neither for nor against, to be honest. I've always felt he's a confidence rider (even more than most of them) -- as goes heat one, so goes the rest of the meeting. Certainly plenty of talent and speed.

Stepping aside from the whole Kasprzak/Garrity/dustbowl/we-would-have-won-at-full-strength-yah-boo-sucks exchanges, perhaps we could collectively take a little pleasure from Somerset's victory. Not because Poole were the opposition, but because the Rebels are new to the top flight and victory in front of what was apparently a big crowd should help them make a success of the transition. The same applies to Rye House beating Wolves first up, although from a black and gold perspective obviously I would have preferred a different result. Sometimes we need to take a wider view, IMHO. As an aside, that was a very honest post from BobC. Not easy to criticise the club you support, and whether you agree with his reasoning or not the point of view was put with clarity and conviction.

While not necessarily disagreeing with that, you do need to bear in mind the overall effect on the team -- it's not an either/or between Thorssell and Skornicki. I suspect BWitcher has in mind the extra 1.6-odd of team average building that Wolves would gain by removing the former rather than the latter. But as per his conversation with Sidney, it's a moot point in any event.

Dreadful news; my commiserations to all Bees supporters. An awful day.

It may not be frivolous but it is, if you'll permit me, a little short-sighted from the point of view of Wolverhampton "doing the decent thing". Masters was a pivotal part of last season's title-winning team and clearly enjoyed a breakthrough season, form which (for what it's worth) he has subsequently underlined in the Australian championship. He would surely have been regarded by pretty well any speedway fan as a nailed-on Wolf for 2017, assuming him not to be in the plans of his parent club. Lawson, who I think is a fine rider and a top bloke (and I think the same of his dad), is not yet at that level. I seem to recall he had a Monmore season at No.8 back in the day and while that was perhaps 12 months too early for him, I'd be more than happy to see him return at some time to the black and gold. But there's no way that, for this season, I'd take him over Masters. As far as "give the Brit a job" goes, you will doubtless have noted that there are three in there already.

Like every other rider comparison, there's a simple answer: It depends. Kasprzak, on any independent measure, is surely the more accomplished rider. Does Cook represent better value on his average? Possibly (depends on the planned line-up of the relevant club team, naturally). Does he have the potential to continue improving? Possibly. Does he have inherent determination? Definitely (arguably too much at times, although surely any team manager would prefer his riders to need reined in occasionally rather than geed up). To extend Blupanther's comment, I'm sure Poole fans will be very happy with Kasprzak and Aces supporters likewise with Cook.

It takes a bit longer when the bone has to be carbon dated...(rushes to cupboard to find passport and airline ticket).

Plenty of questions and not too many answers despite the BSPA statement. But, in the circumstances, perhaps the least worst outcome although there are clearly plenty of anxious days ahead for Coventry and their supporters. Fingers crossed.

Top effort. Loving that.

And here was me thinking British fixtures were televised.