INCOGNITO

I wouldn't when you look at Watt, Robson, Branford or Skornicki, Howarth, Clegg or Kurtz, Holder, Newman, Klindt etc. The season will depend on all teams once new averages come in and it's clear as to what happens to the averages of the riders that have been left out at the start of the season. Will the 42 limit come into effect when all seven riders get a new average or will tracks be able to drop a rider still with a false inflated average for a reassessed rider that's on the sidelines ? There will be loopholes and you can be sure they will be tested.

SPONSORS - So there are big firms ready to invest but it appears as there is more negativity with the sport than plus and that is the stumbling block. Well that is unlikely to change as the fans that are getting less and less are watching the sport here being drained of top class riders due to limited finances and no fixed race night. Only a few clubs would want to field a team in a super strong league and that isn't going to happen without the fixed race night. How about trying to get two or three British tracks to enter the Polish League on a Sunday as it's just as quick to get from Poole or Swindon to Leszno as it is from Duagavpils in Latvia. Maybe get two teams to try and enter, one at Belle Vue and one at Poole using Bomber, Nicholls, King etc and whoever would be interested in signing up instead of signing to a Polish team. Maybe that's unlikely to be approved by the PZM but how about getting a British Speedway team together to invite the Polish and Swedish teams over for a challenge. If it's at Belle Vue use Cook, Fricke and the Worralls plus three others like Bomber, Nicholls and King. This could be done at each track once making nine (or 8) challenge matches to get the likes of Sayfutdinov, Pedersen, Woffinden, Janowski, Pawlicki etc to come here the odd time. If we can't afford to run a big money league, then this will give each track one meeting that should see a argue crowd in to see a select team race against Leszno or Zielona or Gorzow etc. If only a few Polish teams would be willing to come, invite the Swedish top teams like Piraterna or Dackarna.

They have a decent team and an excellent top three but using so much on one rider like Holder has made them weaker at the middle and while they look to have four mid range riders backing the top three up, they look prone to a few big defeats away. Lambert is going to be the star and Batchelor can't be any worse than he was last season surely. Yes they will be a decent team but I don't see them being any better than the four I mentioned before in Belle Vue (likely), Poole, Rye House and Wolverhampton.

So far Rye House, Poole and Wolves look by far the strongest and I'd expect Belle Vue to be strong once they are sorted.

Riding where ? Very quiet at Leicester, Belle Vue and Coventry is concerning and takes you back to the 80's when everyone wanted to ride here and teams were still filling their teams in March just days before the start of the season.

This could well be rumours and either way it's not surprising when the fans of Coventry and the sport in general are treated like out casts and not kept in the picture of what's going on. Sure there are certain things not allowed to be said or needs saying but look at the Bees website and it's as if there is nothing going on at all and Christmas just finished. Even Mushrooms are at least fed manure while being kept in the dark, here the club mainly are treating the paying public with contempt and the lack of news is a disgrace and fuels such rumours when nothing is being said. Good Luck to Coventry be it at Brandon, Beaumont Park or elsewhere and hope some resolve is sorted soon.

Without opening the link I knew it would be Odsal 85 and the double pass. The pass where he hit the dirt line by accident and it nearly flung him off but he kept it on and it gave him the drive to get past. Had he not hit that line of dirt and had the reaction it had, he would have been behind them all the way. He even admitted later it caught him by suprise and jolted him forward It's not a hobby for these riders, it's a job just as a teacher, driver, bin man etc etc The pay is the main reason and the rest follows otherwise it would be a hobby

When the helmet goes on be it for Lewis Hamilton or Jason Doyle, they are doing it for the money and then the love of the speed and adrenaline. Entertaining the fans is nothing to do with it and while we like to think it is, it's a profession just as a teacher or a bus driver etc and a way of earning a living. It just happens to be more exciting and better hours and pay

With ten weeks roughly til the start of the season and no one seeming to be in the seat to get things put right at Brandon or pay for it to be upto standard by then, surely the best and possibly the only option would be to ride at Beaumont Park, Leicester either as the sole team or alongside the Leicester Lions. Years ago Cradley Heath had to move for one season to Stoke under different circumstances. This was a much longer journey than Coventry to Leicester but it did give them another twelve months of life. Surely moving to Leicester is the only option available at the moment so if this is the only or most viable option then announce it and in the mean time sort out Brandon in the next few months. Good Luck to Coventry for 2017 and onwards.

So the CHAIRMAN of the BSPA is the reason he has pulled out you are saying ! So his press release isn't factually correct if you are right but a poor excuse has been used instead and the fans of the sport near and far that want to see Belle Vue (Coventry and Leicester too) on track in ten weeks time are fed BS on the official website of the sport ?

I would agree that it's bad news as this is someone that fits the bill that Belle Vue need and just because he is out of the country during January seems more like a easy and less public way of pulling out. He states he has a team working on it during talks, so what is stopping them carrying on while he is away ? Looks more like the costs involved and the control of the club or stadium is more of an issue really and he has got out of a bad deal on the horizon. If it was such a good deal to run at the NSS then surely the BSPA could get someone in with help and let the Council fund it as they seem to think it can be profitable to run Speedway at any level.

Just flicking through some posts and seeing about the 2.2 million it was sold for and about 5 to build a new stadium so why didn't they just use the 2.8 to improve what they have ? Maybe because the 2.2 from Party B goes to Party A for the sale Party B then builds houses and makes a 4.5 profit Question - Is there a connection in ownership between Party A and Party B ? Moving into a new stadium wouldn't be as much as 5 million if it was an existing site like an old football ground or something. Plus even if it was from scratch, laying a new track and putting in concrete terraces plus shelters for pits etc could easily be done for half that price. So if there is any connection between A and B it's basically there are new houses and a new track with 2 million profit and no money moving hands really. Or considerably more profit if the track doesn't happen !! Fixtures and fittings includes bars, tables, kitchen equipment etc so to get it back to a standard to be fit for the public it could be considerably more to put right and meet all standards. Leicester hope to start signing riders soon and if the two clubs don't join together, with 16 home meetings each, I'm sure they could still track share if required to. Either way I hope both clubs can get things sorted and be ready in 10 weeks time !!

There will be quite a few riders unable to find a team place in the Premiership and unless they switch to 2016 Elite averages they won't find a place at all as riders that have signed will see their inflated averages drop which will be hard to fit In those with inflated averages should injuries force changes.

Sounds more like they have both horse and cart but no Stable

Think a move to Beaumont Park is looking more and more likely at the present time. So it could be Leicester Bees and Belle Vue Storm which is some change since close season. Shame

Very few riders will maintain their averages and if you judge them on their Elite League averages you will get a clearer picture of what to expect from riders so Adam Skornicki is 5.23 and Kyle Howarth 5.18 which is what they will be around. Adam maybe able to get closer to six but Howarth at around five is a realistic figure with more third places than anything. Trouble is, should either hit a rough patch, will Clegg average enough without protected reserve rides to give either a spell at reserve to boost confidence. Howarth just about finished over five due to those scores at the end but remember three of those were at home to Kings Lynn, Swindon and Coventry who all struggled and were sent home with big defeats, so double figure scores in those three boosted his average. That said he is as strong as most number 2 riders in the Premiership and he can hold his own hopefully but don't expect scores of sevens and eights next season but more four and fives.

Teams are being built in different ways as usual and it depends which way is the best but at present with seven of the nine teams all but sorted, Kings Lynn, Poole, Rye House and Wolverhampton are the four strongest with at least two strong heat leaders in the team. Poole have gone with a big top two in Kasprzak and Andersen and backed them up with four riders that can all be match winners but importantly they will always have a strong reserve. Kings Lynn are much the same with two decent reserves and a clear strong top three and both have one rider on a modest average in Klindt and Batchelor which is a bonus. Rye House have a great top four, especially if Watt gets back to the form we know he can be and Robson is a decent second string. However like Wolves, they have gambled on the reserves not needing to be too important as both have gone with young inexperienced riders who are still fresh from the National League. Wolves have a great top three which all return from the title winning team and Masters starts with a old PL average rather than his EL assessed average which is over a point higher and Adam Skornicki on a reduced 7.22 average as he hasn't officially ridden here since 2013 as his scores in 2014 were taken away as Birmingham folded mid season. The question is how effective will a 40 year old rider be after a few years out but looking at other teams second strings, he should be capable of matching the likes of Porsing, Bellego, Lasse Bjerre and Jack Holder at least. Kyle Howarth is more of a worry on a 7.18 average which looks high but Stuart Robson is on 7.09 and can be judged to be along the same strength and is about level also with Newman and Kerr who have lower averages. For me had Wolves been able to have tempted to have bought back Klindt, Howarth would have been the more likely to have struggled than Skornicki and using Klindt would have meant they had around 1.8 extra to sign a number seven to start alongside Clegg. Maybe Bewley or Williamson may offer a bit more than Greaves but would it have made much difference, maybe a point or two but Wolves base themselves on loyalty and as a member of the title winning team, Howarth was given another season and as pointed out already, he should be a match for most other teams second string that possibly starts at number two. The second strings and possible weak reserves are the question for the Wolves title defence but had they of gone with Musielak, Klindt and Morris instead of Skornicki, Howarth and Greaves would they have been any better off really ? Certainly one of the stronger teams so far and if Skornicki and Howarth can be 5-6 point riders, they will be hard to beat as that heat leader trio will win races which upto last season was a problem at Wolves and like 2016 it is hard to see any team coming away from Monmore with much more than a long journey home with some chips from the local choppy.

Rory Schlein is one of the so called Bargain riders as he has an average that is obtainable where as most have over inflated averages where most riders will drop a point or two. If he can stay injury free and avoid doubling up clashes (think Wolves get priority any way) then he will be a great signing to make a powerful top four. Looking at some of the names in the top level h could certainly do a job as a reserve or second string.

They invested in a complex and while Speedway is a major part of that at the moment, it is built to accommodate other events and sports and in time will be used more for a varied number of activities regardless of what it is called. I agree it is great having the tag of NSS but I do feel that over the years, this is what the BSPA, SCB and all clubs should have been looking into and building their own NSS possibly in Birmingham and partnofbthe old NEC buildings which is ever expanding and even has its own airport and train station. Twenty or thirty years of saving and investment could have seen this become reality but money comes in and no real investment in the long term future has been made like this which is a shame now many are renting stadiums that take up much valued land for housing

Just flicking through the first few posts it gets me how people are going on about the NSS being in the wrong part of Britain but what they seem to forget is there is NO NSS in reality as the stadium in Manchester is owned by the Council and is only rented by speedway for meetings (when it's paid any way). A real NSS would be one that isn't owned by outside bodies but owned by the sport and financed by all clubs in a small part and is not under the control of a government body that knows very little about the sport. Sadly over the years Speedway has lost many owned stadiums to housing and now relies heavily on rented accommodation to run the sport. Is Belle Vue going to be sorted and can the sport (or Belle Vue) afford to run at the so called NSS with costs at roughly £20,000 for each home meeting for rent and wages let alone flights, running costs etc. To break even they have to get in 1,500 people but that increases to over 2,000 when you add on wages for away meetings too. Maybe Leicester and Coventry don't cost as much to run and they are struggling to either build a team or get a race track and stadium ready. With both clubs being not too far from each other, it is possibly more sensible for Coventry who have a full team to move to Leicester who have a race track but no team. Then we have Swindon who had a farewell to the Abbey in 2015 and made a big deal about being the final night as they looked to move next door. In the end the temporary move back to Blunsdon was made permanent for 2016 and looks to be carrying on next year. Is there any movement on building the track next door or the stadium being started ? Speedway is a great sport but it's not moved forward with the times and is still very much in the seventies with old stadiums and ancient ways of doing business. Can anyone think of any other sport or entertainment where you don't get an actual printed ticket for that event or buy online. In fact many don't even take card payments and unless it's cash it's no entry. It's not going to change and the sooner British Speedway moves forward with a more affordable product for both clubs and fans it's always going to struggle in a country where so many other sports are run at higher levels which is less of a case in Sweden, Denmark or Poland. While they have top football clubs, they don't have the Premiership or Champions League like British clubs do and then you have Moto GP, Rugby, Cricket and so many other sports that are minuscule in the Scandanavian and European countries. As for next season, they have tried to move the sport forward and it's good to see they make the efforts but yet again the thoughts were not looked at properly and once the season gets under way, these problems will soon come to light such as averages which were done to old Premier League levels instead of doing them all to Elite League levels as most are over inflated and many riders will see their averages drop considerably. Those riders left out at the start will find it hard to get positions with inflated averages as other riders will have new more realistic averages, so a new 7.00 rider won't be able to come in for an injured 7.3 rider who is now averaging 5.4. Had they started with EL averages then averages won't have changed so much and all it needed was a 38 limit in the top level and a 30 limit in the next level. This also would have helped the likes of Harris, Nicholls, Kennett etc double up as it looks like most doubling up heat leaders are riders like Grajczonek, Masters who already had lower level clubs. In many ways it would have been better to have formed on league with 18-20 teams meaning the young riders like Shanes, Clegg etc won't be getting burnt out doing three leagues and miss as many meetings due to fixture clashes. Hopefully all nine Premiership tracks are ready for the start next season and I'm proved wrong but I have a horrible feeling there won't be nine teams in the top flight and when the new averages and new limits at 42 come in there won't be a shortage of replacements.

Is Bewley even an asset of the club as I thought he was a free agent at present ? 30k for the Worralls , 15 for Hooo and 40 for Max ? Why when all you have to do is offer decent money and they go where they want these days and being an asset means very little these days.

Swindon have 3.32 extra with Doyle over Lindgren so combined averages maybe they are but are Morris and Ellis in the same bracket as Thorssell, and Masters ? Bellego and Howarth can't really say but in Max Clegg Wolves have a teenager getting better and better and good people around to learn from As for CHUBBY Skornicki I bet he is fitter than most 30 year olds so don't write off the Do Nut King just because he has been in a shirt and tie for a few years (That's if it is Sqora ? )

Most catering outlets are either run by the owners staff such as Ladbrokes at Monmore Green or to contract catering companies as it is at Belle Vue and the Speedway have nothing to do with it and get no money from these outlets. Catering stands such as burger bars etc can be charged a pitch rate to be there which can be organised through the club. This would be a fixed fee and part of the agreement with the contractors running the in house bars and restaurants . The speedway gets the money through the turnstiles only in many cases and this along with sponsorship deals have to pay the running costs, rent and wages which is why you hear them sometimes say we need a crowd of 1,300 to break even and not we need to sell 4,100 burgers

9.83 Cook8.49 Worrall 8.47 Worrall Xxx Xxx 5.36 Jacobs 3.90 Bewley That leaves just under 14 points for two decent second strings like Berge 6.91 and Riss 6.78 or Lawson 8.22 and Lambert 5.27 to give a better balanced team. Add Fricke or Zagar and you are pushing Jacobs into a second string role and putting pressure on two young reserves, so being cost effective and sensible, signing two solid second strings would be a better option As for fitting both in, well the limits 50 not 60 and I didn't realise Bill Gates was the new owner 😜

Under last years system they could have come in on such an average unless they rode in a top league but since then we have moved to this new rule of giving everyone an average in the lower level, so a rider like Mikkel B Andersen could have joined Workington or Sheffield last season on a 7.00 average which is correct. There are going to be some big problems in the future over this averages being set at the lower level and they should start the season when all teams are done on assessed EL averages and limits of 38 and 30 which in effect is the 50/40 limit but using the higher leagues averages. Once teams start getting new averages, all this ONE AVERAGE goes out the window as a rider averaging 6.22 in the Premiership will be roughly the same as a rider averaging 9 in the Championship but using the old EL averages means that changes can easily be done when injuries come in as most Premiership riders will see their averages drop but the riders left out at the start will still have inflated averages unless you use their old EL average or an assessment of such.