INCOGNITO

UPDATED - Moving Lindgren up to main contender for title and if he carries on Nicki should be around top eight but don't think he will be as consistent as years ago. Have doubts over Holder staying in the series or being competitive and along with Pawlicki and Cook will be bottom three.

Given up trying to get Freddie Lindgren in so no doubt they are looking at getting Chris Holder in and keeping the current top five to give a more balanced team. However with Holder now back racing, shouldn't it be Kildemand looking to get back in as cover shouldn't be given for a rider that is riding on other days overseas. Nicolai Klindt another option and a decent second string / reserve. Personally don't think Sundstrom is the rider people thought he was going to be and maybe that could be one avenue to get Holder and Kildemand in the team along with Klindt.

Heard that the current deal is only about £3-5,000 a meeting which is way down on last season and having signed a deal why would they want to buy and give away a thousand more tickets when some tracks are struggling to get that many in already. crowds at Belle Vue have been shocking and with the highest rent fees in the sport and numerous overheads it's worrying that this country is still trying to field riders that they can't afford. Although people want to see the better riders, the sport needs to be looking at one league raced on whatever night that track wants featuring riders like Danny King, Edward Kennett, Scott Nicholls, Kyle Howarth etc as number ones and having a fixed pay policy. if these riders can have six rides and look at picking up £1,500 a meeting in meetings giving plenty of places to young National League riders coming through then admission fees could be lowered to £10 for adults. It's new fans we need and £18 standing in old stadiums with inadequate facilities isn't going to attract them regardless of advertising. New fans don't know Max Fricke from Ashley Morris or Jason Doyle to Dan Bewley but for a night of racing at £10 and 18 heat league matches and 6 junior heats could attract new fans with the right promoting. Bigger crowds will create the atmosphere and the best marketing anyone can have is word of mouth and people going away and talking to friends in the pub or supermarket that they had a good night at the speedway is how the sport needs to go. Lower the standards, the wages costs, the admission prices and fill the stadiums and get some atmosphere in the place. Too many die hard fans are turning their back on the sport and not enough people know what the sport is and with the average age of crowds here in their fifties, it needs new blood getting in before the current fans go into voluntary retirement.

You obviously don't see much from Poland then as the racing is much better overall and tracks well prepared for racing and safety. They are are on a different level over there now and having large crowds and big sponsorships means they don't have to charge much but here they are trying to run at a level that they can't still afford and the new deal with BT is much lower than before and Unlikley to feature any reduced admission clause.

Fredrik Lindgren is on another planet at the moment and to make Dudek look like a novice on his own track takes some doing. Glad I got 25/1 on him early days as he is second favourite at most bookies now. Leon Madsen is going well too and it's good to see Nicki back in the points. As for teams, Wroclaw will get better as the season goes and Czestochowa are looking good but overall Leszno are the team to beat and two strong reserves is key

The Greatest

Yes they make the rules and the rule is ANY rider that has been a regular GP rider in the last three seasons or currently a GP rider that has an old average below 8.00 will be reassessed at 8.00 unless they rode in Britain in 2017. While Kildemand has had many appearances as a standby reserve he was a full GP rider in 2016 and therefore should carry an 8.00 average rather than the 7.10 average. The he annoying part is that Poole were one of the most outspoken and put in these clauses at the AGM and then go against them.

Dudek cruised through the rounds knowing he was already in. SHAMEK did what was required and qualified and Zagar also qualified while Fricke will have his day but had injuries last season and Kildemand does well to stay on his bike. as for Cook will be happy with a GP win, I'm sure he will but it's the pointless rides leading upto and after that makes me think he will be the new Bomber as a rider not upto the standard of the others even though his duly qualified on merit.

Not saying two points will cover his costs but he is a low ranked rider and isn't expected to score much but I think he will improve this season and may even out score Morris who on a 3.5 average is more of a gamble than Nathan

2018 CONTENDERS Yet again a very strong list but over a full season and hoping all stay fit, I can only see five riders capable of winning the title with JASON DOYLE favourite due to consistent high scores and feel his strongest opponent will be TAI WOFFINDEN who has the right set up and team to win his third title and has the right attitude to do it again. Then you have PATRYK DUDEK who had a great 2017 but the pressure did get to him in the run in while BARTOSZ ZMARZLIK came from a poor start to show his true form and like EMIL SAYFUTDINOV he can be unbeatable on his day. These are the five to lead the way. So now we have who will finish top eight and this gets difficult as all are capable but if he is fully fit FREDRIK LINDGREN will be up there and MATEJ ZAGAR could be the main contenders along with MARTIN VACULIK. GREG HANCOCK you should never write off but have a feeling this will be a year too far and just miss out while MACIEJ JANOWSKI like Greg could be up the top end but he just didn't seem with it at times last season and consistency could be the problem, however both are capable of finishing ahead of the three above. ARTEM LAGUTA has always been a rider I have felt should have been here years ago at this level and think he will have some rounds where he does well, but think he will be the best of the rest while CHRIS HOLDER and NICKI PEDERSEN are the two riders I'm going to write off this year and will struggle in most rounds as will SHAMEK PAWLICKI while CRAIG COOK is the new Chris Harris and apart from the odd ride will be shown up for his lack of knowledge on how different riding abroad is compared to Britain.

Have no worries about Nathan as many forget that the lad is only just hitting 20 as he seems to have been around a while already and while having a Championship team can help, he has no real pressure being the number seven on such a low average so two points a meeting is his job and he can do that. Ashley Morris however is a bit older and not really progressed much in the sport. He has had some big performances for and against Wolves but as the main reserve and the higher quality in some other teams, he could have too much on his plate here.

You can't account for falls, exclusions or engine failures as they happen every year but while Vaculik and Iversen replace Lindgren and Bjerre, we have also lost the likes of Nilsson, Przedpelski, Wells, Starke, Huckenbeck etc. The riders not returning have a combined average of just under 91 where as the new riders coming in are at 72 and we now have six new riders under a four average compared to two of last years finishers. Stronger or Weaker, the main issue of doubling up has been addressed with the set race nights but honestly feel the way forward would have been for all teams to be in one Championship level league to give more variety of fixtures.

Does it say ALL tracks ?

Pas the post states, Stats can be looked at in different ways and last year the teams started stronger than in 2016 and you could say that it will be just as strong in 2018 however you do really need to compare how teams finish one year to how they start the following year. Has the league got stronger or weaker this season ? I would say say it's got slightly weaker which shows with the amount of points not returning and new riders coming in and the amount of low averages starting this season compared to those that finished last season. However you have to include Dan Bewley for example returning this year on a near five average but started last season on a 2.00 average.so some riders improved making the gap smaller in comparison. Overall its its not a case of is the league stronger or not, it's is the sport any more interesting to current fans or attracting new fans and in that catergory it has to be down as its not however tracks are increasing admission prices because they are losing out on TV deals and trying to get the fans to match the difference. Chasing your our loses is not something most successful businesses do in trying to increase sales and would rather lower prices to increase sales

16 riders start 2018 that were not in a team last year and they have averages that are around 72 points and six are on 4.00 or lower compared to the 16 riders that have not returned averaging 86 points and only two are under 4.00 That resembles being weaker but stats can be used either way as they can say this year there will be four GP riders here compared to three last season last year there was a more mixed strength of teams where as this year looks more balanced with Somerset and Kings Lynn looking weakest but the other six all have line ups that could be contenders as they are at present.

Iversen - Good number one to have back in Britain but would have thought Lindgren would have been a better choice especially with Denmark riding on Wednesdays, even Hampel has been looking to ride here and knows many in the area. Cant see much coming from this team, especially away and along with Somerset ok the two weakest in the league.

Will say it's a step in the right direction having different race nights for the two leagues and should have been done years ago really, but better late than never. Hopefully they hey can now do something to create more financial income for the Premiership in sponsorship to then attract some bigger names and cancel the 8 point rule otherwise it has to be looked at seriously next season to create one league with these big teams competing in a stronger league with just one home one away alongside. The only thing with these fixed dates is having gaps between matches which is acceptable in strong levels but at this level a few will be disappointed at meetings every fortnight only

Wolves v Belle Vue doing two meeting in the same day twice. Got out to love Bank Holiday Mondays

Not sure on what 7.4 applies to and maybe Sundstrom could be this exception as the four leagues are in three countries. Last season Poole tried to sign Protasiewicz but couldn't because he already had three leagues so maybe the ruling is more to do with three countries rather than leagues MAYBE Note also that it says Ford is awaiting written confirmation from Gorzow. If they don't write back its not going to happen but hopefully something can be sorted but if he does do four leagues, it opens the door for others to follow suit and Poland won't want that

So where is the statement saying he is signed ? yes they have him in their plans for this season, but the last official statement says that they are waiting and even this link you left says AWAITING DEBUT but at moment NOTHING official has been posted here or in Poland

It it was reported on Sportowefakty by a reporter that it had been relaxed however this hasn't been confirmed and may well have been a mistake in translation and should have been that the argument was X and not that it has been resolved. As Iversen or Sundstrom have still not been announced by Kings Lynn or Poole respectively or a press release from the BSPA it is still not officially known if an agreement has been reached. I would say that it would surprise me that Poland would agree to a deal that saw riders taking on more leagues just so they can have first call on a few Thursday's in case it rains during the play offs especially with the money now on offer through TV deals. N Sport have stated at least 42 matches will be shown live this season and there is only 62 all season and in 2019 ALL meetings will be filmed live in the Exstraliga and that's on top of over forty meetings on other channels shown live from Division One and Two. When Sundstrom signs for Poole we will know it's either sorted or he has dropped his Thursday meetings in Sweden

It it was reported on Sportowefakty by a reporter that it had been relaxed however this hasn't been confirmed and may well have been a mistake in translation and should have been that the argument was X and not that it has been resolved. As Iversen or Sundstrom have still not been announced by Kings Lynn or Poole respectively or a press release from the BSPA it is still not officially known if an agreement has been reached. I would say that it would surprise me that Poland would agree to a deal that saw riders taking on more leagues just so they can have first call on a few Thursday's in case it rains during the play offs especially with the money now on offer through TV deals. N Sport have stated at least 42 matches will be shown live this season and there is only 62 all season and in 2019 ALL meetings will be filmed live in the Exstraliga and that's on top of over forty meetings on other channels shown live from Division One and Two. When Sundstrom signs for Poole we will know it's either sorted or he has dropped his Thursday meetings in Sweden

So it appears that Poland have NOT relaxed the ruling on riders competing in more than two other leagues and that would seriously make Iversen unlikely to be the number one but at least there is other options without complications. Matej Zagar, Jaroslaw Hampel and Fredrik Lindgren have contracts in Sweden and Poland so could fit in another league and don't have clashes of dates with Danish Leagues.

The Thorssell be ate started as it was a comparison of what a number one is and how he obtained his average where as Cook and Morris were scoring with heat 13 included. However when you look at the Belle Vue and Wolves teams, they are pretty similar in many ways. Both have a number one loved by his own fans but both possibly not given the credit by other fans. Wolves a a bit stronger in the next two with Masters and Schlein over Fricke and Worrall and both Sam and Max under achieved last season but both will challenge for the number one slots while Steve and Rory give plenty of support. Tungate and Howarth both don't get the credit they deserve and Rohan was a different rider once he joined Aces and is now Aussie Champion while Kyle was out most times with Lindgren and including bonus points actually had a better average than Fricke. Damian Drozdz could be a decent signing while Wolves have Heaps who has had injuries holding him back and both come in as a bit of a gamble. Aces do have the advantage of Bewley at reserve to start with but both teams aren't too far away from each other and don't think there will be much between them at the end of the season too. At at least the clashes with the two teams will be on Mondays and likely to be Bank Holidays as these are now local derbies with Bees, Brummies and Heathans now gone and there certainly seems to have a bigger rivalry now than they did years ago.

They took it to the courts to get it passed just as Emil rode at reserve when he was a teenager and Ibthink Chuganov is also going on a Polish licence