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2020 NL Season


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17 hours ago, Islander15 said:

All that does is skew riders’ averages massively and create a massive problem the next season. Not to mention the boring heat formula. 

How is it a boring heat formulae? Heat leaders meeting heat leaders more often, reserves meeting reserves more often, should lead to closer racing?

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35 minutes ago, szkocjasid said:

How is it a boring heat formulae? Heat leaders meeting heat leaders more often, reserves meeting reserves more often, should lead to closer racing?

That’s the theory but it didn’t work! There was heats where a second string and a reserve from each team rode but the reserve never beat the respective opposition’s second string (too predictable). There was 2 races where the number 1 & 5 riders met the opponent’s 3 & 4, nearly always resulting in a 5-1 to the 1 & 5 team. Imo the worst bit, second strings inevitably got inflated averages by beating reserves (which was predictable) and then all that happened was when the new averages came out they became a heat leader and didn’t score any points anymore (too predictable) and so the guy who was a heat leader originally then became a second string and wiped the floor of the reserves and second strings (too predictable). Then you ended up with a score chart of second strings scoring maximums or near to it, reserves getting big scores simply by doing well in 2 reserve races yet the heat leaders in the side barely scored. How do you explain to others that the ‘worst’ riders legitimately score more than the ‘best’ riders? Oh I hated the heat format haha. 

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On 12/17/2019 at 5:47 PM, waco said:

Handicap racing ok for individual meetings but a big NoNo for league racing!,,,! If they bring that in a lot of riders will pack it in.......

I disagree.

The handicap meeting at IOW was among the best I saw last season anywhere, and that includes the NSS.

It might be called a gimmick, but if it is going to improve the quality of the spectacle (and I think it will) I am all for it.

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I think handicap racing at this level at the NSS would be very entertaining.  My view is that it works well at big tracks but not so much at the smaller ones.

I watched racing at Oxford in the early '60's when the 'big five' were 20 yards back and if the reserve was an experienced rider, like Jackie Biggs for example, it was really hard for Fundin, More etc. to get past.  Never saw it at Belle Vue in those days but would imagine watching Craven pick his way through would have been a treat.

In the end it was the pressure from the 'big five' that got it scrapped.  

Given the different levels now in the NL, I think it would be worth trying.

 

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23 hours ago, HGould said:

At Birmingham in 2018 we had Tom Bacon / James Shanes / Danyon Hume with likes of Sheldon Davies and Aaron Butcher. Were you there then???

Yes i was .It was the most boring season of speedway i have ever witnessed and my love for the sport rapidly dwindled. I could fill the racecard out correctly before the meeting. 15 strung out races with a lap between 1st and last. Thankfully we moved up a league and my love was reignited. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/21/2019 at 7:36 AM, Halifaxtiger said:

I disagree.

The handicap meeting at IOW was among the best I saw last season anywhere, and that includes the NSS.

It might be called a gimmick, but if it is going to improve the quality of the spectacle (and I think it will) I am all for it.

Its a great way to provide extra entertainment past the first corner and for the lesser riders to get alongside and mix it with better abilitied (is that a word) riders. However as stated it works well at IOW and likewise at tracks like NSS, P'boro etc but unlikely to be as mixed and varied at tracks like Plymouth or Mildenhall where passing opportunities are at a higher premium.

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1 hour ago, Sings4Speedway said:

Its a great way to provide extra entertainment past the first corner and for the lesser riders to get alongside and mix it with better abilitied (is that a word) riders. However as stated it works well at IOW and likewise at tracks like NSS, P'boro etc but unlikely to be as mixed and varied at tracks like Plymouth or Mildenhall where passing opportunities are at a higher premium.

Fair comment. But how do you explain the continued success of the Olympique at Wolverhampton?

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38 minutes ago, False dawn said:

Fair comment. But how do you explain the continued success of the Olympique at Wolverhampton?

Fair point. Having never seen an Olympique i wouldn't want to comment. Its handicapped based upon previous race result rather than rider grading i believe? Perhaps a little bit more accurate on the night and slightly more tactical i would think?

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15 hours ago, waco said:

The problem with handicap racing,which can be excellent ,,is, making the riders payments fair for all abilities...difficult?.

Perhaps the best solution is pay a set fee per position in the race so here is an incentive to push harder for the higher finishing positions? Or additionally compensate for he handicap so riders off 20m get an extra tenner, 10m get a fiver and off the line go from scratch?

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Sings ,,obviously something would have to be worked out along the lines you have mentioned,,,, especially if they adopted handicaping for regular league racing....

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3 hours ago, waco said:

.......especially if they adopted handicapping for regular league racing....

If such an idea was ever put into action, it might encourage a few promoters to put a bit more shale on their circuits. Maybe to redesign their circuits, even in a small way, to create a few more racing lines and allow heat leaders on a handicap a fighting chance of overtaking those going off the gate.

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  • 1 month later...
On 12/17/2019 at 11:25 PM, Great Central said:

The handicap and the gate change rules only apply to the NT competition, not the league, and were agreed by all three participating clubs as a way of creating something a little different. No rider will be left out of his/her nominated race, it is not a tactical substitution but a means of trying to do things differently.

Is it true, the idea of handicap racing in the 2020 National Trophy has now been binned?   Apparently not in the new rulebook.

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2 hours ago, pitstop84 said:

Can I ask where have seen the new rule book? Genuine question.  

I haven't seen it, hence my use of the word "apparently".

They usually make the rulebook downloadable from the SCB site at the start of the year (it's not there yet) but I assume officials have a copy of the book, and I've been told the idea for handicap racing in the NT isn't in the book, and has been binned.  We shall see when it goes online.

 

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