stevethelion

Any news on Josh Bates fitness, after what sounded like a nasty fall guesting for Berwick yesterday?

Ryan looked uncomfortable last week with that injured shoulder , I was surprised he took all his rides. Wouldn't be at all surprised if he didn't ride this weekend, with no fixture until 17th May after this Sunday it would give it time to heal. Especially given his average as gone up to 7.10 an Eastbourne 'track specialist' might be a better option as a guest.

I think Leicester only postponed the meeting, because Newcastle had agreed to ride on the Sunday if need be. If riding it today hadn't been an option I'm sure they would have given it the best chance to go ahead on Saturday & would have probably got it in ( or at least 10 heats) before the rain came late in the evening. Having the option to ride today just made it an easy & sensible decision really.

Admittedly the rain didn't arrived until late this evening, but how many people would have ventured out tonight in temperatures of 5 or 6 degrees, with a howling gale that's been bending the trees in half all day? Far better to make an early decision & run it on Sunday with temperatures forecast to be in the early teens & a dry day expected. Common sense prevails for once.

Georgie Wood in for Jack Thomas

Ryan MacDonald replaces Kelsey Dugard, who it seems has retired after breaking his collarbone on P&P day. Sounds like he hadn't mentioned the fact he had retired to the Cubs management though. Quote on the website from Stewart Dickson says " I haven't had any official contact from, but I've been told he's no longer doing Speedway and I had that confirmed at the weekend". Does anyone who follows NL Speedway think that weakens the Cubs side or not?

The speedway car park is behind the leisure centre, the best way from the A46 is, take the Beaumont Leys exit, travel about 3/4 of a mile & turn left at the roundabout ( Bennion Rd), follow this for about 1/2 a mile until you come to another island with a police station next to it, turn right here, in about 300 yards the road bends right, at this point take the small road that forks to the left, this leads to to the speedway car park. There is no charge, but it's usually full by 6.40-6.45 ish. Alternatively just park on one of the shopping centre car parks, these are free, but have a 4 hour limit.

If you come off the A46 at Anstey/ Beaumont Leys exit, turn towards Beaumont Leys, there is a small stretch of dual carriage way (about half a mile), which then merges to 1 lane for about 200 yards until you get to an island , turn left here into Bennion Road. The shopping centre will then be to your right, the industrial estate is on the left (BOSTON ROAD) , turn into Boston Road , this goes round in a half circle eventually coming back onto Bennion Rd (at the Police Station). You should be able to park anywhere around Boston Road.

Yes, very windy in Leicester today, which should have dried the track out nicely. Lions p&p this evening, presumably that went ahead as planned, as nothing on website to say it had been cancelled. Saturday's forecast doesn't look good, rain all day,BBC forecast says stopping about midnight, but Sunday does look dry, so fingers cross if this strong wind persists it should dry out in time for 2pm.

The average age of most Speedway crowds is probably 65-70, most of whom are busy adjusting their blankets & pouring the next drink from their flasks between races. How many people of the age group that follow Speedway have accounts on facebook or Twitter or could be bothered messing about downloading apps from smartphones between races, I know even if I had a smartphone, which I don't , the meeting would be over by the time I had worked out what I had to do ( technology as passed me by). All people want to see is 4 evenly matched riders, giving it their all, not some fabricated mis-match determined by who has the most supporters.

Could be that or could be they are trying to get a reduction on Josh Bates average after missing a year.

News on Lions twitter says that they hope to conclude the team within the next 72 hours as an issue has developed with their intended rider which they hope to resolve.

Would Josh Bates qualify for a further reduction after missing a season through injury? Am i right in thinking this has happened to riders in the past?

Leicester is Saturday, presumably 7.30, except when it's GP night & Scott Nicholls is appearing on BT Sport, then who knows!

Talking of season ticket holders getting a discount, had an e-mail from the club today saying because of Rye House folding last season & one meeting not taking place ,£17 will be knocked of next seasons renewal. So credit were credits due, because this hasn't happened before in past seasons.

As they made Sarjeant an asset last season along with Connor Mountain, I would think both will feature. If Josh Bates is fully fit he'll obviously be either at Leicester or Sheffield. Would also love to see NBJ.

The free programmes were because they only charged £10 for a televised meeting, so to compensate season ticket holders they were allowed free programmes for 2 meetings . Nothing has ever been offered back for meetings not staged during the season.

That's excellent from Ipswich, nothing's ever happened like that at Leicester. We'll see if there's any reimbursement for the missing Rye House fixture on next years season ticket, but on past experience I've got my doubts. The present promotion do seem to value the season ticket holders more than under Hemsley's reign & we have been invited on to the centre green during meetings, early access to P&P day etc. but never any credits for meetings that weren't run.

I'd imagine that will be forgotten about & swept under the carpet, like it has in past seasons ( mostly by the previous management I must add) eg. the year Birmingham folded mid-season 2 matches were missed, the debacle of the Kings Lynn meeting 2 seasons ago that was never ridden & there's probably more examples, season ticket holders have never been credited anything the following season.

They have different promoters anyway, Lions - Dave Darcy & Neil Machin , Sheffield -Damien Bates, Julie Reading & Peter Mole.

Hans average from 1/9 was 8.00. According to the figures on Lions website, which have been updated since last nights meetings, his rolling average now stands at 7.56, which makes him much more employable for next season. Good work by Connor Mountain too, after his 9 points on Monday his rolling average was 2.97 , after 8 pointless rides last night, he managed to shave 0.50 off & now stands at 2.47, which has the promoters have said they intend to use him next season, after signing as an asset, means they will have 0.50 to use elsewhere in the team.

Auty fit to ride, so Lions operating R/R for Nicholls

Bellego is the only rider from the premiership who isn't riding tonight, that would be anywhere near Nicholls standard. From the Championship I suppose Barker, Garrity or Lasse Bjerre are the best 3 from those not riding tonight. Though after Bjerre's departure from Sheffield I doubt he will be asked. Doesn't really matter I doubt Lions will get within 25 points of KL in either match.

I'd guess at Connor Mountain

BBC forecast shows cloudy, but dry for this evening. It's very overcast now & we have had a little drizzle this morning but not enough to wet the pavements.Suppose to brighten as the day goes on. Quite breezy, so I would imagine the track will dry out nicely & provide a decent surface.