Bojangles

Sheffield and Belle Vue are an awful lot closer to Perry Barr than Oxford?

I think people are forgetting just how good Wright, Harris and Kerr are at Oxford. Kerr was superb for us in the Champ, and Harris and Wright were arguably the two most impressive visitors all season last year. Wright was also second only to Kerr in scoring in the Pairs, and Harris broke the track record in that meeting. Yes, the Prem is stronger, but they are still going to score big points at home most weeks.

Interesting that some people are saying the side looks weak compared to Sheffield and Ipswich in particular, but if you base the teams on their 2023 season averages it compares pretty evenly I think. It's just the rising star position that could be the difference, as Boughen's progress is very hard to predict... Sheffield J. Holder 9.65 Woffinden 9.12 Pickering 7.75 C. Holder 7.68 Howarth 6.86 Edwards 4.46 (45.52) Ipswich Sayfutdinov 10.64 Doyle 9.98 King 8.03 Ellis 6.24 Jenkins 5.19 Rew 4.98 (45.06) Oxford Janowski ???? Tungate 7.83 (2022) Wright 7.81 Harris 7.44 Kerr 7.11 Klindt 6.96 (37.15+Janowski)

Oxford season ticket details.... *Oxford Chargers Pass – National League £49 – Valid for 5 Chargers National League home fixtures. *Oxford Cheetahs Pass – Championship League £199 – Valid for 11 Cheetahs Championship League home fixtures. *Oxford Spires Pass – Premiership League £239 – Valid for 12 Spires Premiership League home fixtures. *10 Match Pass – Cheetahs and Spires £199 – Valid for any 10 Cheetahs/Spires League home fixtures * *Ultimate Pass – Chargers, Cheetahs and Spires £449 – Valid for Chargers, Cheetahs and Spires scheduled 28 home fixtures*

Spires tickets £22 if bought in advance (£24 on the day). £2 more expensive than the Cheetahs.

Yeah, as a fan, I would want to win the cup - so to not even be in it is a bit of a blow. I'm guessing there's been a lot of compromises from both sides (BSPA and Oxford) over running in all three leagues.

Oxford Spires not competing in the KO Cup. Did we know about that?

Interesting team that. Thought they might have gone with Atkins. It is going to be so weird having Masters, Jenkins, Harris, Wright and Kerr racing against us, though.

Looks like the Spires team might be announced at 7am tomorrow according to Oxford's latest tweet... https://x.com/OxfordSpeedway/status/1730293114969927756?s=20

Should have been Cheetahs in the Prem, Chargers in the Champ and Spires in the NDL in my opinion.

Agreed. Ruml was definitely one I would have liked to see back - arguably rider of the year in 2022 and was very unlucky not to be retained. Guessing perhaps he's staying in the US now.

We had both Heeps and Newman in 2022....and Heeps was better, so not sure why we'd go back to Newman? Killeen has plenty of potential, and Atkins was far from outclassed in a tougher league at number 2 last season.

That's a bit of a strange take. Nobody said it was a cheap team last year, and the only difference is Kerr for Killeen - which is understandable with the point limit drop. I doubt any member of that team has taken a pay drop (possibly Heeps).

Team looks decent to me. Personally, I like the loyal approach - that certainly resonates with fans. Yes Heeps was a bit ht and miss, but he was strong at home and that should make winning all the home fixtures the priority. Two strong heat leaders, and four riders would should improve. You'd expect Killeen and Boughen to be key at reserve. If they improve throughout the year I think Oxford won't be too far away towards the end of the season.

If those are close to being true, as an Oxford fan, it's going to be weird racing against Masters and Boughen in the Premiership. Likewise Harris, Wright and Kerr in the Championship. That's the problem with running in both leagues!