waytogo28 2,054 Posted February 4, 2019 Other than for Doyle, Fricke or Robert Lambert I can't see any bids coming forward if such a thing existed. Chequebook speedway long ago departed from speedway other than perhaps the maximum allowed by contactless cards (£29.99 ) 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baldyman 6,243 Posted February 4, 2019 14 hours ago, Emma T said: Well that's totally killed this thread well and truly ! Seems like there's nothing 'positive to say' here as there hasn't been a post since last Wednesday............................................................................ I think the biggest positive is its another season of speedway at Foxhall for those that want to go and watch it. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
89buttons 749 Posted February 5, 2019 9 hours ago, Baldyman said: I think the biggest positive is its another season of speedway at Foxhall for those that want to go and watch it. Yep, could be a lot worse, could be in the situations of lakeside/Workington/rye house fans and have no speedway at all - instead we’ve got speedway, a team that will be competitive at home at least and top flight speedway which suits me, should be much more competitive racing! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 10,161 Posted February 5, 2019 13 minutes ago, 89buttons said: Yep, could be a lot worse, could be in the situations of lakeside/Workington/rye house fans and have no speedway at all - instead we’ve got speedway, a team that will be competitive at home at least and top flight speedway which suits me, should be much more competitive racing! Not sure how it will be more competitive... 80% of the riders will be Championship riders so it will be as similarly competitive as it would be in the Championship surely? And a rider like Doyle, who is head and shoulders better than all but a few Championship riders, could make it even less competitive.. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
B.V 72 1,054 Posted February 5, 2019 1 hour ago, mikebv said: Not sure how it will be more competitive... 80% of the riders will be Championship riders so it will be as similarly competitive as it would be in the Championship surely? And a rider like Doyle, who is head and shoulders better than all but a few Championship riders, could make it even less competitive.. Of course it will be more competitive.Take a look at the Witches team from last year towards this years team 6 of them would be classed as Championship heat leaders all riding for the same team.The same with most other teams plus a good few higher classed riders as well so most races the witches fans will see this year would last year have been all heat leader clashes so it has to be a better class and more competitive season of speedway than last year. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baldyman 6,243 Posted February 5, 2019 The racing can be as bad with a higher class of rider,,, the track plays a big part. The Nss is more or less guaranteed to have good racing,, Foxhall isnt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
89buttons 749 Posted February 5, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, mikebv said: Not sure how it will be more competitive... 80% of the riders will be Championship riders so it will be as similarly competitive as it would be in the Championship surely? And a rider like Doyle, who is head and shoulders better than all but a few Championship riders, could make it even less competitive.. Having watched more and more higher quality riders drop down into the championship over the last few seasons I feel like the distance between the top riders and bottom riders level in championship is far greater than in the premiership and therefore the racing should be more competitive, especially as most teams have more of a strength in depth look to them - if Heeps/Allen make a good start in ht 4 (5&7’s race) for example they have every chance of beating an opposing heat leader and achieving heat advantages or at the very least closer races between all 4 riders! The drop in point limit for the championship has only exacerbated the situation - next year there’s several riders at reserve in the championship that have barely reached heat leader status in the national league yet, we’ve seen at Foxhall over the last couple of seasons it’s not an easy track for national league graduates, it’s set up grippy for home advantage, while the shape/size means you have to turn the bike quite hard at the same time, tricky skills that take time to develop and are particularly rigorous on the upper body so young lads of 16 barring some exceptional talents will struggle more with as they’re learning and getting stronger. Look at difficulties the likes of Connor mountain has had at Foxhall and he’s been a 9 point rider in the national league for several seasons now and is miles ahead currently of several of the lads stepping up this year yet teams still have Schlein/Harris Kenneth/Lawson nicholls/r.worrall at 1&5 how can you say races with two of these guys in accompanied by two 16years old 6pt national league riders are going to be as competitive as say Harris/Allen vs Andersen/barker....? It’s not! You’ll get two match races in one, with one half a lap ahead of the other. We’ve consistently seen fantastic races in ht13&15 the last couple of seasons when Danny/Rory come up against competitive pairings of a higher skill set and with the top flight we’ll have a lot closer matches races across all four riders in a race! Like chessell, Henry Adkins cannot beat Craig cook or Rory Schlein - maybe one day but not yet and won’t get there in 2019 cameron Heeps Jake Allen could and probably have beat some top boys in the premiership. its been a difficult winter as a witches fan and clearly teambuilding has been tough for Chris and things haven’t gone quite to plan, but I firmly believe we have a side assembled that can be competitive in all our home matches and the entertainment will be much improved than had we of gone into this season in the championship with the new reduced points limit. im hoping first and foremost we can have a season that steered clear of too many major injuries as we’ve had more than our fair share of rotten luck the past few seasons. just having a quick skim over the announced riders assuming Kerr and mpt are back at Lynn I make it 21/49 prem riders racing in championship so that’s more like 42.5% - I know you’re statement of 80% wasn’t calculated but I think this does illustrate there’s a much bigger difference in the two leagues this coming season with the lower points limit for the championship. Edited February 5, 2019 by 89buttons 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baldyman 6,243 Posted February 5, 2019 I certainly think the racing may be a bit more closely looking with the witches riders trying to chase dowm their opposition, but I think less passes will be made. So I'm not sure if that's classed as better racing or not. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Icicle 896 Posted February 5, 2019 Just hoping that whatever type of racing there is the crowds go up this season. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dontforgetthefueltapsbruv 10,683 Posted February 5, 2019 7 minutes ago, Icicle said: Just hoping that whatever type of racing there is the crowds go up this season. I would expect there will be at least an initial upturn Very few of those that could be tempted back will read the mixed verdicts on here - they will get the mainstream news - and I think the top flight return will be viewed positively A good start at home and some entertaining meetings will be needed to capitalise and maintain that advantage Fingers crossed 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baldyman 6,243 Posted February 5, 2019 Surely that will depend on getting some fans back and the racing being good enough to keep them coming back. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spiderman1 180 Posted February 6, 2019 18 hours ago, 89buttons said: Having watched more and more higher quality riders drop down into the championship over the last few seasons I feel like the distance between the top riders and bottom riders level in championship is far greater than in the premiership and therefore the racing should be more competitive, especially as most teams have more of a strength in depth look to them - if Heeps/Allen make a good start in ht 4 (5&7’s race) for example they have every chance of beating an opposing heat leader and achieving heat advantages or at the very least closer races between all 4 riders! The drop in point limit for the championship has only exacerbated the situation - next year there’s several riders at reserve in the championship that have barely reached heat leader status in the national league yet, we’ve seen at Foxhall over the last couple of seasons it’s not an easy track for national league graduates, it’s set up grippy for home advantage, while the shape/size means you have to turn the bike quite hard at the same time, tricky skills that take time to develop and are particularly rigorous on the upper body so young lads of 16 barring some exceptional talents will struggle more with as they’re learning and getting stronger. Look at difficulties the likes of Connor mountain has had at Foxhall and he’s been a 9 point rider in the national league for several seasons now and is miles ahead currently of several of the lads stepping up this year yet teams still have Schlein/Harris Kenneth/Lawson nicholls/r.worrall at 1&5 how can you say races with two of these guys in accompanied by two 16years old 6pt national league riders are going to be as competitive as say Harris/Allen vs Andersen/barker....? It’s not! You’ll get two match races in one, with one half a lap ahead of the other. We’ve consistently seen fantastic races in ht13&15 the last couple of seasons when Danny/Rory come up against competitive pairings of a higher skill set and with the top flight we’ll have a lot closer matches races across all four riders in a race! Like chessell, Henry Adkins cannot beat Craig cook or Rory Schlein - maybe one day but not yet and won’t get there in 2019 cameron Heeps Jake Allen could and probably have beat some top boys in the premiership. its been a difficult winter as a witches fan and clearly teambuilding has been tough for Chris and things haven’t gone quite to plan, but I firmly believe we have a side assembled that can be competitive in all our home matches and the entertainment will be much improved than had we of gone into this season in the championship with the new reduced points limit. im hoping first and foremost we can have a season that steered clear of too many major injuries as we’ve had more than our fair share of rotten luck the past few seasons. just having a quick skim over the announced riders assuming Kerr and mpt are back at Lynn I make it 21/49 prem riders racing in championship so that’s more like 42.5% - I know you’re statement of 80% wasn’t calculated but I think this does illustrate there’s a much bigger difference in the two leagues this coming season with the lower points limit for the championship. ipswich looking good and yes allen has beat many number 1"s home and away ,if they all can stay fit they will be in playoffs for sure 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baldyman 6,243 Posted February 6, 2019 Oh have they brought the relegation play offs back again Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badge 5,104 Posted February 7, 2019 This will please a few https://ipswichwitches.co/long-returns-as-presenter/?fbclid=IwAR1JtKdKCuPAEpf3LM3v2SVv5XhKwubhgihh2uOmoPam3QMtZwJFLaikDPs 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Racin Jason 72 1,239 Posted February 7, 2019 1 hour ago, Badge said: This will please a few https://ipswichwitches.co/long-returns-as-presenter/?fbclid=IwAR1JtKdKCuPAEpf3LM3v2SVv5XhKwubhgihh2uOmoPam3QMtZwJFLaikDPs Excellent news. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites