BHM - Aces/Wolves double header.

[wtf 621]

11 hours ago, Col said:

The meeting this morning was good. Pearson didn't need any spin, they should have shown more of it.

Monmore can produce good racing but you need riders who can ride it, such riders are dwindling fast as the bikes get quicker and emphasis is on Poland is the place to be.  Except for the current Wolves septet all the others I'd put in that category currently ride for Peterborough.  Kurtz was much better than I expected tonight, thought he'd ride it like Batchelor does(n't).

You just can't stop yourself can you?  The one place Batchelor can ride is Monmore. 11+1 and 12+1 this year. I'd be the first to agree if you said he couldn't ride Sheffield.

[scoobydoo 2,253]

Jye Etheridge is the opposite to Steve Worrall his best performances have been on the whole for Belle Vue not Berwick, 

Worrall most likely rides better for Poole especially at Poole as he knows where the bumps and holes are and how to avoid them

[lisa-colette 6,018]

5 minutes ago, scoobydoo said:

Jye Etheridge is the opposite to Steve Worrall his best performances have been on the whole for Belle Vue not Berwick, 

Worrall most likely rides better for Poole especially at Poole as he knows where the bumps and holes are and how to avoid them

And when he gets double figures at away tracks at Leicester and so on, can't blame Poole bumps for that. Poole was good and smooth first few months, only last 3 weeks it's been bad. When Hans Andersen rode for Poole he said he liked the 'bumps' as it was home track advantage. 

[scoobydoo 2,253]

3 minutes ago, lisa-colette said:

And when he gets double figures at away tracks at Leicester and so on, can't blame Poole bumps for that. Poole was good and smooth first few months, only last 3 weeks it's been bad. When Hans Andersen rode for Poole he said he liked the 'bumps' as it was home track 

Looking good for Poole to finish as the 7th best team in the UK with there home track advantage 

Is it true that the GB girl who won the gold medal in Tokyo for BMX has booked Pooles track for her training sessions 

 

[iainb 4,962]

1 hour ago, lisa-colette said:

but then I guess Leicester is an easier track to ride than Wolves.

I don't know for sure as I've never ridden either, but it certainly doesn't look easier to rider Leicester's rollercoaster

59 minutes ago, mikebv said:

He seems to get beaten quite a lot by opposition second strings and reserves when riding for the Aces..

Maybe its because these riders are of a higher standard than second strings and reserves in the 2nd Div? 

The heat leaders are pretty much the same in both leagues, but the next level down are better maybe?

Thus he runs a few wins or seconds giving him confidence in the 2nd Div, whereby (usually from what I have seen), seldom wins his first race in Div 1, and more than should probably happen, doesnt even get second..

Him, his brother and Wright do seem to often be on the wrong end of a lot of heat losses in Div 1 due to their poor win ratio, and to compound it, dont always get the second place to reduce the impact, and actually run too many lasts...

Hence the Aces invariably lose the meetings they do in the "engine room" of the team..

 

I think the "problem" is, there is no home track advantage at BV, there's no trick bend or hidden holes that a rider can master or avoid. Since the move to the NSS I don't think BV have had any "track specialist", Criag Cook & Matej Zagar all had their iffy meetings. The closest you've had/got is Dan Bewley but as he's gotten better the standard of opposition has gotten worse so he may be flattering to deceive a bit, his average is only 8.5, I'm not sure what his home average is though. In fact looking at the GSA's Dan is actually top of the averages on this number, back in the day if you were over 9 you were a solid heat leader. Looking at the averages of all of the riders in the PL it actually looks like quite a competitive league. You've got to remember that Steve Worrall is really only a decent 2nd string, that's been thrust into a heat leader position only because the standard of the league is at such a low. I'm not sure

[mikebv 10,243]

1 minute ago, iainb said:

I don't know for sure as I've never ridden either, but it certainly doesn't look easier to rider Leicester's rollercoaster

I think the "problem" is, there is no home track advantage at BV, there's no trick bend or hidden holes that a rider can master or avoid. Since the move to the NSS I don't think BV have had any "track specialist", Criag Cook & Matej Zagar all had their iffy meetings. The closest you've had/got is Dan Bewley but as he's gotten better the standard of opposition has gotten worse so he may be flattering to deceive a bit, his average is only 8.5, I'm not sure what his home average is though. In fact looking at the GSA's Dan is actually top of the averages on this number, back in the day if you were over 9 you were a solid heat leader. Looking at the averages of all of the riders in the PL it actually looks like quite a competitive league. You've got to remember that Steve Worrall is really only a decent 2nd string, that's been thrust into a heat leader position only because the standard of the league is at such a low. I'm not sure

Take Dan and Jack Holder out and the league is pretty much made up of riders who ten or so years ago would have been "second string" level, with a few being "third heat leaders" at some clubs.

With even Dan and Jack themselves being probably third heat leader standard at most..

Up and coming lads riding alongside two big hitters per team..

Now clear No1's...

Nowadays the level from top to bottom of the team (even with RS's) is much narrower than used to be the case, hence averages are lower as a great many riders can beat each other from one night to the next...

Maybe just being down to something as gate positions given they are so many so very similar in capability..

One night you beat the same rider because you had the best gate, then next he beats you for the same reason..

Last night off graveyard gate 3 Dan Bewley couldn't get near his opponents..

And given riders race so often, a poor run is now magnified as you could have six matches in just one week

 Thus highlighting your issues..

Whereas you may only used to have a couple of meetings a week in the past, giving you time to sort problems out..

 

[lisa-colette 6,018]

3 minutes ago, mikebv said:

Take Dan and Jack Holder out and the league is pretty much made up of riders who ten or so years ago would have been "second string" level, with a few being "third heat leaders" at some clubs.

With even Dan and Jack themselves being probably third heat leader standard at most..

Up and coming lads riding alongside two big hitters per team..

Now clear No1's...

Nowadays the level from top to bottom of the team (even with RS's) is much narrower than used to be the case, hence averages are lower as a great many riders can beat each other from one night to the next...

Maybe just being down to something as gate positions given they are so many so very similar in capability..

One night you beat the same rider because you had the best gate, then next he beats you for the same reason..

Last night off graveyard gate 3 Dan Bewley couldn't get near his opponents..

And given riders race so often, a poor run is now magnified as you could have six matches in just one week

 Thus highlighting your issues..

Whereas you may only used to have a couple of meetings a week in the past, giving you time to sort problems out..

 

Sometimes it is good not to overthink it and just concentrate on the next meeting (depends on the person). Steve has been busy recently Poole last Weds and Sun, 2 for BV yesterday, Brum Weds, Sheffield Thurs, Poole Friday! Busy time!!

[Steve Shovlar 10,439]

51 minutes ago, scoobydoo said:

Looking good for Poole to finish as the 7th best team in the UK with there home track advantage 

Is it true that the GB girl who won the gold medal in Tokyo for BMX has booked Pooles track for her training sessions 

 

Joking aside, this Poole team would be challenging In the premier playoffs.  Perhaps not quite as strong as Wolves or Peterborough but better than the rest.

[hagonshocker 1,956]

32 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Joking aside, this Poole team would be challenging In the premier playoffs.  Perhaps not quite as strong as Wolves or Peterborough but better than the rest.

Holder Batchelor Ellis Howarth Pickering top 5 ....no not stronger than Tigers in particular especially as Sheffield have Stefan Nielsen at reserve and he's in Pirates 1-5 but certainly would agree about being stronger than Ipswich etc 

Edited August 31, 2021 by hagonshocker

[mikebv 10,243]

1 hour ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Joking aside, this Poole team would be challenging In the premier playoffs.  Perhaps not quite as strong as Wolves or Peterborough but better than the rest.

Well as they are all pretty much the same riders, there cannot be much difference between the two leagues, therefore quite possibly a Div 2 team with three Div 1 Heat Leaders wont be "too far away" if they rode as Poole in Div 1.

However..

Having individuals racing against themselves in the same race for both teams, might even be a bit far fetched for even UK Speedway to think up a regulation which allows it... 

Wouldnt surprise if they have thought about it though... 

Edited August 31, 2021 by mikebv

[scoobydoo 2,253]

1 hour ago, hagonshocker said:

Holder Batchelor Ellis Howarth Pickering top 5 ....no not stronger than Tigers in particular especially as Sheffield have Stefan Nielsen at reserve and he's in Pirates 1-5 but certainly would agree about being stronger than Ipswich etc 

Bit pointless him making that statement as who would of ridden for Poole as all there HLs are long serving riders with there present premiership teams 

[Steve Shovlar 10,439]

1 hour ago, hagonshocker said:

Holder Batchelor Ellis Howarth Pickering top 5 ....no not stronger than Tigers in particular especially as Sheffield have Stefan Nielsen at reserve and he's in Pirates 1-5 but certainly would agree about being stronger than Ipswich etc 

Neilsen is at reserve for Poole on Friday.

[Steve Shovlar 10,439]

18 minutes ago, mikebv said:

Well as they are all pretty much the same riders, there cannot be much difference between the two leagues, therefore quite possibly a Div 2 team with three Div 1 Heat Leaders wont be "too far away" if they rode as Poole in Div 1.

However..

Having individuals racing against themselves in the same race for both teams, might even be a bit far fetched for even UK Speedway to think up a regulation which allows it... 

Wouldnt surprise if they have thought about it though... 

That’s not the point I was making. The strength of the Poole team as it stands would hold its own in the “top” flight, when in truth there’s really nothing now between the two leagues. I remember the days back in the 70’s when a NL number one struggled to hold down a second string/reserve berth.

There’s no doubt in my mind we are heading for one league, perhaps with a north/south divide.

[scoobydoo 2,253]

With it looking like Newcastle could be finished end of this season maybe that one league is another step closer or the championship is to have less teams in 2022

[mikebv 10,243]

13 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

That’s not the point I was making. The strength of the Poole team as it stands would hold its own in the “top” flight, when in truth there’s really nothing now between the two leagues. I remember the days back in the 70’s when a NL number one struggled to hold down a second string/reserve berth.

There’s no doubt in my mind we are heading for one league, perhaps with a north/south divide.

Two leagues for me...

One "top league" and one similar to the pre Covid NDL level..

No point in making teams pay out what they cannot afford just to make up one league.. 

This happened this season with Div Two, hence we are where we are..

Far too many clubs whose attendance would support an NDL team successfully, were in at a level that was the strongest it had been for years...

Just to ensure riders got enough rides.

And you can guarantee that if one league existed, some Promoters would ensure they still got the best of the deal and let those lesser teams end up fighting for scraps..

And therefore, paying out daft money just to compete, as rider demand exceeds supply..

And we would be in a similar situation this time next year to where we are now.

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by mikebv