stevebrum

48-42

50 - 40 to the Witches.

Brummies were poor out the gate and was a big let down. Nicholls was awesome and Brennan did good, particularly his last 2 rides however the rest were very poor. Milik had one good race but gating was awful. Lampart looked quick to drop it in heat 10 after minimal contact with Harris which cost the club points. Flint failing to beat the rookie 16 year old in heat 8 was a big let down. Worrall was woeful and Cook only slightly better. If you can’t beat a team without their number one then it’s going to be a long season. Crowd was decent with a fair smattering of Wolves and Bees fans plus a couple of old Heathens. A couple of decent action races but the majority of races were strung out. Disappointed with Milik who I really like and looking forward to seeing Pawlicki later in the season. Oxford really never looked like losing.

Disappointed no Janowski or Pawlicki for my first meeting of the season. Hope the weather stays kind.

The same pairing that took a 3 all in heat 13 tho.

Good on the Brummies for not being the whipping boys everyone predicted. milik proving that he is a quality rider. So looking forward to seeing him next week.

On paper should be an easy ride for the champions. Here is hoping for a last heat decider and 43-47

The Aces should be favourites to win now the Witches are much weaker, no disrespect to Scott.

Bit baffling why the Aces are featured 3 times in the first 2 months. They arent that strong this year although the Bewley factor could have something to do with it. Oxford also featured 3 times but as new to the league and having Janowski is a much more attractive reason to feature them.

With Poland threatening to pull back the top boys again in 2025 there is going to be even less riders to fill all clubs which makes one big league even less likely, thankfully.

Not enough riders for one big league anyway!

When the ‘experts’ predict a 60-30 type score. :-) Well done to the Brummies taking it to a last heat decider. Milik can only get better as well. Good result.

Oh I agree on the lack of support point. It’s those that buy the land that claim it’s ‘unviable’ as an ongoing concern as a suitable and convenient argument. Speedway will always remain a very niche sport (in the UK) until some marketing giant can breathe new life into it. That said it’s still one of the most exhilarating sports in the world. With land becoming more and more of a premium there will be more promoters that will sell for the right price sadly.

I think to the vast majority of fans they support their own team first and foremost and when they close most will be lost to the sport or only attend occasionally. You only have to look at the amount of tracks that have closed down since the 70s and you can see the gradual decline in attendance.

Doyle is one rider who gives his all for his league racing which is why he has been top Aussie for many a season. There isn’t another Aussie in league racing that is as committed to UK racing or as good at league level. Holder (Jack) and Fricke will probably finish with a lower 2024 average again.

Peterborough would be worse don’t you think? Lynn and Panthers have had an awful line up the past couple of seasons which feeds into the fact it doesn’t matter what track advantage you have. Aces and Wolves have had 2 of the better teams in recent seasons so are comparable with riders in their line ups that could be considered track specialists. So would say Wolves maybe have more riders with more small track specialism. You would think Wolves would be dominant at home season after season when in fact they haven’t and haven’t won by massive amounts week after week. Team strength plays its part but I fail to see a logic that Wolves had the most advantageous track to the home riders. Stats don’t back it up.

If the track wasn’t such a massive home advantage then they wouldn’t steam roll teams season after season. Belle Vue having the biggest home advantage has nothing to do with it being the best race track in the country. That’s completely irrelevant. That wasn’t even a point. Why you have turned it into a which is the best race track is baffling as that wasn’t even a point I made! The myth that wolves had this massive home advantage is disproved by results over the years. Lots of last heat deciders with points on the line all the way thru the meeting. You wouldn’t get that if the home advantage was that great. It’s completely irrelevant whether you or anyone rated MG as a good race track or not. The point was about the biggest home advantage.

Yet Belle Vue had much more larger home wins because of their massive home advantage! Quite a lot of close calls at MG and some defeats which kind of tells its own story on this mythical massive home advantage. Truth is most riders could handle MG very well.

By definition anyone who finishes in the top 10 yearly averages several seasons running can be classed as a true number 1. However I fully agree that I also consider riders with a 9 plus averages as a real definition of a number one. Valid point on the real number one comment. Think it’s splitting hairs on the rest of the Oxford and Leicester teams who have riders more proven to have achieved a higher average. If anything KL have massive potential. Think everyone has the Brummies down as 7th by a very large margin! Very much an unknown quantity compared to the other 6 teams.

I’d go with 1. Ipswich. If anything they have strengthened up from the side that finished last season. Key rider Adam Ellis who surely is better than that average? 2. Leicester . Probably the strongest top 5 in the league. Very reminiscent of Wolves the past 2 seasons who made the top 4 each season as well but stronger looking. Key rider Sam Masters who has been a true number one for several seasons if he can return to that standard Leicester will probably walk the league. 3. Sheffield. Ditto a very strong top 5. Woffy is a star attraction. Key rider Chris Holder who has been very hot and cold when ridden here on his last couple seasons. Should add to his average tho. 4. Oxford. Proper dark horses to me but the more I look at the line up the more impressive they look. Maciej coming back is a real boost to the league. Key rider Maciej Janowski as if he performs as the number one he is expected to then Oxford will be very potent. 5. Belle Vue. You can’t really count out the Aces who have breezed into the play offs the past few seasons. They fall just under the top 4 for me but wouldn’t be surprised if they were in the play offs. Key rider Norick Blodorn has a lot more responsibility this season who has primarily been a reserve for huge chunks of the past 2 seasons. Also Bewley will be expected to perform like the GP rider he is as he was frankly quite disappointing in 23. 6. Kings Lynn. Power packed however only 1 real number compared to the other sides and that’s the only reason I don’t put them in the top 4. Literally everyone bar Iversen and Musielak have huge potential to increase their averages. Key rider Patryk Wojdylo who looked a real winner on his few appearances for the Panthers last season. 7. Birmingham. On paper extremely weak but is a team of proper battlers and racers. Pawlicki had his contract terminated last time he was here but is a decent standard number one. Milik has had his average massively inflated but I’d like to think he would achieve 7 at least. They need Worrall or Brennan to really step up. Lampart is a huge unknown over here. Key rider…… so hard to pick one because they all need to add to their averages so I’ll go with Tom Brennan who really needs to step into true heat leader standard for the Brummies to be a force.

Quite possibly yes. Had been one of the better top riders in the top flight for several seasons however. Yes I think that’s a possibility. He went bang out of form from mid season onwards.

He didn’t get it in 23. But was mid high 8 for several seasons.

And was a true number 1 for several seasons at Wolves with one of the top 10 averages every season…… bar 2023.

Depends what you class as a top rider. Milik isn’t that far from GP standard and has established himself at top level in both Sweden and Poland. Same with Lidsey coming back last season on his old reserve average pre Covid despite establishing himself in the Polish top league for 2 seasons. None of these rulings are ever fair to all clubs. Some gain massively some lose out. That can’t be fair. Surely a sensible yardstick could be their averages from top flight in Poland and Sweden. If you are good enough to average 6-7 points in both leagues then surely 7.50 or 8 would be a better assessment when converting to the UK. As for the signings….. Pawlicki is a rider that has got Monmore within a few heats. A total natural on a considered trick track. I’d go to watch him. Ditto Milik. Thought he would be GP level by now but I find him exciting also. Definetly gonna make a few tricks to PB this season for those 2 alone as well as having some ex Wolves in the side also. I seriously hope the team gels and aren’t as poor as people are predicting. I say that in all seriousness because the Sport, the Midlands and Brummies fans need this team to survive.

Absolutely, with decent crowds.