Dickie Head

Another headache now with Dan Thompson needing time for his dislocated shoulder (sustained in SON2) to heal.

Drew Kemp the obvious guest if required. Best wishes for a speedy recovery Dan.

Think lbw should see how the declared riders come through Monday and Tuesday meetings before posting his (over optimistic) prediction.

Taken ill in Poland after the Pairs.

Are BBC Radio Oxford covering this? Link please.

Noticed on at least 3 occasions riders who were tight on time went to tapes in the wrong direction. Is that allowed? Thought it was outlawed and attracted a fine.

And Jacob Hook for Oxford.

So Birmingham senselessly dump Zach Cook. How will he react? Disillusioned or dynamite. Watch out Bears!

Zach’s better off out of it. It must be costing a fortune to keep the Brummies going with two Poles and now Freddie on the payroll. I wonder if they will survive. Zach will be an attractive proposition for other Premiership clubs. Good luck to him.

I believe heat 13 was stopped because Ben Barker was deemed to have moved at the tapes although Ben Cooks flip obviously attracted the attention.

If tonight’s gossip is right, Batchelor will replace Brennan. Gladiators will be without both Covatti (injured) and Newman (wedding). Quite how they cover that remains to be revealed.

Slightly off topic, Covatti and Brennan are entered for an individual in Krsko (Slovenia) on Sunday.

If Brennan is needed by Gdansk (which seems very likely after he was top scorer last meeting) I wonder if Poole might offer a guest booking to Tate Zischke who’s in good nick and has been to Plymouth already this year. If not Sedgy wouldn’t be a bad shout.

Garry May only needs one meeting out of Covatti who then goes AWOL and Plymouth get a full facility (albeit on a temporary basis under the 2024 regulations).

If Nico is unscathed after tomorrow’s (Monday) SGP qualifier at Abensburg (a meeting also featuring Tom Brennan) then there is no reason why he shouldn’t make his Gladiators debut on Wednesday.