Daytripper

Lakeside is one track that Kennet has always ridden very well, even with a legal silencer. He could potentially score two or three times more than Milllik.

Nothing strange in that at all. As Bech is apparently only available for one match between now and the end of the season there is not much point in keeping him technically on the books but in reality going into matches with yet more guests or R/R. Rain-offs over here and fixture changes by the Danish federation have messed his availability up. Also, I think you will find that Cook and Ford are not as pally as they were a few years ago. A lot of water has flowed under the Bridge in the last few years.

[quote name="Halifaxtiger" post="2505756" timestamp I have said this before but the BSF remains a bastion of free speech in amongst all the official forums where criticism - however justified - is barely tolerated. For all its trolls, abuse and wind up merchants it is invaluable for that purpose. I don't agree with the above post but it must be pleasing for all of us that it can be made. I don't agree. Free speech is one thing but calling someone an "egotistical jerk" does not help sensible debate especially when the one calling childish names had chosen not to examine a few basic facts before making his silly comments. Constructive criticism is preferable to name calling any day.

Spot on. When Bech is good he is very, very good, and he is also a good team man in the pits. But he is apparently only available for one more Lakeside match this year so however brilliant a rider is, he is no use when he is not there. The real problem centres around Peter Karlssons drop in form. Dave Watt and PK were a good spearhead for the team up to this year and could back each other but it was a big ask for Watty to take over the No1 role without genuine support from PK while Lewis and Mikkel inconsistent, although both were brilliant at times. Neither were quite able to step into the role intended for PK , and Davey couldn't do it all,on his own. To be brutally honest Lakeside were never going to be serious play off contenders without a major part being played by PK. I think next year Richard Lawson is the only one more or less guaranteed to be back and all other places likely to be up,for grabs. Major changes are likely I would say. As for Danny King , he is a really nice bloke, I like him a lot and he has has had some good meetings at Lakeside (as well as some bad) but I don't see him getting a lot better.

That makes two of you then.

He has made no progress at all this year. Still more or less on his starting average. I think he always has been a gater hand not much of an over taker and looking at the way he riides I doubt he will ever get a lot better than he is now unless there is a big change of approach. If you compare him with Richard Lawson, Worrall,was much better than Lawson two years ago but now Lawson is almost a point higher on his average and far better on away tracks. Having said that, the way Ben Morley beat Richie last night when he hunted him down and passed him was just one of those occasions when something clicks in a riders mind, and they decide they are going for it and nothing is going stop them. Probably the best ride of Bens career. Anyone who was there wil remember it for a long time.

I am not a Poole fan, I am a Lakeside fan and I probably know him better than most. I don't think he is taking back handlers from Ford. He has some right howlers on away tracks, and always has done but when you look at his performances overall in his 3 years with Lakeside they are as good as any other 3year period in his career. There will always be suspicion in anything remotely connected with Matt Ford, which is not surprising given Ford's past record but as I said before if Davey wanted to cause Lakeside to drop points there are more subtle ways he could do it.

Let's try to get some grown up perspective on this rather than sniping guesswork without knowing all the facts. If you compare with Wolves, Tai and PK have bektween them dropped their combined averages by over 3points this year and both finish up in the same side. Not a single post from anyone suggesting some kind of fiddle because most sensible fans accept these things happen and ultimately it is variations in form that make the sport interesting. But if the Wofy/PK situation happened at Poole the forum would be in uproar . Personally I can't see many redeeming qualities in Matt Ford and the man has too much past form for me to warm to him at all. But that doesn't automatically mean that Poole is so awash with money to be able to start paying big bribes to every promoter and rider he wants to manipulate even though he might thought to be capable of of such behaviour. If Davey wanted to cause Lakeside to drop points to help Poole there are far more subtle ways he could do it without drawing attention. He has pretty much led from the front in his time at Lakeside and pulled more than a few matches out of the bag with some great heat 15 rides when the rest of the team had underperformed. All he needed to do if he was going to cheat is drop points in those rnaces and nobody would know any different. I see Davey at closer quarters than most fans each week and I see the enthusiasm he generates that rubs off on the team and have seen the encouragement and, help he gives to younger riders. He does far more than a lot of captains, many of whom think a captains job is simply tossing the coin. When Davey missed a meeting through injury recently he was still in the pits helping the team when he could have stayed at home. It does not seem to me that a committed captain and team man like Davey would blatantly throw a couple of races at Poole when there are so many other more subtle ways he could cause Lakeside to drop points if he wanted to. So I don't think Davey is deliberately throwing races at Poole . He has unfortunately been thrown into the No1 role because the rider signed as No1underperformed and he is really more of a second heatleader than a first when he goes away from his home track. But these failures at Poole do not look good and Davey, together with his promoter needs to get it sorted.

A Shovlar -esque attempt I generate some interest but there isn't much after the latest Ford shenanigans. The Poole track is full of ruts and,holes and has been all season . Should have been repaired ages ago but weren't because the Poole riders know the lines to avoid them and any visitors don't. Rider safety doesn't come into the reckoning where Ford is concerned.

Lewis Bridger. One track he does know his way round is Eastbourne.

I don't know how many times we have to go over this point but what it has got to do with the SCB is that they are the governing body of the sport, they are required to act in the best interests of speedway and in particular they have SOLE RESPONSIBILITY for the creation and enforcement of the rules. The fact that they delegate rule making to the BSPA does not absolve them from that responsibility . The SCB are the ruling authority, not the BSPA. Now, if as some on here claim, the rule making process was fixed/flawed/fiddled or whatever them it's is the responsibility of the ruling body, I.e. The SCB to sort that out before approving the new rule. Even if the rule was achieved by due process the SCB have still approved a Mid-season rule change that gives an advantage to one club. So why didn't Swindon protest and why didn't the referee stop Poole using Compton? Because by that stage it was apparently a rule approved by the SCB . Some might say a stupid rule or an unfair rule but it was still a rule and Swindon could not do anything about it. The issue is not the rule itself it is the way it was introduced and why it was introduced this late in the season. My understanding is that it was a majority not unanimous.

If they are not done properly then it falls to the SCB to ensure they are done properly and there you have the weakest link in the chain. This is just one thing that has come to light but there are plenty of other much more mundane things that get referred to the SCB who just roll over and don't back officials and others who are trying to do a job and enforce the rules.

No it doesn't there are 5 members on. The MC and not all of the EL promoters agreed wit it.

They were not all happy with the rule change and didn't all support it.

I have just had a n e-mail from a mate, good bloke who has supported the sport solidly for 40 years through good and bad, done more for the sport than simply paying at the turnstiles,now says he has had enough and is finished. Gone. I am shocked because he has been so loyal I thought he would be around until they carry him out feet first. Whatever the rights and wrongs of this issue, the sport simply cannot afford to lose core support like that.

Newmans score highlights the weakness of the FTDR scheme in its present form. Even over four rides he still far out scored all the other FTDR riders put together. Newman, along with Garrity, Blackbird and Kerr are far to good to be in the FTDR scheme if riders like Ashley Morris sre being left out and he shouldn't be taking the rides of Brendan Johnson who is not really good enough to be in the FDTR scheme.Can't blame Newman or Poole but this is one aspect of the FTDR scheme that needs to be sorted out for next year.

There is no easy answer and simply switching every meeting to a Monday is not a panacea that solves everything. As others have said, a package of measures are necessary including stopping the cheating. Unless and until those steps are taken changing the race night won't make a scrap of difference. The elephant in the room is the excess of TV broadcasts. Years ago if you were only going tp see a top star once or twice a year you would make the effort to be there, but when they are on the telly every couple of weeks they don't have the same charisma. Bet 365 nonsense makes it even worse IMO. No need for the casual fan to leave the house now.

It doesn't matter whether it actually affects kids or not but if the perception of SOME parents is that late nights affect their kids school work then rightly or wrongly they will not take their kids to mid week meetings during term time which in turn means some don' t go themselves and the result is that there are a few less going through the turnstiles and that is the important thing.

Eastbourne rode very well , as they often do at Lakeside. They won the toss took advantage of the more favourable gate positions in the early stages, took there chances and were more impressive than a lot of visiting sides this year. By contrast Lakeside were finding themselves in the wrong part of the track too often. It changed around the halfway stage when Lakeside had a team talk and Davy really pulled the team together, showing why he is one of the best captains around. Lakeside hardly put a foot wrong after that, making for an exciting finish. Great effort by Rory who once again showed his liking for the track. 100% commitment from him. Eastbourne get a lot of stick for fans of the more fashionable clubs but they showed a lot of character, to unexpectedly take a point. Can't fault their efforts. Once again it was a slickly run meeting, starting at 8 pm and was done and dusted by about 9.40.

But Lakeside already have riders who have been good for 8 or 9 points at No 4. What they need is someone who can go out and score 11or12at No 1 or No 5 , and in particular someone who can go out with Dave Watt in heats 13 and 15 and get a heat advantage. I can't see anyone making the play-off final who can't get at least a 3-3 in the big heats. It's really going to need Lewis or Bech to step up a gear now , which is not beyond the realms of possibility but it's by no means certain either. Unfortunate state of affairs because PK is incredibly popular but things couldn't carry on as they were for much longer.

I spoke to Adam on Friday. It's his decision to ride at Ipswich. He likes the Kings Lynn track but feels he has to get hijs PL confidence.. Davy Watt spent a lot of time with him on Friday talking about different racing lines and I believe Chris Louis is working with hiim at Ipswich. Adam is a definite talent but he is a young lad and still relatively inexperienced so there are bound to be these ups and downs, but Jon Cook is doing the right thing IMO letting him choose his own course for the moment. Frustrating in the short term but hopefully will be beneficial in the long run.

I spoke to one of the riders in the meeting. It seems Davy was leading the race and a win would have given him overall first place in the meeting. According to what I was told, Somolinski basically dived at him in much the same way as NP went into Matej in the GP last weekend, only with more serious results than the Pedersen/Zagar incident. Apparently it was so blatant people could see it coming. Smolinski was riding in his home town so there was no way the referee was going to exclude him, so I was told. In fact it seems to have been a poorly refereed match all round. The thing that annoyed the rider I spoke to was that Smolinkski never went to see Davy afterwards to apologise or see if he was OK. Smolinski has history of this sort of thing. Last year he torpedoed Richard Lawson at Brum and put him out for a couple of weeks, but again never spoke to him and instead behaved like a child because the referee excluded him. Then a few years ago, there was the more well known incident when he caused quite bad injuries to Rory doing the same thing,plus a few other incidents with less serious results. I gather there are a few riders who won't be too upset if Karma catches up with Smoli.

Lewis was chatting a lot in the pits to Richard and to Mikkel and they all seem to be getting on well. I had long chat with him myself . I think his mechanic, Glen, and his manager Ian, have been very good for him this year . Lewis is a really nice bloke when you talk with him on a one to one, and a lot better than some of the press he gets. I would love to seem him reach his potential, over this season he really seems to be getting his focus together. Hopefully much more to come. Seems to be a happy atmosphere in the Lakeside pits generally these days. Davy is a really good captain and it's nonsense to talk of replacing him.

We had all this last year when Piotr Swidderski pipped Worrall on the line. Half the back straight we're on here claiming it was a wrong decision because it looked to them from the other side of the track that Worrall had held on. When the video became available a couple of weeks later it clearly showed in both normal time and slow motion that Swidderski had won by half a wheel. One thing about the position of the refs box at Lakeside, is that it gives a perfect view looking down on the start finish line, yet there still seem to be a lot on the back straight that think they get a better view from 100 metres away. One of the oldest mistakes in speedway is to start filling your programme in before the result is confirmed.

Kasprzak, last time he came with Poole he scored 14 points , beaten only by PK. Not sure why people are keen on Scott as guest. Last time he guested he was disastrous and scored 4or5. It must be good few years since Scott has had a really impressive meeting at the Raceway.