Happy Hunter

I think that Beaumont Sports Complex Ltd (a David Helmsley owned company) lease the land on which the speedway stadium is constructed (and the surrounding land including the car park and club house) on a long term lease from Leicester City Council. Presumably the present owner/promoter of the Lions is/are paying a rent to Beaumont Sports Complex Ltd. which will at the very least cover the cost of the annual payments that Beaumont Sports Complex Ltd. are making to the City Council. There are other, better informed, people than me on here who can correct me if I am wrong.

You are assuming that the Lions will be riding on GP Saturdays then?

Well the thin one was Laurel!

Well Public Relations has never been the Lions strong point!

Why not take a leaf out of cycling's book and have pursuit races? Tapes on both sides of the track with individual and team pursuit races - would probably reduce the number of accidents and so make it safer for everyone. Or how about the rider who is last at the end of each lap having to drop out. That would stop riders like Bomber Harris sneaking wins on the line! As well if we had two sets of tapes on opposite sides of the track we could start the even number heats from one side and the odd numbered heats from the other side. What about handicap racing? I can remember seeing this in the days of Moore, Briggs, Fundin etc. Gating tarts to start from 15 metres.

You are a cynical lot!

Was interested to see this extract from a news item on the BSPA web site about Lakeside's future:- “While the track is still in situ we will talk to them about the continuation of Speedway at Arena, given the success of this season, the increased attendances from 2017, and the exciting plans formulated by the British Speedway Promoters’ Association for season 2019.” Does anyone know what these "exciting plans ...... for season 2019" are?

Considering the recent run of results the crowd was better than I expected although a bit lower than some in recent weeks. The racing, if you exclude heats 2 to 6, was half decent with Nicholls and Harris being the best riders on show. As has been said elsewhere the reserves made all the difference as they for most of the season. Robson & Wright tried hard but Mountain and Auty were not on the pace. Andersen had a bad start but picked up later on, presumably after he had changed his set up. Wells did all that could be expected of a number 2. All that Leicester fans can do now is hope for better things next season! P.S. I should think that the crowd was less than a third of that at Poole when Leicester rode there last week.

According to the BSPA website report on the Cardiff GP Jason Doyle still rides for Swindon. You couldn't make it up!

Well you can't accuse the owners/promoters of dragging their feet or being afraid to wield the big axe!

I think that the season is now finished as far as the Lions are concerned - they only have 4 home matches left plus 9 away so I can't see them getting anywhere near the playoffs. It will be a battle to avoid the wooden spoon again. I feel sorry for the owners and promoters because I think that they have done their best to put a good team together but have been hampered by injuries and riders not performing. I was on here earlier in the season saying how low Bjerre's percentage of winning rides was - I think it was about 33% then. Its now 27% which is less then Andersen, Pieszczek and Wells. He has only 4 wins in the last 6 home meetings so I think it would be wise to replace him although I take the point made earlier about his performances away from home. Having said that we need to win at home to keep the punters coming back! The two reserves are inadequate. I have lost count of the number of times they make the gate only to be at the back when they leave the second bend. The jury is still out on Pieszczek - his early promise has not been fulfilled although in recent weeks he seems to have been having problems with his machinery. He has always been inconsistent - winning one race and losing the next - but that's o.k. if he keeps getting 8 or 9 points and not the 4s he has been getting recently. Another point is that the Wright/Pieszczek pairing looks like an accident waiting to happen. One of these weeks they will wipe each other out as they both want to be on the same part of the track. Perhaps the pairings need looking at. Here's hoping that we have a better end to the season!

Dreadful performance by Lions. Only Andersen, Wells and Wright anywhere near good enough.

Being a bit paranoid after the Rye House fiasco I noticed at the box office last night that the list of admission prices had been removed. Will there be a new one soon with higher prices? Someone has got to pay for all the smartening up (grass cutting etc.), the erection of the Sheffield gantry over the start/finish line, and the electronic scoreboard that was on display last night

I am afraid that, over the years, a good meeting at Leicester is defined as one where the home team win by a narrow margin. The excitement level depends on how often the overall points lead changes over the 15 heats!

No you can't blame Glyn for the Leicester track!

Like it!

It was probably the nearest he could get from his local Charity Shop.

Nicholls wearing a Pirates shirt on BT Sport tonight!

The last time something like this happened people were surprised by the number of retired riders (of various ages and for various reasons) who came back to ride.

Charles Wright injured last night. Not riding for Sheffield at Scunthorpe tonight!

Calling all anoraks - these have now been published - http://www.britishspeedway.co/2018_speedway_regulations_online.pdf

Having read various comments about Poole on here over the years I thought they were already in a league of their own!

I think that the track was better prepared when Glyn was curator. It's got worse since they got rid of him and he was the one who did his best to improve the racing by carrying out the alterations to all four bends. As far as the pits are concerned I agree that it would be better to be able to see what's going on but planning and environmental concerns meant that the City Council insisted on the current layout. If funds ran to it an alternative would be a big screen on the 3/4th bends (back to sun) showing what is going on in the pits and, possibly, a re-run of each race.

Further to my post a few days ago a bit more information for those interested. First the figures are for league and cup meetings. Second you need to bear in mind that the winning percentages are likely to go down as the Lions have only ridden 3 away matches compared to 6 at home. Third a bit more information: Winning percentages home & away: Andersen H 50% A 20% T 32% Bjerre H 33% A 17% T 27% Pieszczek H 48% A 7% T 34% King H 25% A 13% T 21% Newman H 16% A 13% T 15% Serjeant H 14% A 0% T 9% Kurtz H 12% A 10% T 11% Last place percentages home & away Andersen H 0% A 20% T 6% Bjerre H 25% A 33% T 27% Pieszczek H 19% A 29% T 24% King H 13% A 50% T 25% Newman H 20% A 40% T 28% Serjeant H 36% A 64% T 45% Kurtz H 36% A 60% T 43%

One of the Lion's problems is that the no.1 and no.5 riders are not winning as many races as they should. Bjerre has only won 30% and Andersen 41%. I think you should expect them to win at least 50%. Pieszczek has won 34% of his. In addition there are problems at the other end of the team that others have mentioned. Has anyone any idea when or if Bates will ride?