Lenny Lion

@Sings4Speedway In 2021 there was only 1 meeting all season at BP that started with BOTH teams having their declared 1-7 which was Scunthorpe in KOC 12/6/21 but it didn’t finish 7 v 7 because Josh Auty had a season ending crash with Dan Thompson & was withdrawn from the meeting. In total Leicester used 4 guests & used R/R 2 times . Opponents used 15 guests & R/R 6 times . Leicester started 9 home meetings with their declared 1-7 The only team to have their declared 1-7 start a meeting was Scunthorpe in the above mentioned KOC match. So at Leicester there was 19 guests used in total with R/R being used 8 times.

Also for those that are interested the riders that guested at Leicester & how many times in total they rode over at BP in bracket’s & their own teams they appeared for + the 1 guest appearance : E.G Richard Lawson rode for Eastbourne & Plymouth in their declared 1-7 + 1 guest appearance = 3 (C) = Championship (KOC) = Knockout Cup & P/O = Play Off’s Richard Lawson (3) (Eastbourne C & Plymouth C) Tom Brennan (3) (Eastbourne & Glasgow) Tero Aarnio (3) ( Scunthorpe C & KOC) Danny King (4) (Poole C, KOC & P/O) Alfie Bowtell (2) (Plymouth C ) James Wright (2) (Newcastle C) Jason Edwards (1) ( Only guested) Rory Schlein (3) (Poole C & P/O) Josh Pickering (2) (Edinburgh C ) Steve Worrall (4) (Poole C , KOC & P/O) Jack Thomas (1) (Only guested) Jordan Jenkins (Redcar C) Charles Wright (1) (Only guested) Dillion Ruml (2) (Plymouth C) Alex Spooner (1) (guested as NDL No facility guest) James Shanes (2) (Birmingham C) Connor Mountain (2) (Newcastle C) Chris Harris (2) (Birmingham C) Zach Cook (2) (Plymouth C)

Looks like it’s going to be the core Kent 2021 team . Cameron Heeps announced according the BSPA

That’s a team that will challenge for the title

It’s unlikely the twins will be separated. On Joe’s average I can’t think of many riders that are better or equal to him but I also think they are both worth another season & will only improve anyway. Dan struggled at number 2 but he will learn & build on 2021. If we are sat here in 12 months & they have not kicked on again then I would agree on a 5+ average Dan would be a risk. Joe will be the next one announced . I can only assume Howarth will be back & then there is speculation of Anders Rowe which for me is a bit left field a name which has never been mentioned before.

From what i am hearing at Leicester Dan Thompson is in the Sheffield team for 2022 & has picked up major sponsorship from Watling JCB to buy 2 complete new bikes for premiership racing.

I remember his injury because I am sure I read somewhere when Richie got injured because the ambulance was taking too long they pushed Richie on the stretcher the short distance from the stadium to the hospital . Also because at the next Lions meeting Stewart was moaning that he was wearing his lions race suit which had to be cut off

There are more deals that are complete already then announced to i suggest upto 75% of Championship team spots are already agreed I.E Leicester have all 7 riders signed & within the 42.00 limit . It happens every year & this year is no different . All the league promotors get together & agree a limit . Which is then passed at the AGM . That’s how teams can sign riders before the AGM. Nobody gains an advantage by it because all clubs know what the agreed limit is so it’s up to clubs if they wait until AGM. The only grey area over 2022 is the rising star grading’s. Riders who are to come off , riders to be added on & riders to be moved up & down the ratings . I am informed SCB are issuing this to clubs by the weekend.

My calculations might be wrong but my inkling is 1. Troy Batchelor 2. Connor Mountain 3. Kyle Howarth 4. Jye Etheridge 5. Nick Morris 6. Dan Thompson 7. Joe Thompson

Well if successful over 2 legs I assume Poole are going to run on Monday night so not to slow the play offs down .

How would the called off meetings in July/August have any effect on the play off’s? We would still had to wait around for other clubs to finish their season so couldn’t start the play off’s . The original Scunthorpe match was scheduled for the first Saturday after everyone had done their matches.

I was told it’s attend tonight , Play Off Semi or the club will give a refund who require it .

It baffles me all this It has been on the Leicester fixture list all season as a reserved date for play off’s so if you buy tickets to SON you made the decision to potentially miss the Lions in the play offs. Leicester is a Saturday night track so why would they diverse from their regular race night when it’s not needed for what will be their biggest meeting of the season & it will severely hit crowd numbers running on a non Saturday. You may pick 1 or 2 people traveling up-to Manchester if you ran Friday but you will gain more fans by running on your regular race night which has been proven in the past. Would you see Poole running their leg any other night regardless of what is going on elsewhere not a chance . This can be added to the list @iainb can complain about to the club enjoy SON #neverhappy

It’s raining about 3 miles from the track .

Are you insinuating that last night was all just a set up because of a feud between Mr Bates & Mr Godfrey ??

I highly doubt Ryan Douglas will be back at Scunthorpe after comments made in the past about how he was treated by Godfrey when he rode for Scunthorpe. But he is also Poland bound for 2022 so I suggest he will drop Championship racing to concentrate on Premiership (Sheffield ) & Poland

I understand Leicester will have priority over Sheffield because Sheffield are running on a non protected Premiership night.

So Jack Thomas misses tonights meeting ? He has guested all week & misses his clubs meeting ? In his own words for a day off ? Sorry mate but they should not be allowed a guest & he should be punished for missing an official meeting for his club when he has been guesting for everyone else

The Birmingham track is just terrible . Birmingham fans will complain that Redcar won the match because they got the track how they like it. When in reality Birmingham were only winning because the track was damn right dangerous as soon as it was made safe Redcar ran away with it & showed what a poor quality team Birmingham are . They have got away with it for so many weeks having a dangerous track & now they have been caught out.

Scunthorpe & Peterborough

Scunny Dan rather quiet tonight ? Wish I had got a picture of him standing alone in the stand gutted at the loss Sorry to end your home record Godfrey only mentioned it about 15 times during the meeting . Scorpions let down by Ellis & Jorgensen . Only the 2 track pony Lambert & the guest Mountain that made it close . The loss of Palin wasn’t really felt because they scored what Palin would have scored from R/R rides. Bet you wish you picked Kennedy at the start of the season when you had the chance. Dan & Joe struggling for speed but hopefully will be back on it tomorrow.

Iain i agreed with you on the “unfair riding “ exclusion until I looked at a picture posted by Mark Hall that clearly shows the other 3 riders in a normal corner position & Keleher just about to T bone Dan Thompson. To me that would be unfair riding IMO, he impedes Dan from racing so it was the right call by the referee who I have never heard of before .

I thought tonight was a brilliant meeting with some good hard , firm riding but no riders throwing their toys out the pram. Douglas looked shaky but by his own admission struggled for speed which i am sure he can cure. I feared for us when Morris was injured but we got through it . Hopefully we get 7 riders come to the party next week vs Glasgow

To be fair to Leicester it was announced that Eastbourne were missing Kennett due to illness when i arrived at 6pm & again around 6:30pm .

Insurance & referee are both free as part of sponsorship of the series . Track staff are all volunteers . Stadium rent is paid per month not per meeting so no extra costs there. The only paid people are paramedics .