Chairboy

With a forecast like that (significant rainfall from 10am and throughout the rest of the day), I would say calling it off as early as possible (tonight hopefully) would be appreciated by riders and fans alike. Very unfortunate for the home promotion, the band of rain is coming through at exactly the worst possible time.

Genuine question - does anyone have a theory as to why Lakeside persist with R/R (rather than a guest) for Kyle Newman? I was at Peterborough last night and I can't see how giving extra rides to Alfie Bowtell and Broc Nicol is supposed to work.

Well, I do like a straight answer to a straight question! Thanks TT.

I read in this week's Speedway Star that they have booked Chris Harris for the meeting at Rye House, then Ben Barker for the one at Peterborough. If that's correct, it's a little odd that the Panthers own preview does not reflect this.

Whether or not we all like it, the League Champions are determined by play-offs - which effectively means a 2 legged knockout contest tagged onto the end of this season. For this reason, it is absurd to also have 2 other competitions which end with exactly the same format, at the same time of year (and often with the same teams). Ideally, if there were sufficient league fixtures there would be no need for the rather contrived Championship Shield. As for the KO Cup, in my view it should have cut-off points enforced earlier in the season, and a Final much earlier in the season, so it is over and done with long before the play-offs start. In a perfect world, of course. Next week, my solution to end conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Couldn't agree more with that last sentence!

The name can have a significant effect on how fans identify (or don't identify) with a team, and I agree with City Rebel - if this season's 'experiment' is seen as a success, and the Lakeside promotion run at RH next season, the name should incorporate both elements. Eg, Rye House Hammers or Hoddesdon Hammers.

I may be stating the bleedin' obvious here, but I would suggest that these end-of-season Lakeside fixtures at Rye House are of crucial importance to the future of speedway in this part of the country. Rye House fans are pissed off because they have lost their team, Lakeside fans likewise because they have lost their track. However, if enough people come through the gate for these meetings, it might just mean that the Hammers name (and promotion) lives on, and competitive speedway continues at Hoddesdon in 2019. It's now up to us fans, effectively. If as an old Rockets fan you don't want to support a different team at your track, you have the right to choose not to go. Hammers fans who either are unable to make it to Hoddesdon, or prefer not to, can also make that choice. So, you might say that in this instance the power lies with the fans. We can make this work - if we want it to. We just need to turn up.

Couldn't agree more, CR. Every now and then I walk out of a meeting feeling that British speedway is still alive and kicking, and that was how I felt last night.

As a neutral, I quite fancy attending the double-header on 5 August - I'd be interested to know what the admission charge will be.

When commenting on here we all the risk of saying something which may turn out to be wildly inaccurate, or ill-judged, as we cannot see the full picture. We can only speculate as to what plan RH put to the BSPA. It may have been ridiculous, maybe not, but it was probably well-intentioned. Speaking as a speedway fan, I am pleased that RH have made that statement on their website. There is a tone of defiance about it, which I like. There are not that many people left with the will or the means to promote speedway in the UK. I've no idea what they have in mind for the future, but if it means speedway racing continues (or resumes) at RH, at any level, I will be delighted.

A new statement on the RH website (sorry, no idea how you put links up) - worth reading!

Will the Speedway Star reveal all tomorrow, Philip?!

If I may return the topic to Rye House for a moment...I must say I really did think that some kind of statement would have been put out by now. Can the Speedway Star really go with a "let's pretend nothing's happened at RH" approach tomorrow?

I agree with you - individual meetings can provide some decent racing, but from a fans viewpoint one off individual meetings can give you that feeling of "Well done to Mr X for winning that - but so what?". At international level the Grand Prix system has proved popular (up to a point). If you support a Premiership or Championship team, would you like it if each club staged one round of a Premiership or Championship Rider Grand Prix series? Personally I would find that quite attractive.

Rob, your posts on here have made very interesting reading. You are clearly still very passionate about British speedway - I hope that continues to be the case in the future!

Fair play to you, Stevebrum. I have enjoyed reading Rob McCaffery's posts but I feel he may have rather over-reacted to yours.

I would love to see a return to One Big League (I even like that as a title for it!). A full and varied league fixture list - maybe a knockout cup regionalised in it's early stages - maybe a four-legged 4 team tournament with your 3 nearest local rivals...as you say, Rob, just imagine...

I agree with you both, KevtheRev and Chris. As fans, when we see our team struggling it is only natural that we have conversations amongst ourselves where we suggest what team changes could be made. But as we do so, we look around the track and we don't see thousands of paying punters. As you guys have said, if Jenson or Shroek were to say "We'd like to make changes but there ain't no money" or "We are looking at possible changes, bear with us for now", it would be appreciated.

RH now have Ashley Morris in place of Matej Kus.

We can only hope you are correct! Better still, that the deal has already been agreed. (I'm going to look a right mug tomorrow night when Clegg outscores Kus)

I can't imagine many would disagree. He's a great rider at NL level and may do a decent job for a Championship team, but I don't think struggling in the Premiership is helping his development at present.

So, the re-declared team is KK 7.78, Nicholls 7.75, Harris 6.92, Robson 5.80, Summers 5.44, NBJ 5.00, Clegg 2.00 (total 40.69, 1.81 within the limit.) Useful to have NBJ at reserve, but surely he will be missing the Wednesday meetings?

Unlikely (but not impossible) that Jakobsen will be in the RH team as his 28 days are up. Stuart Robson should be back - he rode for his Championship club last week. Also, won't KK be at No 1 for RH with the latest averages in effect? Maybe one of the 2 clubs will give us the answers soon.

Based on his Championship average, I would reckon 4.85