False dawn

And Bartosz came all that way for nothing 🤪

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/38759838/emma-louise-jones-presenter-tnt-sports-speedway/ She appears to have all the right attributes 😁

So in the league section of the KO Cup, T/S rides aren't allowed. But an aggregate point is awarded. So isn't this a two leg competition just like it is in the knock out part of the competition? Just saying.

As it turned out it was gate 1 and gate 4 to some extent that turned out to be difficult. My perennial complaint is why don't the track staff fix it? Back in the day we had a man or men with rakes on the start line that would fix any obvious problems. Oh I know that there was always accusations of doctoring the gates for the next race in favour of the home team. But if one gate was deep or slick, at least with some attention this could be improved. Uneven gates are annoying especially in key heats (13,15 and especially any super heat).

There seems to be a contradiction in what you say. If gate 3 was a graveyard on Monday (and yes it was, not a single win) the riders obviously didn't get used to it.

How do you know. Have they tossed for gates already?

You could be right. I thought the 8 day rule would prevent him riding for BV at the NSS next Monday. But I checked and the 8 day rule doesn't apply if the guest is replacing the number 1.

Would have been a bu**er if all 3 had been rained off

Well I enjoyed it. It was great to relive some of those old memories of clashes between the two sides. Dan Thompson and Jody Scott put on a great show for the Bees as well as Bomber's usual 100% showing. Sam Masters was untouchable for the home side and it was great to see Erik Riss back to the sort of form we all know he's capable of. Thank you Oxford for putting this on. The Bees ain't dead yet.

If someone is dropping in a bike via a drone for him to practice in his exercise periods, I'd be very worried 😱

According to the article in the Star they have had specialist help with the more difficult areas of damage, as well as the regular track staff and an army of volunteers. The general gist of the article was that everyone is working very hard to make the circuit ready in time for league racing. I'm sure if they could have run the youth training this weekend they would have. I have to say that there have many comments about the extent of the damage caused. There wasn't just "a few bent poles". The starting gate was destroyed and there was mention today of damage to the transponder wiring.

Generally I agree. But the authorities, for whatever reason, decided to give Tai a WC. Would you turn it down if you were him? The fact that he is not going to be fit enough came later and from what we hear, it wasn't for the want of trying.

A more generous interpretation of what little we know is that Tai was badly injured. Then against the odds he's offered a WC for this year's GP series. He accepts in the hope that working very hard he can be fit in time. Unfortunately his body didn't quite co-operate enough to make the fairy tale come about. Just saying.

Having watched a lot of BSN meetings last year, I realised (again) what a good job they are doing. I'm sorry BVTV, your presentation was amateurish, the lead commentator didn't seem to know who was who and the camera work seemed designed to miss any overtaking. If I can't get to this meeting next year I will not be buying the stream again.

I hope the weather forecast improves.