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Primarily this is an event is to raise funds for the SRBF, all riders U.K. based that are fit & able should make their selves available to ride in this event therefore if it doesn't " capture the imagination" you know where to point the finger. Personally I don't think the line up is to bad & well done to Buster Chapman for providing the venue. I thank all the riders that have offered their services plus Paul Akroyd & his team for all the hard work in making the event happen good luck to you all on the 25th.

I get your sentiment but Poole will do what is best for Poole and I would expect any club to do the same. If they decide to change two then that’s there prerogative.

How about just giving Dan Thompson the job for the season, & help another British rider progress ?

BUT HIS AVERAGE WAS LOWER AND HE WAS ONLY SIGNED BECAUSE FRICKE'S SEASON WAS ENDED BY INJURY. Jesus wept.

It's a real interesting conundrum, methanol bikes apparently about 75/85 hp, which would be pretty good for an electric motor in a motorbike, but torque especially comes into it so would imagine wouldn't be much between them, who'd have thought a few years ago the fastest road cars on the planet would be electric.

I think if Poole do 2 changes and make Newman unemployed at this stage it'll be a disgrace, with some British replacements available, or even a newby from abroad. Still will add a few hundred more pages on here if they do I suppose.

There is 0% whatsoever a legitimate reason for Ipswich to be allowed a guest when there are plenty of RS options available. That said this being Speedway - you never know lol!

Six actual "seniors" including the number 8, and two juniors.. This country's top league could have gone to four seniors and two juniors when the "top names" left, meaning plenty of "senior" cover for injured riders... However, the 2nd Div wanted to use Div 1 HL's and the Div 1 HL's wanted the money, hence DU'ing become rife and out of control... As you say, there is a reason Poland will never go down the guest route and it's that the fans, media and sponsors would never countenance such a situation as it would destroy their competitions credibility and render them pretty much worthless, (and unwatchable from those brought up on it being a "proper team sport").....

I don't think they will as there ain't a whole lot between Jack, Kemp, Rowe and Thompson, but IF Poole decided to drop another rider to bring in Ablitt + 1 then that's sport IMO, and the custodians of the club have to do what's best for it as a whole. A bit harsh on the rider admittedly but as we've seen in recent seasons riders can agree deals and then go back on them leaving clubs in the lurch so it works both ways. Wouldn't go near Batch personally and I'm not convinced Ablitt is good enough. Thompson for Thomas the best bet I reckon.

http://championproducts.info/tpbs Do some homework.

Personally think its long overdue that all tracks with armco barriers must have a polyfoam fence

"Pete Adams barbed & tongues" all together seems appropriate.

yeah, you've definitely moved on, I can tell

Sadly that never happens, a rider can get replaced at the drop of a hat, even if they have upped their average. Whereas a rider who doesn't get paid & want to leave to join another team will get a 28 day ban for "withholding their services" Speedway contracts certainly seem to favour the clubs over the riders!

Totally agree with Lisa's comment here, if Batchelor & Ablitt are so much stronger than Thomas & Newman why didn't they sign them to start with? There is very little difference between Thomas, Kemp, Rowe & Dan Thompson so can't understand why Poole would even consider re-thinking the team building strategy they came up with in the winter!

Can't find the averages any more but sure batch is around 7.2? So would need 9.2 to bring in ablett meaning have to be Newman released leaving roynon as your senior reserve all season. If my memory and calculator isn't playing tricks on me lol

Paul Bowen is an alright signing, plenty character in the pits, decent rider on a 3 something average Luke Muff, I seriously don't understand all the hype... Unreliable, bad attitude, not even got very much potential... As you can tell he has swindled me (and many others) in the past, very disappointing side put out by the Colts this year, and it started off so well with Jack Smith, Sam Hagon and Matt Marson... Freddie Hodder looks a good prospect too

Would it? If that is the case, why not go with that in the first place?

Nice to hear Poole Pirates (and Ipswich Witches) getting a mention on BBC Question of Sport tonight. Shame they got the sport wrong but hey ho!

Only cos they have squads.

That was horrendous as Ellis and Morris had appeared in the semis! It's a part of the sport over here, but a terrible part, and there's a reason the best league in the world doesn't use them.

Even if that were true, speedway fans contribute to the SRBF on the basis that it will assist a rider injured while taking part in speedway, wherever that maybe. I very much doubt that one single one would draw a distinction between Ben Morley, for example, being injured at Kent or being injured at Isle of Wight. This is about riders, not who contributes to the fund.

Don't open that can of worms!!

Yes - that's correct. Salford Stadium could be seen clearly from spaghetti junction. The stadium was given to the City by an unknown benefactor in celebration of the Festival of Britain in 1951. When we looked at it, the only users were Salford Cycling club who used the velodrome which surrounded a cinder based running track which had been very rarely used in previous years. Spectator capacity was only 2,500 with uncovered terracing only on the two bends, but there was considerable scope to at least double this by installing terracing on one straight (the other straight ran parallel with the main Lichfield Road so could only have accomodated a single row of spectators around the velodrome. Salford Cycling Club could only use the stadium between May and September because the floodlights didn't work and the City Council wouldn't fund having them repaired. We would have done this, so the Cycling Club were very keen on having us as co-users, but the Council, prompted by a single determined high ranking councillor, put forward every conceivable objection to having speedway there, including saying that the substantial sized carparking area was "too close to the entrance to the M6 Motorway." We would have used the stadium once a week between March to October, leaving the cpuncil to offer out its use to other potential users on the other 300 or days days of the year. It was then decided to offer out the stadium to tender and we were told that we could submit our tender providing that this complied with four conditions - the first of which was that the activities of Salford Cycling Club must be maintained, as other tenderers would also have to. The only organisation able to comply with all four was - you've guessed it - Birmingham Speedway - so the council awarded it to a Five-a-side Football provider which couldn't comply with any of them! The Cycling Club were straight away evicted and the velodrome was demolished. We had plenty of supporters within the City Council's staff who were initially enthusiastic about the prospect of having speedway at Salford Stadium, but it just shows how one high level councillor can bulldoze his way into getting his own way when he doesn't care for a particular project. The irony is that after the success of the Commonwealth Games last summer, there have been strident calls for Birmingham to install a velodrome within the City, but it seems that no one remembers the perfectly good one which was destroyed!

But surely better than guests which are a horrible part of British speedway. I could stomach R/R but 7 v 7 is what we all want to see (and Charles Wright was injured for the second leg anyway)

Let's just hope this season a team wins the league and the play offs, preferably with the same team they started with...... although think I can see that pig overhead.

We all know his average doesn't reflect his current ability, he was always going to perform better than Fricke. It was for a season ending injury so fair enough as it's within the rules but it just seems wrong to bring in a rider just for the playoffs.

I'm surprised having seen it, but it can't be beyond our technology having a riostat (not sure the spelling) on a powerful electric motor?

There's a big difference between making a mid-season change to strengthen up and dropping a rider pre-season with no team spots available though! Anyway as far as I'm concerned replacing Thomas for Thompson, Kemp or Rowe doesn't make Pirates any weaker - so if for example Batchelor & Ablitt is stronger than Thomas & Newman, why wouldn't they start with that team?

Standard SCB insurance only covers you for life or loss of limb , ‘ private hire ‘ has its own rules as you state. Private hire also can mean no medical cover in place, see Scunthorpes own adverts. You pay your money, you take your chance !

It’s very unfortunate what has happened to jack thomas and I feel so sorry for him but if Poole make 2 changes to compensate for it in my eyes is disgraceful putting someone out of a job this close to the season is bang out of order with the points Poole have there is enough decent riders to fill that spot this is one interested person to see the morals of messers ford.

no clutch so maybe be at a disadvantage from the start the power on e-bikes is really on or off like a switch not really good for throttle control

During the World Superbike coverage at the weekend and advert said that speedway gp and British speedway is on Eurosport/Discovery Plus all season long.

Can't see being 2 changes.

Would require a complete re-write of the rulebook to be allowed in. Maybe some demo races after a meeting could be arranged though?

Could this not be be dealt with by a time penalty since transponders are now to be used.

I agree Lisa and I think a double change would be wrong,putting a rider out of work and nowhere to go,plus I can't stand Batch, never wanted him in my team and still don't. Also if we got Batch and Ablitt it would mean Kyle out of work who I was really pleased to see back at Poole. It would be awful to put a rider out of work at this stage especially one who has Poole in his blood and someone who no doubt had other offers. It is wrong to even be considered in my view.

The world number 5 was always going to score more than Max, I’m well over it. it still stinks.

Cup matches don't count towards averages (nor do certain league matches if it suits an agenda.....)

Sad to hear Tony Mole isnt in the best of health, the man's a legend for the tracks he ressurected/kept running over the years

This is the easiest way to get BSN on the TV for those not technologically minded. When using TV browsers we now also have the QR login meaning you don't need to use your TV keyboard!

Personally I think it would be really out of order to drop a rider in March with no other team spots available, especially as there are options available for a straight swap for Thomas!

Considering Jack Thomas was in both Poole and Ipswich teams, I do wonder if Ipswich do get Rowe or Kemp, they will also double up with Poole as well, as will help with race sharpness level needed to do well in the Prem.

I'm sure it was as well and still should be. Could sort of understand it if it was a broken collarbone or something, but the poor lad looks to be and for his own good should be out for the season, with riders available it can't be right to start with guests.

Good read in this week's speedway star interview with Steve Lawson . 2 months to go UTC

The Regulations were different in previous seasons. Sheffield took advantage of the same regulation used by BV to make a signing that they otherwise couldn't have made - that definitely improved their team. Perhaps if they hadn't set a precedent, then BV might not have been able to make their change? Also, no-one can ever predict how well a new rider will perform (or how poorly an existing excellent rider will perform), so there's no argument there either. Get over it.

I would say that it has already watered itself by the look of the river across the track. Air bags are great at becoming water holders days before a meeting but then dump their contents as soon as blown up, flowing across the track causing soft spots.

Hello Pinny long time no hear... hope you are doing well... Andrew Bain is the main man behind the Comets resurrection... he has ran the Workington Speedway Training Track at Northside for the last few years and when the Comets went pop in 2019 he decided to redevelop the Northside site as the track was only about 160 metres round and in a tight bowl... Andy has a background in Civil Engineering and Groundworks and he decided to open the whole space out and stick a 300 metre track on the site... been a big task however things are nearing completion and although it will be an ongoing project for the next 10 years or so it is exciting times in Workington that is for sure... Regards THJ

No Neil you have hit it on the head... let down by the sheet roof guy so having to source pits roofing from elsewhere... perimeter fence due to go in and not before time which should add some security to the site... track electrics going in this weekend I've been told... which is nice to know cos am getting that job apparently... and if the pit roof goes on this Saturday the pit lighting will be getting wired in on Sunday... the centre green has been levelled out and Steve is grading the track continuously to try and get it to bind better... seating structures are imminent but it's massive like a big mecano set and is causing a few logistic problems so rethink on those going on... other than that everything is going in the right direction... Regards THJ

Personally I love the Play Off's. The atmosphere on the night is electric and exciting, I do think we need to move on from last season's Play Off defeat. Lets move on and concentrate on ths coming season.