Leaderboard

That boy on commentary with Roynon has just said fans won’t complain about the entertainment value tonight. Drug test him immediately. Do not let him drive home.

thing is its not just a disappointment for the away fans its also same for home fans, the home fans want to see some effort from an away rider no.1

He's been much more on it tonight, mixing it again in the first turn. Hopefully he's back on course

Yeah, I can understand people feeling like that when reading it. I just like it straight, and I think that paragraph sums up the feeling. Troy might have a reason, though he is a repeat offender of this kind of performance and fans get tired of it, particularly when you've paid your money to watch a supposedly decent number one at work.

The article on the scunny website about the meeting was frank but very true, this is what they put. Troy Batchelor was awful at No 1 for Workington – probably the worst-ever leading visitor to the Eddie Wright Raceway. The former Grand Prix rider looked completely disinterested, did not finish any of his four outings and even blocked team-mate Vuolas while pulling out of Heat 13. His lack of effort was an insult to travelling Workington fans who made over a three-hour journey to back their team.

yeah been hard watch Friday/Saturday. Quite a young team some finding their feet and form, the Captain has gone missing when he has been needed to set a good example, provide sound advice and lead from the front.

14 minutes of (pish poor) Speedway crammed into 2 hours and 6 minutes!

I’m sure the local farmers would love to set their potatoes in them ruts

Jesus Christ! The ref stops the race because of a steel shoe on the track... yet there's a huge hole on the apex of the top bend and everybody's okay about it!

Ashton made it through the first corner without shutting off, that's an improvement

You won't get it as the Premiership isn't struggling which is the only time you hear serious chatter of amalgamating leagues. Allegedly the 1H/1A was preserved for Oxford. Not accommodating them would've meant one less Championship team making 2H/2A easier to manage. If thats the case I know what I'd have told them, politely of course! The Championship can only go on for so long like this.

Howarth out tonight as a direct result of Polis’ recklessness and erratic riding. Brutal.

What an advert for speedway Ashfield is. A great evening of racing and an excellent result to go with it. I’ve been critical of Flint in the past, but take a bow son. We know what to expect with Harris, but Flint sensational. I thought Edinburgh were remarkably fortunate with the decisions in heats two and thirteen. For heat two, I can understand the decision because Perry goes down untouched, but let’s call a spade a spade, he hit the deck because Marson had little control over his bike. Perry would have passed him three bends earlier had he, again, had control of his bike. For heat thirteen, Polis - who I rate and was surprised by tonight - was all over the place; completely erratic. Had Harris not taken evasive action entering bend two, he’d have been on the deck and Polis would have been excluded. He didn’t though; he chopped it and came under the Pole while Howarth raced around him - or was about to - until he was obstructed. If you obstruct a rider going quicker than you, you’re both crashing. Regardless of whether your handlebars are in front or not; common sense should prevail. Great night, bizarre decisions.

Berwicks team might be average yet again but at least theres free parking.

Klimt probably does not want Plymouth now he has a Polish deal

Watching the other woman do the coin toss is genuinely quite comical to watch 🤣🤣

Why all these steel shoes coming off? Is it because the track is so rough? Or has Cami Brown been around the pits with some Vaseline?

if its a 50/50 going in to 1st turn ref should always put all 4 back , just robbing the public of 4 in a race.

I'd have thought four seasons at Monmore Green suggests differently.

Retaining batch can be the wrong decision but that doesnt mean dropping cookie was wrong also. The antics cookie pulled last season were out of order and not acceptable. Letting your team know you aren't turning up 20 minutes prior to a meeting starting isn't acceptable. Not being contactable through the whole of winter whilst you're supposed to be preparing for the new season is not acceptable. It's clear batch isn't a no.1 and his spitting the dummy attitude isn't acceptable but cookie can be just as bad. You can only go off what you know and the promotion knew that batch attended every meeting without fail.

Must better performance from the Workington No1 today where he only retired in one race, another two or three matches and we should see him complete all four rides. Improvement.

They've already won the pairs.

Tobias top scores with 13 points in Denmark today!!😀

Throttle works both ways, Howarth yet to figure that out in his career.

Meanwhile... taken from the Workington website: " "

Personally, I don’t see why not. He has a long history of the same (couldn’t care less about the fans) attitude and has been getting away with it for years. Good on the club I say for telling it as it is…….it’s long overdue. He was a good rider back in the day but his attitude was always in question. These days he thinks he is a cut above the rest and can behave how he likes. He’d be as well sticking two fingers up to the people who support speedway and pay his wages.

I don't think its unprofessional. Tell it like it is / was. Unless he gives the supporters some sort of explanation, that is what we witnessed.

Quite agree, while every word is probably spot on it's neither appropriate or professional for a club to lay into an opposing rider in their own match report like that.

Just cause you’re named captain doesn’t mean you should score double figures every week. I wouldn’t be expecting Paco to beat any of the Glasgow top 4 round Ashfield a track he’s self admitted pretty crap at. Thomson and Grahn failing to beat an opponent over 6 heats between them was the real issue last night.

As a travelling fan for my club, also, I feel your pain. I can't help but feel that those fans are entitled to some kind of explanation... other than "setup". I've been at matches before where the management of a team, home or away, have come on the pa to apologise for their poor performance. And while I can understand not singling out a particular rider, somebody should have asked and answered what was going on. It's not like this performance came from a young kid still trying to work his way out in the game. In fact Vinnie Foord was on BSN explaining that he had dirt in his fuel tank in the race that he retired from... nothing from B💩TCH.

Batchelor..... former world number 9, Aussie champ, Premiership Riders Champ, can't be arsed to chase down a reserve. Completely let down any Workington fans that travelled to support their team.

Disgraceful attitude by Batch just giving up and pulling up at the back when things aren't going his way. Nothing new there. Why do teams bother employing him?

To have a successful season you want riders 2025 average to be higher than their rolling average. So far Lawson, Rowe, Cook, Thomsen & Starke have achieved that. Why would you move on riders who have upped their averages? Kerr & Marson are the only disappointments. They've a replacement for Marson already lined up & I wouldn't even be thinking of replacing Kerr at this early stage of the season.

Very on point, his professionalism tonight was severely undermined . How a number1 did not have a bike fit for the purpose of racing could be construed as a dereliction of duty.

Can’t agree. Craig has proved so far this season he is night and day better than Batchelor. There’s no way the quitter would have scored 15 for Oxford the other night.

Batchelor should be sacked on the spot after tonight. Absolute joke!

He now has an Audi. Absolute disgraceful behaviour. Such a bad example to his team mates

Typical Troy performance.

he said on first TNT Sports televised meeting that he wouldn't be fit for for 6-8weeks, could barely lift one arm above shoulder level.

Zero entertainment. Track is and always will be shocking. They've even resorted to putting cheerleading on to try to up the entertainment factor.

The new woman is pretty good 👍🏻

Please explain how you ”don’t see why not”.😂 Spare us the criticism of Batchelor because there isn’t a single poster on this forum who would suggest he’s anything other than a disgrace.

You always pay more for a live event rather than a stream/pay per view event, that’s not unique to speedway just look at streaming services/pay per view events like boxing etc I much prefer going live as I’m sure most speedway fans do, Redcar streamed tonight but I still went to the live event. I absolutely think streaming brings in extra revenue, people who maybe can’t afford to attend on the day but can afford to pay £10-£15 for a stream brings in extra revenue, people who maybe can’t attend due to work or otherwise may also purchase. I can only speak from what I see week in and week out at Berwick but I certainly haven’t noticed a drop off in attendances since they started streaming a couple of seasons ago.

Can't defend the indefensible IainB, I was on the 1st bend and was truly embarassed tonight. How there wasn't a reserve replacement in heat 13 is hard to fathom.

At least the supporters turn up on long journeys to support the comets through good and bad, if I did not have an appointment I would have been joining them, well done to the travelling comets fans. But do agree watching on BSN batch was a disgrace

Doesn’t seem to be as Gusts is 3.00 also.

Wonder if BSN release viewing figures ?. It would be useful if clubs currently streaming released some data but this is improbable. In the personal case you put ie where you travel a good distance and the weather is dodgy then I can see the logic in paying for the stream, it makes sense. The issue I have is that streaming in all likelyhood will not be watched by people outside of the combined Speedway demographic so in all likelyhood won't attract any new fans. Any income is drawn from a defined pool of people and it could be argued it is too cheap relative to admission cost. With re to Comets TV, it would be understandable to stream matches against Poole, Plymouth , Oxford and Scunthorpe. Hopefully the home fans would still attend in good weather but it may persuade fans not directly from Workington to stream. If the forecast was a bit dodgy some would resort to the stream. For the northern meetings against Glasgow, Edinburgh, Berwick and Redcar who have a decent away following then the case for streaming has to be less compelling from a financial standpoint. Without data though all of this is supposition. If clubs keep accurate attendance data then any impacts of streaming could be better assessed. Hope it goes well for the Comets but personally I am circumspect on whether there will be financial and attendance benefits.

I believe It adversely affected the gate at Glasgow so they stopped streaming. Why encourage people to sit at home on a lovely day, miss positives such as fresh air, the crack with fellow supporters, sharing a beer or an ice cream, getting involved in generating atmosphere etc etc. Just don't get it. Streaming won't save clubs when the crowds have gone and nobody wants to go because nobody else goes.

Joe T seems the obvious choice, then Nathan Ablitt, Vinnie Foord, Luke Harrison? Hopefully Dan will be back on a bike soon.