Al Stewart

Zischke would presumably have been available to guest in place of Riss (as that absence would have been known earlier) so it looks like the Bears made a rash choice.

Surely it is pretty obvious that Harrison should have been used in white in heat 13? I'm surprised an experienced team manager like Lyon didn't make that move.

Can't say I buy all this injury stuff for the Witches (apart from Jenkins). They just are not good enough on a track like Belle Vue but will probably win on aggregate when it matters. Kurtz and Bewley are virtually unbeatable at the NSS and if Lidsey is on song as well, no-one will win. After 13 heats, 2 race winners for Ipswich.

I think that's a good reminder for any travellers, TICKETS NEED TO BE BOUGHT IN ADVANCE, NO PAYMENT ON THE DAY. Buy them via the Oxford or SRBF websites.

I had a feeling that Alex Raby once did a Craven Memorial from BV with David Rowe commentating but I might be dreaming.

Is it possible to order programmes from this meeting? There doesn't seem to be anything on the website.

Edinburgh are staging their third memorabilia auction on Sunday 16th March from midday via their website. Pre-bids ahead of the auction are welcomed by email to auction@edinburghmonarchs.co.uk . Items are available to view NOW. If you would like to take part but cannot make it on the day then it will be possible to set a maximum bid for any lots you wish to participate in also by emailing the above address. The event run by Monarchs 100 and the Monarchs Fans Trust will contribute to the cost of the new air fence which is in place this season. There are items of significant historic value will be auctioned including Peter Carr's 2001 race suit. Other highlights include Andrew Tully's 2007 race suit, a hand-painted action picture of Peter Carr, and another of Rory Schlein - all three items signed by the great men themselves. There are a selection of racejackets including Monarchs bibs from the recent past, and a rare item in an original Redcar Bears race jacket from 2006 - the year of their return to the sport. A range of special Monarchs memorabilia is also up for grabs, along with many historic photos, books, magazines, programmes, badges, and more!

Nobody watching on TV can blame the track because the incident was out of camera. The Sayfutdinov crash a few weeks ago was a different matter, that was caused by the need to ride very wide to use the dirt at the fence, with both Emil and Jack Holder going for it. "High risk but high reward" is exactly the right description. I think Sheffield are using it to intimidate the opposition and it should be discouraged as strongly as possible. It's not the kind of speedway I want to watch.

Does anyone know who the Live Stream commentators for Scunny are? I always liked Dan's enthusiasm but the two doing it now also seem very fair. One of them seems to be an ex-rider.

Thanks for the info. Can't travel far these days so I would have liked to see the Academy match as well, never mind.

I've heard it suggested that both parts of the double header will be streamed but on the website it is only the Championship match at £11.99.

This is a misunderstanding of the rule. There is no reason why Berwick should not get IRR for an existing injury. They could have had a full rider replacement had they not allowed Kerr the chance to ride, so they are not gaining anything through IRR.

The match is still a contest but it becomes about taking as many points as you can from the good gates, and scrambling for a few crumbs off the bad gates. The course of the match is pretty much pre-determined. The narrative appears to be, on Friday and Saturday, that the home teams started well but Poole fought back. The true story is that the home teams started on the good gates and then had to cope with the bad gates. Individual riders are unlikely to score maximums because they are almost certain to be beaten out of the gate at least a couple of times. How the match would have been had gates been even, no-one can say. It’s not how it should be, and I presume it is accidental, down to weather or other occurrences. It would be a truer test if the gates were even. In both matches the home team had the advantage of choosing in heat 15, Edinburgh taking the win and Berwick just failing to get a draw due to Lawson’s effort.

One of the most under-appreciated things I believe is the huge difference that unequal starts can make to a match. Most of all if it is either gates 1 and 3 or gates 2 and 4 which are dominant rather than eg gates 1 and 4. I quite often check to see what the balance is and the trigger for having a look is when matches swing one way then the other. Tonight at Berwick was an example with Berwick going 10 ahead then finally losing. I checked the gates over heats 1 to 14 and found: Gate 1 29 pts, Gate 2 11 pts, gate 3 27 pts, gate 4 17 pts. In other words gates 1 and 3 totalled 56, gates 2 and 4 totalled 28. I can’t remember seeing a more unbalanced set of gates and it explains almost totally how the match went. Berwick should have capitalised on having gates 1 and 3 in the last heat but they fell just short. Last night at Edinburgh gates 1 and 3 totalled 50, gates 2 and 4 34, and again it explains the course of the match. Usually the gates at Edinburgh are more even than that. Generally matches will be close when gates are uneven because both teams get an equal chance at the favourable gates. That is NOT the same as saying “It’s the same for both sides” because unequal gates work against the stronger team, the one likely to win if gates are even.

Unfortunately it has now had to be postponed until later in the season due to rider availablility.