Al Stewart

This Page is an absolute disgrace. The same oppressive people are on so many threads, it's time the Premier section of the BSF was closed down.

I wouldn't need to because the Sheffield and Berwick fans would be discussing it themselves. Why exactly should it be an unreasonable question?

I wonder when David Howe is coming back? Seems to be no discussion at all about this.

Peter didn't like Newport that is true, but I don't think his record was particularly bad there and I am sure he scored at least one maximum.

The Cybertigs are on me again. Can't have anyone sticking to the facts can we?

You are dredging this from the recesses of your imagination. In 1999 he didn't ride in the Pairs there, having asked at the start of the season if he could miss that one (in which you casn select 2 from 3 anyway). That's it.

If that's a typical Foxhall track then there can't be any in the country better prepared. It really lets the riders race. I also had Gino marked in for a win in heat 5 from a second bend vantage point though I'm sure the announcement would prove to be right.

Good as Ward was, when he was behind in heat 1 or heat 15 - nothing. Too much of speedway is like that now. Make the start and win by a mile, miss the start and you are last by a mile. Did Gomolski win a heat? I thought I saw that. Yet other than that he was terrible. The only entertainment was when Newman and Wright met up.

What is up with Gomolski is he a speedway rider at all, or just some idiot out of the crowd who is having a shot?

It has to be Ryan McDonald, if he is still riding. Obviously pretty unfair to saddle him with that but it shows where we have come to.

Apparently the r/r was checked and agreed with the referee before the match. This is normal, I've seen this happen plenty of times. I can't see how the result can be changed given that.

The referee should always have Green Sheets with them. It is their responsibility. They certainly shouldn't be using the programme, it can easily be wrong. Who was the ref?

Appearances for your own team are not considered nowadays for the 8-day rule. You are not allowed to guest twice at a track within 8 days.

Incredible finish anyway, what a ride by Lambert. And there was a wee bit of passing at the end.

It just shows how inappropriate the TR is when the match is close anyway. It would still be a last heat decider but KL would be 2 ahead instead of 1 behind. Fairer.

It's quite depressing how absolutely nobody can pass, not even Iversen.

Is that not very harsh? Morley was about the only good Redcar rider at Armadale, and tonight he started with a paid win and then held off a strong challenge from Riss in another heat. You've just signed a good rider and have a not bad team. I don't have to watch them every week but I'd say run with the team you have.

Any updates on weather?

You are learning.

That's exactly right. The reason the word 'may' is used in the rule is because an assessed average can also go down (eg from 7.00) so it depends what the situation is and the effect of changing / not changing the assessed rider's average and whether the other riders in the team have up to date averages. This is surely as obvious an example as there could be of a situation when a rider should be moved on to a new average at the time of a re-declaration.

Yes but it is understandably applied differently depending on whether a rider's average is going to increase or decrease from the assessed level. The point of the rule was to prevent riders retaining an unrealistically low average for too long. I presume in the cases you are talking about, the averages were 5 or 7 and were dropping. The point being that teams are not meant to benefit from riders' averages changing at different times. However when promoters try to remember why a rule was written, who knows what might happen. All the very best to Kozza after his injuries.

There is a rule which states that if you re-declare your team, but have an assessed average rider who hasn't achieved an average by 1st May, then that rider may be given an average on what he has done so far. That would certainly seem to apply to James Sarjeant who has done 4 home and 3 away I think, but is averageing about 7. If that is applied then you would have Kozza's 6.6 for a replacement.

What's useless Eurosport up to now, are they actually going to show it?

That is one big reason, definitely. But I think more than that, there are very few prospective promoters these days for the obvious reason that speedway is now a license to lose money. I think once the existing promoters had pulled out they would feel a sense of relief as well as regret and not want to be involved again, unless there is some reason to think that things will improve such as Belle Vue's change of track.

But what exactly was the right thing to do? At what precise moment should the meeting have been called off? The team that's winning want to go on, the team that's losing don't, it is a familiar scenario. A potentially good meeting wrecked by the weather, I'd like to know what anyone could have done about it.