bringbackHalifax

have I missed something is Darcy making a comeback ?

I believe this is the tip of the iceberg, but Richie has had a lot of clubs in his short career, chasing the £'s ? Highest bidder ? I don't think Richie would ride in the elite as a draft rider on draft rates after riding in an elite team for proper rates, and who would blame him. Those who have never had it will see it as a bonus, Richie would rightly see it as a 50 to 70% pay cut. As for riding abroad Poland and Sweden are on a downward spiral. They have less teams than our elite, crowds are falling and they have now got more riders wanting the team places so competition means they can play hard ball with contracts and have a few squad guys ( who never get to ride). Read somewhere of a prem rider who has a £400 per point contract in Poland but has ridden twice in two seasons. Our elite needs some rules that make it better to have a Richie, Auty, Kerr, Cook than a foreigner just like the Poles and the Swedes do in their leagues. Big, big year for the BSPA conference. Wonder how many of the current promoters are absent come March 2016.

Christian is struggling with confidence and hasn't returned from the crash at Scunny the same rider. Anton is playing catch up and has not got dialed in and is suffering from lack of racing, no Tuesday night in Sweden and only 3 Thursday's so far. Simon relies on his gating and isn't making enough starts and very rarely passes anyone. Lewis Kerr lacks consistency, not trapping as well as last year, and his average dropped whilst at no 1 but goes up at number 3, so expect it to pick up now. Ludvig suffering from inconsistent race track and lack of grip on outside. Never a gater so gate and go track for most of season not helping. Good team spirit and always around his team mates in the pits. I believe has found ignition problem with bike on Sunday, so hopefully more speed for next week. Lewis Rose is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He has blown his engines 2 in last week, bent bikes before Monday and was low in confidence. Batch has lent him an engine for big tracks which he is trying to raise money to buy it, difficult when not scoring points, and I believe on Sunday he was using Ludvigs engine which took him a couple of rides to get used to. He looked a different person after the meeting so Monday was a real downer in more ways than one. ( starke never even went over to see how he was by the way ). Stevie was always going to be the better of the twins and he will kick on from here. At number 1 his ave dipped a little , at number 3 it went back up and now I believe he is more ready to stay at one than he was at start of the season. Great trapper and quick when in front. Cannot find anyone who can fill our spare points but would consider 28 days of Hawkins till Rose is back rather than Konopka guesting as every one else is below Lew Rose average.

Official scorecard now on bspa website and clearly shows the score chart with Junes averages. New ones declared on 24th June for July meetings. Redcar gain from redcar mistake. Redcar must have known over the last 2weeks that Kus has gone above Robson especially as they were making changes and looking at averages. 6 point deduction is coming their way. Interesting that Robson having had the crash wouldn't have been ready for the ht8 double ride anyway

If Tommy gun had of been warned for the first excluded for the second he might not have done it the third time. Refs not being firm on starting cheats is the issue. The rules are already there.

Programme has to have correct averages in - redcar responsibility Team manager of your club should and will be aware of their riders averages each month even before they change. - redcar responsibility. Checking of programme - home team responsibility Putting right rider in race - team manager responsibility Giving ref programme with correct averages - redcar responsibility Who gained from mistake - redcar Who has innocently lost out - somerset What happens now 6 points off redcar total. Get over it, stop blaming the ref It was a good meeting to watch. Brady Kurtz is one hell of a rider.

But Poland and Sweden are following us. They are spending money on riders wages that isn't coming thought the gates. Sweden are down to 7 teams in each league, Poland are down on number of teams. They are in the same boat as us and it's coming their way. They have a stadium advantage but they still have too different a standard rider in a race and therefore it's not an ideal package to watch. Starting again will create a new level of stars, it can redevelop without the costly stars. You don' see Lewis Hamilton every week in a stock car and you won't see grand prix riders every week. The money is not there, yet the riders want as much as possible to fund the grand prix. Great so earn it in the grand prix not in the league. Not having a go at Matty Zagar but Belle Vue spending all their £100k tv money on 1 rider is not good business sense at all. They are not the only ones. A lot of the racing this year has been crap, all gate and go because the riders and bikes have taken all the cash and not enough is spent on the tracks. Give riders a great surface not a slick strip and you can have a great nights entertainment. Get it right now and we will lead the way as the cash dries up abroad.

There is lots of debate around elite v prem and who has it right and who has it wrong. In reality speedway globally is in the rubbish. many will say that it has been for a while, but never since 1970 when I first started watching as it reached this low. I don't blame the current BSPA members as the money makers took their cash and never invested in the future when the good times were happening. To back up its not just in Britain, the Swedes have got 7 teams in their top two leagues and race 12 meetings & then play offs. Poland is now throwing cash at the top riders and dropping the lesser ones as they try to buy success. This is the start of their downward spiral as they try to win at all costs. How do we move forward ? No easy answer but if people want the top guys in the world, then it will cost about £30 + for adult entrance fee. Still cheaper than prem football. Anything less and apart from Poole no one has the income from speedway alone to pay their bills. Premier league riders on £90 to £120 a point is crazy. Glasgow has reinvented itself and good luck to the guys but you have riders there for the money, not for the team or club, meaning no heart. Edinburgh, Berwick, Glasgow, Newcastle, Redcar, Workington, Scunthorpe,Plymouth, Somerset, Rye House, Ipswitch,Coventry, Wolves, BelleVue, Swindon, have all been visited by myself and not one of them have had a crowd that would get anywhere near paying the bills. the Swedes and the Poles are following that pattern very quickly. I would start again. At the end of the season I would have any rider over 6 point average ( to be agreed at end of the season ) in the prem has to move into the elite league. Have 6 man teams, no doubling up . Elite pay £125 point. Prem pay £45. Riders need to understand prem means balancing some work as in semi pro. Stop paying out 70 to 100k for GP riders at league meetings for the season. you cannot afford it. An average elite mtg would cost around 16k and an average prem meeting would cost about 8k. Elte need around 930 to break even and prem would need about 530 people to break even, not counting any sponsorship income. At least then we could have full 6 man teams, any guest for injured rider comes from league below top two or a number 5 or 6 in the same league. Would be tough at first but would settle down quickly, would have similar rider ability in each heat, hopefully 4 riders in a race unlike now where we have 2 races in one most of the time. Just some thoughts but it's tough out there and we need to wake up and smell the coffee quickly. I grew up watching Halifax so not used to winning and then we transferred to Odsal won the league with an expensive team and closed. I was always entertained when I was at Halifax but got a bit bored at Odsal. I just want to be entertained and happiness really was 40 : 38. Not winning the league.

Don't think the Redcar new signing is over from Denmark yet, so won't be him.

Totally unfair on Cookie. He had two bikes in the pits ( why do people who have nothing better to do create utter crap about a rider ). He drove 600 mile round trip ( with many road closures on way home as well ). He was pretty fed up after the meeting If your looking for excuses look at some of your regular riders.

Wherever he rides next season I hope he kicks on and doesn't waste his talent. As for next season he is fine depending on what the silencer changes bring .

Just to give some facts to correct the opinions of the "in the know people". Darren Bond does not sponsor Ludvig. Ludvig does live at his house. George Bond did Ludvigs bikes all season with Ludvig. George Stancl was with Anton till his injury and helped with Ludvig for a couple of mtgs only. George Bond and Ludvig work together and win or lose together. Ludvig is frustrated with himself when he doesn't ride well and will shout at mechanics or throw goggles but that's normal When they sorted out the confidence and stopped reading the forum,got over the shoulder injury, and clutch issues, Sean Wilson changed the engine set up and Ludde rode well in all mtgs except Edinburgh away. His average last yr was in the 1 or 5 spot all season. He rode for Newcastle last yr because it's where he wanted to be, his three main sponsors are not bothered who he rides for.

Steve and Richie both had the chance to come to Newcastle for 2014 and chose to go elsewhere, why does anyone think they would want to come back. Not many clubs will offer Steve a job in the Prem next yr as he would most likely be at NO 1. Danny has now got a realistic Prem average so can double up next year. This yr only Newcastle could fit him in on his high average. Will see if there is any loyalty or he goes for bigger bucks elsewhere. No doubt when the promoters sit down and talk about how much they lost this year, they will wipe away the tears, and build teams they cannot afford for next season. Bet Edinburgh's losses this year will be close to or higher than the 40k a few seasons back, but they will plead poverty and get the begging bowls out of the steel container and do it all again. Just wish all prem teams would provide entertainment at an affordable level and not get sucked into the win at any costs mentality of the elite league.

17 wins on the trot for the Monarchs, certainly have the momentum. They have 7 fit riders for the run in which is key for the aggregate matches. Last night they were much sharper from the starts and it showed it was the Diamonds first tteam meeting on track since Glasgow in mid September. hardly good preparation and it's a month since we rode at home, so don't fancy our chances at all against the rampant monarchs on Sunday. Maybe we should have arranged a fixture in the interim to give track time.

How about not letting any team not completing fixtures participate in the play offs

I believe for team building purposes the assessed average should be the lowest figure to be allowed. i.e. if a 7 assessed rider gets a 8.25 then team building is 8.25, if he drops from a 7 to a 5.45 then the team place ( riding number ) should be determined by the 5.45 but the team building figure will remain at 7. This will stop the 3, 4, 5, point no hoper foreigners in the premier league. I would rather take a chance on a no hoper Brit. I think we need affordable speedway. £10 entrance free for kids under 16 6 man teams genuine £45 a point for all riders - no exceptions. no add ons from promoters or club sponsors Any rider wants more - go Elite If no Elite - regionalise for 2 years - North and South. only season starting average can be used for guesting - not current one -this limits average manipualtion

Was hoping to keep this above the your track my track debate. Doesn't need to be wider as there were a few times in the last few weeks where 3 abreast round turn 1 and 2 and down the back straight happens at Brough. Can't manage that round Berwick first bend, although you can off the second. The issue is when a rider hits a patch of the softer stuff and then picks up unplanned grip and then wipes out his rivals / teammates. Again some riders, whether you like it or not can regain control and others can't. I would put a drainage system in to get the standing water off the track asap and leave the shape alone tbh.

I will try and give a balanced view on the track yesterday ( and probably the last few weeks as well ). The drainage on bends is not great ( there is none at all on one of the bends ) and whenever there is rain it just sits on the track. When JS turns up early on a Sunday morning his first few hours is spent pumping water off the track. However as these parts of the track have sat under water it means the base is different to the outside, where there has been no standing water. When you get new riders ( first visit ) or certain established riders ( Barker for Ipswich last yr, Auty every visit bar 1, Ollie Allen every time he drives through the pit gate in his van, if he comes, to name a few ) they tend to leave their brains in the toolbox and make a hash of at least one race. Not one of those mentioned hits a corner as fast as Cookie the other week, or indeed Lindgren last night, but they get the line all wrong on entry, which usually means a big off. It is frustrating for the home riders that the track is patchy and inconsistent but they understand that the speedway club has no access to the track after Wednesday night due to the dogs and therefore are in the laps of the gods with the weather. It also is difficult to find a set up that works week in week out. Agree with the comment though that the riders who attack the track will prosper. Stead, Cookie, Josh G, Kyle N, and Pepe last night after his first ride Hope this helps people understand. I am not trying to justify it, I would love it to be better, but its not the worse track, I have seen this season. Kings Lynn, Lakeside, Poole, Scunthorpe, Swindon, Coventry, Belle Vue, Eastbourne have all had some bad track meetings.

The idea of nullifying a joker double pointer is to come out of the race with the same points advantage you went into heat with. Newcastle did that and more tonight. As for team riding, it is very difficult for the riders at the moment as there is only one quick line round brought this season. If you look at Robbo and Kerr tonight Robbo didn't team ride with Lew as Lew wasn't quick enough and Somerset have a decent rider in every race normally so better to bank the points. Robbie and Lew are evenly matched so can ride together, Danny is quicker than Lew R, Ludo is quicker than reserves so harder for them. Also riders prefer clear run into bends to pick line that suits them so better if team mate is well ahead. Just a pity track surface nowhere near as good as last season. Well done to the lads on a good victory. Hope LewK and LewR recover quickly ,but don't think we will see either next week.

Would be good if we could quickly re arrange two away matches and then we could have the benefit of the spare points to strengthen.

If Robert lambert was available on a 3pt ave in both leagues, something that is not possible once he rode in his first meeting in the elite league why do the Newcastle fans believe Newcastle would be his only option. There are other clubs out there who would throw cash at him as they would any rider who is on a low average and a banker to increase. The guys who have come and turned us over Josh, Richard, Cookie ( he will ), are all doubling up and hopefully with Danny we can compete with these guys. As for the rest of the team, they all have ups and downs but as they have less meetings, all are struggling with finding the right set ups this yr ( include Christian and Anton in this as well ). They need to ride through it and get it sorted, we need to back them, stop dreaming that there is a bottomless pot of cash to keep changing the team, give them a decent race surface to strut their stuff on ( lose the gate and go one line only ) and see where we go. I think the original team would have made the playoffs, I have doubts about the new one, anyone who went to Ipswich or Plymouth( get the dvd ) would see them all digging deep for the club, equally the last 2 home matches haven't left any rider with a smile on his face.

Well, buggered if you do and buggered if you don't. In deep poo now if Rose has to miss any meetings as rr will give us no chance. hope he is okay. Onto the changes, I accept why, but when it didn't work in full, needed a plan B. this can't be a plan B. Had a quick look at last 5 home and away matches. Without bonus points it looks like this SR. 8.43 LL 6.78 CH 6.13 LK 6.00 ( only 5 home 4 away ) AR 5.82 (only 4 home and away) LR 4.37 CS 4.20 Robbo has 6 double fig scores but none at no 1 Ludde has 5 double fig scores 3 at no 1 Christian has 2 double fig scores , none at no5. Anton has 1double fig score at no 5 Lewis K has 2 double fig scores. Based on this info correct decisions made on Christian and Anton, and it showed we needed a number 1. Just feel we would have been better off soldiering on as we were until two balanced signings could be made as now we will continue to struggle. On a separate note, we don't seem to have the same race surface as last year and it seems to favour the gaters now. A guy stood in front of the speedway office cleared off after two races after saying track was as bad as it was for the workington match and that was boring. Seriously, gone home after two heats. See what next weekend brings.Edinburgh and Ipswich will both see a league points guarantee looming.

Don't personally agree with every decision George makes, but no one had scored points off gate 4 prior to ht 8, so why risk the black and white in that one. Lewis is now hopefully sorted, Anton had a headache when he set off to stansted for his early morning flight and his bike is a mess, but Ludde, George and George will sort it for Sunday when he flys back in. schrammy is doing the airport drop tonight for Anton , he is gutted about the crash. Looking forward to watching on tv tomorrow night. Oh, and some team is going to get hammered shortly when these seven diamonds click.

I think the material in use on the tracks is the main difference. it may look nice but in reality it is fine stuff that doesn't give the riders any grip, hence a number of surprises which happen when you see some of the inexperienced riders make the gate, hold the racing line and unless they make a mistake, they can win. Equally if you are behind, chase the dirt and it will be the equivalent of hitting the brakes. This is an issue in both leagues, not just the premier. Sadly we are now seeing unprecedented ftg heats. This is backed up by the number of restarts at mtgs as riders are desperate to win the / roll/ gamble / cheat their way in the 30yard chase from the start.

Having been to both matches over Easter weekend, I have to say without the spicy bits to get the crowd going there wasn't much to get exited about. I do like it when Scunny come to Newcastle as they tend to have a go unlike the Sheffield effort recently. At Scunny I thought they could of graded the third and fourth bends more to give the riders a different line. It had a blue groove by heat 3 and was way too deep on the outside half of the track. At Newcastle it was too deep on the third and fourth bend outside line but was of a finer material which doesn't seem to bind and give riders grip, on the contrary it just unsettles them. Ryan was good and a little exuberant which caused his crashes, but he will learn fast. Howe was his usual self, competitive and sensible, TJ was quick but got a couple of rollers and had a mad moment ( the DVD will show the truth ). Anton showed improvement but was knocked about a bit, Robbo and Luudde were entertaining ( Ludde unlucky to blow the engine in ht 15 ), the rest hit and miss (excuse the pun ) but Lewis Kerr had a night to forget. Speedway has high and lows and it's how they bounce back that matters.Lewis will bounce back quickly. Already looking forward to the league matches .