stevebrum

Good point, failed to notice that. Must be great crowing about beating a team that was completely decimated. It's nice to see the Aces win something for a change. It's been many a year in waiting.

More to come id expect.

Now that all teams are completed ill make my prediction for the new season. 1. Poole - with 2 Polish ringers they are head and shoulders above every team bar the Aces. Kurtz should continue to improve. Holder is the key because whilst he is on a low average he seems to have been in free fall the past 2 seasons in the UK. Sundstrom is another on an out dated average. On paper the strongest team. 2. Belle Vue - extremely solid and the only team that looks capable of matching the Pirates man for man. Cook is Mr Belle Vue whilst Fricke has great potential for continued improvement. Bewley for me is one of the stand out reserves this season. Drodz is the key rider to the Aces being potential champions this year. 3. Leicester - again on paper a very attractive looking side. 2 brand new riders to the league is the only question mark. Pieszczek is the key rider to getting used to British tracks and also with the Polish mafia continuing to allow him to ride with no interference. Newman in reserve should be a strong scorer too. 4. Wolves - a strong top 4 should ensure a top 4 finish. Thorssell is proven on away tracks now just taking over as number one he will need to step up but is more than capable. Reserves appear weak however Morris is a much improved rider since his last top flight stint. Underrated reserve IMHO. 5. Swindon - both Morris and Musielak will start in more responsible positions. Question marks over where the improvements will come from. Like Wolves look weak in reserve however Zack was starting to look a threat in reserve before he got injured last season. 6. Rye House - similar to last season. Very solid with no real number one although KK should improve his dismal 2017 average. If he can get back to being an 8 pointer then they are a real threat. Another one with a ringer this time in reserve in Clegg. Definitely a number 7, just his average is falsely low. As a team will need to improve on the road if they are to be a real threat. At home should be pretty invincible. 7. Somerset - outstanding number one however the back up looks weak. Plenty of capable riders just struggle to see who can step it up particularly away from home. Jeppesen could hold the key to a much better season if he settles well. 8. Kings Lynn - someone had to be bottom and I'm surprised a team with Iversen in would be bottom either. Lambert could make yet more strides as great back up to Niels however the rest look very weak. Newcomer Andersen could make a difference.

That was confirmed last year when BT took the rights on for 3 years. League deal is just waiting to be announced.

No surprise, presumably on loan despite the insistence of a full deal?

Unless he signs for someone else before.

Good to hear work is being done to sort out the terrible bumps. Such a brilliant racetrack has been pretty dire for too many seasons now. In saying that apparently work has supposed to have corrected this on a couple of occasions that haven't seemed to have worked so hopefully this time around they are able to correct it. I'm sure the riders will appreciate a less dangerous track to race on. Good news then.

Certainly has some merit. The key with the play offs is to time your run of form and stay injury free. Injuries will always have a bearing in any result no matter what system you come up with.

In the good old days I'd agree. Thankfully that no longer applies.

Absolutely! ! Everyone knows who should have been the champs tho.

We all know the outcome if our 2 Swedes had been riding.

Belle Vue didn't even make the final last year.

Done.

Which just goes to show the nonsense of allowing some riders to keep outdated averages and others lumbered with an average that can't get them a team place in the UK.

Had to chuckle at this part. Never have I ever read best number one and KK in the same sentence before.

It's an easy one for me. If they are British they can ride in both divisions regardless of average. That's very easy to implement.

Ditto Harris.

He only has to beat his opposite number and he has done his job. Anything else is a bonus.

Why will there be lots of pressure on him? When you have a ringer as a reserve he will only have 3 rides anyway. Same as any team with a powerful reserve.

No surprises, great to see him continuing his career in the top flight. Won't have any pressure on him at all so he can continue progressing at a nice steady pace. I like watching hi too. Don't expect massive improvement but think he could push it up to 3 or 4.

No credibility to the BSPA statement at all. How can they have allowed the like of Bomber and even Cook (who could have continued to double up if he wanted to) when both have a higher top flight average than Scott and Eddie? Doesn't the B in the BSPA stand for British??? Look after your own first. Got it wrong yet again.

I think it's great that the set nights seemed to have tempted a few , including Tai. Let's hope we make it easier to encourage them as well. But yes I agree they won't be coming here to earn a fortune!

Piotr is more than keen on a UK return. Let's hope he is back later in the season. At Wolves of course. I've been saying this since November when CVS confirmed it.

You heard wrong. Not picking Freddie over Jacob was purely financial. With no number one limit both would have been back. Piotr and CVS were gutted about the reassessed rule that affected him. Otherwise he would have been in the team too. Hopefully come spring he will be back on his 7.32 average.

Piotr back with his parent club mid season. He has already stated he wants to come back. Average too high unless it's another fiddle like Clegg.