Aces51

It's getting difficult to understand how the one 8 and over rule was passed. So far fans have reported that promoters at Wolverhampton, Swindon, Poole, Belle Vue and now Rye House are against it. Even if Belle Vue weren't allowed to vote that is still a majority against it.

And at Belle Vue.

The most progressive development in UK speedway in recent years was the building of the NSS, which took more effort and determination than anything Matt Ford has achieved and if you're looking for promotions who have raised their game you may want to consider Glasgow, Isle of Wight, the present Belle Vue promotion and maybe others as well. They have managed it without creating the controversy that always seems to surround Poole and are trying to move the sport forward in ways that benefit not just themselves but the sport at large. Matt Ford has done an excellent job for Poole but little to benefit UK speedway.

When I saw the title of the thread I feared Philip Rising had fallen on hard times.

The pre-season special is always excellent value and a good read. I'd recommend anyone who doesn't normally read the Speedway Star to either download it or to buy a copy.

We've not had that many daytime meetings so it's difficult to judge. I haven't noticed any difference in the standard of racing but as you say many prefer the spectacle of racing at night, particularly under lights and it is often said that it can be more difficult to prepare a track for daytime racing. We may get a better chance to judge this year with a number of bank holiday daytime meetings scheduled.

Thank you for the reply. It is interesting to note your comments about the reduction of Andreas Jonsson's average because it was thought to be too high. It makes the decision to allow Woryna to return on an average, which seems to be universally accepted as too low, even more puzzling. With the precedent having been set with Jonsson it is again another example of the inconsistency of the decision making by the BSPA. It is exactly this sort of inconsistency which adds to the lack of credibility. With regard to the GP rider rule it wasn't something made up on this forum. A number of promoters have said publicly that it was the change to the averages of some GP riders which prevented them from considering signing them. Plainly, either they are misleading their fans, which I don't believe, or something has been done that affects the averages of GP riders. Your point in your later post about rounding up or down averages had been discussed on this forum. The problem with it is that those teams with the financial clout or better reputations with riders could then sign riders just below 8.5, 7.5 etc., As 8 or 7 point riders gaining a significant advantage over those left to sign the 8.6, 7.6 etc., riders as 9 or 8 point riders.

Belle Vue have an after meeting press conference following Aces and Colts meetings attended usually by a number of riders and stream it live on Facebook. It gets quite a few viewings and also gets fans into the Peter Craven suite and no doubt adds to the bar takings.

I am sure it would be helpful and appreciated if you could explain your caveat of "in most instances". It presumably means that there are exceptions where some riders with an existing CMA wouldn't return on that CMA. What are the criteria for those exceptions? SImilarly, you also say that there is no 9 point GP rider rule. Is there any GP rider point rule? I am sure that you can understand the confusion being created for the fans when we are told that Zagar, Woffinden and Pawlicki have been reassessed but apparently Kildemand and Iversen haven't and that Vaculik is assessed at 8 but other GP riders at 9. Credibility is a serious problem for speedway in the UK and one of the major reasons why fans have walked away and why the media refuses to take it seriously. It is the far too often lack of openness and clarity by the BSPA which leaves fans bewildered and disillusioned and inevitably leads to the sort of disparaging comments and conjecture seen on this and many other threads. If the BSPA wishes to gain respect and move the sport forward it must be open and transparent and ensure that rules are clear, concise, published and interpreted consistently and fairly.

There was a vote to decide the best ever rider at the millennium when probably more people were alive who had seen Ivan and Tony in their prime. Ivan won and Tony was second.

Week done to the Robins, a good solid performance in both legs. For the Aces a better performance from Tungate, it looks as if he has sorted his ignition problems. We just need to get Bewley going and give Drozdz time to settle. Far too early to make any firm judgements

The point here is that the new rule is unnecessary. It was introduced as a remedy to try to reduce delays at the starring gate but as many have said, you can achieve the same end result by using a time clock, the best option, or by the referee simply enforcing the 2 minutes allowed. So why discriminate against the shorter riders when there are options that show you don't need to do so. We had a rule which was generally in common with other Speedway nations and now we have changed it and are unnecessarily out of line with everybody else.

I agree. I also think Drozdz is going to take time to adapt to uk tracks. He was looking better towards the end of the meeting on Monday and I think will improve as the season goes on but it's too soon to expect him to score well tomorrow.

We are talking here about how the BSPA define a Grand Prix rider for the purposes of determining their assessed average. Not how the FIM, BSI or anyone else might define It. There is nothing to stop the BSPA interpreting the term in a way which doesn't make the sport in this country look ridiculous. It is logical and sensible to argue that a rider who was eligible to ride in the GP and did ride in the majority of GP's, albeit by virtue of qualifying for a reserve berth and who finished higher than riders who qualified as one of the original 15 starters, should be given an assessed average no lower than those who finished below him in the rankings. If Kildemand had ridden in every GP and finished higher than say Zagar it would be totally illogical to assess Zagar, who has a more recent UK average, at 9 but Kildemand on a lesser average.

A rider who races in 9 GP's and finishes 13th is a GP rider by any realistic definition.

I agree that Flint is an excellent prospect and I hope he does well but to claim that Perry Bar is the best track in the NL

Zach only picked up a point in heat 9 because of Tungate's engine failure and probably wouldn't have done any better had he started from the gate. Musielak wouldn't have scored anything if he hadn't have been penalised in heat 13. He was against Cook and Fricke so his only realistic chance would have been to beat Morris for third.

Kildemand rode in 9 GP's last year so should be classed as any other GP rider and assessed at 9 or 8, whichever is being used. He last rode in the UK in 2015 and averaged 7.10 but it is farcical if he is allowed to return on that average but Zagar, who last rode in the UK more recently, in 2016, wasn't allowed to return on his average of 7.48.

I'm sure Rohan thought they had fixed it when he came out for his third and fourth rides. On both occasions it seemed ok when he was coming round to the tapes and he was in second place in both races when you could see he was losing power and then stopped.

Did he have a meeting at the start of last season where he had ignition problems all night, failed to finish in 3 of his rides and missed the 2 minutes in his other ride?

Rohan has tweeted that he had ignition problems all night.

Meetings at the NSS were usually finished by about 9.15 last season so I don't think the rule change made any difference. A 2 minute clock is the answer not discriminating against those riders who are vertically challenged.

The riders had been told of the new rule but as Fricke said "old habits die hard". Overall, there was much less gardening so maybe the new rule has achieved it's purpose although we probably need the evidence of more than one meeting before making a judgement.

Tungate had mechanical problems in every race apart from heat 5, when he failed to make the 2 minutes and was excluded. Bewley showed his talent by easily beating Morris in heat 5 when he also had the fastest time of the night. Worrall and Fricke were impressive, Cook was only beaten by Morris and Batchelor and Drozdz and Etheridge were both on the pace and scored their averages on their debuts. I think that both will be good signings although we shall have a better idea about Drozdz when he has had a few away meetings. Batchelor continued to show his liking for the NSS and obviously enjoyed denying Worrall and Fricke their respective maximum and paid maximum in heat 15. Bellego and to a lesser extent Musielak, were good value and should do well this year. Morris failed to win a race and never looked like doing so. Davey did well at the the NSS in several NL visits last year so it was no surprise that he was on the pace and the better of the Swindon reserves on the night. However, Wajtknecht did enough in his first match back after injury to show he will be ok. Overall, it would have been nice to have a bigger lead to take to Swindon but you've got to be satisfied when Tungate fails to score and you still win by 6. It's always difficult to judge in early season meetings but if Rohan can sort out his mechanical gremlins there's no reason why we can't get the overall win and maybe even the win at Swindon.

Last year Batchelor was superb at the NSS but unless Drozdz is very poor I can see an Aces win by about 10. It's been a long wait for the season to start so hoping for some good close but safe racing.