Bagpuss

Mr May needs to hope his team are good enough to back up his words or he is going to look like a right berk.

This has been discussed many times, Mr Ford has been excellent for Poole but along with a weak governing body and rule book his time in speedway has been pretty disastrous for the sport in the UK as a whole and the rule bending has contributed to crowds falling along with other factors. He would not be missed by many people.

As Bagpuss might say Etheridge’s away average was still under two however our friend wants to dress it up and I would suggest Riss has improved on that even if not by much. I think people might have expected him to score a few more at home than he has done though.

That sounds very similar to the 1997 Elite League version?

Depends which version of the six man format it is, the 1997 one was ok but then they came up with a version in 1998 with nominated heats throughout the programme which favoured top heavy teams and was garbage. Also worth pointing out that whoever comes up with whatever idea it’s still got to be voted through by the promoters collectively.

Somerset’s last four home results show what a tough nut they are going to be to crack in the Play Offs.

A very Happy Birthday Paulco

Danish Championship Final this and next Wednesday apparently.

It’s that old chestnut rider availability I’d imagine. Personally I’d go to Lynn given the choice (if the weather is ok!) and record the TV meeting.

Should be able to finish the job off but Swindon’s top five are more than capable of making life difficult and absolutely nothing should be taken for granted.

I don’t believe they were mistakes, they are too blatant for that. It’s almost as if it was agreed that if the scores were close enough then everyone would get at least five rides almost as a warm up / test session ready for the Play Offs. Simon obviously only had three which wouldn’t necessarily tally with that but I can’t think of any other reason why Riss and Jorgensen (and even Robert in heat 15) got their fifth rides.

Doesn’t matter how young somebody is, the human body can only do so much racing, travelling, training and only miss so much sleep before performance is compromised. We’ve seen it many times over the years in many sports not just speedway which is why many sportspeople’s schedules have been carefully managed.

Agree about burn out, and it’s definitely a concern with Robert. I’m sure he’d be struggling more without the holiday he had when he missed the Australia meeting in Glasgow.

I can see your point but it’s a two legged tie so IF we go through then others have stepped up and covered his off night, job done. Also worth pointing out that he scored 14 last time at Swindon and we didn’t score 40. It’s not about individuals for me, it’s a team effort and a little disrespectful to the others to put too much emphasis on Robert’s scores.

I’d argue that Robert’s scores aren’t as important as people might think based on last night, the other five scored 37 and we have a nominal deficit to overturn. Encouraging that he can have an off night and others are able to step up to the plate.

Heat 14 was S Lambert’s third ride was it not? Although they could have given him that in the race Riss had to start 15m back I guess. Anyway a bit disappointed to lose by that many after being two up with three to go but considering Lambert & Jorgensen had off nights a six point gap isn’t so bad and is certainly pullbackable.

Thing is Polish teams are packed with quality riders, they can’t all score well in the same meeting. You only have to be slightly off your game on tracks that big and fast against Polish riders on missile bikes and you can look ‘crap’. I think Polish league performances have very little to do with British meetings.

Anti smug spray

The stocks have their own track at Arlington do they not? Stocks are ok if like Buster a track has a big motorway blade at its disposal to smooth everything off again once the cars have churned it up.

Well done Thomas Jorgensen.

Nobody fancied Lynn or Somerset for the Play Offs let alone the title, if the final is between those two teams it would be quite remarkable. Its very open though, a Belle Vue v Poole final wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.

I have an element of sympathy with Edinburgh here, track prep in speedway can be affected by even the slightest change in weather / temperature and just an extra lap of the water bowser can lead to issues. As a Lynn supporter I’ve seen umpteen grippy tracks over the years and a handful of dangerous ones along the way as the risk factor is much higher with more grip, and even more so on a tight circuit like Armadale. Buster has been hammered for his prep on these occasions and perhaps the Monarchs hierarchy need to take their medicine in this instance as unintentional and accidental as it may have been. The other question is do the club want trophies or proper speedway racing? Or perhaps to try and achieve both. Mega grip where all fourteen riders are unable to give their all is no good for anyone, 60+ scores for the rest of the season might win things but are people really going to get their money’s worth from that? I’d have thought a middle ground would be best all round.

This is garbage and unfortunately in keeping with what has been a pretty ordinary series this year racing wise.

I’m all for a bit of jousting on here but the personal stuff is unnecessary.

Because our semi final first leg is a week after yours I’d imagine.