mikebv

Given the Mickey Mouse state of Brum's team, it was for the best that both meetings were called off... A shame more meetings don't get called off when either of the teams cannot have all their riders available... Oxford have arranged a match knowing Magic is not there .. A ludicrous situation that actually gets condoned by the BSP and fans alike... The sport has the level of following it deserves ..

Head and Shoulders ahead of the rest... Even when "struggling" he just steps up to a level that the others cannot hope to match...

Dudek getting suckered into breaking the tapes by Woryna..😁

A good call.... There would have been (marginally) more spectator's there than riders...

That's ok then....😁 I bet they enjoyed the income though...! This year the Aces will probably face Sheffield in the semi without the need for manipulating any extra reduction in credibility, (IE no more than obviously already "naturally" exists in UK Speedway)... Although, that said, maybe this year if Leicester finish fourth and KL fifth, it may be better to have an Ipswich v KL semi? 😁 "In the interest of Speedway" obviously.... 😉

Mickey Mouse replaces me in the crowd...

Just run six rider teams in the top league if not enough of the required level of rider.. No RS's, No Makeweight's... Each race having four riders who actually "have a chance" of winning... Use the other two divisions for young UK rider development...

There are 3 teams clearly better than the other four... With one of them clearly better than the other two.. The other four then get split into pairs... Oxford and Birmingham being the bottom pair.. From the moment all the teams were announced that was going to be the case as the vast amount of comments on here clearly showed, (and Bet365's odds!) Never quite understand how, each year, after a few weeks into the season, some fans call out how poor their team are when it was "blindingly obvious" before a wheel was turned how much adrift they were from the better teams... "We have gone for strength in depth, with each of our team capable of putting a point on their average".. Translated: "We wanted to sign a world level rider as we know it is the only way to be successful, but we couldn't get one"..

And, as we know. Since I can remember, although every team starts "roughly equal", at least one, and usually more, end up, very early in the season, miles adrift of the team at the top... The make up of the teams impacts a result more than averages... Teams with "big hitters" in HT 13 and 15 are the ones who will always have an advantage v those with six or seven point riders up against them..

You can get more replacements but not of the level you need as the team is still a "strength in depth" one... If Doyle is out, you can bring in the Holder's, Kurtz, Bewley, or Fricke, meaning your team is still strong... Bringing in one of a plethora of 6 pt men still leaves a team full of 6 pt men due to the *strength in depth" idea...

Guest replacement's are another issue in signing a "strength in depth" team... By signing the No1 rider in the league you have the whole league as possible replacements... Signing riders much further down the averages reduces the quality of any possible replacements... Cook was at No4 last year for the Aces... A massive jump to No1 considering only his position in the team has changed, not his average...

Wouldn't basic Inertia impact things though, even if all start line grids ever provided the same grip? Eg Moving 10 stone as opposed to 8 stone will be take longer ... The clutch also appeared to be used far more than it is used nowadays from the starts... I remember Hans Nielsen still "feathering" it up to the first turn to keep the drive on... Starts are somewhat of a "dark art" it seems with no real perfect way to do it.. Hence so many meetings never get won on a maximum as continually making the gate every time, given all the variables, is down to as much luck as talent I would say. Horse racing uses extra weight to even up the racing, as do several other Motorsports.. And for riders to actively lose weight before a major meeting, they must see it as a distinct advantage, or, at the very least, a lessening of the advantage of some others...

There was a good interview with Jason Doyle in the Speedway Star and he mentioned how some riders are basically "starving themselves" up to three days before meetings to drop weight.. Tai, and others, have mentioned in the past how much of an advantage being "lightweight" can be on the big circuits where speed is key.. When the tracks were deeper, maybe a bit of weight helped drive the back wheel into the grip, but on today's wide, big, fast, slick circuits, getting off the start line and riding full gas has never been so important given the straight line "rocket ships" they race on.. Bikes get checked for weight, so maybe both man and machine should have a minimum combined weight too? Doyle suggested that the weight loss can be draining and weaken the strength of the riders, which obviously means a potential safety issue could exist... They changed the weigh in time in Boxing due to fighters "boiling down" and losing weight right up to the morning of the weigh in, the day before a fight, meaning so much strength and endurance had been lost come fight night, even after trying to pile pounds back on in 24 hours.. Would a "minimum weight" for rider and bike even up the playing field?

Keeping them away from riding at 3 or even 5 would still have been the issue for both these teams... Ipswich have both these "very decent" riders riding at 2 and 4, a perfect position for both...

Didn't Brady Kurtz miss out one year as well? And who can forget that season where their best rider, Max Fricke, had to be replaced by a rider with a lower average, (thus weakening the team strength)... Luckily for the Aces, that rider (who was unattached which brought credibility to the competition), managed to step up to the plate, and Max missing didn't impact them too much...

Don't forget all those usual Ipswich injuries to all their seven riders might impact things.... As we know, the ONLY team ever to have been impacted by injuries in the history of the sport...

Of course it is a major sporting championship that is worth winning... A fact clearly proven last night by an Ipswich rider being the second highest scorer for Oxford...

Quite radically.... First against fourth and second against third this season... Controversial.... "There's nothing to see here, move along please".....

Spot on.... Especially following a team that has had regular success over the last few years... It could get "boring" being so successful.... And another potential impact to crowds is having so many high profile non Aces meetings chosen to be held there due to the entertainment level the track provides.. Meaning their fans forking out for so many major international and domestic meetings to attend... Plus of course being one of the very few top tier teams to run a development team season after season... Much better maybe to run just one team, using talent that has been developed elsewhere, and regularly coming close but ultimately failing to win the top prize, but bleating (every single season it appears), about being unlucky with injuries...?

That was my initial thought too.... I hope Ben isnt on one of those contracts that will cost him money if he gets injured riding in another league.....

A "slight" difference in opposition levels..

But apart from that?

Baddum Tish!!!! I thang yow.....

KL, like Oxford and Birmingham, have collectively, top fives made up of 15 second strings...* They are hoping to "get by" at home enough times to maintain their own crowds interest... Ipswich this year have King and Ellis riding as second strings, their true positions . The three teams mentioned above would have similar level riders at 1, 5 and 3... No surprise that away from home some teams will regularly struggle... *(Maybe 14 if Magic can recapture his better days)..

This looks like entertainment.... It will keep packing them in I am sure....