szkocjasid

Why not race it the Sunday of the Polish Final (there's 3 of them to choose from). Don't think there'll be any Polish League fixtures these days, so apart from the top Poles, everyone else should be available. Should run the British Final the same day as one of the Polish finals for the same reason.

I was probably expecting Cook to come into heat 14 after he won heat 12. But as Flint won his last race (8) I can understand why he was left in. Some team managers are more ruthless than others.

So how many people are going to admit to being wrong about Birmingham's team tonight I wonder?

This Berwick team is one that could do very well. Good top 2. Etheridge capable of maximums at home (helps with aggregate wins) two improving Brits at second string & Borke at reserve who should do better at Shielfield than he did at Armadale. If everything goes to plan, they're good enough to challenge for the title.

If Etheridge rides as well as he talks about in the interview, then Berwick could be favourites for the league. Personally I felt he was being too ambitious.

Leicester 49 - 41 Belle Vue

If that's the case, seems a great choice.

It does give riders something to aim for. I'm sure Max Perry, Luke Harrison & Ben Trigger will be chasing the number one spot & Ben Rathbone, Luke Crang & William Hocaniuk will be wanting to move out of the reserve berth for example.

Nicholls isn't guesting for Birmingham, he's a temporary signing. This situation will happen fairly often this year when Harris, Wright & Kerr race for their Championship teams & when Masters, Nicholls & Jenkins race for their Premiership teams.

Using your comparison No.1s: 6 Thompson (L) 5 Ablitt (S) 4 Hagon (B) 3 Killeen (O) 2 Coles (E) 1 Phillips (M) No.2s: 6 Perry (E) 5 Harrison (S) 4 Hodder (B) 3 Trigger (M) 2 Scott (O) 1 Spencer (L) No.3s: 6 Pijper (S) 5 Marson (B) 4 McGurk (E) 3 Spooner (O) 2 James (L) 1 Freeman (M) No.4s: 6 Butcher (L) 5 Clouting (O) 4 Muff (B) 3 Halder (M) 2 Wood (E) 1 Simpson (S) No.5s: 6 Garrad (O) 5 Wirtzfeld (B) 4 Kelly (M) 3 Foord (L) 2 Watson (E) 1 Davies (S) No.6s: 6 Crang (L) 5 Rathbone (M) 4 McGurk (B) 3 Lyden (E) 2 Vale (O) 1 Dicken (S) No.7s: 6 Summers (O) 5 Parker (E) 4 Shimelt (B) 3 Springer (L) 2 Hocaniuk (M) 1 Pijper (S) Totals: Belle Vue 30 Leicester 27 Oxford 27 Edinburgh 24 Scu She 20 Middlesbrough 19

I bet he'll be at reserve till June 17th lol! With big gaps in the fixture list, will take a while for all clubs to get new averages.

Even if Birmingham sign Rory Schlein as a temporary replacement for Pawlicki, I don't think they'll get thrashed. They've not got any "duffers" in the team, 5 points each = 35 points, which I think is doable.

I don't know what the rulebook says, just basing my answer on Plymouth using a (75%) guest for Dan T when he got injured before riding for them. Same thing happened when Poole didn't sign Smetana was it in 2021? When a team has "no facility" that no longer means a 3.00 rider, it means 75% of the missing riders average. Thanks to Diamonds85 for the correction.

Based on previous seasons, they should be allowed to use a guest up to 5.63 (75% of Pawlicki's average). But I'm sure they'll find someone willing to race for a few weeks.

Some had announced they want team places, others haven't announced their retirement, so can only assume they want to ride.

That made me laugh lol!

I'd prefer a league where clubs race on their preferred race night. Unfortunately that would mean losing out on the top riders due to foreign commitments. So I don't have the answer

There's plenty of riders wanting team spots / available to cover injuries: Max Clegg, Jack Smith, Ben Morley, Ryan Kinsley & Adam Roynon etc Not strong enough for Workington or Plymouth, but technically there are options available.

Is that not what rumours are?

Don't forget most Premiership clubs race on Thursdays now, only Belle Vue & Birmingham on Mondays I believe? So could cause chaos to the fixtures. Unless they simply decide to use more GUESTS

Me too. Maybe Celina will get outings in the women's races? Possibly they thought Comets fans would come anyway, but still confused at no Comets.

Totally agree, even if British Speedway is very against an agreement over giving up Thursdays, if the alternative is losing multiple riders, can't see a suitable alternative. However you can be sure, the fixture list could be changed at short notice due to TV requirements or rained off meetings. Maybe allow Prem matches on Mondays, Wednesdays & Thursdays? At the end of the day as long as Poland pay more they can get away with it. British Speedway had the same attitude in the 70s & 80s.

Not forgotten about that, just that teams should average out at 42 but the increase stops at 40, so could get the situation where wesl teams can't strengthen up.

Hadn't heard that, such a shame.

Sensible predictions