szkocjasid

I'm sure Sam Masters has previously doubled up in the UK as well as riding in Poland & Denmark. Not sure if he still races in Denmark now, but he wouldn't give up Poland because the Championship had more fixtures.

People who like me, who see nothing wrong with a draw / or wonder why when 2nd & 3rd is the same as 1st & 4th for 15 heats, is suddenly better in the 16th race? Same theory as not agreeing with a final in an individual after 20 races, or play-offs to decide the league title. Or wild cards getting picked instead of qualifiers. I guess I prefer a "true / fair" winner without any gimmicks etc

Both teams have strong top fives, think it's the reserve berth where Poole hold the biggest advantage.

Maybe waiting for the dates for the 2022 final so there's not a fixture clash lol!

It's not often a Speedway club would choose to race on their off night? Makes me wonder why Glasgow wanted to move to Fridays if they are not easy to organise?

Vissing is 5th in the Tigers averages, can't help but think this is a slight on Basso?

I'm sure he can, but I think the rule is written very poorly!

Lee Complin dropped below 4.00 last year, but those Newcastle meetings were removed, putting him back at 4.00 again.

Part of the problem is the fixture list, many teams had quiet months in May / June, but are getting busier, especially in August (probably to be race fit for the play-offs, but it means less dates available for re-arranged fixtures. Edinburgh vs Birmingham is an example that despite the fixture list appearing to be very empty this year, a quick look to spot a re-staging date shows Friday 21st July as the first available Friday date (racing a NL fixture at Belle Vue that night). After that it's Friday 8th Sept.

As Berwick are 4.7 below the points limit it's not really a new reserve they need to find to be competitive (maybe next year's team?). But as they're probably destined for the wooden spoon already, may just stick with what they have.

What I don't understand is that riders like Jacob Hook or James Pearson who I'm sure never rode in Denmark or Poland before the UK can't drop below 4.00, but they seem to qualify under the "rider who has never achieved an MA in a professional league" part of the ruling?

It's refering to foreign riders on assessed averages not being able to drop below 4.00. The second part confuses me though, what does that mean? Surely nearly every new commonwealth rider hasn't achieved an MA in a professional league?

The most obvious guest had to be Ben Cook imo, he would have been preparing to race at Glasgow so wouldn't have had any other plans, as soon as that match was off, Scunny could have been on the phone to him sharpish. Pre-match I thought r/r was a decent option, especially at home - I know people say "but what of another rider gets injured" so I guess do you plan for the good or the bad?

I didn't say Lambert shouldn't have been in heat 16, just offering a reason why he wasn't picked

I'm certainly hoping that part was tongue in cheek, if it was real suggestion I fear for humanity lol!

Probably because Lambert was last in heat 15?

If Oxford are going for 1st, letting Scunny get a point won't affect them, against Poole would be a big difference.

Personally I'd go with Max Clegg, as he showed at Leicester last year his scoring picked up when he dropped to reserve, which could even lead to Bowtell or Dan dropping to reserve. Especially as they have an away match at Edinburgh to re-arrange. If he doesn't improve on his Scunny form, bring back in Joe T (in time for Berwick away - where Clegg would score a 0).

Only needs to ride 6 matches (3 home, 3 away) to gain an average.

The way British Speedway works, he could find it hard to gain a team spot if he finishes with an average that high!

Doesn't really matter if he's on a 5 or 7 (or even 10) average, still fits in Peterborough's team. Biggest mess up is Panthers not baking a second change to fit him in at reserve.

Very good point, no reason to it any club to demand the second leg at home after a rain-off swaps the legs over.

Very good points, can't wait for his reply

Can't see why they would look to replace Dan, he's hardly ridden a match for Birmingham, so not had much of a chance to prove himself.

They may as well just stay in the NL of their only gonna meet fellow reserves, would also cause havoc with the averages, you'd have Newman & Mountain on 10+ averages. I'd certainly change to format so the weaker reserve has to ride at 7 & can't be replaced in heat 8 (Premiership rules) or use the old Elite League fast track format where there were too reserve races & they never met a heat leader, but do race second strings.