szkocjasid

He was unfortunate to be dropped by Scunny, but they were honest & explained the situation, so I wouldn't say he was "treated badly" as for Ipswich he was scoring terribly (as I expected) so can't have been surprised to be replaced. Ideally riders should be second strings in the Champ before moving up into the Premiership.

Incredible form shown by Henry Atkins moves him up into the top 5. It'll be interesting to see how he gets on with tougher races, although any points he loses out on should be equalled by Heeps upping his scores at reserve. Does mean r/r for Jenkins is weaker with Kerr no longer eligible for an extra ride.

Only way for that to happen is a "stupid heat"

Why not? If Kolodziej or Hampel qualify they deserve to be there ahead of any non- qualifiers

Have top 8 qualify & top 7 from a GP challenge - no wild cards needed - no arguments on who "deserves" to be there! Not gonna happen, but I can dream lol!

That is 100% the point, just because he doesn't win rounds doesn't mean he's not GP standard. Just because he's not as good as he used to be doesn't mean he's not GP standard!

In this case Madsen probably felt he had to move out of the way or end up in the fence? I suppose if Zmarzlik comes out of the bend on the racing line i'd call it a fair move, if he runs up to the fence leaving no space, I'd call it a foul

Don't agree with that, there's still a world title to be won, plus rostrum places & top 6 spots to be earned. Tbh ever since permanent wild cards were introduced back in the early 2000s there hasn't always been the best riders in the series. I certainly remember Hans Andersen not getting a pick in 04/05/06? After he had slagged off some GP tracks the previous season so a weaker Iversen was given a wild card, that was the year there were no qualifiers, only top 8 & 7 wild card picks. I do feel Laguta & Sayfutdinov should be allowed to ride as neutrals, but don't think they'd stop Zmarzlik tbh. But would probably lead to better racing!

Thought the ref got all the decisions right (not many to make). All 4 in the first running of the final was sensible, then imo made a very easy decision to exclude Doyle. If there was any contact with Lindgren's dirt deflector it was very minimal & Doyle could certainly have stayed on, just laid it down for a re-run for me! Thought Zmarzlik was VERY tough on Madsen in the final, bordering on dangerous & I thought should he be excluded for that? As I saw it he practically went full pelt into the corner willing to t-bone Madsen into the fence! Then when I watched the re-plays, it didn't seem quite as bad, still a tough move though!

I do think the team manager should pay more attention to the riding order away from home, Hook took 3 rides on the trot (13,14,15) easily avoidable by either swapping Hook & Roynon round, or swapping Roynon & r/r around so Hook gets his extra ride in heat 12 (still gets 2 on the trot, but not 3)

Oxford look set for the top 2. Mildenhall & Leicester both look to be up there for 2nd place. Still wouldn't rule out Belle Vue & Workington as outsiders though.

But if Roynon got a place elsewhere, that's another rider missing out on a team spot (perhaps a young developing Brit). I don't consider Hook, Pearson & Congreave to be blocking places as who is there to fill their spots in teams? Berwick have had 7 points available to replace Freeman but had to use 3.5/4.0 riders to replace him. Plus Mildenhall & Oxford's newbie 3.00 riders at reserve have shown their not at this level yet. So you'd have to add 3 more even weaker riders to replace the Commonwealth riders? Ps I'm pretty sure Turner's not blocking anyone by not racing in the NL lol!

I've kind of defended Lynn all year, but now I look at the team & it looks really weak. Thomsen especially could struggle on the top 5. Can't blame the promotion though for not seeking a stronger replacement for Jakobsen, play-offs gone, so pick a team with a sensible budget!

Given up Poland to ride for the Gladiators!

I still maintain my point, Hans isn't being "selfish" the team could just as quickly drop him rather than waiting for him to quit. Him wanting to stay on doesn't stop the team from dropping him to try & improve!

How is he being selfish, I'm sure he's trying his best. Peterborough can replace him if they can find anyone stronger, it's not Hans job to retire / quit if he doesn't want to!

To put it bluntly, as Henry's Dad wasn't the team manager, who cares if he wanted more rides for Henry. Just because a rider doesn't get their own way, no reason to quit the club?

I doubt it, on paper the team looks fine. Started a bit weaker, but then the addition of Jacob Hook makes them look a mid-table side to me. The loss to Oxford at home was a disaster (especially considering Kerr got injured). But if TJ can avoid that sort of score again (he has to take the blame tbh) then they should be ok - at least at home.

Need to do something special to avoid the wooden spoon

I'd agree with you if you said the 5th place team, 6th place team could qualify by being the best of the 4 poor teams.

You get to pick your two opponents is the advantage to the team finishing top.

Poole don't need an "easy" path to make it to the final do they? Obviously finishing top does have a small advantage, but as there are 5 teams a cut above the rest, top will most likely pick 6th plus one other strong team (injuries permitting). Besides still have to beat another strong team over 3 legs in the final. Even so, one loss at Oxford doesn't mean Poole aren't favourites to finish top imo.

I agree, not sure why any Poole fans would be concerned about their title chances. I'm pretty sure ONE away defeat will not stop them getting into the top 6 in a 9 team league!

How could you overlook Lynn's biggest signing in their recent history lol!

Think Poole missed a trick not giving Roynon his 3rd (& final ride) in heat 6. Once Atkins was excluded I'd keep Newman in the pits for the re-run, then use Roynon for the 2 minute exclusion. Newman can then take the rest of the reserve outings. Second thought was - I'd give Roynon his 3rd ride in place of Lawson. Lawson wasn't going to beat Masters off 15 meters!