szkocjasid

Harder to compare as they are built more differently, Oxford obviously stronger at the top, but weaker at the bottom. I figured Edinburgh were the closest match to Birmingham for how they built their teams

For an alternative opinion of Birmingham's strength I'm gonna compare them to Edinburgh. Now Edinburgh reached the semis last year & have only slightly weakened from a 42 to a 40 limit, Cook for Masters & Bickley for Sarjeant - so you could say that's a sensible team to guage yourself against if you wanna reach the play-offs! Top 2: Morris & Sedgmen vs Pickering & Cook. Edinburgh a little stronger (Birmingham have the strongest & weakest) Second strings: Nielsen & Bowtell vs Castagna & Fredriksen, similar strength (Edinburgh have the strongest & weakest) Reserves: Proctor & Pearson vs Hook & Bickley, I'd say Birmingham edge this. Biggest difference between the teams is the 3rd heat leader Wright vs Thomson where Edinburgh are definitely stronger. So if Birmingham are not much weaker than last year's top 4 side, they must be strong enough to challenge for a top 6 spot this year right?

Now all teams are finished can revise my prediction: 1. Sheffield 2. Belle Vue 3. Kings Lynn 4. Wolverhampton 5. Ipswich 6. Peterborough 7. Leicester Edited 24/3 - realised Belle Vue will get lots of bonus points

If he does well fair play to him, just stating my opinion that there's better choices out there!

I find that very hard to believe in Kemp's case, Rowe I can see being happier in Poland. If you're right Connor Bailey would be my 3rd pick then Joe.

Honestly feel he's the 6th best. (Mulford weakest).

With the riders available, that's a terrible signing imo. Especially when you compare his home / away split for Leicester 5.62 (6.64) vs 1.94 (2.71) in the Champ.

The Speedway Star interview with Bradley Wilson-Dean stated his Champ average has gone up to 8.77, making it hard for him to get a club, because he has missed a season. I had never heard of this rule & it's clearly not in place for the Prem, maybe it's the Championship's plan to help Brits, but they are not keen on it for the Prem as they want to encourage the top riders back?

You could make that argument for Woffy, but not Bewley - especially as he's already on a 9 point ave!

Personally think Gilkes is very promising, but can't see him being the top RS. That's got to be Flint - looking at his Champ average. While Flint wasn't great at home, he's got weaker RS to race against with Brennan, Hume & Mountain no longer in that position. For Ipswich, as long as they go for Kemp or Rowe, they'll have one of the better RS in the league.

I'm guessing Pauldoveyspeedway meant counting the averages from both A&B fixtures, home & away i.e all League fixtures, as that makes more sense than a 4 match rolling ave? So either he didn't explain it well, or he's gone mad lol!

But what if Birmingham say they can't afford it? Would you prefer an 8 team league all in race suits or a 9 team league with optional race suits?

Totally agree with you, they should know the league points scoring rules!

Just seen this heat, Gilkes tried to come across from grid 4 & bumped into Harris, I guess the ref could have decided he wasn't far enough in front to make such a move & excluded him - but I can't see how Harris was at fault - he was just going round the corner! I guess you could argue as two Plymouth riders clashed, it would be unfair on Redcar to allow an all 4? Having watched it a second time I'd say all 4, but if you have to exclude a Plymouth rider, it would be Gilkes for me!

The view from the stream was based on the first bend so it was impossible to tell who got that imo. Neither decision has been easy for me, so can't use VAR unless there's multiple cameras showing the action!

Just watching this now, first thought was that Gilkes fell before Riss went into the bend? Shame they never showed a replay from another view!

They've certainly done a lot of work to strengthen Workington's NL side & Glasgow's Championship side! There's no guarantee a rider coming up from a clubs junior team / academy will stay with the club, but it's certainly good for British Speedway as a whole. Needs to be cost effective though, otherwise just so what Glasgow / Poole do & look for the best 2.00 riders around!

I fail to see how it could be? If Dan T doesn't fit in another teams plans now, he couldn't guarantee the averages would allow it later!

I can't believe that would be the case, giving up a team spot, just in case another comes up later in the year!

While I've never been a fan of race suits & always preferred race jackets (partly as it's easier to recognise the riders) I must admit the Bears race suits looked really smart!

Not so sure about that, look stronger than most teams at reserve, so that should help avoid drubbings on the road!

5.00 average I think!

There's a big difference between making a mid-season change to strengthen up and dropping a rider pre-season with no team spots available though! Anyway as far as I'm concerned replacing Thomas for Thompson, Kemp or Rowe doesn't make Pirates any weaker - so if for example Batchelor & Ablitt is stronger than Thomas & Newman, why wouldn't they start with that team?

There is 0% whatsoever a legitimate reason for Ipswich to be allowed a guest when there are plenty of RS options available. That said this being Speedway - you never know lol!

Sadly that never happens, a rider can get replaced at the drop of a hat, even if they have upped their average. Whereas a rider who doesn't get paid & want to leave to join another team will get a 28 day ban for "withholding their services" Speedway contracts certainly seem to favour the clubs over the riders!