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Not sure how that could be an issue, when riders also race grasstrack, long track & foreign leagues too. It's not like they are racing Championship/NDL matches & nothing else!

Maybe should have just asked this question on the Plymouth 2023 thread. There's was no need for this question to have its own thread tbh!

Why show them to a rider who hasn't signed a contract for you then?

The funny thing is, fans spent all season moaning about certain teams using guests & not signing a replacement only to complain when Belle Vue do the exact opposite!

Maybe not so, winning all your home matches without getting bonus points, won't be enough i'd suggest.

I'm surprised he didn't get the rider of the season award tbh

I've heard that rule mentioned on here many times, but until I see it happen won't believe it! The last instance I can find of this happening is at Birmingham in 2019. James Shanes finished 2018 on a 5.09 ave, with British reduction starts 2019 on a 4.96 ave. He rides at reserve with Tobias Thomsen on a 5.00 ave starting in the team! Unless the rules have changed since then?

A rider refusing to ride on a track he thinks is dangerous, has to be the best excuse available for not racing

If Pearson has a 9.00 ave? Belle Vue James Pearson 9.00 Jack Smith 8.36 Sam Hagon 6.18 Matt Marson 5.48 Luke Muff 4.78 Freddie Hodder 4.52 Jack Shimelt 3.00 Total 41.32

Is Pearson on an 8.00 average? Edinburgh have 9.03 left for their final rider, makes me think they are signing Hook on a 9.00 ave, making the Belle Vue team 42.99!

Can't agree with Buster at all here, dropping Holder is fine, that's his prerogative but to only announce it after the transfer window has closed is childish & unprofessional!

Can't say I understand your philosophy. If Buster thought Holder would walk out on the club mid-season then why hold talks at all?

Should be one of the top riders in the league!

Personally I'd definitely have the top 2 at 1+5. King should beat the opposition reserve in heat 12, so you're looking at Ipswich gaining a possible 2 point advantage using Emil in that heat, compared to a possible 4 point advantage in heat 13 (where I'd expect King to be 4th).

Personally I won't believe Emil will be here till it's announced officially. But if he does sign I'd start with Heeps (despite thinking Hume is better) so Rew gets to start at reserve. Once Rew moves into the top 5 then bring Hume in? Can always change your mind if Heeps keeps scoring well!

Well not everyone, cause I disagree lol!

Depends how well Rew goes I suppose. Can't be avoided though, to have a powerhouse top 2, going to be weaker elsewhere. Could really have done with using up an extra point to get the advantage of Hume dropping 25% off his average (like Belle Vue have done with Brennan). No advantage of the team starts under 41 points with Hume.

When you compare their Championship form, Hume is 1.5 points better than Heeps.

If that's true Ipswich will have an 8 point advantage to defend in the other 13 heats. A weaker reserve pairing wouldn't be such an issue

Compare Masters away average to GP riders Jack Holder & Max Fricke, Nikolai Klint (only did 4 matches mind) or Chris Harris (number one last year, but not this year) & he doesn't seem so bad! Masters 7.36 (8.09) Fricke 7.32 (8.10) Harris 7.27 (7.87) Klindt 7.06 (7.53) Holder 6.34 (7.22)

You're right, I must have misread your post

Workington, Oxford & Leicester look the favourites to me.

I can't remember where I read it (maybe in a Speedway Star) but Danny Phillips was hyping up the Bullets as play-off contenders. Naturally he's going to say something positive like that, as no-one signs for a club planing to do poorly. But I do feel he's gravely mistaken & that Berwick will be nearer the bottom than top. Built to just over 40 points, which means they need to put 2 points on their averages, just to be a mid table side. I honestly don't see much potential for riders to up their averages. The league certainly looks stronger than last year. Coles is a good number one, but rode at 3 last year, so by adding heat 13 to his races, if he keeps his average, he'll be doing well. Ditto for Blair, had a great season, but at the easier number 4 for half the season. Phillips is an acceptable 3rd heat leader. Freeman showed so much potential for Newcastle & Armadale I expected a lot more from him last season. Now out of the reserve berth, it's tougher. Like Coles I think he can improve (by keeping his average). The bottom 3 all have the potential to improve, but I see that as a slow & steady rise up the ranks, which is where they will miss Luke Harrison! So on the whole, the team doesn't look bad. But if you have 6 or 7 strong looking teams & 1 or 2 average looking teams, they'll be near the bottom. If I was a Berwick fan, I'd just be happy you're getting to see lots of Speedway in 2023. More matches than Glasgow & Redcar (not to mention Newcastle).

If you remove the top rider from each team & replace them with all the 5/6/7 point riders missing, then the league would be even weaker. However the difference in standard between the top & bottom riders would be closer, so the racing should be better (in theory)? It certainly feels it's wrong for any team to rave admission when weakening the league for sure!

I totally agree, very annoying to see foreigners who couldn't reach their 4.00 assessed aves get team places before 5 point Brits.