drew2

Looking forward to this one as the 'dessert' after the main course of the 5th Annual Rebels Golf Day tomorrow. Always a good day for the participants and also a good day for the club raising funds to help the club progress and develop. Over 70 players are taking part in the golf day with riders, ex riders, team managers and referees among those taking to the course at Brean tomorrow morning. Lets hope the sun shines and the rain stays well away from the OTA for a change on a Friday night!

I was told it was closed for security reasons as it allowed them to re-locate the staff from those gates to the others to help with searches etc. I was also told it would only be open in an emergency as an exit but I found the route back under the stadium and back out by gate 3 thanks to a helpful steward. Staircase 18 right and right!!

Apologies if i missed the point but are you saying Somerset host a British Final GP round but are not in the 'League'?? May as well get the cows back in the field if that is it! The main stated reason Somerset went up this winter was due to the geographical location of opposition but if Poole and Swindon are included then a stable and well respected setup that Somerset is would get left on a limb. I know the results haven't gone their way this year at home but the meetings i have been to (didn't go to the Poole or Swindon fixtures either when apparently it was packed) the crowds in 2017 seem to have been up on the Premier League days. I get the gist of what you are saying but personally think one big league would be better with weaker Championship teams joining a enhanced NL getting somewhere back to the old BL and NL or the 80's.

And likely to be RR for Porsing now to as suspected broken leg for him in Sweden tonight!

Wrighty also withdrew later in same meeting after a crash.Hopefully nothing too serious for him either as that will have to be R/R for us.

I give up! No idea what the last comment was all about. Let's agree to disagree....

I do watch 'live racing' thanks but have a pretty busy life so unable to travel to watch elsewhere. Anyway when I am lucky enough to have the OTA on the doorstep I don't need to. Just wondering how watching it on You Tube is different to watching it live, surely it is the same race i am watching and the camera doesn't lie??

Just watched a few of those, feeling sleepy now! How boring a track is Rye House? More passes in one lap at the OTA than in entire races up there it seems.

Surely not me presenting the ROTN poison chalice again though??

Yes the team aren't the all conquering version of the PL last season but the racing is still pretty damn good from what i have seen. The club are living within their means and in all honesty were not that far away from winning more points than they currently have on the board with two close defeats at home to Swindon and Kings Lynn. They also didn't get stuffed by a powerful Wolves by as much as Leicester did at home last night. The true fans of Somerset appreciate the good racing win or lose and if you look at our history i think we are going over a similar cycle that we have before once again. When we opened we were CL and struggled but the racing was superb. We improved, won a few things and moved up to PL. We struggled but the racing was superb. We improved and won more Trophies than most in the League and we got used to that regular winning feeling which was a nice bonus. We moved to the Premiership and have struggled but..... We will improve i am sure! Rome wasn't built in a day. One thing that would be nice though is that we get a visiting team with their own seven riders to ride against as opposed to riders missing only to be replaced by OTA specialists each week. I don't blame the teams but the whole system is getting farcial really. No Wells again this week for Rye House but Rooboy is back who was very good for Wolverhampton. Ok with their changes the Somerset double upper situation may change now as others may have priority but the home team have fielded their own riders (barring Paddy once when a guest was denied and RR used) each week I think.

Oops! Maybe I shouldn't have given it to Jan then

So am I as the Belle Vue fixture is on the same day as the annual Rebels Golf Day which is always a popular event raising valuable funds for the Air fence repairs and other developments around the place.

Sorry thought you said it was dusty??

Was that the same night the ref (Mr Robinson i think) got the averages wrong for the R/R for Redcar allowing a rider who wasn't eligible??

Good to see BWD scoring some points tonight!

Spot on, they both wanted the same piece of track at the exact same moment. For the Rebels Wrighty and Jake were awesome with Paddy, Josh and Starkey solid. Rohan will sort it out soon i'm sure and Jan will get better the more race fit he gets. For Leicester Nilsson was good when he gated but very average when he didn't, Gomolski worked hard but always lost out to a Rebel, Bjerre was ok until his collision with Jake, King was very good and quick, Bates was generally out of control and poor and Ayres failed to turn up collecting a lengthy row of coconuts. Not bad racing for the opening meeting of the season and track was good despite looking a bit wet to start with. In reality not much different to last years racing to be honest just the different name.

Somerset website hardly registers the Rebels are at Kings Lynn yet!

At Somerset 5 minutes racing equates to over 5 races so will that mean a SGP KK appears for the Pirates?? 000000000!!

Who and what actually classifies as a 'big name' rider? Looking back at the 80's you had a lot more regular World Finalists in British Speedway but then again if the SGP wasn't so difficult to get into then a few more riders might have enjoyed a great year and made it to the 'big one' at the end of it. Does that then classify them as a big name if they have ridden in a World Final? Modern riders hardly get the same chance now especially when something like 11 riders out of 16 i think used to qualify from the ICF to the World Final each year. When does a 'lesser' rider become a bigger name? What does he have to do? Is it because riders are starting in the NL/CL and we still think of them as that level despite their progression into higher leagues? For me, two such riders will be coming to the tapes for the Rebels this year in the shape of Paul Starke and Charles Wright. If any one has seen either or both of those two in full flow at the Oak Tree then they will know they look superb and in total control of their machines and able to squeeze through gaps only they can see. For me seeing that is worth the admission money and makes no difference that they aren't big name riders as such. The chances of either making the GP series now are slim with no disrespect meant to either of them. Going back to the 80's people remember riders the Carr brothers, the Owen brothers, Neil and Phil Collins to name a few who all feature in excellent races you can find on You Tube. They weren't 'world class' at the time (regular world finalists) but all entertained the paying public royally and are remembered fondly. Is this how we will remember the riders of today in 20/30 years? I hope so rather than just saying we had no big names in the sport in 2017. It is time for us to accept the rider progression/ changing of the guard whatever you want to call it and embrace the current day fare? If we don't they won't even remember what the sport is in 30 years time let alone talk about the riders!

They will be announcing the date of their annual Golf Day soon too!! Have any other clubs done that??

I think Jake will make a big impression this year and surprise quite a few (not just with his trademark divebomb into the 3rd bend either!).

Got a feeling Jake may be riding in Denmark too next year so the Premiership might be difficult to fit in with Somerset.I know he had already had offers from Denmark after his Aussie U21 WTC showings last year.

I'll support whoever comes to the tapes in the Rebels colours in March. Remember this league isn't the Elite League it is a step down from that 2016 product. Alos remember our 2016 PL side swept all before them despite not being tipped by many. In effect we have replaced BWD with Hougaard and Jan takes up the number 7 spot that Zach and guests filled last year so if he scores points then fine. I think you would back Paddy to score more than BWD at the moment at a slightly higher level. The rest all know what they are doing 'at EL level' as they have had plenty of experience there. The key man is Jake and Somerset fans know exactly what he is about and he will surprise many in 2017 I think. If he starts at reserve he won't be there long and whoever replaces him will prove just as useful in that position. At the end of the day Garry's track record of building teams is pretty damn good so lets trust him because if it isn't working he will makes the changes he feels he needs to. Think back to 2013 when Stefan was axed for Wrighty mid/late season, no one liked that but the rest mentioned below is history shall we say! Premier League Champions 2013, 2016 PL KO Cup - 2013/15 PL League Cup 2016 PL Shield 2014/16 PL Pairs Champs 2013/16 PL Fours Champs 2014 Looks like Rye have gone cheque book speedway, lets hope it works.

but they have moved down a League to the Championship i believe??

I sense you rarely see Charles and Paul ride then. BWD is good but still room for Wrighty and Starkey to improve... and they will