Blackadder

From the Sheffield Star:- Andre Compton is in line to return to the Sheffield side quicker than expected. But that could spell bad news for two riders who will have to make way in a team reshuffle which has been made more urgent by the injury to Arthur Sissis. Sissis crashed at Berwick on Saturday and is likely to miss the rest of the season with shoulder ligament damage. His collarbone separated from the shoulder. Co-promoter Damien Bates said: “We may be forced to release a rider we really don’t want to. It’s the nature of the game we’re in. The riders have to be aware of this, I’m not prepared to sit around feeling sorry for myself or the club, we have to get on with it and try and do something. “It’s unlikely anything will happen in time for Thursday against Edinburgh, but the option to bring Andre back into the team is there for us. I want to bring Andre back but we have to make a tough decision..it’s part of the job we don’t like doing. “Arthur was brilliant at Berwick and he’s done enough this season to show us what he’s capable of. I think it’s unlikely he will ride again this year, unless a miracle happens.” Bates’ comments suggest a middle order man could be forced to make way for Compton and a replacement for Sissis – but they will rely on guest replacements on Thursday.

17 + 3 and the fastest time of the season for Daniel Spiller for Eastbourne at Kent tonight. Could be worth a try.

Apologies - brain not engaged in Speedway jumbly. A Team’s initial Declaration must not exceed 42.50 points MA for 7 Riders. It must also not exceed 42.50 points when re-declared (permanent or temporary) except where the MA of the introduced Rider is equal to, or lower than the Rider being replaced.

If Andre was brought back to replace Nicolai, that would leave 4.12 to replace Arthur.

Leave out Arthur Sissis and Nicolai Klindt, and bring in Anders Thomsen (5.68) and Adam Ellis (4.67) and I get the revised total to 44.53, which would be okay.

The only rule is:- 16.1.8 The BSPA shall have sole responsibility for setting any completion and/or cut-off dates.

From the Tigers web site:- Sheffield have been hit by yet another injury blow to one of their key riders. Arthur Sissis, the match winner in Saturday’s stunning display at Berwick, has torn ligaments in his shoulder and his collarbone has separated from the shoulder. The popular Aussie ace will return to hospital on Wednesday to establish whether he needs an operation and club bosses are already resigned to him missing the rest of the season. Co-promoter Damien Bates said: “Once again we are going to have to make changes to keep our play-off push going. “I’m looking at the possibility of bringing Andre Compton back into the side. Certain riders will know they have to up their game. “It’s shocking news for Arthur who was brilliant at Berwick. I can’t quite believe what’s happening this season – if we didn’t have bad luck we wouldn’t have any!” Sheffield have a big home meeting with reigning champions Edinburgh on Thursday and further team news will follow in due course. Current Green Sheet averages. 1 Simon Stead 10.41 2 Jason Garrity 8.12 3 Nicolai Klindt 6.68 4 David Bellego 5.85 5 Michele Castagna Ass 5.00 6 Josh Bates 4.80 7 Arthur Sissis 3.60 Total 44.46 Outgoing. Tyron Proctor 6.68 Ashley Birks 5.57 Andre Compton 6.70 Some hard thinking to be done now, preferably by the cut-off date, which is the 28th of August.

Que?

That's one of the main reasons why Speedway is suffering.

Correct. No TRs allowed in PL KO matches.

According to the SS FSL, your top 3 for performance against Start Of Season Average are Simon Lambert, Michael Palm Toft and Robert Lambert. The top points scorers, including bonus points, are Ulrich Ostergaard, Michael Palm Toft and Simon Lambert, who is 1 point ahead of Robert Lambert.

Bandits: 1 Thomas Jorgensen, 2 Fernando 'Coty' Garcia, 3 Mathias Thörnblom, 4 Claus Vissing (rider/replacement), 5 Kevin Doolan ©, 6 Alexander Edberg ®, 7 Liam Carr ® (G), 8 Kieran Douglas Tigers: 1.Craig Cook (G), 2.Paco Castagna, 3.David Bellego, 4.Nicolai Klindt, 5.Jason Garrity ©, 6.Josh Bates ®, 7.Arthur Sissis ® Ricky and Dave Ashworth are planning to attend.

Found this on the speedwayplus.com site:- A Welcome Change To The Tactical Ride Rule By Geoff Langley A welcome change to the Speedway Regulations in 2012 is the restriction of the opportunities for a team manager to use the Tactical Ride Rule. Before considering the implications of this change it worth reviewing how we reached the present position. Tactical Ride Rule had its roots in the old Tactical Substitute rule which was introduced around the late 50's/early 60's. The effect of it was that if a team fell 8 or more points behind a top rider could be brought out to replace an under-performing rider. Even at that early stage the rule might be viewed as illogical or unfair but the point was that it at least gave the fans some potentially more exciting racing if a top rider was brought out to replace someone who was constantly failing to score, and balanced against that a single Tactical Substitute ride rarely affected the final result of the match, apart from keeping the score-line a little closer. Over the years the one Tactical Substitute per match became two and it did start to affect the outcome of some matches, and by the 1990's with a widening discrepancy between the points money of the top stars and the lesser lights it began to cost more in points money. So the Tactical Substitute started to be replaced by other ideas, notably the Joker or Golden Double whereby a rider would be awarded double points but had to start off a 15 metre handicap. This led to further problems because riders had the expense of running their bikes in a much harder race, starting from the back with far less chance of any points money. Although the rider was riding to score double points promoters were reluctant to pay double points and eventually the present Tactical Ride rule was introduced with the aim of trying to maintain interest by keeping the scores close but it was never really satisfactory. The effect of the Tactical Ride rule is that if a team falls more than 10 points behind, a rider can be nominated for double points, going off the normal gate position but only in the races he has already been programmed to ride. In other words the idea of a "substitute" was dropped. If a team falls 12 points behind a second rider then can be nominated for a tactical ride and for double points in his next programmed ride. The main difficulty was that soon after the present tactical ride rule was introduced, the method of awarding league points was changed to the present system which means an away team can still collect a league point for an away defeat of less than 6 points, or two league points for an away draw etc. This rule change made the Tactical Ride Rule ridiculous because if a team is 10 or 12 points behind then one or two tactical rides for double points is rarely enough to give them an overall win but it can bring them within 6 points of the winning team so they collect a league point that was not really earned on the track, and it leaves the fans of the winning team (usually the home team) feeling cheated as their own team, deserving of 3 league points only gets two points. This is not good for the sport. For 2012 the rule has been changed so that a tactical ride may no longer be used before heat 5 or after heat 12. Whilst I personally would like to see the tactical Ride Rule abolished altogether the amended rule probably represents a reasonable compromise. It prevents a team getting an 8-1 on double points in heats 13 or 14 thus closing the gap from say 11 points to 4 points which then leaves the opposing team little chance to recover the deficit before the end of the match. Under the amended rule if a losing team gets an 8-1 as late as heat 12 to bring them within 6 points of their opponents it still adds tension to the match but the winning team still has 3 heats to recover their lead without the T/R rule being used against them and all things being equal a decent side would normally be able to regain their lead over three heats achieve this. It's still not totally satisfactory in my opinion, still a vast improvement on the rule as it stood before. This article was first published on 26th January 2012

Too many injuries, and getting more each season. Last year was bad enough, and this is much worse. Something seriously needs to change. Best wishes Ryan.

SHEFFIELD: Brady Kurtz, Paco Castagna, David Bellego, Nicolai Klindt, Jason Garrity, Josh Bates, Arthur Sissis. SCUNTHORPE: Zdnek Holub, Alex Davies, Theo Pijper, Carl Wilkinson, Ryan Douglas, Tero Aarnio, Nike Lunna.

There must be a rule somewhere that says you can't borrow a fan without giving 3 days notice.

16.3.4 No Team changes will be allowed after 28th August with the effective date being 31st August, except for Riders returning to the Team after injury.

Josh Bates is due to ride for Wolverhampton at Belle Vue tonight, so will hopefully be ok for tomorrow.

It is usually the same format as the British Final.

Yes.

He will have 4 home and 4 away if he rides in all of the remaining league matches, excluding play offs.

This is Arthur's first season riding 500cc bikes competitively.

Jason Garrity out for a few days with a knee injury. Sheffield using R/R.

Thank you David, for the entertainment you have given, and for being a credit to the sport. I remember your early days when you had after meeting practices at Sheffield, racing the likes of James Birkinshaw and Mark Blackwell. The BSPA should create a small group of people to try and point things in the right direction, such as yourself, Gary Havelock, Sean Wilson, Jimmy McMillan, Tony Steele, Neil Machin for example, and attempt to rescue the sport before it's too late. Best wishes for the future. Stay safe.

SHEFFIELD: Brady Kurtz, Paco Castagna, David Bellego, TBC - probably R/R for Andre Compton, Jason Garrity, Josh Bates, Arthur Sissis. RYE HOUSE: Josh Grajczonek, Anders Mellgren R/R, Kasper Lykke, Robin Aspegren, Nicolaj Busk Jakobsen, Luke Bowen, Danny Maassen.