Blackadder

Facu's final average for 2013 was 3.62.

To be fair, Benji rode a lot better than his score suggests. Tigers were let down by poor scores from Ashley and Josh.

Craig Cook guests on Thursday.

Last October, I counted 25 riders in the EL and PL who finished the season early due to injuries. Could be even higher this year.

From the Sheffield web site:- SHEFFIELD claimed a shock 50-37 win over Rye House at Hoddesdon – but their sensational victory was marred by a heat 15 horror crash for Simon Stead. The inspirational Tigers’ skipper had gone unbeaten in his opening four rides to help lead his side to an unexpected victory before disaster struck. He hit the front in the final race and appeared on course for a 5-1 with David Bellego. However, he picked up some drive and clipped the fence on the third lap, clashing with the Frenchman as he hit the deck. Stead was airlifted to hospital as a precautionary measure as the full extent of his injuries was not known, although he was conscious and had full feeling. The meeting was abandoned with the result declared due to lack of medical cover as staff attended to Stead, who is feared to have suffered a possible left arm fracture and left hip injury. It is hoped Stead’s injuries will prove not as bad as first feared, whilst Bellego appeared to escape without serious injury despite being in discomfort with abrasion to his thigh. Tigers’ co-promoter Peter Mole was full of praise for the Owlerton outfit, as they ended a run of over a decade without a win at Rye House to make it six wins out of six in all competitions. However, he was saddened to see the meeting reach an unfortunate conclusion – and he is hoping for positive news on Stead. Said Mole: “I feel absolutely elated with the performance and a great win, but we are just totally gutted because of what happened in heat 15. “We wish Simon all the very best and hope his injuries aren’t as bad as first feared. He was on fire once again so it’s a massive shame what happened to him in the end. “It was a tremendous performance from all the boys and a great win for us, it’s just sad it was overshadowed somewhat by what happened to Steady.”

Looks like Josh is guesting for Paul Starke at Somerset tonight, and Ashley has been dropped by Lakeside in favour of Steve Boxall.

A good meeting and a good home win. Elite League take note - no guests, no R/R, no program changes other than a TR for Steve Worrall.

No access for the track staff on Thursdays at Owlerton until 4.00pm because of greyhound BAGS meetings.

SHEFFIELD: Simon Stead, Andre Compton, Ashley Birks, Ty Proctor, David Bellego, Josh Bates, Arthur Sissis. PLYMOUTH: Ryan Fisher, Jack Holder, Sam Simota, Kyle Newman, Morten Risager, Sam Chapman, Ashley Morris.

Brilliant publication. Well done. Loved the humour from the Workington correspondent, predicting that Sheffield will finish bottom of the PL.

Danny Ayres was due to have a practice, so I assume it was him.

All except Ashley and Arthur were eligible for Heat 15. Qualifiers are the top 3 in the averages and the top 3 scorers, including bonus points, from programmed rides.

Well, we have had worse days!!! Well done Tigers.

Correct.

Just to clarify, after an unsatisfactory start, riders aren't allowed to return to the pits. They can stay on the track for refuelling etc, while the fresh 2 minutes are running down. The time allowance is at the referee's discretion, and a rider can overrun by a few seconds if the referee deems it ok. This happened twice on Thursday, one to each team. The clock on the back straight is only a guide. It should be near the starting gate, easily visible to all riders and the Start Marshall, as it is for GPs, televised Sky meetings etc. It is up to the Clerk of the Course to ensure the pre-meeting introductions start on time. The referee can't really control that. Hope these comments help.

Why do you think the referee wasn't very good? He didn't get anything wrong from what I could see.

SHEFFIELD: Simon Stead, Andre Compton, Ashley Birks, Ty Proctor, David Bellego, Arthur Sissis, Josh Bates. REDCAR: Lasse Bjerre, Jan Graversen, Matej Kus, Hugh Skidmore, Stuart Robson R/R, Rafal Konopka, Ben Morley.

It took Simon Lambert ages to get the hang of entering the first bend, but he cracked it eventually. Unfortunately, Damien Koppe never did. I'm confident that Arthur will sort it in the next few weeks.

Best wishes Kenneth.

Well said. Just shows how good Speedway can be, and all 29 heats were completed in 2 hours 25 minutes.

Facundo Albin has signed for Slask, a non-league team in Poland, and is expected to be loaned out to a Polish 2nd division team. Jonathan Iturre has also signed for a Polish 2nd division team, as has Nico Covatti, who has also signed for an Italian team. It will be interesting to see how Facundo and Jonathan get on, as long as they aren't using Alfie Flowers' engines.

From Rod Colquhoun, Heffernan Motor Sports:- CLAMPING DOWN The latest news from the UK regarding the visa issues that threaten the viability of the entire 2015 season is that criteria for entry to the UK in coming seasons will be results based. A rider’s result in his home state title will be absolutely crucial in the allocation of visas particularly for those seeking to travel to the UK as a rider for the first time. Whilst this news may be unwelcome it certainly will bolster the fields for state titles and will definitely lift the intensity. It is clearly an attempt to stop riders who are not of international standard being allocated visas and depending what side of the fence you’re on, this may be a positive in some cases. NEW MUFFLER NSW racer Rohan Tungate used the new 2015 FIM approved muffler in several races at Mildura and went on to win the meeting so clearly it met with his approval. The muffler was sent from Europe for testing and so far so good.

From Rod Colquhoun, Heffernan Motor Sports:- Injured NSW racer Taylor Poole has had his first practice ride since breaking his femur in England last year and according to the pint sized racer all is well. He rode at Raymond Terrace and whilst the rough track stopped him from pushing too hard it was a successful outing. Taylor had a good season on the ultra fast Sheffield track in the UK in 2014 and provided a visa can be sourced he should return to the Tigers this year.

Written by Rod Colquhoun on behalf of Heffernan Motorsports. VISA ISSUES GROUNDED IN POLITICS The Visa issues that have the potential to seriously disrupt the forthcoming UK season originate in the corridors of power in the UK and are driven by a growing discontent among Brits in regard to mass immigration, both permanent and temporary. What started out as a minor political party in the UK has started to drag votes away from the major parties due to its unsympathetic stance on immigration. This basically sent a message to the major parties that the public were unhappy with their apathy on the subject and now the axe has come down on everyone – not just speedway riders. This is nothing to do with the BSPA (British Speedway Promoter’s Association) although they concede that mistakes have been made and they must now do everything to the letter – the border agency will accept nothing less. The UK Promoters know they need Australians and Americans in their teams and they are working feverishly to meet the criteria as set out by the UK border agency. Unfortunately my mail is that not all riders affected by this will, in fact, be granted visas for 2015 and should there be a significant delay in visas being processed the make-up of UK teams could take on a very different complexion. Some clubs had as few as two or three issues uncovered by the border agency and others had over 20, but the punishment is the same for all offending clubs. I have more information from a very respected source and I intend to say more in coming days, suffice to say this is a very serious situation.

I remember Bobby Beaton scoring only half a point all night at Sheffield once. Zeroes and half a point for a third place dead heat.