DC2

Yeah, but we’re the Champions and riders pay to ride for us.

Oh brill, nice big loan fee for Swindon. Welcome, Stefan, to Swindon Reserves.

Blimey, not former British Champion Jonas Jeppesen, otherwise known as Hans Andersen?

Quite right, but you’ll be building a team to 39, about where you finished this year!

Blimey, Steve, you’re hard to please. Every year you say riders don’t want to return and then when Pedersen and Kildemand do, you snipe at them. Meanwhile, we’re all looking forward to seeing them race, because they are racers!

Mountain or Kemp on a 3 and Wells, Jeppesen or Stewart on a 4? Wells is the best, has a CL of 7.05 compared to Stewart’s 5.74, and has plenty of experience, especially on small tracks. Or Tom Bacon 3.17 and Stefan Nielsen 3.71. If Adam’s average isn’t rounded up, we could have Sedgmen and Stefan. Otherwise .01 over.

From memory, the only two draft reserves who had a 5 point lower league average in 2013 were Garrity and Newman. The rest were considerably worse. If they had all had their averages halved and had them count towards team building it would have been fairer. Poole queue jumped to get Newman by saying he was their asset, despite him having never ridden for them. Quite what they had done to “bring on” his career beforehand I do not know. Maybe a few second halves?

How do you know? Where has your info come from?

Where have you seen this?

Two things were wrong with the draft system. Firstly, some clubs had protected assets. Secondly, the reserves did not get averages and go into the 1-5. Consequently, some teams derived an unfair advantage.

Oi, you’re mis-quoting me!

Batch for me was the one to go. He’s unlikely to improve his home and away averages, whereas Rasmus should improve away and Ellis and Musielak will improve both.

Col in usual spreadsheet confusion. I make Bates 6.19.

Yes, but loyalty should start with assets. And Tobi has ridden for us for three seasons without being recalled so I’m not buying that!

Can’t see anything about Cook. Has he removed it?

Bad decision not to sign our own asset, Musielak, especially on his average. It doesn’t encourage loyalty and that could be the last we see of him, unless no one else signs him and he comes back mid-season. Choosing Batch and Jensen instead on their high averages will mean poor reserves. One of them should have gone. 3.57 Ellis Perks as senior reserve, however much he’s a trier, like Shanes, is a mistake. Very strong top four, weak tail. Just my opinion.

Jolly good, all positive, but .... err ...... not a single mention of a rider! Or are they just going to sign the last seven standing?

Not necessarily. He came in on short notice as an end of season replacement for a handful of matches with no knowledge of the Ipswich track and no practice on British tracks for a year. I doubt he had enough time to prepare and to organise his mechanics and bikes. If he’d been signed at the start of the year he would inevitably have averaged more than 8.

Holder averaged 6.67 in Ekstraliga, the top league in the world, and you don’t think he’d be good value at 7.5(?) here? Kildemand had a very bad year in Poland (3.91) but look at the standard of rider he was up against, and he says he’s determined to get back to his best next year. I have no doubt that he would both achieve 7.5 here and give home fans a lot of fun.

Spot on. Imagine Nick Morris at reserve on 5.38. You’d think he’d clean up and be a trump card, at least for a couple of months. Regardless, the key is to sign riders: who are on “false” averages, like Morris, Hans Andersen, Musielak and NKI, or who are on an upward trajectory, like Lambert, Allen, Riss, Perks, Kurtz, Holder, Bewley, Lidsey, Pickering and Becker, and a couple of big hitters for heats 13 and 15.

Are you mad?

Could you explain how “rolling averages are probably fairest” but “grading is the best way forward”? From what you’re saying, grading would be less fair so how could it be better?

Sure, some teams have stronger number ones than others, but the others have stronger riders elsewhere in their teams due to having more points available to sign them. A rolling average over the last twenty matches seems perfectly fair.

Yes, I have, and in public too. But I never use it as part of my every day speech and certainly wouldn’t use in habitually in my biography.

He would be a brilliant signing for any team, particularly because the fans would love his riding style. He’s an entertainer. The possible downside is that he’s lost form in Poland and needs to re-establish himself there and he often falls while leading races!