Roger Jacobs

Heat 4: no battle at all. Jepsen Jensen (apparently on a new engine) gated and Sayfutdinov didn't. Edwards rode a great race to hold Sayfutdinov at the back.

In what way?

New Green Sheets come in to force on the 1st of each month, and include a maximum of the last 20 League matches, up to and including the 23rd of the previous month. Because they are Rolling Averages, the most recent scores replace the respective oldest scores, so the average will not necessarily rise or fall in direct relation to current form ... also, it doesn't matter if the scores are home or away, e.g. two recent home scores could replace two old away scores, or vice versa. From what I can see on the speedwaygb website, Cook drops to 5th in the KL averages, and Klindt will be at reserve ... separated by 0.005 !!

Your football team?! Blimey if you own it, surely you should be in a VIP box.

I'm not sure why BluPanther laughed at my Brexit comment. The reason why Visas are required is purely down to Brexit. Riders from EU countries used to be able to turn up and ride because they had a right to earn a living in a fellow EU member country. Now the UK treats them the same as riders from any other country, which means the appropriate Visa for their type of employment. It could be there's a long lead time for them to be approved, or it could be that Brum didn't apply in a timely manner.

Apparently Brum can have a guest up to 75% of Zagar's average, so they've got 5.40 available: Blödorn, Howarth, Kemp, or an RS, or someone from the Championship with a qualifying converted average - if any of them are interested and/or available. I'm guessing Hume will have asked for a guarantee, with a bonus if he stays on ... I mean, scores a point or two.

He's fallen off for no reason a lot more times than he's beaten anyone of note.

Brexit strikes again ...

Hume is not a Rising Star, although at 28 (29 in July) he would fit the Rising Journeyman category that has been suggested.

I was told by the BSPA office that it wasn't an assessed average, and the * against his average in the Green Sheets didn't mean it was ... you genuinely can't make this stuff up!

Lambert didn't have an assessed average in 2023 ...

You can't say "definitely" - because we will never know. Billy Sanders would definitely have won the World Championship if he hadn't lost one race to Egon Muller - and there are so many examples of what could definitely have happened.

But it hasn't happened, has it ...? Any rider has to be signed-off by the track doctor to be able to withdraw from a meeting. I guess it's possible a RS could be persuaded to pretend they are injured, but how desperate are teams to do that ...

Harris was at Reserve in July 2021: https://speedwayupdates.proboards.com/thread/20242/belle-vue-premiership-19-2021 It turns out the Panthers only rode a couple of matches that month - the other one was at Sheffield, and Harris scored 16+1 from 7 rides (including a Retirement in his second ride).

This is bizarre. There are different ways to put line-ups together - that's one of the key parts of the Points Limit process. Why penalise a team for choosing a 1-6 that's based on being solid? Peterborough won the League just four years ago using just that approach - they were pretty much guaranteed to have a strong reserve (Harris was one of them), alongside their Rising Star, but also had to rely on most (if not all) of the team performing. What's wrong with that? Harris will normally get only one extra ride in place of Boughen (who took all four rides at Oxford), which means that another rider will have to be off-form for Harris to get an extra ride, or two - although one of his additional rides could well be Heat 15. In the meantime, look at other clubs - they often juggle their reserves, and the Rising Star regularly gets just three rides, irrespective of the age/experience of their #6 partner. Harris's average from last season is 0.50 lower than any other members of the KL team. In the meantime, the other six Premiership teams each have at least two riders with an average higher than KL's starting #1. (As an aside: Ironically, King's Lynn's combined starting average is 0.2 higher than that of Ipswich!). Harris will almost certainly move into the 1-5 when the Stars receive their first new set of averages - in theory they will have another strong reserve - it's how they built their team. Simples.

If signed-off by the track doctor, then he can be replaced.

I have been saying for years that the Reg forcing the top average to ride at #1 is stupid - not every rider is suited to that position, and it would be much better if teams could choose.

So, Klindt at #2 and he gets chosen for Heat 15 ... whoops! I reckon if there's an analysis of Home #2 riders who've been selected for Heat 15, a high percentage of them would show as finishing third or fourth.

I think the bit they are referring to is this: "Sheffield Speedway once again politely asks supporters not to respond to rumours out of respect to Tai and his family."

Official Statement by Sheffield: https://britishspeedway.co.uk/rowe-motor-oil-premiership/sheffield-speedway-statement-tai-woffinden/

Indeed - but the winners don't actually win very much ...

Guy Nicholls has put up the money (reported to be a six figure sum) for a Pump Track* to be built in Kesgrave. * I have to admit, I hadn’t heard that expression - apparently it’s given to what we call BMX tracks, because bike and skateboard riders use a “pumping” motion round the track.

Guy Nicholls has put up the money (reported to be a six figure sum) for a Pump Track* to be built in Kesgrave. * Ihave to admit, I hadn’t heard that expression - apparently it’s given to what we call BMX tracks, because bike and skateboard riders use a “pumping” motion round the track.

Except of course that speedway was only showing twice every three weeks - there'll always be something else that fills in for the filler ...

I see that the Team GB line-up for the official Test Match in the USA this weekend features four Witches! https://watch.britishspeedway.co.uk/articles/special-occasion