Roger Jacobs

But the point is … the weather. Criticise the BSPA/L and/or TNT Sports as much as you want, but if the weather intervenes there’s not much to be done - except criticise them for forcing the match to go ahead in poor conditions, as happened with Sky and BT Sport (and Sky walked away from their contract, while BT, after rescuing the coverage, weren’t interested in renewing).

It's got to be TNT Sports that won't move the dates they've got fixed in their schedules. The only thing would be to push the first semi-final back a week, stage the missing fixtures, and run both semis on the same nights (as Sky tried - but I guess that's expensive in terms of doubling-up OB kit and teams). Then, of course, it rains ...

Agree - it was a repeat of the KL KOC-Up, when they didn’t look like a team. Regarding your final comment - it’s worth pointing out that Sayfutdinov, Doyle, and Brennan conceded heat advantages …

Will it really make a huge difference? Which is Leicester’s preferred race night? Both teams should get a decent attendance at home …

I think they’ve mucked-up the balance of the team - it must have been an error to allow Thompson’s average to creep above Ellis’s by 0.04 … no excuses.

Hi made it in time for heat 3. There was a mysterious electrical fault affecting the ref’s controls, which held things up for another five minutes. This should have been held at KL, then it wouldn’t have started until 8:15 … although, thinking about it, if it were at KL the match would have been called off yesterday …

But the play-offs used to be in late September, and even ran into October - they've been brought forward to earlier in September. It's obvious they need to complete the league fixtures, but for whatever reason they haven't used some dates - and it can rain any time ...

People used to complain that the season dragged on to October - even in "the good old days" some seasons ended with cancelled league fixtures. Indeed, when Ipswich won the British League in 1984, Belle Vue vs Swindon wasn't raced (they obviously didn't have drainage as good as the NSS 🤣) - thankfully the Aces were 3 points short of the Witches.

How do you know if the Ipswich track has adequate drainage (let alone "adequate enough")? The huge amount of track work done in recent years has also included changes to the drainage - which is limited to some extent by whatever already there (a stadium built in the 1940/50s and a speedway track originally constructed in 1968. And, of course, the duration and volume of rain is a contributing factor. Trolls never let reason or facts get in the way.

Denmark 👍 https://speedwayupdates.proboards.com/thread/23604/danish-league-03-09-2025

Also confirmed in the raceday guide that the Witches finish top of the Premiership, so will face Belle Vue in the first Play-Off Semi-Final ... Monday, 8th at the NSS and Thursday, 11th at Foxhall.

metoffice rain radar

"Could" is the key word. It could be that the Champions have already been decided, and this is just another match ... I'm not a fan of the play-offs, but they very often do lead to a 15-heat shootout for the League title, which does create excitement and some degree of interest.

What a load of twaddle! Doyle is one of the most loyal non-Brits to British Speedway. It's not his fault the fixture has been rearranged and it coincides with a commitment he's contracted to elsewhere. It's a rock-and-a-hard-place for the Witches, who have managed to find guests for both missing riders.

Ipswich have done the right thing by agreeing to a re-staging to give the best chance of the league fixtures being completed. Last week people were complaining that the play-offs could be decided on an incomplete table. Which is the best scenario? PS: Sayfutdinov is the Witches #1 ...

Same riders, but a few changes to the line-ups … I’m guessing Flint will be at #2, while Rowe moves to 6, and Etheridge (lowest average) is at 7. For the Witches, I’m assuming: Sayfutdinov, Thompson, King, Brennan, Doyle, Ellis, Edwards.

He might be inspired having to ride at #6 😆

These are the Green Sheets for September, which means that Thompson is in the 1-5, and Ellis is at reserve ....

Thompson had five rides, and when the Witches were comfortable he ran a couple of lasts - I wonder if they miscalculated that would be sufficient? He could have easily run another last in Heat 15 just to be sure. Leicester kept Masters just below Becker with some tactical non-scoring.

Did the Witches management miscalculate for Thompson last night?! According to the new Rolling Averages, which will be the Green Sheets for September, he is 0.04 above Ellis ... https://britishspeedway.co.uk/2025-rider-statistics/

Anyone at Foxhall tonight who's prepared to text for Live Updates, please?

A couple of times Harris has whinged on TV (TNT or BSN) about how badly he thinks a track has been prepared ... obviously that's coincided with him not having a great meeting. However, you wouldn't expect a rider with such huge knowledge and experience to not be able to adapt to differing conditions ...

It's only your "best" rider forced to be at #1 because of the Rolling Averages. It's a made-for-TV-rule that needs to be relaxed, at the very least to enable the Team Manager to put the top average rider at #1 or #5.

The Live Updates team is still looking for someone who can text tonight?! If you can, please let them know - thanks: https://speedwayupdates.proboards.com/thread/23552/ipswich-kings-lynn-premiership-2025

The absence of Ellis will make a difference. Definitely need King to be on it, and hopefully Harris will be in a huff because the track isn't exactly how he wants it.