Roger Jacobs

Money, machinery, mechanics, transport, travel/flights, schedules, fixture clashes (bound to be some), and, of course, pay and sponsorship. Whoever it is has got something of an upper hand, considering the Aces need someone ...

Rogers has said that he knows the final three riders he wants, and is working on the deals - just lots of speculation about who they might be. It makes a change for British speedway that people actually don't seem to know who they are!

2021 Final Green Sheets for Championship shows Keleher on 4.05 ... https://britishspeedway.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/c21_issue_24.pdf

Too many posts to check back on who is or isn't available, but are there actual suggestions for the final three? These guys rode in 2021, and would fit average-wise: Adam Ellis Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen Sam Jensen

Indeed - as mentioned, I wonder if anyone actually looks at the numbers …

Do you know if they take note of the numbers on social media, e.g. Likes, Retweets, Shares, etc? When I looked earlier, the Pickering tweet had 14 Likes and 4 Retweets (including one by your good self, and one by Alex Brady), and no Comments ...

I finally found the track width info about those tracks (provided by the SCB): Ipswich: Length: 285 m Home straight: 10.7 m Back straight: 10.6 m 1st and 2nd bends: 16.0 m 3rd and 4th bends: 16.5 m Redcar: Length: 271 m Home straight: 12.0 m Back straight: 11.0 m 1st and 2nd bends: 14.6 m 3rd and 4th bends: 15.6 m Scunthorpe: Length: 285 m Home straight width - 15.0 m Back straight: 13.0 mt 1st and 2nd bends: 16.0 mt 3rd and 4th bends: 16.8 mt Redcar is shorter than Foxhall, and also not as wide on the bends - so any banking must help? Scunthorpe is the same length as Foxhall, with similar bend widths, so again the banking must help - the extra width on the straights is possibly a factor in enabling different lines into and off the bends? I've asked the SCB if they can publish this info for all of the tracks.

You've misread. The Pairs event is two days before the Togliatti GP ...

Major league sponsor - can anyone in British Speedway remember what that used to be like ...

No probs. I started looking at Heats 13 & 15 after wondering whether any riders or teams dominated. Overall, it's much of a muchness, reflecting that most of the "top" riders beat each other. The biggest surprises were KL being much better than expected, and Wolves - despite their supposed home advantage - being much worse than you would think.

Remarkably, the Stars were the only Prem team in 2021 NOT to concede a heat advantage in Heat 15! They scored 2x 5-1, 3x 4-2 and 5x 3-3 results for an overall aggregate of 37-23 - the second best heat 15 record in the Prem (Sheffield 38-22, who scored 5x 5-1, but they conceded a 2-4 and a 1-5). Heat 13 was also positive for KL: 2x 5-1, 5x 3-3 and 3x 2-4 for a 31-29 overall score. It seems that getting off to poor starts was the Stars' big problem at home.

Fixtures released: https://ipswichwitches.co/fixtures/ Interestingly, no dates for the play-offs - not shown on main list on BSPA website either …

Who could they sign? So many variables, e.g. availability, desire to ride in GB, and, of course, budget.

King still rode in most Heats 13 and 15. I might take look at other riders ... be interesting to see how much difference there is in their own averages, in comparison to King. At a guess, P'boro, despite being champs will have very strange figures - not sure how many times one of their reserves appeared in Heat 15! EDIT: Just had a look - I'm not sure that P'boro used a reserve in Heat 15 at home - the team management was shrewd enough to utilise the in-form reserve in the heats, where they were most likely to have an impact, e.g. 8, 12 & 14. Haven't looked at away matches yet.

No, nobody arguing. Just pointing out the anomalies of the maths - especially when using Excel. Anyway, it provided a laugh for those who are really interested

And there's the beauty/frustration of Excel. Using the actual figures (as pointed out), after the the 2.5% reduction, it adds up to 42.0015. Round up/down to hundredths, and it's 41.99. Absolutely my error not spotting that, and just reading the total given by Excel, but it shows the anomalies that can creep in. Glad everyone has had a laugh

My calculations are below. Just out of interest, can you confirm where the 0.01 that I've over estimated is? I'm not complaining or suggesting anything is wrong. 42.00 looks good from the points limit perspective - it' just that without the rounding after the reductions the total is 42.00150 I used the Final Green Sheets (published to hundredths) before calculating the 2.5% reduction - for example, Cook was 9.02 before becoming 8.79. Others: Brennan 6.03, Hume 5.01 and Bailey 4.28.

it has been corrected: https://www.lynnnews.co.uk/sport/worrall-stars-boss-brady-like-a-breath-of-fresh-air-9233317/

King needs to improve in Heat 13 & 15 if he wants to up his average. 2021 Home average: 8.45 Average in Heats 13 & 15: 6.86 2021 Away average: 7.48 Average in Heats 13 & 15: 6.15

SCB Regulations: "010.2.3 Amended MA’s With the approval of the BSPA GC or Directors for: a) riders who have been absent from British Speedway racing for more than 3 seasons (The MA may be increased or decreased)."

I think there might have been a delay because the team comes in at exactly 42.00, after 2.5% reductions for Brits - and technically it's a few thousandths over the limit. The Green Sheets are based on averages to hundredths, although I think they have used the thousandth if averages are the "same" and a difference needs to be worked out between, e.g. heat leader/second string/reserve (not possible of course if they've had the same number of rides and scored the same number points).

The size of his truck is about right for the shale required at Wimborne Road

Not sure of "many finals" that Allen has won "around the globe" ... a State Championship was a good achievement. Last season he definitely struggled with Foxhall, which, despite the many changes, is still more technical than others of a similar white line size - namely Scunthorpe and Redcar. I believe that Ipswich and Scunthorpe are both officially 285 metres, while Redcar is a bit shorter at 271. However, I don't think Foxhall is as wide as either of those, although I'm struggling to find the actual data. No direct criticism of Allen - he's clearly a competitive rider when he's happy and confident. I definitely agree that the Ipswich management have been lacking for a long time in producing an overall team that has a killer instinct - they produce teams that keep the majority of home fans happy because they are full of nice blokes who try hard - but ultimately don't achieve a great deal.

No idea who else the Witches could sign to be closer to the limit? The Prem has had to bring in some second-hand riders to bolster a couple of teams (Basso is closest to a "new" signing), and BV seem to be struggling to fill their seven. On top of that, the Witches don't have a recent record for unearthing new talent from anywhere ... The riders they have chosen to wear a Witches suit are popular with the vast majority of home fans - who simply like to support nice blokes, who try hard. Many of them still love Heeps, despite his frustrating lack of overall progress - and King is a hero, even though he's never shown the same capability of team riding that we associate with the truly great Witches #1s. It'll be fascinating to see if King can develop any sort of understanding with Doyle for Heats 13 & 15, and the new pairs competition.

The SON winners are indeed Great Britain. Even if they were Team GB, the winners would still be Great Britain - same as Olympic winners. The British Olympic Association actually has Team GB as a commercial trademarked name - that might be why the speedway equivalent is now known as the GB Speedway Team: https://gbspeedwayteam.com/