Steve Shovlar

So can we expect a big cheer from the Coventry fans tomorrow night when Hans is announced? Clubs fans normally like to warmly applaud their ex riders.

Suprised the conspiracy theorists havent yet jumped on the "hes keeping his pl average down so that he gets a berth for Poole". I do struggle to understand why people think Garrity is better than Newman. Never seen anything to prove that is the case. Newman just seems a more complete rider. Better style, track craft and has had Garrity in his pocket for a while now. Guess we will see tomorrow night when they meet again. Just my opinion of course but I would have Newman in my 1-7 any day over Garrity.

Disagree with you Pinny. The PL average difference means nothing to how they do in the EL. Some riders adapt to top flight racing. Better than others. Garrity just seems wild and out of control, like Bridger was but worse. Guess we will see when they race tomorrow night but regardless of being a Poole fan I would pick Newman over the current Garrity every day of the week. Personal opinion of course.

So here we are with the return leg of the Elite Shield at Brandon Stadium on Friday night. Poole have a slender 22 point lead to defend but Coventry are sure to come out with all guns blazing to claim their first silverware of the 2016 season. KK is due back which should make Coventry far stronger than the team put out at Poole. Personally I think it will be a very close meeting with four points in it either way. Thoughts?

Those who say Newman has no ambition are way off kilter. Whether he has the ability to match his ambition is another question. There is no doubt Newman has ambition. He has managed to get a team berth in Poland with Pila. Which Polish team is Garrity signed up for? So he is riding three leagues in 2016. EL, PL and Polish second Division. Will he be a Team GB rider in the future? Possibly, possibly not. But I did speak to him in the winter and he was not happy with his 2015 form and knew there was more to come, and said he needed to improve his gating. He has the determination but that alone is not enough and IMO will be a very decent second string/ third heat leader. Always seems to be not fast enough. When he wins a heat it is often half a second slower than other heats. Like to be proved wrong though. Garrity. Everytime I have seen him he is all over the place. Locking up and losing 20 metres, often over riding. Comparing him to Newman is chalk and cheese. Newman smooth and looking polished, Garrity very rough in his style. Because of this Newman tends most of the time to have Garrity in his pocket. We will have another opportunity to see if this is true tomorrow night. Both riders have ambition and want to get as far as they can in the sport. Not every ride can get to the top, and personally neither will be GP riders of the future. But both are capable with experience to represent their country in the future.

For those that want to watch some of the racing you can see a few heats here. https://www.periscope.tv/w/abh9wDFtTUVQZVdxTm1RR2J8MVlwSmthdmxha2RLaixA5LG5K1I68g2nqEd9lddh-odR6Eu2mriyiXdoKOq0 Thought it eas a decent meeting tonight.msome good racing for the first meeting of the season and Poole really do look a powerhouse. For Coventry Harris was very good. Battled hard for his points. King had a win but was mostly awol. Garrity was a reserve in a top five spot. Outclassed all night to be honest. Woryna battled hard and was knicked off by Hans trying to get past. An entertainer doing wheelies and waving to the crowd. Think he did a lap of honor after every race. The reserves were dreadful. For Poole Holder was solid. Kurtz got better as the night went on. Watty sucked. He said it and it was true. Buckowski looked fast and wild. Hans was very good. Ellis would have scored more but for an ef. Newman scored a max and was man of the meeting. Lookng forward to the return which will be a much closer affair.

Got a decent rider in Woryna. Just battled past Ellis and was right up Kutz exhast for four laps. Looks good on a bike and fast. Having never ridden here before the lad has impressed so far. Garrity is rubbish and off the pace. All over the place.

Why are CovEntry fans writing off Woryna before a wheel has turned. He is viewed as a fine prospect in Poland and is certainly better than Jamrog. Give the lad a chance before trying to get rid before a wheel has turned. He will take time to settle but is a decent one for the future in my opinion. For those not making the trip I will stream some footage tonight on periscope. You can download the periscope app and i can be found @stephenshovlar Or zoom on the map to poole stadium. Not filming much racing but might do a little. The footage will be available for 24 hours.

Most of the cheating you accuse Poole of is not cheating but pushing the rules to their limits. If it was blatant cheating they would have been penalised, as BV were for hosegate. And how on earth did we cheat to beat you to the title last year? Are you on about gogglegate? That was not cheating. It was perhaps foolhardy of the rider but that was up to the ref to deal with, and nothing morenthan that. Never looked forward to my trips all the way up to Manchaster when half the time the weather looks dodgy, but weather permitting I shall be there in two weeks time.

Suns poking its head through and a nice dry day forecast. Going to be chilly tonight though at 3 degrees C so bring your coats!

Belle Vue cheated? Well theres a first.

Whats that? Overlock?

Now all the lineups are in I can't see past Poole romping it this season. Baring injuries its ours to lose. No weak links, riders who go well around big and small tracks. Belle Vue our main opposition and expect them to put up a fight with Craig Cook having a breakthrough season. However i am confident we will be strong enough, and have the overall experience to see B V off. BV choked last season and would have learnt from the occassion, but if it comes down to the. Same two teams we have bug track riders to nullify BV home advantage.

Now looking at the lineups we should squash the Bees tomorrow night. Cant wait to put it to 'em! Seriously I hope for some good racing, plenty of battles and no injuries. Roll on 24 hours.

For those that are interested here is some of the footage I shot today from Pooles P&P https://www.periscope.tv/w/abXLBDFtTUVQZVdxTm1RR2J8MVlxS0RhZGJlekRHVn6-AIQDwG_wJwB_9vuUyUTq-ruGhnLk27WBZlMJVjs- https://www.periscope.tv/w/abXLnzFtTUVQZVdxTm1RR2J8MW5BS0VqUmtqbVhHTAMFqm7GELFht4QJmKij1AdQb6-7qEObD5LdTdFBOf84

Live filming right now.

I will get there at 2 pm but will post a link on here as soon as i start filming for those that want to watch. If we have to wait for the schools to finish so be it.

No the main stand needs demolishing and a new, bigger stand built in its place. The current stand was built in 1960 and is litterally not far off condemned. The back straight stand, whilst fine for dogs is next to useless for watching speedway and it was a sad day when the old zig zagged roofed stand came down, though it was a relic. There are plans for a new stadium but the guy who wants to do it wants to bring back Poole Town, which would mean a full sized football pitch in the middle which doesnt help speedway, plus built over 100 houses on the car park. Poole Stadium has some protection as it was left to the council on the understanding it would always be a sports venue. Just wish they could cough up but its on a long term lease to the greyhound people. Something like BV new stadium would be very nice but how much has this new stadium actually cost?

A beautiful if somewhat chilly day in Poole for press and practice today. Kicks off at lunchtime with introduction of the riders and press photos, followed by the riders taking to the track for practice before Wednesdays crunch tie against the Coventry Bees. For thos starved of their speedway fix, I shall be there from 2 pm to catch the riders taking a spin and will stream some of it live from the track via periscope app. I can be found on periscope by @stephenshovlar, or zoom in on the map to Poole and click on the red dot where the stadium is. If you miss the live feed, the footage will be avaialble to view for 24 hours on my account so you can catch it later. If you watch live I can answer type in questions as they come in on the feed.

So plenty for speedway fans to see tomorrow online then!

u Excellent photos. Now see it is more advanced than I originally imagined. As for jealousy, I cant believe anyone would be jealous. They, like me, should be very pleased for such a stadium in the EL. Wish Poole Council had the funds to do the same for Wimborne Road. So envious of your great looking stadium, yes. Cant wait to come up in a couple of weeks time to see it myself. And pick up the points.

Looking at those photos they have done a lot of work in a short space of time, but there still seems loads to do to finish the track. And what about all that unsightly pile of earth. Is that going to still be there when the stadium opens? Looks like they are a month or two behind schedule because theres no way they should be cutting it this fine. And I would say again that it is paramount that the track needs to be tested thoroughly before the meeting. Why take undue risks?

For those that are interested I hope to do a live Periscope broadcast on Monday afternoon from the track with the riders going around practising. As I am not a season ticket holder I wont be in the rider meets and among the guest and media, but the stadium is open for us mere fans to watch the riders take a spin and this is what I shall hope to broadcast. You will need the periscope app from the appstore or where ever non apple user find their apps. Its free. My account to find me is @stephenshovlar, or click on the map and zoom in to Poole and click on the red dot which will probably be me when there is a live broardcast taking place. Dont expect Sky broadcast quality footage! Not sure just yet what timenthe riders will take to the track. Perhaps someone else on here will know?

Last thing I want. I am hoping the whole move and new stadium will be a massive success and BV will revive to big crowds and a strong club again. But I also think it absolutely ludicrous that theysre risking completely avoidable ridicule if the track dieznt hold together and causes huge problems for the riders. It needs laps from experienced riders to make sure its going to hold up. Look at the disasters at GP level a In Sweden and Poland. We dont want a repeat. What the BV management are doing, by no riders on the track until heat one, is in my opinion highly risky as it could undo a lot of goodwill coming their way. I hope my worries are unfounded and the track rides well. But a risk they dont need to take imo.

Coming up to Brandon for the return next Friday. Going to stay over as I am attending an auction in Banbury the next day. Hope this long spell of dry weather holds true otherwise it will mess up my plans. Anyone know the lineups? I am guessing Poole will be full strength.