Happy Hunter

I should ask these questions more often - see who is riding for the Lions at Wolverhampton tomorrow - Garrity!

Can someone explain why we never seem to get a decent guest in to replace Josh Auty? According to the BSP FTR sheet in the Green Sheet Averages we can have any rider on the list apart from Kyle Newman. Any chance of seeing Garrity ride for us or some of the other big hitters on the list? Again last night it all boiled down to how well the guest reserves did. Our top 5 were better then Kings Lynn's. Our reserves were not in the same class as theirs.

Leicester built theirs in 7 months. I would have thought 5 months was pushing it, especially if we have a wet/cold winter.

Having a holiday home in Devon and being without a home track I have been a fan of both Exeter (I remember those bank holiday meetings when we had to wait for the doctor to turn up) and Plymouth so I am following with interest the possibility of a new track in Exeter. The following is an extract from part of the Plymouth Devils Website. Hope it helps the discussion! Manordelta Ltd A well known speedway name - ex Exeter owner Colin Hill's original promoting company at the County Ground. When Colin knew he was dying he set up a special trust to try and preserve the sport in the Devon city, In his will he set aside a sizable amount of money to further that aim and the trustees have agreed to become 25 percent shareholders in the new Plymouth promotion,having virtually accepted that despite their efforts, there is no visable venue in Exeter. Andrew Copp, director of several companies and a silent partner in Colin Hill's business, is Manor Deltas representative on the board. Also I think that planning permission was granted for the track at Halden Hill but the stumbling block was the rent that the new owners of the race course wanted.

I was really trying to make the point that the 'Fast Track' system is no longer working. I can see that you have to get who you can get if your reserves are injured but the number of riders who have been included on the 'Fast Track' list who are, to put it kindly, reaching the end of their shelf life, is getting ridiculous.

I know others have said this before but can't the powers that be see that having someone like Richard Hall as a 'Fast Track Reserve' makes the sport a laughing stock?

Probably Wolves did not fancy it!

You might know that DH will have thought of this wheeze! Mercury voucher has to be presented with admission fee at ticket office. Presumably you will then be given the actual drinks & dog voucher. Hope that there is enough booze, dogs & programmes to go round on Monday otherwise it will be another egg on face job!

If you have the Leicester Mercury & take the voucher that's in it with you on Monday you can get a free half of lager & free hot dog as well. That can't be bad for £7.50 + the cost of the newspaper!

I thought that there might have been more Lion's fans on here saying how well the team did on Saturday. The top 4 scored 41 points and the Premier League guest at no 5 did as well as could be expected. Things look a little brighter I think! Does anyone know what average Swiderski is coming in on?

I knowhow to spell Bourmouth (sic) but did not want to upset the others who do not!

No. Bournmouth is still full of old people!

Seems that everyone agrees that, if this match had not been televised, it would have been called off early doors like the ones at Wolverhampton & Manchester. Last night's saga can only harm speedway and the credibility of Sky Sports. Speedway is not the only televised sport that can be badly affected by the weather e.g. cricket, tennis & golf. The television companies involved seem to cope so why can't speedway & Sky? It seems to me that the BSPA & Sky have got to sit down and devise a strategy for dealing with rained off meetings. This could involve showing a previously televised meeting (Sky must have quite a library of interesting meetings) or something similar. It would probably result in a reduced fee from Sky but that would be a small price to pay if the BSPA & Sky do not want to damage their reputations any more or that of the sport itself and possibly prevent serious injury to a rider.

If it is bring a book or do the Times Crossword!

All this speculation & rumour could be stopped dead in its tracks if the promotion put something out on Facebook or their website - no chance though is there? I am sat at home debating whether or not to turn out on a cold, miserable evening to see less than half a Lion's side.

According to the Leicester Mercury the line ups are:- Lions - Doyle, Zengota, Bridger, Wozniak, R/R, Guest Reserve & Lambert. Poole - Watt, Gomolski, North, Holder, Janowski, Starke & Newman.

Anyone know who the guest will be on Monday?

The meeting did run smoother than normal. Given that the rain delay cancelled out the lack of interval it just shows what can be achieved presentation wise - not sure if had anything to do with Popple's absence more like the threat of heavy rain!

Which is free or course. You could also think about having a dip in the Leisure Centre swimming pool or a spin on the roller skates while you wait although I am not sure what time it closes.

I'm a member of the 'not so young anymore' brigade. I park up at the shopping centre car park just before 7.00 p.m. It takes about 10 minutes to walk up to the track and possibly about 5 minutes to queue up to get in and buy a 20:20 ticket or two. So I am in position at about 7.20p.m. at the latest which is in plenty of time as you are lucky if the first race starts before 7.40/7.45 p.m.. So, even on a bad night, I am away from the car park well before the four hours are up. Its different of course if you want to have a drink with your mates either before or after the meeting but that's a choice you have to make.

It would be nice to know why its going round! Us old stagers know that if the tractor comes out unexpectedly its usually because the riders have asked for the track to be graded but new comers don't know that's why. It really is all about communication and not guess work!

This all boils down to a continued lack of communication between the promotion & crowd. Why did the match presenter not mention why the start was delayed and why the tractor went out after heat 2? Most fans would have understood. There was only one delay due to a crash but the meeting took 2 hours to complete (from a 7.45 p.m. start). If you allow 5 minutes per race and 15 minutes for an interval that gives a meeting time of 90 minutes add another 15 for crashes and that means a meeting started at 7.30 p.m. should be over by 9.15 p.m. How many times has that happened at Beaumont Park since 2011? I don’t think any Lions fans will find anything positive to say about this result. Doyle did well to get up from the deck and win heat 13 but he will know that 10 points from 5 rides by a number 1 at home is not good enough. Schlein probably scored more points than Michelsen so the score might have been worse if the latter had ridden. Walasek is o.k. when he makes the gate so 8 at home was probably about what we can expect from him. Woznak was right off the pace. Pedersen did not show up. He has won 2 EL races now, 1 home and 1 away and has not scored in his other rides. Sorry – not good enough. Auty does all that is expected of him and a good job too when you look at Lambert’s performance. He was just like he was when he rode for the Lions in the Premier League – reasonable gate and then picked off on bend 3 or 4. Cannot understand for the life of me why they signed him. On this performance I cannot see anything but a basement battle again.

Has anyone else received a duff copy of the Star this week with pages either missing or duplicated?

I agree that the meeting was well run - took just 90 minutes (but no interval) but thought the presentation could have been better. E.g. presenter only started introducing Leicester team as they left the track and no explanation of how the National Trophy competition works or what teams are in it. I was pleased to see Max have a good win in the fastest ride of the match.