Teromaafan

Behave. By the way if you are interested in renting the Barbados villa I’m hopefully about to acquire , let me know.

Too much negativity on this thread. The AA van has just turned up to sort the RAC vehicle that broke down on its way to attend to the ambulance that broke down. The ambulance is now on its way to BP and will hopefully be there in time for the re-arranged meeting on Tuesday. As precaution, Green Flag have been put on alert to cover all bases.

Don’t be silly. There is no place for common sense/logic on a speedway thread. Next you will be suggesting that riders can only ride for one team in the UK.

If you look on the BBC Sport website, speedway is not recognised but curling is. If you were in any doubt, tonight’s events tell you why.

Just spotted a tweet posted on the Lions website highlighting that they are selling 2022 calendars, which obviously includes pictures of riders....... from this season! Wonder how many of the photos will be relevant come next March?

The future of the Diamonds is looking rosey. Rumour has it that a certain gentleman is confident of selling a nearby football club to an Arab buyer and is keen to maintain a sporting interest in the area by making Granty an offer for the club that he will not be able to refuse. Can’t say too much more at this stage, but the future ‘Sports Direct Diamonds’ are likely to be awash with cash and ready to recruit Europe’s finest riders. Team manager cannot be named, but we shall refer to him as ‘Brucie’, has no experience in the sport but has blagged his way through football management for years apparently. Box ticked. His tactical approach will be to aim for 3-3s in every heat and wait for the opposition to make mistakes to gain heat advantages.

Ah, the lure of Scottish football eh, can’t compete with that!

What's with the continued rotation of the of the riders at 3, 4 & 5?

Another bloody farce. This is not funny in view of the travelling involved. If the cut off date is fixed and the fixture cannot be completed in time, what happens to the available points? Are they scrubbed, shared or handed to the away team? This is speedway so I’ll wait to be informed of the amateurish contingency the governing body has in place.

Last night was a great advert for the sport (IMO). Good aggressive racing from riders prepared to attack the track. A reasonable amount of passing. There could have been more, but people seem to sometimes overlook the fact that the rider in front is skilfully holding a good line to prevent being passed. Lions are pretty good at home and I sometimes think that this, factored in with the reputation of the track, is an excuse for some visiting teams (except for the likes of Poole) performances. I do get frustrated with our track being criticised (although this has eased a bit this season), like every where else riders pass constantly. Leicester’s track challenges riders technically and I have witnessed the very best (Doyle and Janowski come to mind) providing breath taking races at BP. Everyone drools about Belle Vue (Kelvin Tatum in particular), but from what I have seen, it’s all about being able to open the throttle on a fast bike. Over the weekend I have witnessed some of the worst speedway racing I have ever seen in the SON semis. The riders appeared to be racing on a concrete surface with a light covering of powder. What sort of an advert is that for the sport at world championship level?

Thanks Jaizer! I did look earlier on the SGB website. I don’t think they update it until 10.00am though.

Does anyone know the team line ups?

Never like having to operate R/R, particularly away. I think that Lions will do well to get a point against a strong Bears team. Zaine Kennedy's performance will be key here and will most likely be taking three of the R/R rides and Jack Thomas will have to take all of his programmed rides. Our big guns will subsequently need to be bang on it to keep us in the contest.

Agreed. This is speedway though. Riders can be hired by and ride for who they like if the money is right for one off situations. In our 'sport' it is referred to as guesting. With this concept in mind, I'm thinking of employing some ladies in tight skimpy clothing wearing heavy make up to be made available for late night 'guesting'. I don't see them as prostitutes, but (in speedway terms) employers 'assets'. If certain ladies were unavailable, as an alternative, punters could chose someone equally as pretty or uglier (along the lines of same or lower average). Such is the credibility of speedway.

The sport is lucky to have people like False Dawn as a paying spectator. For the sake of speedway, I hope that your enthusiasm does not diminish should you encounter more late postponment of meetings.If it helps, I have contacts at the Met Office and they have assured me that over the next two weeks, there will definitely be some weather.

I don't get to many away meetings to watch Leicester because of the geographical implications of the majority of teams in this league, but I did enjoy my visit to Perry Barr a few weeks ago. Despite my team losing and the unacceptably dusty track, it didn't put me off returning (Brummies financial circumstances permitting). Home fans and track staff were very friendly and good humoured. The opportunity to casually enter the pits and do a track walk with riders (chatted with the very open Ashley Morris) sticks in my mind. I even started to eaves drop on the Brummies team talk they were having between bends 1 and 2 (but they just seemed to be taking the mick out of each other) before walking back to the terraces. From this experience, I would be gutted if the Brummies (add in Newcastle) couldn't come to the tapes next year. The sad fact however is that it appeared that at least half of the crowd were away supporters and I doubt that other visiting teams would be represented by similar numbers (in view of it being a midweek track and there being no other teams an hours travelling time). Despite it being the second largest city in the country, if the interest in the sport isn't there, what can you do? Enough promotions have tried.

Will do. I once got arrested for filling in a questionnaire. He was the doorman an up market London hotel that refused me entry.

Great Lions recovery tonight. There can't be many teams that have had to use a tactical sub and then win by a dozen points. Kennedy seems to be finding form at the right time of the season. Whilst this is team speedway, seven riders per team, tonight is a good example of being there or there abouts come heat 13 if you have a couple of reliable race winners. Hats off to Summers, it's unlikely that Morris would have bettered his return tonight.

You would think so but there are only three other teams to chose from (for a guest) that are not riding on the same night.

You're right, but the buck has to stop with the club. Putting out just one rider for the last heat is inexcusable and Eastbourne deserve to be fined, their financial plight being irrelevant in such circumstances. The paying public and particularly the travelling supporters have been short changed. I really hope that the apparent financial situation can be sorted, nobody wants to see Eastbourne, Birmingham or Newcastle folding.

This meeting should be called off right now. The forecast is grim and the opposition have a long way to travel. This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I will be at Wembley watching City (yeah, I know, we are likely to get thumped) and cannot be in two places at the same time, to witness what should be a great meeting. Selfish, but honest! If the Lions win however, that's all that matters. if City win as well......let's not get too silly eh!

City are at Wembley on Saturday which will have an impact on the crowd. Those not going to Wembley may watch the game on TV, which will not finish before the speedway starts. Having called the Edinburgh meeting off once already, I suppose the management feel that they need to take on one the chin this Saturday?

Decent racing requires riders of similar ability and just as importantly, attitude. The Brum riders were simply not up for it tonight. It makes me wonder if some riders actually read to much into the negativity regarding the track and when at the back, just pull up. There were six heats where only one of their riders finished the race. Harris can hold his head up, but even he uncharacteristically surrendered points from positions you wouldn't expect. I had Riss nailed on for double figures on a track he knows well, but offered little. The Brum promotion are relying on a good turnout for their next home meeting. Since Leicester is the nearest track, tonight presented an opportunity for them to show their travelling supporters (although they weren't expected to win) that they have a team worthy of their backing. Their fans deserved better and I heard some chuntering that they might not even bother on Wednesday. Fingers crossed that they get the numbers they are looking for (from somewhere) through the gate for the Kent fixture.

In the absence of a thread for Plymouth v Leicester match, which has now finished, it seems reasonable to post comments here. Not being present tonight, I wondered how good the racing was from an entertainment perspective? Going back to watching Leicester at the old Blackbird Road track, the novelty of good racing and narrow home defeats wore thin pretty quickly. Smug as it may sound, the management's decision to go for a very top heavy team appears to have predictively backfired already. Plymouth's entreprenural approach has to be applauded but it would appear that a major team review is required, particularly as Crump is not recovering from knocks so easily these days. Altough they appear not to be weakened by the choice of guests that have covered for him, the situation is clearly not sustainable. Putting my Lions hat back on, a great response after being overturned by those pesky Pirates at the weekend.

Honestly, if the track is as bad as you make out after several visits, why the the hell did you bother to make the journey last night (assuming you are based in the Poole area, about a 4 hour journey?). Regardless of the track and passing opportunities, Poole were well up for it and the better team on the night. Whilst I don't get to visit many away tracks (although I have been to Poole a few times), I do watch Premiership and GP meetings on TV and don't see a much superior product in terms of passing. Yes, the original track shape was a cock up, but a lot of work has since gone into improving racing opportunities. It might not be Belle Vue, but it has improved. Has it occurred to you that the racing may be down to the quality of riders? I have watched breathtaking races between Doyle and Janowski before any significant track alterations were made. Some riders pick up on negative track comments and have up front excuses for poor performances instead of attacking the track. I'm in Dorset in a months time ( might visit Wimborne Road), if I come across you, I'll buy you a pint and we'll have a bloody good laugh. You have been warned!