Sings4Speedway

Any further updates on Davies or Stella?

To be fair credit to Belle Vue for getting the riders they have got as many a team has travelled to Plymouth with only local second halfers to complete the side. There is always a risk when a team has multiple double uppers in it and it is the curse of riders progress that it happens however the fixture planning is poor. Surely there could have been another spare date? Bowen would have obviously been missing anyway & Perry never favours small tracks (although hasn't been excelling on larger ones this year either) but the NL / Champs clash must have been known sine the list came out.

Is there any further update on Charlie Brooks? Heard a rumour he has a collar bone injury also? I know he missed a grasstrack at the weekend. Makes the tail look very dependent on Dugard and / or the right guest booking.

Whilst the only team to push Brum at home this season (Mildenhall) was cut the short the rest of the visitors have not yet managed to better 38 as a total and that was Kent who Coventry are on par with / slightly below IMO. Its certainly hard to see where changes could be made as dropping the legendary Jon Armstrong is like shooting the school rabbit and is a rider who is worth 3-4 points a meeting with his off track work as well as on it. Harris & Ruddick are scoring well and the additional heatleaders are not in abundance. There is also not a Flint style reserve sat around waiting for a team spot and its a 10 point plus swing that would have been required to get something from this meeting. There will be highs and lows for the Cov side this year but entertainment should be abundant throughout and solid building blocks put in place ahead of next season. Brum have had the worst low this year so long may their rise continue and good luck to them.

In fairness its not just who a club would have picked but who was available / agreed to ride against Birmingham as its no secret you are in for a tough night against Flint. That said Whitehouse is known for his has bikes will travel attitude and if a little of that transferred into his riding ability it might have been different. As for name suggestions i would have thought Luke Whitehead or Connor King both ride Brum better than the selected option.

turns out "grip firmly with right hand and twist all the way" isn't the best advice for everything........

Yup Waj did have a super introduction year but wasn't going to top the averages with Adam Ellis in the side

Whilst meaningless in terms of the competition not meaningless in terms of the teams performances and comparisons between each other. Danny Ayres has been the favoured guest for IOW at present but was shown the way by Bowen & Stoneman so maybe a change of bookings in future? Both sides tracked guest reserves and this "meaningless" fixture gave them a chance to assess the prospects. Danno Verge used the fixture to prove he is settling on the island and can battle for points whilst sadly Widman suffered a night of retirements maybe he will finally be able to work out what the issues are? The result may seem irreverent to some but to others it will have an impact on many future events.

I forget is it four home AND four away or four meetings? If its the first then again Brum have been quite smart and won't complete their fourth away fixture for quite a while. As for team positions im certain that its top average at number 1, no exceptions like in Brennans case. Although with Flint it will all be part of the learning experience and not long until he is at number 1 permanently.

I echo the sentiments above with regards to best wishes for Stefan. Obviously there will always be opinions on what is the reason for the amount of injuries, are they actually increasing or just better publicised etc but personally i suspect the main reason for the number sustained at the moment is down to pressure on riders. Pressure from fans, pressure from promotors and pressure from themselves. All of these need points and if there are no points scored there is no team place and no earnings. The sport is a lot more cut throat now with regard to team changes. Riders are being pressured to take chances they may not have previously done, make moves they may not always wish to and ride machinery that is often unpredictable because if a rider isn't prepared to do that there will be 10 more waiting that will.

Try telling that to the IOW promotion. Sadly nothing is going their way at present with Campos withdrawn and Morley taking a trip to hospital after being taken out at redcar

Its largely common sense but far from essential. A bike can be damaged in seconds so turning up with two is just practical. The leagues are spread far and wide so a van is more usable than a car and rack / trailer but all promotions really care about is riders who score points and turn up every time on time.

That could very much be a deciding factor especially without Danny & Rory to pass on advice & tips. Still looks like a home win but not a convincing one.

Interesting encounter tonight on the Island. Morley on Championship duty may be the telling factor as Ayres isn't quite as dominant but Kent have been sporting and booked Nick Laurence at reserve. The Warriors are starting to fire as a unit and the enforced changes at reserve probably makes them stronger. Much of the match will swing on the engine rooms with who comes out on top between Widman & Verge vs Rowe & Hampshire.

Massively rough luck on Stefan. Not sure what he needs to do as everytime he starts going well he has cruel injuries.

Its clear all engines will have issues the major concern was that the USP of the GTR was that it would remain competitive for far longer than a currently tuned Jawa/GM. Once doubt is in peoples minds the price tag becomes a bit too large to gamble on. There was also the never declared service costs? Its no good lasting 5 times a long if the bill will be 5 times the size. Personally i feel it would have been good to set up a factory team perhaps at NL level and see how the results were across the board over a season. All the riders would have had to work together to gain setups and the cost saving could have then been noted at the end of the season.

In fairness JPB has only just signed so no time to get a race suit for him. Butcher on the other hand i assume is just temporary until other options come available? Would have thought he would fit into the scrabble mans suit so must be holding onto it. Would have thought Embleton did himself no harm last night in staking a claim to somewhere closer to home. Once the averages change i would be concerned at Brum with Cupitt dropping to reserve as if his confidence doesnt pick up it places huge pressure on the top 5.

Its no secret that he hampers himself but his scores the past couple of seasons have been impressive for a higher end NL rider whatever the timber he is carrying.

Im not going to disagree that some are not ready to be out there and are a danger to themselves and those around them. But where do NL reserves come from otherwise? There is a lot of time and effort put in by volunteers to stage development league racing and for that i commend them BUT some hard choices need to made with some riders as ive always said its the promoters responsibility to ensure the riders they track are competent whatever the level of racing.

Well looks like IOW made a decent match of it early on (with the help of a few silly points thrown away by Brum) but ultimately were out gunned. Not sure there will be many easier meetings for Cupitt to score points and still didn't set the charts alight. The return of JPB shows the enigma he is with mechanical gremlins and fastest time of the night. Theres just a touch of Bridger about him that concerns me. For IOW it was the usual story with Morley unlucky not to have scored more, Hopwood performing well & Verge battling hard. Widman getting his best score of the season says a lot but the reserve headaches continue for the Warriors

Whilst i wholeheartedly disagree that it should be scrapped the difference in ability levels this year does seem more apparent than ever. Sadly the opportunities for riders to get on the bike is ever decreasing and there are riders edging into M/SDL teams this year to get extra track time when to be honest they are not ready. Lets no forget that from the Brum team Bacon, Hume, JPB, Cupitt, Walker & Butcher all progressed up from the MDL so it must be doing something right.

Speedway as a whole must have lost out. If the monies quoted were invested into an engine which very few want rather than into youth speedway, training days or stop the press....promoting the sport things could be very different. Instead there are now plenty of people stuck with engines worth little more than scrap that they are faced with the option of persisting with, storing or selling at a huge loss.

Have to agree sadly for IOW if these 3 don't score points here they will be difficult to get anywhere. Id be very surprised if Walker doesn't get a hatful, Layne should get a handful and Butcher just needs to try and notful (not fall ). Hoping Morley can keep it respectable but in reality IOW will do well to clear 30 points

The list of genuinely capable 2 pointers is very limited and Luke Ruddick isn't on that list IMO. If he or any other rider wants to be a lamb to the slaughter turning up for appearance money only then good luck to them but as career progression at the moment its not a good move for many and a step up for Ruddick now i fear will leave him getting seriously hurt.

Hume Bailey and Hopwood might make a meeting of it but Verge is average at Eastbourne. RTD is average full stop and the reserves is a huge mismatch. Looks like a confidence booster meeting only rather than pushing the main team to perform.