Sings4Speedway

In the long run being forced away from the comfort of Plymouth and onto other tracks will be better 'enrys development. Going to be a hard rider to replace though especially on a much lower average than his home form.

Not knocking Harry but id rate Ablitt as second strongest rider (actually strongest but averages say different) . Trend for running 2nd strongest at 3 to score big throughout meeting and still be available for heat 15. Hoping Colts put up a big fight here.

Not sure if its an inspired or crazy riding order from the Colts? Ablitt is the key man for the visitors but the Bullets look far to strong at home for the "fancied" Colts. If Pijper can keep calm and sit still at the tapes i can see a double figure return for him.

Care to expand? As i see it currently 3 sides (Berwick, Glasgow and Redcar) "generally" don't mess around with swapping reserves about too much / have a more even balance at the bottom end. The rest give one of the reserves 3 rides because they are required too. If thats the case then why no just do away with the additional rider and go 6 man teams? saves a whole lot of expense laying out for riders who are brought in to make up the numbers.

Im not suggesting anything as radical as team managers developing a conscience or feelings what im suggesting is changing the rules so managers can't swap the riders / reserves around quite so freely. So many results swing on reserves taking 7 rides and cleaning up whilst others get cut down to 3 rides. Its supposed to be a team sport, if riders are struggling on a night then the manager / team should all be rallying around to get a team performance rather than cutting riders adrift and in some cases publicly shaming them.

Posted something similar on another thread but until rules are brought in to prevent reserve swaps, put the lowest averaged rider at 7 and stop with on the line replacements for exceeding the 2 minutes it will continue

Perhaps legitimate cover could extend to injury/withdrawel of the other reserve. Otherwise any rider missing the 2 mins goes off 15m, if they miss the 2nd 2 mins then a reserve goes off 15m rather than taking out 1-5 riders for advantage, lowest averaged rider has to ride at no.7 and no reserve swaps. Would make meetings a lot simpler, filling out a program neater and enable everyone to follow and not just those who have studied the rules for 15 years.

Think the swapping and the way the rides are split up should be looked at. No.7 meets an opposition reserve every time No.6 just twice. Surely first up a 3 / 3 split would be fairer and secondly the switches should be for legitimate cover reasons and not just tactical. Teams would then have to build and help both reserves rather than just one and the other being included just to complete a 7 man side.

Good home result against a good side and in front of a good crowd. No lack of effort or improvement from any rider. Warren was the stand out visitor and has come on huge strides with this showing. Poor returns from Kinsley and Spooner having a mare on a track he usually excels on made the contest closer than it should have been. Mildenhall can be pleased to progress in the cup Kent can be pleased with a good win and continued good home support.

If he was withholding then it used to be 28 day ban across all leagues. If he was "ill" then its just 9? days. Pretty sure taking a break will fall under witholding though

Good news about Atkins, not sure if a reason has been given for him missing the Scunthorpe trip? Im guessing obvious choice would be Bowtell (if he fancies the extra miles)

IF rumours are true and Gilkes has broken an arm and IF Atkins is packing in the Centurions look to be in a bit of bother. Choice of guests at number 1 until Gilkes returns will be fine but Atkins on such a low average would be much harder to cover and cant help feeling RR would leave them quite exposed?

Plenty of season left for them to all manipulate them back down. Would obviously be a benefit to the sport if they all stayed high and forced a spread of the better riders across the league BUT that won't happen and all will be available again next year around the 8 point mark

I hope its just a dip and he sticks with it and pulls through. Talent is never in question and in fairness if he gets back to basics, enjoys himself and stops over trying the results will come. Its far to early in the year to worry about anything and every extra lap will bring improvements.

I believe there was a trainee in the box with Babs. Not sure if she was showing off or the trainee liked pressing the red button? Appears to be that it let run unless the mover gains a notable advantage either way for tiny infringements it makes it a tedious afternoon.

He's had a rough few years with Injury cutting seasons short before they started and the sport doesn't stand still. If the love isn't quite there anymore and he is't doing quite what he expected to upon his comeback it starts raising questions about how much you want to keep pressing on.

3 heat leaders at Leicester and some teams have struggled to track more than 1. The investment in the twins over the years has been considerable and admirable. For the sake of a season or two' s not optimal results in return for potential return has to be worth it

BWD was the reason/trigger for NDL riders needing a british passport and was introduced the year after he came over. Hence no more great overseas break throughs since.

Back to kent and huge credit to those where its due. Si Kellow has stepped up and delivered a competitive team at a venue at short notice when speedway in the south east looked buried. Graham at Iwade has transformed a once patchy bumpy track into a smooth fast surface with multiple lines. The volunteers who helped along every step of the way must all be delighted with the opening crowd and if most keep returning plus visitors then numbers should be strong throughout the year.

He has but doesn't mean i think he is any better prepared for NDL racing.

I too was expecting Scott to feature but maybe a year too early (for either party?). It would have also forced Warren into the 1-5 and generated a longer tail. Jack has proven time and time again his is NDL level on ability and its never been that which has held him back before. Hopefully his pockets are deeper and spare time more abundant than it was before.

Iwade is definitely basic but functional and has its own charm much as Buxton did (except the Iwade track is smooth). Delays yesterday were tedious, air fence constantly deflating can happen but the ref and the starts! Green lights not working and taking an age to come on after the starter walks away, then engines screaming with big waits until the tapes go up, someone gets twitchy and its red flag again. The ref can dictate the pace of the meeting and he did a poor job. For the rest as a first venture and with improvements clearly planned its certainly a decent starting point and the racing on track was decent too.

Big factor is that Rob signed up his second strings before finding his heat leaders. If the big hitting number 1s aren't available then look at a more strength in depth side. Didnt even have to be budget breakers, Paco and Proctor for example would have meant Wright at reserve. The engine room is sound but over reliant on a few over achieving every week.

I dont debate that it is sustainable at CL level and obviously the actions of the crook stick most in the mind so apologies for that. I still think that an NDL return is a bright and sensible move. Sustainable is one of the big key words at present and several teams in higher tiers are facing yearly struggles which must be constantly draining.

Sounds like decent business sense. Eastbourne have tried and failed to run at CL level and be financially sound whilst running at NDL level put a good team on track and didn't face closure. The team building averages have been increased this season and the NDL teams look closer to those of a few years ago in standard (yes some averages are artificially inflated etc) but i think the addition of Workington/Northside and Eastbourne (and hopefully Plymouth can remain) would further enhance the strengths of the NDL and more importantly be good and sustainable for the Eastbourne promotion.