Noelinho

A few odd drops occasionally but holding up.

It's not a terrible forecast. It might rain, and it might rain at the wrong time if it does, but it's not a lot of rain that's expected. The skies have looked like opening most of the afternoon, but still no drops. Anyway, I am convinced it will rain, and I'm always wrong!

Conversely, my forecast, which was bad from 6pm earlier, is now good until midnight!

They're pressing ahead, according to the track staff. Should be a good meeting as long as the rain doesn't get in the way later on.

It’s one of those days when it’s hard to know what the best course of action is. If they call it off now, and the predicted rain after 6pm arrives, it probably looks a good decision. If that rain doesn’t come, the rest of the predicted rain during the day wouldn’t be enough. So would it be better to risk looking silly calling off a dry evening, or losing out financially going ahead with a meeting that doesn’t get completed? People will throw stones either way…

There's rain in the forecast all day, and particularly after 6pm. Could be a frustrating one. They might be tempted to call it off.

It could, but I can't think of an illness where I'd be happy to drive all that way home again, but not to stick around for 2 hours in a dark room.

I can donate my Michael Fish Award for quality speedway weather predictions.

We have six riders who are delivering the goods, and one who is inconsistent. We are on a good place, and certainly better than it has been for a few years. At least as strong as 2019, I’d say.

If you’re going to replace Lee, it has to be a clear upgrade. For all his inconsistency, he has a great rapport with the fans. There would be a lot of unhappy people if he was sent away and the replacement wasn’t clearly scoring better.

People have short memories sometimes. Cami said heat 13 is the best race he’s ever seen round Ashfield. Others have said similar things, It might not even be the best race this month. Heat 8 against Birmingham was incredible too. I guess last night was a local derby, with a lot of away fans present, and the tight nature of the match, and that meant there was a lot more riding on it, but as a pure race, Nowak’s win against Birmingham was more incredible. That’s what I love about Ashfield. You can have a few heats where not much happens, but you always feel like there can be an explosive race (or more), every meeting.

I can’t say I noticed track grading being any longer than normal? They did need to water the track alongside the grading, but I don’t think they were doing anything they don’t normally do. The interval was longer because they had the draw for the U21 final, but that was already planned.

I certainly think it did for some. Tom was lacking speed. Claus had bike issues in his first two heats. Ace was off the pace and Marcin struggled too. It just wasn't clicking like it normally does. That said, when Bomber gated, he was winning by two or three seconds, and Basso just guns it around the outside. 28 points from ten rides for the two of them says it all. 20 points from the other 20 rides...

Get heat 13 up on YouTube!

Tigers looking like a three man team so far.

The track is, as you might expect, now quite wet. We'll see how much that affects the Tigers... Agree about Hook - madness to drop him.

Not much rain at the track, and not heavily watered, so we should be on.

It has crossed my mind. I’d need popcorn for the forum meltdown though.

But seriously, 5pm every Friday there’s speedway on! We’ve had nothing but sunshine for two weeks!

I’m hopeful… but I’ve said that before! However, this started two hours before tapes up. It shouldn’t last long and the track drains well. I’m in Drumchapel and radar suggests Possilpark is right on the edge of it, with the front moving west. So hopefully we are OK. As people have started to turn up, I’m sure they will do what’s required to make the meeting run, if it’s possible.

Yeah, but good racing does require two teams. Hopefully it’s not a repeat of the Brummies’ trip up. Rain has just started. Should clear up and will probably be good for the track in all honesty.

If it’s any consolation, it might not be a lot of fun for us either. Or maybe it just adds insult.

Yeah, it is a shame. I thought last year maybe he was just getting sick of Glasgow. He's brilliant when everything clicks, and I'd have loved to see him tonight. Makes you wonder if he'll come back at all. He must be burning a lot of bridges.

They've put two posts up about Saturday's NDL fixture, so whoever they've got, they're clearly not over the moon about it.

Sounds like he hardened up so much he cannae move his backside any more.