RoundTheBoards

Certainly when the rule was created, it was a 25% reduction the FIRST time a rider leaves the RS system only. Otherwise a rider could manipulate his average to flip in and out of RS every 2 years. But who knows what ruling could be reached now "in the best interests of speedway"

Fits fine. (Get a new calculator!) Jack Holder 9.08 Josh Pickering 7.76 Chris Holder 6.84 Anders Rowe 5.22 Leon Flint 5.06 Jye Etheridge 3.00 Luke Killeen R/S Total 36.96

Well, about £480k (don't forget the Vatman has 16.67% of the income for the government).

Tyres are provided by the home club for both sets of riders. They are marked for the specific meeting and handed out on the day so that no one can bring their own specially prepared tyre. Fuel and oil are the responsibility of the rider to provide their own. (Although they may have it in their deal that it's provided by the club or via a sponsor).

I agree that we need an independent figure in charge of the sport. This is what the SCB is supposed to be. But here we're talking about the BSPL selecting one of their members to be their leader. And Godfrey needs to go.

I agree there will be a new chairman and changes to management committee. Not Morris, Ford or Facenna. Ford has been there with management committee and I don't see him going back. Facenna, I think has resisted the offer to get involved previously. Morris isn't a promoter, and I don't see him sticking his quiz winnings into Northampton to become one. I don't know who might put their name forward for the big job, but heard 2 names suggested by others. One a strong choice who has been doing a lot of work over the winter to sort the mess. The other a quieter, possibly unusual choice, not obvious but could be the level head needed.

If I was Sheffield, I'd prefer Pickering to Brennan too. And if I was Ipswich, I'd prefer Brennan to Pickering. I'd expect that's the way it will end up.

I totally expect a new BSPL Chairman to be one of the things to come out of tomorrow's meeting. Either through Godfrey resigning or being ousted.

C Holfder, Pickering, Etheridge. Not sure on RS. Would Harrison be up to it?

Louis was certainly asking a lot more than that for it. I have no idea whether someone has met his crazy high valuation, or whether he's negotiated down, but I understand a deal was done, and they were looking to tie it all up this week. I think any delay is purely due to solicitors not being particularly keen to be doing a lot of work over Christmastime. Assuming it's a consortium of people taking over, there may be several solicitors involved. Hopefully, it's still all on schedule to be sorted before the AGM. I was thinking that having Ipswich on board would cancel the need for the 5th team, which has been looked into, but I'm hearing that this is still going ahead too at the moment. I'm sceptical, and it's hard to get good information, but I'm led to believe that Ipswich being sorted doesn't necessarily mean the 5th team will be dropped.

He's not listed in the heavily rumoured Leicester team. I don't see him fitting at Belle Vue, King's Lynn or Sheffield, so his only options seem to be Team 5 or Ipswich.

So I repeat my question. If Leicester were to change their mind and decide that Douglas isn't strong enough to be a No.1, who can challenge Fricke, Bewley, Kurtz and Holder, then who could they sign? I can only think of Zmarzlik as an option, and that's clearly a no-no. It's obvious the Leicester top 5 is Douglas, Masters, Morris, Thompson and Howarth.

If some of the new consortium members are Polish, how about tempting Kubera or Dudek here?

No. We know Leicester's team-building is done with strength-in-depth in mind. If they wanted a big-hitting No.1, they'd have kept Fricke. Who is available, who is better than Douglas, who could challenge Fricke, Kurtz, Bewley, Holder as a high-profile No.1? There's only Zmarzlik, and if they were willing to push the boat out for Zmarzlik, then keeping Fricke would have been a cheaper and easier No.1 option.

Well, that was a quick change of opinion