IanBrannan

Certainly possible, although the train is faster..!

But also to suggest as you are, that they didn’t try hard enough is very wide of the mark. The East Coast Main Line was actually CLOSED for a period today due to person being hit by a train.

The trains were knackered as well..!

I drove from Newcastle to Luton airport last Friday, it took 7 hours with all the constant roadworks on the M1 and the traffic wasn’t even that bad, but going north was worse. Edinburgh is a further 3 hours away. She would have not got there for 7pm, more like 9 or 10 in reality.

I like the notion that a speedway rider is doing maths while hurtling around at 60 mph inches from a fence. Many riders don’t know even what the score is there’s too much going on.

I think they’ve seen what Steve Lawson has done for Bewley and working with him may turn him into a Bewley 2.0 (the kid is going to be world class no doubt), and that he has pretty much unlimited track access for practice etc has a lot to do with it, plus why wouldn’t you it’s a superb place.

The schedule is not chosen on what will be the best meeting of the week, although obviously we hope that will be the case..! BSN is visiting every championship club 3 times at home excluding playoffs and cup finals etc, and each Premiership club twice plus KO cup final for whoever makes that. So if there is a rain off we still have to visit that club at another time of year, and that needs to be agreeable to the club and not clash with other TV commitments or agreements, which can lead to some compromises to get everything in. What people wouldn’t want is to have a situation where we get to the end of the year and run out of meetings and short change anyone & there’s no guarantee any club will have much to race for after August, and so sometimes there will be some occasions where some clubs feature more. Hope that explains it, originally everything was more spread out but with the rain in the south it’s been a bit of a thing for everybody..! I am happy to say that June will feature more variety than you can shake a stick at in the first week alone. Come back to me on June 8th and tell me about the variety

The meeting on Saturday at Plymouth just gone was inserted into the schedule at fairly short notice to make up for a rain off on March 30th. The fixture next week was always on the schedule. With having to do a minimum amount of fixtures for each club, but of course Oxford have 2 teams featured at different levels so Premiership and Championship have to be looked at in isolation. There is also logistics to consider, doesn’t make sense to do Plymouth, then Belle Vue then Poole for example.

But what is the point in granting a facility to get a guest rider, when the test takes place 1 hour or less before start time. Who is going to turn up? Ask any team manager, they struggle to get guests with 3 days notice let alone 30 mins Glasgow could have named a number 8, but if they don’t have one there they can’t. This is also intended as a team punishment for that fixture too, with any subsequent penalties on the individual concerned rather than team league points for example.

Here is a download link to the rulebook, chapter 8 covers Anti Doping & Testing. Everything is covered in there.. It’s all in the rules and every rider & official knows the process and what happens next. It doesn’t matter what football does, speedway has its own rules but tests are conducted inline with WADA rules. http://www.scbgb.co.uk/download.php?view.11233

The sensors are buried under the track, the only thing to see is the transponder itself on the bikes mounted on the handlebars I think

Yes click the square in bottom right hand corner..!

Wow, 1st of April and already it’s a disaster according to some. Give the guys a chance, they’ve not riden as a full 1-7 yet, for some of them getting used to different tyres, and engine setups is a bit of a process. You can’t just copy the next guy. Birmingham haven’t taken a hammering so far, Pawlicki starts next meeting, so I’d see how it goes as they get things sorted. Piling on them after 2 home meetings is a bit stupid really, for so called “supporters” . Sam & Chris they’re switched on guys and they want to win as much as anyone else. There’s a loooonnng way to go yet.

James Denham is on the Offical British Speedway No Brakes No Fear podcast this week and he explains the riding order logic, plus much more. But basically it is to put an experienced rider out on the away tracks in heat 1 and allow the newer riders a few heats to see what’s what. Here’s the podcast > https://pod.fo/e/22b0b3

Having got home at 2am, you’re probably right..!

There were a few guys from Rawicz there as I spoke to them..! Don’t underestimate how far some of the Poles will go for some speedway, they’re on another level

The media day is for the media (unsurprisingly) so it’s not open to the public. But there will be a live streamed press conference at 1pm hosted by Darren Fletcher featuring all of the top riders from each Premiership team which everyone can watch on British Speedway social media and YouTube. Fans will be able to ask questions too and a selection will be used.

Because the damage has been done to the track. It takes days to prepare a track properly and if it rains as much as it has done this week it will need more than an afternoon to dry out unfortunately. There is no way this was called off lightly, it was going to be the biggest Ben Fund for 10 years, it contributes over 40% of the annual funds. In addition the car park was also flooded. If they went ahead today the track at best would be very heavy, and you’d have people saying this is a farce / dangerous. Promoters can’t win, just trust that the people making this call do actually know what they’re talking about, and the last thing the Ben Fund want is more riders to look after from their own event..!

In the Premiership heats 2 and 8 the RS is protected so a number 7 will go off a 15m handicap for the first offence, should they do something else then it will be 3 riders. Of course in other leagues the option of 15m or replacement / use a number 8 will be allowed

Last year they got slated for having everyone queue up and the track wasn’t racable. And they get questioned for calling it off early when a weather forecast correctly says that it will rain a fair amount 1 hour before start time. Fans might be annoyed but say it got to heat 3, and a bike hits the grip and takes off, you have Dougie or someone break their shoulder then it would have been “Why did they not see the the forecast?” And you’re team is knackered. Early call off, 14 riders stay out of ambulances on the first day. Also, wet tracks usually help the away team as the home advantage disappears, so there’s a good chance Belle Vue could have smoked Leicester anyway.

I hear what you’re saying but they are totally different tracks, without knowing exactly how much water each had taken in the days running up to the event it is hard to know. Tracks do need water of course so rain can be your friend, but there’s a fine line. We will do something to explain this on BSN, it is a point that can confuse fans but tracks are different. Glasgow & Workington are very different to Redcar and Leicester for example. Stewart will have driven back and forth from Scotland to prepare it over the weeks so the last thing anyone wants to do it pull it as it also means the club makes nothing too.

It was based on a weather forecast, speedway clubs pay for personalised forecasts quite often, this was the exact term used on the call off notice: The decision has been made after consulting weather forecasts, which indicate a high chance of rain in late afternoon heading up to the time of the meeting. Leicester’s track has or did have quite a high clay content (not all do) so any water getting into it so soon before means it becomes dangerous to ride by being too grippy, even if it might look alright

The draw etc has taken place a few weeks earlier than usual this year, the venue for the U21 final is hopefully to be confirmed this week. but as has been mentioned, a club has to take on the fixture and then suitable dates to fit in with everything else going on not just here but around Europe need to be agreed.

[Narrator] Josh Auty announced his retirement hours later.

Why would you now feel the need to rush it, when every other team has their 1-7 signed and announced. I’d look at it that Birmingham now is the ONLY choice for any rider looking to race in GB, and some who were not interested in Sept last year will now be looking at it. The announcements by other clubs will actually help encourage this, plus why would you announce a major signing in the run up or over Christmas when you would get zero publicity. They are more than aware they need a 1 & 5, just enjoy your egg nog