Bojangles

Has Josh Pickering dropped a point to an opposing rider yet this year? He's started the season on fire. Edit: Just checked and Michael Jepsen Jensen beat him once.

You'll be fine @IainB. At the Cheetahs on Wednesday, Schroeck kept going on about how they want to get the meeting done quickly as they've got to get back up to Leicester in the evening.

Yep, was also at Oxford's.

Apparently so.... https://x.com/OxfordSpeedway/status/1910596484795359493

The old rivalry renewed. Should be a great a meeting - it always is between these two. Thoughts? Oxford: 1. Sam Masters, 2.Jonas Knudsen, 3. Jordan Jenkins, 4. Dan Gilkes, 5. Cameron Heeps, 6. Mitch McDiarmid, 7. Luke Killeen Poole: 1. Richard Lawson, 2. Tobias Thomsen, 3. Anders Rowe, 4. Zach Cook, 5. Lewis Kerr, 6. Paul Starke, 7. Matt Marson

If Gilkes is still on the rising star list it would be a no-brainer to get him in the team. If Jenkins is supposedly the best rising star in the league, then Gilkes would be just as good - if not better. He looked superb against Scunthorpe, better than Jenkins, and was even team riding him at one point. Get him in the team.

Thoughts on this one? Oxford: 1. Sam Masters, 2. Jonas Knudsen, 3. Jordan Jenkins, 4. Dan Gilkes, 5. Cameron Heeps, 6. Mitch McDiarmid, 7. Luke Killeen Scunthorpe: 1. Steve Worrall, 2. Luke Harrison, 3. Simon Lambert, 4. Connor Mountain, 5. Jake Allen, 6. Declan Kennedy, 7. Zaine Kennedy

And that's exactly my point. A salary cap wouldn't change that. If Ipswich couldn't afford him, he just wouldn't ride over here any more.

Are salaries really the issue here anyway? Surely more to do with rider availability (or rider desire for this country). I bet the likes of Maciej Janowski and Michael Jepsen Jensen are getting paid less than some of the other top riders in the UK. There's only a certain number of riders that want to ride over here so they are never going to be evenly distributed with current club ties (Emil and Doyle at Ipswich, etc.).

I think it's going to be a big year for Dan Thompson. He was superb at Oxford last night, mixing it with genuine world class riders, and it looks like he was pretty impressive again this evening.

I think - unfortunately - we're getting an insight into that right now.

Jesus Christ. Tai is in hospital with serious injuries, and you lot are arguing over a translation. Have a word with yourselves. Get well soon Tai.

Say hello to Francis Gusts. Just been confirmed as the last Spires rider for 2025.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but it's left a nice 8.9 (Leon Madsen, et al) shaped hole. And the fact that it'll be the last signing announced also has to be a good sign. 1. Leon Madsen 2. Erik Riss 3. Maciej Janowski 4. Charles Wright 5. Rohan Tungate 6. Peter Kildemand 7. Luke Killeen Not a bad team that!

I presume he'll start at reserve on that average as well.

They will surely leave the biggest signing to last, no? Will be such an anti-climax otherwise. Kildemand on a 5, and Madsen on an 8. Job done.

Jody Scott and Jacob Clouting also back with the Chargers in 2025.

I've heard Madsen's name a couple of times this week as well.... nothing on Kubera, though. I'd happily take either.

Of course it's relevant as you stated it was a prime example of a rider who would have benefited from more rides. Jacob Fellows had numerous rides around Oxford, in practice (doing lap after lap following meetings) and racing, and he never progressed - there was no improvement, as the scores show. Why do you think an extra ride or two would have made the difference? I get the essence of your original point, though, but perhaps using Fellows wasn't a good example.

It's not about win at all costs, it's about developing the right riders who have a future in the sport. If Fellows was taken out for a 36-year-old journeyman, then I agree with you. If he's taken out and replaced by a more promising rider who would benefit more, then I'm all for it.

You seem to have omitted Jacob Fellows' scores in those meetings... H vs Leicester: 1+1 (scored a point as Max James was excluded) H vs Belle Vue: 0 - A vs Belle Vue: 0 A vs Mildenhall: 1 (scored point as Sam Woods was excluded) Would he have benefited more from an extra ride half a lap behind the opposition, or did Luke Killeen (etc.) benefit more from those extra rides? Yes, it's a development league, but riders should still be competitive at that level if they want the rides surely? Jacob Fellows could have been in 7 heats in those meetings and he would have scored the same (bar exclusions) as he was so far off the pace. Instead the likes of Luke Killeen got them, and look where he is now.

He'll be straight back in the Oxford team the second he's fit enough. Whoever is signed at 5 as a replacement (Riss?) will be well aware of that, and on a relevant contract I'm sure.

Oxford is a Wednesday track.

Nicholls having an operation on his shoulder tomorrow. Oxford confirmed he will miss the start of the season.

If Gilkes has been tapped up by Oxford, it surely means either Jenkins or Heeps won't be in the team next year. Can't see Jenkins having much trouble getting a spot elsewhere, but who would want Heeps? Big difference between his home and away average this season.