Bitza

Just a few weeks ago it was looking like being a great season for Redcar on form, being in all three finals a real possibly, and dreams of doing the Treble. But in sport momentum and handling pressure are key to success. Redcar buckled and Poole grew stronger, making Glasgow's task even harder now. Pretty sure the remaining finals will both be Poole vs Glasgow.

I'd go along with that. Dan Thompson is potentially the biggest issue imo. Great race night, Poole showed class, Tobias unlucky exclusion, looking for where other riders are isn't a reason for exclusion, Piper's error.

Leon Flint and Ben Trigger guesting for the Bears, makes them a stronger team than in the first leg, imo. Still an uphill struggle for them to overcome the 14 point advantage. Two weeks ago, Redcar were looking an in form team with every chance of being in all three finals, and with a bit of luck could even be on for the Treble. Now things aren't looking so great, this is going to be a mental challenge as well as a racing one for the Bears.

Freddy's average for his last two visits to Wimborne Rd is ONE. So I guess he could do with some practice. O

Should have been in Portugal tomorrow night, but will be at Wimborne Road instead hoping for Lawson to be riding and for the Pirates to do better than a +6 win. Could be that the Bears crumble, certainly had limited fight in them on Sunday, and I feel that they aren't on the up.

My first thought about the team Steve puts forward concerns the youth/lack of experience. So B.Bailey at number 2 I assume. Youth is no bad thing when its going well, but a bit of an unknown when the pressure is on.

So has anyone got any kind of update on Kerr's fitness? If it turns out to be a more medium/long term issue who are the likely guest options? (obviously opponent dependant). Jordan Jenkins 6.15 Jason Edwards 6.60 Antti Vuolas 6.77 and more improbably Ben Barker 6.32

After eight heats I was going to suggest giving a prize to the first rider managing to come fourth.

Take whichever way you want makes no odds to me, you're just not listening to what I'm saying. And yes it was intended to get to get people talking about something other than weather forecasts.

Well no, what I'm saying is that Masters while being a talented/fast rider, I wouldn't want him riding for my preferred club because when your backs against the wall he gives in, I think he's flakey, remember the end of last season. He really needs somebody like Nicholls to motivate him. Against Poole his motivation was personal, he just didn't want to be beaten by Lawson yet again, before heat 15 how many times in a row was it? He's motivation is about himself not the team.

Cheetahs are a spent force for this season, Master's in particular he's got speed for sure, probably the highest GSA in the league, but when the going gets tough he bottles it, when he feels the cause is out of reach he gives in, spineless. Even worse is the manager, why do Oxford keep him on god only knows. The Bears have to be short odds for the KO final.

I was assuming it would be called off, but the forecast I saw shows no rain in Oxford today, so fingers crossed. Some of the Pirates (Tobias, Starke, & Will) looked a bit rusty last night I thought, probably down to not having ridden for a bit, so should be a bit sharper tonight.

Great news, I'm bored of looking at weather forecasts, let's get back to watching speedway!

Watching some Speedway will make a pleasant change from watching weather forecasts.

Well I've looked at a couple of weather forecasts (Inc met office) and they seem to be not too bad, not that much rain to come and pretty much all over by 7:00pm. Not sure I would be prepared to make the journey on the strength of the evidence but at this very moment I'm optimistic that racing will go ahead. P.S Tuesday in Poole not looking so good.

Well we seem to be stuck in limbo with the weather, all very frustrating as we all want to get on with the semis and finals. The relavent threads mainly seem to be full of Poole bashers conspiracy theories, all pretty boring really. So how about a bit of a review of this seasons team. Even before the start many fans wanted Vinnie kept, but maybe with hindsight that wouldn't have been so shrewd. Starke wasn't many people's fav selection but he has done the job. Tobias and Zac have shown what they're capable of. I still wish we had secured the services of Dan Thompson. But both Anders and Kerr have performed be it a bit inconsistently. What do you think?

Well just to chuck fuel on the fire, the forecast now looks fine until about midnight. So what's your conspiracy theory?

Worst scenario for Poole would be to get part way through meeting have it called off and not have time to build up a decent lead. (well granted loosing badly would be even worse).

Well they are hardly the Poole Mafia, looked more like a gaggle of mouthy g_ts to me. Not representative of Poole's fans, and very unlikely to put the effort into making the trip to Glasgow.

I take my hat off to any Pirates fans who are off to Glasgow on the off chance of it going ahead. My weather app shows a pretty dodgy forecast at the moment. Is Nagel really that key? (I haven't had a chance to see him race) if so just as well he's got other priorities. Mind now Anders has his gating gloves back Poole will be stronger.

Just hope this mum puts his "gating gloves" on a string now.

I don't know if I'm just being a bit dim, but three out of the four statements seem to all relate to more choice for race nights and the other re premiership riders eligibility to ride in the Championship. While I agree that greater choice of race nights would be very helpful. I'm thinking that the essential thing is for the BSPA to take a more organisational role, setting the conditions in which the Promoters operate. Key issues are how Fixtures are set, and the rules for Guesting.

Seems to me that setting the initial fixture list ought to be down to the BSPA. Fixtures to be set to give a maximum of two weeks between home fixture, but aiming for one a week especially during holiday periods etc. Team promoters would then have to work within that constrain, in determining which riders they sign bearing in mind their likely availability. Maybe leaving rescheduling postponed meeting is best left to team promoters. The Guesting procedure could also be more structured, by having say 2 (from different clubs) nominated guest riders named at the start of the season for each of the main team riders. Making guest preordained and part of the initial team selection process.

Here's a thought:- what if clubs could only have the second leg in semis and finals, if there was some form of live stream coverage.

Poole certainly had the opportunity early in the season to fit in BSN & KO semis. Signing riders with overseas priorities doesn't encourage teams to be flexible with fixture days. Nice to have a semi match with Redcar, instead of one of the more usual clubs. Pity Poole are getting a string of 1st legs.