paulnolan

A good win for the Foxes, about the best you can expect from that team and it's nice to see them finally do it. Still some issues, obviously, such as the second-best rider wearing the #2 race jacket and two 1-5s in the most vital heats, but you have to enjoy it while you can! Still a lovely place to watch speedway from the grandstand!

Second visit of the season to Brafield for King's Lynn but the Foxes should run them closer than the 41-47 last time out. 49-41 needed for the Foxes' first ever bonus point - can they do it?

I'm sure Lemon tried really hard 😀

Dave, could you provide us with details of how to lodge our objections, please?

Yes and no. Riders losing form is part of normal business but 1 win and 2 draws from 16 meetings certainly isn't. It's double frustrating because everything else seems to be done well but the team has been allowed to drag. It's not too late - a late season signing can at least make the table look respectable and give fans something to cheer but I'm guessing they're happy to limp and cry "first season!"

The The problem is that the problem keeps changing! It was Batchelor. And now it's Zagar. With Lidsey and Klindt also underperforming. Teams can afford to carry one rider and get a result but the Foxes seem to be always carrying two.

I'd still like to see him replaced - all the old guard levered out eventually - but I'll give credit where credit's due and he did well last night. Well, other than a heat 14 which should have set up the win... 😛

I was surprised Thomson didn't go out in heat 15. Maybe he didn't fancy it but a good team manager would ensure his riders always fancy it.

I'm still happy to have a track again after so long so I'll pop along to the odd meeting - I've done 3 so far this year and might do another couple with the team being what it is. If things stay the same, probably the same again. If things change, I may go a bit more. And if Northampton ran on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays? Probably a few more than that.

Agreed! You have to cut back to grow again.

Still not too late for next season, though. One big league of 15-16 teams, 13 heat matches with a six-heat junior second half. Guests only for number ones, R/R or juniors to be used for other missing riders. Home and away just once, fours and pairs and a proper riders championship, each track having their own invitational event, and with maybe some touring Polish and Swedish sides tempted over for pre-season attractions... One can dream!

I apologise. It was Leicester who were more pathetic than the Foxes this time round.

Another pathetic showing by the Foxes, but not as pathetic as King's Lynn or Ipswich there. That should be some comfort but it really isn't. Oh well, the cards have been dealt and that's that for this season. Hopefully things will be better next year!

At the risk of banging the drum again - maybe someone will hear it this time? - there needs to be regular fixtures on a fixed night for each track, whichever they see as best for their business. And regular means more, so that means amalgamating the leagues. And cut the cloth according to the cost, teamwise.

Only Sheffield have recorded scores in the early 40s this season, with two under 30s. I can't see the Foxes troubling the Aces too much, but hopefully nearer the Tigers than Ipswich or King's Lynn...

A home defeat is a home defeat is a home defeat. The league table doesn't have asterisks for effort and bad luck. It doesn't make one want to attend the next meeting, knowing that it will be the same again. Changes needed, at team manager and at reserve, at least!

Good luck Foxes for tonight. A home and away double would be nice and a couple of you are literally riding for your jobs with Zagar about to return!

But that "year" includes 6 months of inactivity!

Rolling averages are something that has come in since the last time I went to speedway and they do and don't make sense. They can reflect current form but not in their present sense. Unless I'm mistaken, a rolling average over 20 meetings - with the current lack of teams at the top level - could involve THREE seasons of racing, and cover scores from - for example - October 2024 to April 2026. Any rolling average which even counts meetings 6 months apart - as all do until the very end of the season, does not reflect CURRENT form. Six meetings is a far better barometer - too many to deliberately drop your average to gain an advantage but enough to gauge current form.

For all I bang on about the team, the rest of the night is absolutely fine, on a par with anything I've been to at more established tracks. I think that's what makes it even more frustrating!

@BTFC LION I have zero clue about the science of track prep but can I offer the following advice? PLEASE OPEN THE OTHER GATE. I've spent so many hours watching the tractor trying to squeeze through that gap...

The Foxes have no divine right to exist and no right to expect fans to back them just because they are there. After many years without a team, I am happy to have one nearby but am long past falling for the "use it or lose it" argument. If a track is well run, even within the confines of British speedway's current overseers, it will attract a strong core audience. It was clear from the off that the team was not good enough. However, you can't just expect fans to pay £25 a go to support any old rubbish. The speed with which Belle Vue signed Doyle to replace Bewley showed that there was no need for the Foxes to feed off scraps (ironically), and more thought should have been put into an exciting, winning team, rather than a collection of veterans and two promising youngsters. We all know why the Foxes were created but that doesn't have to be the reason they exist. There's no point in being a team to make up the numbers to stop your league looking like an embarrassment if your makeweight isn't going to be able to stand on its own two feet. Home defeat after home defeat may inflate the points totals of the other five teams, but it will kill a promotion quicker than any late start, uneven track, or even bad chips (the chips are good, though). We're not halfway through the season yet so there is a chance to make this succeed. But it needs the full weight of the BSPL behind it. Or, if that is already happening, please stop because it's not working.

Crowd was down to around 1000-1100, I'd reckon, and it was poor entertainment at times. Batchelor did actually try hard and deserved his win, while Jeppesen just didn't look interested. I think the track got to some of the riders, and some of the Foxes veterans were unwilling to take the risks younger men might've. It is what it is, and it'll be like this all season. Hopefully there'll be a second go-round next year to get it right - is Alun Rossiter free?

Looking forward to this one after a gap but am a little worried now Thomson is out of the reserve berth. Still, hopefully Jeppeson makes the most of it and is available for Adams to use in place of any underperforming veterans...

And that's why you make the league fit the fixtures you want, not the other way round, as I said a while back.