arnieg

Don't think you can really say Zach 'switched', he was British under 16 champion (250cc class) in 2013.

1.11.15 Phil Crump Trophy, Mildura 4 pts (Grondal 10, Ringwood 6 for comparison) 8.10.16 Race of the Night Wittstock 5 pts 5th out of 5 in a group contained 4 Germans of CL reserve level at best 9.10.16 Golden Band Olching 3 pts (behind Gappmaier(6) and Simota(7)) 11.10.16 Olympique Wolves 7 pts (level with Howarth and one point ahead of Tungate) 14.10.16 Poole Blue Riband 6 pts (one point less than Pedersen and Newman, and above Wozniak and Ellis)

It predates the change of race format so I would expect his average to be reassessed.

Ah but next year's Slovenian Championship will be held over 16 rounds, all coinciding with Leicester home meetings.

Because although nothing to get excited about (I'd rather go with a Ruml, or wait a year and get Luke Becker), he would be good value on his average. My region??? There are plenty of riders available in my region, but how does that help Workington (edit: whoops I mean Edinburgh!)?

Aaron Fox? I thought only top 4 in AMA Championship were eligible for work permits - Fox came 5th behind Janniro, the Rumls and Manzares.

On the other hand modern technology makes it much easier for d.i.y. books. Print on demand companies like lulu (Blunsdon Blog books went this route), or self a publication as I did, make it possible for a trickle of new books from a variety of sources. I self-published 'Tears & Glory' and it ended up turning a profit (although that assumes my time was costed at zero - but as I thoroughly enjoyed researching and writing it that's fair enough). My print run was less than 1000, and most of my sales were through the Racers club shop and website (although I did get it into WH Smiths in Reading). I think distribution would be quite tricky for a book without a specific club focus - but other than that issue I think it can be done.

Yes, I am astounded. Any logical assessment would have MBA at 7.00 (6 at a pinch, but certainly not 5.00). Having seen him more than once abroad and the other riders previously named it would be a real slap in the face to British riders to give proven performers in the World Under 21 Final such ridiculously low assessed averages.

The biogs of world champions tend to be a bit predictable, following much the same pattern. The books of promoters contain more of interest (Reg Fearman, John Berry and Martin Rogers all spring to mind). Where there is a gap is a book from someone on the lower rungs of the sport (my favourite football books have been about managing a fourth division club and playing in the conference league - Gary Nelson and Ben Smith respectively). Apart from Rod Haynes this remains an unmined territory in speedway literature. I'd much rather read about Dean Felton's speedway career than Greg Hancock's.

Young improving rider with UK experience and an old average, and Swedish stats that rate him above Hans Andersen, Pepe Protasiewicz, Scott Nicholls, Sam Masters and Robert Lambert.... ...I can see why he might be a target.

I wouldn't claim to have read every copy, but I do own every single issue! It generally does a good job with a good mix of match coverage, stats, colour articles, nostalgia and gossip. The winter track reviews provide an excellent historical resource that goes back over 50 years. And if you have a topic to air it's not just the letters page - I felt strongly about the over use of guests, and having compiled the stats it ended up in a six page article in the Star (in November 2014).

I would be surprised if any of these come in on less than 7.00.

Bristol v Glasgow circa 1949 Crayford V Scunthorpe 1980ish (Scunny only managed 12 points from 13 races) and Exeter v ??? Around 2003 are the whitewashes that immediately spring to mind.

And yet he out averaged Janowski, Zagar, both Pawlicki's, Jonsson , Kildemand and Jepsen Jensen in Poland last year. And in the Swedish Elitserien he ranked above Nicholls and Andersen. Oh and he was just one point off being a GP rider for 2017. He may not be the most exciting rider in the world, but is a bargain on his current average.

So under that system you would have forced Paul Starke to have retired at the end of 2011 after he had done five years NL racing and was still well short of PL standard.

Wouldn't that make Tony Atkin's average 7.16 x 2.45 = 17.54

Unusually I heard this news on the BBC TV local news before I read it anywhere else!

All the best to the new Plymouth promotion. Hope it works out.

I have the competed programme. It is a very odd format. Oddst aspect is the use of reserves - Kevin Bowen is named as Poole reserve, but his only ride was in replacing Wimbledon's Patrick Lawson, and similarly Ashley Pullen (programmed as Reading reserve) had his only ride against Reading for Belle Vue. message me with your e-mail and I'll send you a scan.

He rode 31 matches for 7 teams scoring 117 points from 136 rides. That is an average of 3.44 Most of these would be classified as a guest. His Colts record was 11 matches for a 2.92 average. (NB from aktuellspeedway, not always 100% reliable)

No Wolves or Poole pairings!

It is worth pointing out that these are not people whose livelihood is dependent on the SCB or BSPA and who have the interests of speedway at heart. That said whether the new set up will prove more effective remains to be seen.

I imagine the lease (and it may only be a licence to occupy anyway) can't be assigned without the consent of the school (as landlords) so the only assets the administrators are seeking to realise would be the odd bit of track equipment and the intangible value of the right to run speedway in Plymouth (however that is in the gift of the BSPA). I'm assuming riders contracts (a debatable concept as an asset) have already reverted to the BSPA.

While we are on the subject of Americans, what average would Becker, Nicol and the Ruml's come over on? (Based on past assessments I'd expect Dillon Ruml on 5.00 and the others on 7.00 because they've ridden in the WTC - but that is really just a guess)

Aren't the Stead's (Simon, Ian...) also related to the Allott clan?