Col

Sheffield - Top 5 are light years ahead of anyone else, only weak link are their reserves. Ipswich - Doyle may not be the force he was but he's still one of only two GP riders in British Speedway sadly, solid middle order and they'll have a decent reserve. Peterborough - Dad's army maybe waning but better septet than the three I'll mention below. Belle Vue - I think Fricke will top the averages and Brennan will be the stand out RS, but question marks of the other 5. Can Kurtz finally realise his potential? Can't see there is much more to come from Wright, Etheridge & Allen. Blodorn is unknown. Wolves - Masters isn't in the same class as Fricke, NKI, Doyle & Holder and won't find points against the likes them easy to come by. Nothing more to come from Morris & Worrall, not sure Douglas has much improvement in him. Becker could be their shining light, but he's had his "sophomore slump" second season now and it's time for him to challenge the heat leader positions before he becomes the next Ricky Wells. I hope Kemp begins to realise his potential but not sure Monmore will suit him. Kings Lynn - At least they should hold their own at home this year, but once NKI leaves unless Kildemand has a revival they will lack a #1. Should have a good reserve all year at least.

Sounds like they're waiting for NKI's time at KL to come to an end.

Don't think so... Kenneth Bjerre 7.75 in 2019 for Belle Vue.

Then Ace's have 7.63 for final rider if Blodorn is 4.00. Sheffield's six come to 39.37?

I am assuming points limit is 42.5 as Sheffield team adds upto 42.37 if Mountain is 3.00 as RS rather than the 3.14 he attained, which if he was 3.14 takes Tigers to 42.51 according to my spreadsheet! Fricke, Kurtz, Wright, Brennan (3.00?) & Etheridge leave 12.13 assuming Blodorn is 4.00, it leaves 8.13.

Auty at 2 doesn't work, he can't gate. Same as Shanes by the time the track is how they like it their programmed rides are over. Morris & Shanes don't work together either, if they're chasing after a lap & a half Shanes is behind Morris but quicker. Then they just get on each others way.

That won't work!

That surely means Shanes at #2, that doesn't bode well, by the time the track is to his liking all his programmed rides will have been completed.

I see.

Good signing, solid team, not sure it will challenge for honours though. Doubt over Vissing after not riding over here for a few years, plus Auty & Shanes cannot gate for toffee and are likely to be partnered in the engine room..

But he's got a contract with Falubaz Zielona Góra (same as Fricke). I haven't looked what Ekstraliga have done about the team spots for the Laguta's & Sayfutdinov recently, but when I last looked it seemed as though they would use guests. Shouldn't affect either riding on Mondays or Thursdays in GB as almost all Polish league fixtures are on a weekend. If Zagar has ridden in Elitserien recently it has gone under my radar.

I wasn't able to attend SoN day 1 last year due to a wedding, the main stand didn't seem as full as it was Monday.

AFAIK Zagar isn't riding Ekstraliga, so the ruling doesn't affect him.

Belle Vue are on plan K now, the first that included signing Etheridge. I don't know why, but it seemed to me that if Steve Worrall had a bad meeting, half of the other Belle Vue team did. While Steve is the better brother, his peaks and troughs are steeper and last longer I think he'd gone stale at BV. Would have given Richie another year over Etheridge. I do think BV should have tried to tempt Cook back to the NSS as he was on a low(ish) average. Or is that bridge burnt? That said Zagar was the best rider at the PCM, he'd do! In terms of entertainment, I'd prefer Lebedevs though. After todays no show from Blodorn is there a double incoming re-jig?

Good start to the season with some good racing, heat 20 was exceptional, hats off to the 4 riders involved! Slightly disappointed Zagar didn't he was the best rider on the night, won the superb composed heat 20 despite being off gate 4 which had offered little in the previous few heats, just got into a battle with Woffinden that allowed MPT to catch and sneak past. MPT was always in the mix in all his heats so not a surprise. After a slow start Woffinden looked the quickest rider in his 3rd & 4th heats, then was no-where in his 5th off gate 4 - making Zagar's win in heat 20 all the more impressive. Fricke, Bewley, Lambert, Wright, Kurtz, Harris all rode reasonably well & had their moments. Iversen showed no signs of the catalogue of injuries of the past few years have affected him. Brennan was good value. Klindt was quick when he gated. Etheridge struggled in this company but played his part in the excellent heat 20 scrap. Ellis and to a lesser extent Musielak (first NSS visit?) were disappointing , they will need to ride better next week if the Aces have 7 riders! But nothing on Doyle, if he gated first he won, if he didn't he was plum last by a long way. Except for the SWC hosted at the NSS the first year it was open, that is by far the biggest crowd I have seen there, including playoffs, U21 SWC & SoN.

Planning to head North about 14:30. Weather Ok? Top 3 prediction - Fricke, Lambert, Doyle.

Even with Ellis, unless Pearson is a revelation I can't see Brummies troubling the Pugwashers or Scottish City Slickers, title wise.

I'm sure I saw a Bloordorn van driving to the SoN @ NSS last October - was he not the #3 junior German?

Welp, I'm guessing mystery rider will be starting the season at #3 looking at the p+p photos.

Team shot on Twitter, Etheridge is wearing 2 but there is no Bloodorn.

Ellis was 7.66 in 2021 for Scunthorpe. So if Pearson is less than 4.42, yes.

According to the thread at the top of this section. Claus Vissing 8.43 for Glasgow in 2019. Leaves 12.08.

Well Iversen is certainly an improvement on Barker. in 2021 Pickering was better than Riss. R Worrall is better than Andersen. Not sure on the other two, I've not seen enough of Mountain if I've seen him ever.

Yes Sheffield have put together an excellent septet, but do look weak at reserve. Fricke is ahead of Bewley currently so it could be argued that the team is stronger... all depends who the final rider is. You expecting him to be replaced by someone with a higher average than Etheridge then?

Vissing is far from inspiring, Ellis would be... but that would leave what? Guessing Morris & Neilsen wouldn't be at reserve?