False dawn

Personally. I'd rather face Glasgow without Craig (even with a guest) than with him.

Well he did get picked for a SON place and he is going to Cardiff, albeit as a "track reserve". I respectfully suggest that he should take himself out of the international scene, get himself a shirt sponsorship and take it from there.

A GP at Belle Vue would be a quite different event to Cardiff. On the racing front, clearly BV would provide far better racing. As a speedway weekend, Cardiff is recognised domestically and internationally as a two day experience to be savoured. Two events that surely perfectly compliment one another. Bring it on. The thought of Max or the Dude sweeping high and wide round BV is enough to get the juices flowing.

Sorry. I was obviously having an off moment

So let me see if I've got this clear. If the top 3 from the challenge don't qualify from the current year, they go into next year's GPs and if we need reserves, they are somehow "selected". But if one or more of the top 3 do squeeze into the top 8 this year, we then look for additional qualifiers from the challenge. Not an awfully consistent policy.

Hang on. If NKI or MZ should just squeeze into the top 8 this year, who gets their challenge qualification spot?

Flippin' eck. So getting into the top 3 in the challenge is an even bigger deal than ever. At least if you missed out by an odd point, you could fully expect to get into one or two GPs.

Just a thought. How many generations back can these Aussies claim qualification for the British team?

Fair play. I was about 15 yards in front of the finish line and accept that errors due to parallax come into play. Perhaps we need VAR...... God forbid.

I know it's the middle of summer, but you are skating on thin ice

We used to have all sorts of weird and wonderful equipment at Brandon to "put the shale back on the racing line". Funny thing was that none of them really worked. There has never been a proper substitute for men (or ladies) with rakes on the bends or at the start line. At the larger breaks, circular grading with the tractor, grader down on the inward run, grader up on the way out, is also very effective. These are not new ideas and there is a reason they were widely adopted.

It was Connor Bailey. And I thought Connor Mountain was well in front at the finish line.

Good news. A year end top 8 finish is out but dare I mention the word wildcard.

Ellis is always good value. One of those real triers for all 4 laps in every race. If people are right, in that Swindon might just win the play offs, it is just possible that Ellis will win three league championships this year. Oh I know that there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip, but that would have to a be a record, surely.

Interesting thought. I was a bit bemused at the time why BV didn't field both reserves in heat 4 but your logic is good. And, gate 3 was a graveyard early on. There was but a single point scored from there in the first 8 heats. Generally speaking, I would always defer if I won the toss. The relative strength of each gate is too unpredictable at the start. Surely it is better to choose in heat 15 when you know if one pair of gates is statistically a better choice.

I think you're right. Ellis is the only three league rider currently. Which, for what it's worth, I don't agree with. Anyone who gets a Premiership spot, should automatically be excluded from riding in the National Development League (by definition).

Not to mention, Craig, Eddie and half the staff that work at Eastbourne speedway. Just my impression.

It seemed that my Leicester "friends" thought that Leicester made hard work of it. Like they were going to walk it. I agree with you. It was a good meeting with some close racing. I don't think a Leicester victory was ever in doubt but each race was quite unpredictable. Hard fought and fair. If only it was always so.

Only managed to glean the following from various sites: 2019 British Masters Sidecar 1st - British Masters Champions Gareth Winterburn/Liam Brown 2nd - Mark Cossar/Carl Blyth 3rd - Colin Blackbourn/Carl Pugh 4th - Rod Winterburn/Billy Winterburn 5th - Paul Whitelam/Alan Elliott 6th - Kieran Hicks/Kieron Ivy 500cc solos James Shanes

Perhaps doubling up is the real problem, not the ban. What do you think?

Hey I told you it might increase costs "a bit". I'm talking about the gold bar version. Rather appropriate as we're playing the Aussies for the ashes.

But a 29 second ban seems a little light in anyone's book. All riders using the infinite improbability drive might increase costs a bit eh?

Stewards are never told to physically get riders to do anything. They wave a flag and if the rider ignores the instruction, it's the rider that's at fault, not the steward.

You speak as though there is an accepted procedure at all tracks. You know that isn't the case. We've both seen everything from riders on a truck to riders being introduced onto track riding their bikes. However, I agree that whatever procedure is in place, it should be made clear. In this case it appears that some riders deliberately ignored the local standard and decided to sabotage the process.

Let's get real. There's been loads of debate about the conduct of riders, a member of staff, other riders and mechanics, but what sparked this whole incident? Glasgow/Craig Cook didn't like the track preparation. Several Glasgow riders decided to play silly buggers during a well understood rider presentation and the rest is history. So you decide. Did Eastbourne prepare a poor track or did some Glasgow riders decide to make a point? I don't know. But focusing on the resulting fight is rather missing the point.