IronScorpion

It doesn't have to be a World U21 meeting though does it as been proved by R Lambert & J Holder. Their personal ambition, like most riders, are to improve & they have been given the opportunities to ride in a better, more professional, better paid leagues riding with & against better riders rather than riding for their British clubs.

From what I was told a few years ago, & not at my track, the rates then were about £80 for a team leader, £60 second string, £50 reserves. There was a mileage allowance as most riders are not based near their home track. Transport & mechanic normally come with a rider so new/newish van could be mentioned. As regards sponsors, local would mainly sponsor the teams whereas local to rider would sponsors the rider as he travels the country & changes teams yearly. Petrol, oils, tyres could attract the smaller sponsors. Riders kit would be an individual thing(looking good or kit good enough to do the job). Improving your machinery would depend on your abilities as buying 2nd hand gear off a Tai Woffinden/Greg Hancock will not make you a world champion. You still need the abilities to set up & ride the bikes in different conditions(track size/shape/slick or grippy). Running costs could be minimized if you have a knack for the engineering side of stripping, cleaning & re-building your engines.

After reading quite a few topics over the last few weeks, it seems obvious that the promoters have been having pre-AGM meetings & decided on fixed race nights of Mondays & Thursdays. If this is to attract the better riders to our shores, then surely, with Sweden being nearer(for travel) to Poland, the ISL calendar should be Poland Sunday, Sweden Monday, GB Premiership Tuesday, Denmark Wednesday, GB Premiership Thursday with our Championship being Friday, Saturday & Sunday. This would enable our Championship standard of riders to try out the Swedish & Denmark leagues. We would still have the problem, though with Polish lower leagues & our own but we have got to start working together to save the sport. At the AGM, the decisions made MUST be to support BOTH our top leagues & any rule changes made to simplify our sport taking away any interpretations & rulings by the MC. The combined one race format has worked this year with the averages now being REAL in both leagues. Team building, in 2018, has to reflect the difference in leagues as the Promotion/Relegation ruling has proved to be a farce. No rider can race in all 3 leagues as some riders have been shown to be out of their depth so it must be a progression of NL to CL then to PL. The PL to have NO rider less than a 4.00 point average. All teams to have at least 3 British riders of which 1 to be the no7. If the league make up is to change & talk is of 12 teams in the PL then the fixtures must account for this as this will reduce the number of teams in the CL. Fixtures could then be KOC at start of season & fixtures take precedence over league until completion. The league fixtures of once only home & away with an end of season Play-offs for top teams & Shield/Cup for lower teams to keep season of interest. If this amount of fixtures could be fitted in then our racing calendar has to adjust to the International calendar of the GP's where a season end date of mid October would help with the last race of the season, the Melbourne GP. As has been found out this last week, some riders have already packed up with some teams having remaining fixtures, struggling to find guests for injured riders or doubling/trebling up riders.

quote" I know the curfew is a condition of being allowed to race and all that, but it seems a bit churlish not to be allowed a few for 5 to 10 minutes, especially when over the next two weeks people will be letting them off at all hours like it's the D Day landings because of Bonfire Night. Fireworks are already being let off in Scunthorpe & will continue, as in most years recently, every weekend until January 2018. Saying that, some houses have Xmas lights up!

As romans lovechild likes your post it is fitting to say that we are replying about his post #31. a bit embarrassing but it deserved a reply

Tonga + 5 + 3 = 9 but you will be welcomed back next year on Fridays, if we run. Would Lasse ride Denmark on Wednesdays?

One that everyone avoided in 2017 was K Wolbert.

He is not the only one as R Lambert cannot be excused for missing British meetings & being fit as & when required for Polish meetings. Now we know a lot more about certain riders, will clubs sign them in the future? Yes, because they ARE good riders & they will suffer the consequences. Withholding their services should mean a ban at the start of next year & that will make clubs think twice about signing these types of riders.

Hard & fast rules or open to interpretation & applied as & when it suits to whom! (highlighted & underlined) Our Scorpions team meetings finished on the 29th September with possible individual or pairs event participation, if required, on the 14th October. Our certain Aussie flies home on the 25th October. I can not see a problem!

It wasn't that long ago that Belle Vue re-arranged their Play off semi final from a Wednesday to a Friday because of BT Sport having the Final on the following Monday. This was arranged even though the Colts were racing at Lakeside. Belle Vue could have used guests but "Priority takes Precedence" when it suits. Not only did the Colts lose Bewley & Smith but Shuttleworth as well, as he was an unused no8!

Personally, as I have said previously, my Frenchman would be Bellego as our no1.

As we have disappeared off page 1, I thought it best to post as our 2017 riders are of interest to others. Rob nearly always drops hints but, also, red herrings from the centre green. He has mentioned Josh Auty as being revived since his "holiday" He has mentioned Jake Allen being on a 6.08 average He has mentioned a "crazy frog", alluring to possibly Berge who guested for us & did well. I have noticed that Lewis Kerr has posted on social media about having his best year & having fun. Could this have been with Scunthorpe or Somerset or both. With Kerr & Allen riding for both clubs AND racing with each other, why try something new & go backwards. Consolidation. Add in a rider that came in & could ride our track, add in Nielsen. Rob, please do not go on record as saying we want to Entertain at the EWR. The track helps with its wide, multi lines of racing. We need to get back to winning & a strong no1 is a priority.

With the amount of guests being used, you only need a club shirt over the kevlars. NO to team suits. There is the matter of numerous changes to the team over the season.

Check the websites for Wolves & Redcar! Chris Van Straaten is a co-Promoter at Wolves & Director at Redcar

Bewley is a no6 & would still be included in a 6 man squad and he is going to get a chance at a higher level as his progress has been astonishing. As you have mentioned Bewley, he is, also, a rider that should not be competing at NL level. He could be the next Tai level of rider that progresses quickly rather than other that take longer. Encourage not discourage as some young riders have found out this year.

Towards the end of this season, there seems to have been a lot of clashes with priority of meetings using the ISL calendar. With fixed nights, almost being sorted, many of the top, sorry, BETTER riders ride in Poland AND Sweden & with these countries being close, surely it would have been better to ride Poland Sunday, Sweden Monday & Britain Tuesday & Thursday as more of our CL level of riders,also, ride in Denmark which is a Wednesday. The use of one average, Championship & using conversion, seems to have worked to a fair standard this year with the use of Nicholls for Gracjonek being a good example of one of the rules changed at last years AGM. If it works, keep the rule in place rather than chopping & changing. Saying that, I was never in favour of a Promotion/Relegation & this has proved to be a farce. Not using the result of Monday, but by using the fact that other teams can "ask" to be involved next year, Glasgow, Sheffield & Ipswich have been the 3 teams mentioned plus Lakeside having a years grace due to the uncertainty of use in 2017. As you might see, I have liked mikebv's post because there are some parts there that I have, also. posted about for change. Less riders & minimum 4 point average will make a better standard of a team in the Premiership. There is the possibility of removing the t/r ride & bringing back the t/sub ride, thus enabling a rider to have 5 or 6 rides to help their income as the easing down of doubling up/down MUST be a requirement. Any riders not declared in either league but wish to cover, could go into a pool & these riders only, can be used for International/FIM events/injuries where a CL rider can cover for a PL rider & PL to CL providing their converted average fits which would keep a teams identity.

So, Ged declared receiving £40K & has been fined a similar amount. Where is the deterrent in this? Again, this is hearsay from a guy to be trusted so what IF he received £50K! He is then £10K in pocket. If he then runs speedway at Peterborough next year, the 1st league meeting is free via the turnstiles & posters on here are saying WOW, a freebie lets go! The EOES owners must be rubbing their hands as Sheffield had a freebie at the start of this season & some posters were saying the turn out was triple what they normally get. Now back to the EOES, what do they normally do when they have a big meeting(the 4's), they put their prices up so when you turn up next year, expect to pay £2-2.50 for parking, no food or drinks allowed & then pay extortionate prices once inside. The EOES owners will be rubbing their hands & saying "thanks Ged, here is £xxxx for your troubles".

This is the first post that mentions Poole since the announcement yesterday as a ban for Holder would have affected them also. Has it taken that long to sort this mess out? No, there has been an inquiry where they have been evaluating the facts. There has been posts of other clubs possibly losing income(Scunthorpe & Newcastle) being the two teams that were first mentioned, when the 4's took place, but judging by the outcry on the forum on the relevant posts on this topic, more fans from other clubs have voted with there feet & stayed away. The Jake Knight suspension(wrongly in my view) was handled almost straight away as it was in the Regulations of the outcome. What, if anything, will happen to our Team GB riders, Cook & Lambert over their misdemeanours.

Also, at Lakeside, Shuttleworth was withdrawn from the Colts side to "act" as a no8 for Belle Vue in Premiership.

At my last count a while ago, of the 56 riders declared, 34 rode in at least 2 teams!

Again, this looks like a bit of self interest as Mr Moorish, who is in charge of the NL, is also a promoter of a NL side, Birmingham. One thing that does puzzle me is why is there a rule stipulating you must turn up in the NL or face a ban & there is nothing in the higher leagues!

That is the point but you forgot to mention "self interest" which is one of the biggest problems. As has been proved in the past, teams changed race nights to suit Sky & now BT & during August & September, quite a few teams raced on a Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday just to get meetings done & these were not alternative race nights according to their websites. "As And When It Suits"

.............................................................................................................................................................................................When your ready?

Now that Smith is ok to race, Shuttleworth now moved to no 8. A no 8 can only be used for r/r rides so seems strange unless Smith is not fully fit & Bewley takes Smith's rides making sure Belle Vue have 2 riders for each heat. Still not fair on the Colts though. It would be interesting to know where Shuttleworth prefers to be tonight!

I think this will be won with the middle order riders. I have looked back at the previous results & wins by 14 points(1 using a t/r) makes Saturday an interesting affair. In both meetings, the top 2 riders put Ipswich in front, Bjerre & Bates did not score well, reserves cancelled each other out.