oldswindonsupporter

I've just travelled down the M5 from 17 to 23,, lots of standing water and heavy rain, eased off at 23 but still raining. Rain from early evening onwards in Bristol so likely to be the same at the Oaktree Arena. Sky has brightened, weather forecast is an improving one so lets hope the track staff can work there magic during the day.

if Masters was only half fit, he was on fire, unlucky to suffer two e/f when in pole positions. Freddie not as dominant as normal..

No raincoat needed for tonight...weather is set fair according to the Met Office, http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/gcntx7vjz

Well it will be plus one tonight as I'm attending rather than do the BH meeting as far too much to do at home.

A quote from Rob Godfrey, vice-chairman of the British Speedway Promoters’ Association on the BSPA News pages, "The track covers were on and the rain stopped at 6.20pm. In my opinion we could have started the meeting with nothing more than a 15-minute delay." Selective truth re the covers and of course, in his view!

I'm happy with TB guesting for JD, based on his guest appearance for Rye House, he is likely to score around 13 / 14 points from the 6 rides assuming that it is R/R for Nick, any more than that would be welcome. If indeed it is R/R for Nick then imo this results in a far weaker team and the question, can the likes of Adam, BWD and David match Nick's scoring comes very much into play. It also means heats 13 & 15 are more suspect.

For me, I'm waiting to see whether Nick is passed fit before I decide whether to travel to the Abbey for this. Incidentally why do they take the online facility down so early? It seems to disappear around lunchtime when to my mind it should be available until around 17:30 as the only thing that needs to be available is a list of who has paid online, hardly a time consuming task.

For me, a far more entertaining meeting than the KL one. Good meeting from young Zack who looked far better and rode some clever lines to come from the back. Unlucky not to get an extra point from heat 12. Also good to see Adam Ellis amongst the points and another good meeting from BWD and David Bellego. Best for the Rockets, Batch and Ellis Perks. And yes, it did turn very chilly once the sun went down (as is usual) at the Abbey.

I'm in South Glos and it has started to rain about 12:30 and is now steady and as I type this, getting heavier! I do not intend to attend this afternoon and whilst I can appreciate those asking for and those giving weather updates my experience of the KL meeting just highlights how tricky this can be. I travelled down from Reading, left work, back to the hotel, change and off we set, rain started and then got heavier as we headed west. I stopped on route to check twitter and low and behold an update with a picture from Rosco, all fine at the Abbey. Met Office web site checked, looked like the rain would just be missing the Abbey. Onward we went and still wet until about 2 miles away from the Abbey on the A419 and then the roads were dry! Without the update trackside and the weather update, I would have turned round!

After the natural watering on Wednesday, I expected a far better track, the inside seemed to be the line around the 3rd / 4th bends, those who did try the wider / longer route didn't gain anything. Morra did well to hold the BuckerRoo off bend 4 when against Robert Lambert in heat 4 and if he had got it down earlier it may have seen him gain the lead. All in all, a very poor night's entertainment although the two 5-1's in heat 13 & 15 bought some respectability to the score and gave the home supports something to cheer along with the B&W in heat 10. Not sure that the new signing is the answer, we have gone from someone with some Premiership experience to someone without which seems strange when the requirement is to dominate heat 2. On that showing, I'd expect some changes and possibly Dany's stint in the Robin's colours may be short lived, that said, he impressed in heat 11 when claiming third from Lewis Rose, other than that he only beat Josh Bailey who was half a lap behind.

Indeed but was never likely to happen. Expectation is with Adam to be scoring around 8, tonight he was well off the pace especially out of the traps. BWD is riding the difficult no2 slot, isn't going to score like he did against Rye House every match.

After sunshine earlier, it is now raining in Reading, what's the situation at Blunsdon weather wise?

Heat 7 was between Harris and Morris which imo was the race of the night. Mediocre meeting, little passing, Swindon never in danger, Doyle and Morris on fire backed up by BWD. Zach looked out of his depth on tonight's performance. Bellago's clever use of bend 2 brought it's rewards in heat 14.

From the Monk, what is the quickest walking route to the stadium?

The article refers to 18 shows throughout the summer and autumn including the play offs. That leaves 14 shows to be scheduled between the clubs, that could be weekly June July and August with 2 in May. Is the 18 more or less than Sky? If less, is there a financial impact arising?

According to a Twitter post from SpeedwayGP, "Danish racer @madskliski admits he's set to sit out British #speedway after signing for @DackarnaMalilla". Further info at http://www.speedwaygp.com/news/article/5366/mads-makes-dackarna-move

Not dangerous at all imo, rode the track just like the home riders do, rider of the night for me even the effort he put in. I arrived just on half seven, surprised to find a queue but that quickly moved, it would have helped if all 4 payment booths were open perhaps. And then we had the parade, now why that wasn't held at half seven and racing delayed you would have to ask the promotion. That said, no-one could have foreseen the ensuing delays. Surprised they ran heat 12 in some ways, at best a 3-3, at worst a 1-5. In some ways BWD might have himself to blame for his injury, the 1st time it happened he should have learned what the re-run might bring, same again and then low and behold take 3 and this time he is injured. Choice of position / line is up to the rider of course, the meeting was never going to have been won in heat 1, as it was, it was effectively all over then. Credit to the Rebels for keeping the score close but in the races with just one rider, Glasgow only needed to settle for the minor places.

Pre-sale on now, http://speedwaygp.seetickets.com/event/2017-adrian-flux-fim-speedway-grand-prix/cardiff-principality-stadium/1021894/

Date for Cardiff announced tomorrow - Tweet from BSI

Announcement on the Cardiff date is due soon along with pre-sale information - source, emails from BSI Speedway.

According to the fixtures, Somerset do not have a match on Thursday.

Back in the day, it was common for rider's to appear in the bar, some perhaps indulging more than others... however, in this age, not many riders are local to the track they ride for and they all have agenda's and the next meeting to rush off to. I totally agree, things were more social and fan / spectator inclusive than now....the PR that can be obtained from socialising for the younger brigade is huge and that is of course, where tomorrow's supporters will come from plus it means that mum / dad or both will be coming back to the next meeting because junior has met his idol and all that.

This is the classic Catch 22 situation. Riders want to know when the fixtures are before they sign up.....Can't do the fixtures until each team names their riders.....add in the doubling up and the situation is worse than ever! The only way to resolve this is to have riders solely riding in the UK....of course that isn't going to happen but would be an answer and sort all the problems out at a stroke.

So Rosco says "I really don’t like using the words ‘must-win" but that is in reality what tonight is all about, if the 3 points is not forthcoming that means a win against Poole is another "must-win". For me out of the two fixtures, KL and Poole, this on paper seems the easier. Just hoping that the Swindon riders are prepared and the track suits. Planning to travel down from Reading so, see you there!

Having had a look at the current league table, Swindon 4th with 20 matches ridden, the same as Lakeside and both on 34 points. Assuming Poole with 13 to ride fill one of the top 4 along with Belle Vue and Wolverhampton that leaves the 4th slot between KL (9 points adrift having ridden 5 matches fewer), Lakeside and Swindon. To ride: Swindon - 3H (KL, Poole, Leicester), 5A (Cov, BV, Wolves, KL, Lakeside) Lakeside - 4H (BV, Cov, KL, Swindon, 4A (Swindon, Cov, BV, KL) KL - 5H, 8A For Swindon - 6 points from the 3 home matches and perhaps at least a point from Coventry. For Lakeside - 12 points from the 4 home matches plus a point from KL Even with an away win at Coventry, not wholly convinced that Swindon's season will extend into the play offs. KL could well pip both Sqindon and Lakeside.