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1 Dudley 7 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 395 244 23 2 Mildenhall 10 4 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 456 449 20 3 King's Lynn 11 4 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 4 498 506 20 4 Coventry 13 2 1 0 3 1 2 0 1 3 586 605 19 5 Isle of Wight 10 4 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 490 419 18 6 Buxton 9 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 3 420 410 13 7 Kent 10 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 418 503 9 8 Stoke 8 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 4 305 432 3 That is the League Table without Todays meetings, so its still between Kings Kynn, IOW, and Buxton, for 2 0f the last 3 play Off places, of course Mildenhall could still drop to 5th, but highly unlikely, just as its still mathematically possible for Kent to qualify, thats why today I think The Heathens had a few IOW and KL fans hoping they would win today.

I dont know how many, but it makes sense to use the best available guest, and Stevie B, is certainly the best available.

Its not only about earning a few quid extra, but also giving opportunities to these young kids to improve themselves, the only way they can do this is to ride against better riders, after all Blackie, Starkie and Ash, have all been riding reguarly for there respective PL Teams, and there is NO way we could cover all three riders, with RR if they had fixtures on the same day, and a 3 point unattached rider means tracking a weakened Team, and the possibility that a meeting would be lost, and 3 points, which may cost a Team long term, and so therefore penalise Young riders, and deny them the opportunity to earn silverware, just for trying to get on in the Sport. No for me 1 Guest is permissable plus RR, but a 3 point unattached rider for a Heat Leader, is totally unfair to everyone. I guess you could say it is the same for a 3 point unattached rider, in that he has an opportunity to improve himself, but by filling in for a Heat Leader ??.

I think most of The Heathens fans are remembering the spirit shown by Kent at Monmore Wood a few weeks ago, as stated then this was the best racing seen at Monmore Wood this season, which is why having RR at No1 in our opinion gives The Kings a slight edge, plus the Stevie B factor.

If it doesnt happen then it seems maybe we Could lose some Tracks, the other option, is that the FIM give Tracks 3 years to bring in safety fences. So my dear Gustix it happened back in your day, why couldnt it happen now ?.I have long thought SKY money or TV money say from Eurosport for PL racing may have brought about a breakaway before now, or even some sort of backing from a National Bookmaker, with meetings shown on there own channel, could bring a breakaway. If PL Promoters were more PROactive, in regards to an alternative TV deal, Im sure something could be arranged, it just means they need to be brave enough to breakaway, not so much from the BSPA, but breakaway from Go speed.

If its RR, Parsloes, then i have Kent down as favourites for this meeting, 15 from Stevie B, means you need another 31 points from 6 riders, can you do it ? I think you can, and will.

Yes have to agree, just checked the fixtures and averages, we can use anyone except Charles Wright, which leaves us a choice of Robert Lambert, Adam Ellis or Steve Worrall, Steve has guested for us in the past, and always done a good job, Robert is probably engaged elsewhere, but Its pretty close to the Ferry for Adam , however we are riding against the Islanders on the next day, so Im guessing we will go for Steve.

Its Yam Yam spelling for Heathens AJ or perhaps dear old gustix pressed the key next to N he didnt have his glasses on.

Yes, its not beyond the realms of possibilities, after all Im thinking every Team will be trying that much harder to gain The scalp of The Heathens, so far unbeaten in the League, i cant really see anyone pushing us at Monmore Wood, but away we still have to ride at KL, Mildenhall, Buxton, Coventry, and Kent, There are some pretty tough meetings in there, beginning on Sunday at Buxton, who will again be looking to lower our colours, as they did in the second leg of the KO Cup, this is followed on Monday by our trip down to Central Park, and looking at the Kings result against Stoke, we need to be at our best when it comes to gating if we are to get anything out of this, If Kent promote this meeting, it should be a good crowd, I was surprised and a little dissapointed to see there was NOT enough interest to book a Coach from Heathen land, but Im pretty sure, there will be a good turnout of Heathens fans, and a fair few neutrals supporting the underdogs, with the prospect of some good racing. Stevie B will be looking to go unbeaten, Benji, Ben and David will be looking for double figure scores, Jack & Connor will both be looking to maintain there recent improvement, and Adam will be trying to rediscover his early season form. For us Heathens Blackie will be trying to justify his promotion to No1, Starkie & Ash will be trying to maintain there averages, hopefully Ishy will be fit, Dan the man, will be all out to show his improved showing against Stoke was not a flash in the pan, and the two young guys down at reserve will be all out to show why some rate them as the best PAIR of young reserves in the League. Max Clegg very much reminds me of a young Jan O Pederson, and his gating is sometimes Jan O style but he looks so comfortable on a bike, and when he does gate, he is quick. Nathan found his early season gating form at the IOW, and really backed up the big guns when Ash, Ishy and Cleggy were out injured.

Good to see Lee is trying to rediscover his old form at Buxton, has Stevie B booked a holiday on the Island ? good rider, and a great guest.

It is well known that many Tracks lost money last season, in fact probably only a handful made any money. This season may be slightly better, but Speedway as a product has to change its face to bring in NEW supporters, Guest riders, Double points, which may be all very well for SKY have to go out of the window. Supporters come to watch there Team and the RACING product. The costs Have to be reduced, and the scrapping of paid bonus points, was only scratching at the surface. If we have a breakaway league spectators will soon become accustomed to the standard of racing, as they have always done, riders will find ways to make it pay, i read somewhere (dont know if its true) Steve Worrall had to take a job to help make ends meet. Thats the way it used to be, and theres no reason it wouldnt work that way again. What it really needs is lower cost, and more reliable machinery, thats where the biggest saving will/could be made, and some of that in turn could be passed on to spectators. Then when a rider progresses it would be up to him to judge if its affordable for him to progress to a fully proffesional rider with the higher costs it brings with it, really only riders who have the ability to ride in the GP series should be affected by all of this, your average rider who will only ever be good enough for league racing should be able to earn a reasonable amount from a breakaway league. For spectators seeing there OWN riders in there Team is what most come to see, i had little interest in watching speedway, when Cradley Heathens closed due to having NO Track. Yes i glanced at results of teams and certain riders, read forums, and took part on them, but other than that, nothing really could attract me to watching Wolves or Coventry, i think in all the time we didnt run i watched 2 meetings at Wolverhampton, and 2 at Birmingham. The average supporter will go to watch HIS/HER Team no matter what the standard of racing provided it gives them competitive racing with there OWN riders in that Team. The overall management of the League in my opinion will need to have people on board who have NO vested interest in a particular Team, or if that is impossible to provide, then it needs to be made up of say five people who change annually, so that no particular Member/Promoter, has more than his say, which may favour his Team to the detriment of the Sport as a whole. The rules/guideliness need to be laid down to begin with, and this committee needs to run and organise the Sport within those rules/guidelines, should something palpably fail to be working, then ALL the promoters alongside the management committee should have a EGM meeting to find a way forward. Back to a breakaway League, I hope it can happen, and i hope it does happen, because it may well be the saving of Speedway in the UK.

Yes, he did more than a fair job, 8-1 and a 5-3 to Stoke in there double points rides = 13-3 which gave the scoreline a bit more respect,but didnt really tell the whole story, Kings had the luxury of giving Stevie B a well earned rest in Ht 15. Sometimes i wish Dudley would use a bit more nous, when it comes to these Ht 15 riders, if the meetings are done and dusted.

Back on topic, i can see the time maybe sooner rather than later, last close season i thought maybe would have been a time it could have been considered. You have the uneven share out of Sky money, which i thought maybe would have brought about a split, now we have the air fence situation. I am pretty sure we could have a league without being affiliated to the FIM. also it would possibly bring the clubs back into a realistic financial situation, and bring it back to being what it is, a £10 pound Sport, reintroduce second halfs, and the riders would maybe have a chat with supporters after meetings, long since lost. The old split of Provincial League and National League, eventually saw the Sport thrive, this when the PL got stronger, and the Supposed stronger NL (rider wise) but NOT spectator wise, came back under one body, due to the weakness of the NL. I can see this happening again, and in my opinion it would be for the long term benefit of the Sport in the UK, and it needs promoters to get together probably those without airfences to begin with, and probably run on a Semi Professional basis.

Hmm, Vog is always realistic, i have seen both Teams in the last few weeks, Stoke dont have the Team Morale that Kings seem to have, Kings were great to watch up at Dudley a few weeks ago, brilliantly led by Boxhall. Stoke didnt seem to have any fight.

Waco, Kent will win this, Stoke put up a pretty poor showing last week at Dudley, it only needs Steve, Ben, Benji, to ride to form, plus David, and you should be home and hosed, Connor, Adam and Jack should get some confidence boosting points, in fact i dont know if Stoke will get 35 points. but stay safe all riders.

Yes at the moment these two Teams are battling for 4th place in the play offs, Though were they to win the meetings in hand that could become 2nd place, there is a big imbalance in meetings ridden so far. On form its looking like Dudley, Mildenhall, with Kings Lynn, IOW, and Buxton scrapping for the 2 other play off places. If IOW were to lose this meeting (which i dont expect) then pressure would really come on them to win some away meetings. Buxton still have to ride against Dudley Home and away. Coventry have 1 meeting left to ride, thats at home against Dudley, when they have finished there fixtures, are there riders able to sign for other Teams ? as i recall this happening in years past, this could have a big effect on Teams come Play Off time.

Parsloes you may have a point there, I can see a few Young Stars v The Heathens battles coming up, but i suspect IOW and Mildenhall having a say in the matter. To begin the KO Cup Semi may give us a good idea.

I have been looking at the improvement in young Lewis Kerr this year, and there is No doubts he has come on tremendously, he is currently averaging 5.54 for Newcastle in the PL, which is no mean feat, and well done to the lad. However there is something that is somewhat mystifying me, and probably a few others, usually someone who averages over 5+ in the PL can be expected to carry an average of 9+ in the NL, but looking at Lewis,s average for Kings Lynn Ys he is only averaging 7-22 any ideas why this is so ?, here are a few comparisons (not many i admit) Paul Starke Berwick 3.47 & Dudley 10.11. Lewis Blackbird Scunthorpe 3.64 & Dudley 10.56. Ash Morris Workington 3.62 & Dudley 9.09. Joe Jacobs Glasgow 3.15 * Coventry 8.83. Stefan Nielsen Somerset 4.90 & Mildenhall 8.32. Adam Ellis Ipswich 4.00 & IOW 9.40. James Sarjeant Sheffield 3.00 & Coventry 7.76. Yes its something of a mystery to me, as i would have thought young Lewis would have been pushing up towards a 9+ in the NL this season, if you take his scores in the PL as a guideline.

Does Ht 15 count towards averages Parsnips old fruit ?.

Well done IOW, wow i am surprised by the winning margin, however you did have a fully fit No1 this week (no dig at Stevie ) compared to last week against The Heathens, and your back up riders outscored there Mildenhall counterparts, well done Brendan, Danny and Chris, they ALL did so well, they even covered for an Off night by Dazza. See you both in the Play Offs.

Yeah i agree Tony, but it helped douse the IOW fire. (its catching) you know i hope the Islanders win, they need the points, The Tigers dont.

Can the Potters from Stoke stop The Heathens winning run ?. No it will be a massive upset for Stoke to win this Top v Bottom clash, and i cant believe how badly the season has gone for Stoke, prior to the seasons start, i had them down as play off contenders, not re-signing Liam Carr was a massive mistake, and if the reason was bcuz of alleged finances, then i understand it even less <surely a sponsor could have been found> this is only one of the reasons they now find themselves down at the bottom of the table. Looking at the averages, when Stoke signed Steve Worrall they could have kept Lee Smart, again one can only assume the reasons he was let go were financial. I just wish i had some financial clout, to make an offer to buy DT out of the Speedway side of things at Loomer road, from what i read and hear, he is not averse to upsetting people, sometimes its best to bite the bullet and admit you were wrong and have made mistakes.. Its all well and good being outspoken, but speedway cant exist without supporters. Have a good meeting all, stay safe, but i can only see a Ommering being the order of the day, lets just hope, The Potters show as much fight as Kent Kings in the last home meeting.

Difficult to predict the outcome here, after seeing last weeks meeting against the Heathens, however i have just read Steve Boxhall is covering for Tom Perry, so with a top 2 of Steve and Adam Ellis,backed up by by Ben Hopwood and the ever improving Darryl Ritchings, I think IOW,s top 2 should just see them home, in what will be a tight meeting, possibly going down to the last Heat. The Fen tigers have a strong all round squad with Aaron Baseby down at reserve, and 4 good heat leaders in Stefan, Dan, Armo, and young Josh Bates, this meeting could well be decided by the lesser lights,as i give IOW the edge at the Top end, the middle riders will cancel each other out, but Brendon, Danny and Chris, will need to get the better of Aaron, Nathan, and Connor, to close to call, but i will go for IOW with possibly The Fen Tigers sneaking a point, if one of the Teams Top Quartet has an off night, then that will decide the meeting. Stay safe.

i have not commented on the state of the Track, i wasnt there so its not for me to comment, obviously the Kent riders found it difficult, but i will comment on the Team manager situation, apparently Will Pottinger The Heathens Team manager stood in, so someone has stated <not confirmed>. This was a difficult situation for Will,unless the Kent riders asked him to complain, i doubt he would have done so, all i will say, it was the same for both teams, and luckily there was no serious injuries. past is past, and we move on, and hopefully learn from the experience.

I think in this instance, you mean Adam Ellis riding for IOW, and not Ipswich, though Im sure Adam would love to be in the Top Ten Pl riders .