SPEEDY69

He also intimated at the speedway show that Brennan was leaving Brum but Lord Tolley said "are you sure about that?"

The NFL draft pick system works very well and it's not always the same teams near the top at the end of the season so I think that's a great idea, not just about who has the biggest wallet.

Disagree on that regarding captain. King gets stressed by it I think and if free of that role may do better. On TV last season when interviewed one time I remember he was not inspiring at all and downbeat about our chances. A great captain can make a huge difference to how a team performs.

Says who? Lord Tolley was quite clear that they will break even on a crowd of 500. Of course they hope to get many more than that with a better team that looks likely.

Lord Tolley gave a good insight during his interview at the speedway show on Saturday. I didn't know that their stadium rent is paid monthly over 12 months and he said was £5.5k. The other point of interest I noted was that they have budgeted for next season based on a crowd of 500, which should be easily achievable.

Well, the best thing is to go at your own pace - too fast too soon can spell disaster. I learnt by building up speed on the straight, lean right over, standing on footrest with bum off the seat and forward then put the throttle back on mid bend. You then gradually bring that bit to earlier in the bend but speed into the corner must also increase. When you feel confident enough you'll find you're then doing all the bend sliding. Once you start sliding, mid bend onwards, you can experiment with the throttle - less and back comes out less, more and you turn more. This teaches you how to change direction in the corner. The biggest thing for me was starting. You really have to go full throttle from the gate and not let off at all, otherwise you may struggle to get around the corner, especially from the inside, but no need to start that until you've mastered the bends.

Riga is a great city, so don't rule that out. Racing can be good/rubbish anywhere, especially if weather dependent.

Are the results from today posted anywhere?

Should be a simple Pirates victory with that long tail for Oxford

This looks a great meeting to go to, hope they get a massive crowd, Graham Arnold has done such a lot for speedway over the years on shoestring resources.

I have also taken the view when seeing Boughen that when riders get close to him, or if he's just a little behind, he doesn't seem to want to get any closer and I've just assumed this will improve with more experience. There's no doubt he's fast when in front and is able to ride competently but he's only had very limited racing experience I guess.

Wouldn't get much change though with the bottom 8 having a 50% chance of being in it again the following year. I already struggle seeing the same riders against each other so am glad they at least give 16 riders outside the series the chance to qualify.

There is a GP in Prague. If they want this to sell and also secure the venue, they need to include a Czech. Czechs "We will host a GP next year and pay £XXX but only if we can have two Czechs in it, else bog off." That's something which I definitely think is part of it. It's never been about the best riders. Same in many individual sports where countries have places rather than the best entrants.

It's never been any different with the GPs, they are a business who need to sell tickets and the events to countries (for the stadia).

He was right though wasn't he.

So what? He'll never be a world champ and adds little to the series.

Lucky them then!

He was fantastic at Foxhall late this season, in terms of his speed.

Shame that Madsen is back in, if true, would've preferred Thorsell, he was very unlucky in the challenge (to Fricke's advantage).

If Oxford keep Boughen in for Wednesday then I think Poole will win this overall.

Sky

You only get passing if the faster rider is behind or the one in front makes a mistake. That happened infrequently last night.

Neither Cardiff or Belle Vue are close to me but hope it's a success. I'll stick to the guarantee of it being on, at Cardiff and watch BV on TV.

Doesn't make them any quicker, just unpredictable if they get grip.

Given the fad for leg dangling these days, I'm surprised no-one has tried the old style banana seat yet, as that's much easier to get your weight over the back wheel and get more grip if you need to.