Ben91

In his book Mike Tyson mentions a wizzer. A fake penis filled with “clean” urine for athletes to use when providing samples. Where there’s a will to cheat there’s a way.

Scumbag.

Hope for the best, plan for the worst. April seems like pie in the sky in my opinion but I sincerely hope I’m wrong.

Kemp shows the right attitude now and with all the respect in the world to Lawson, the Worralls, Kerr etc. he wouldn’t have done any worse than they would. The same can be said for Brennan, Rowe, Palin or any other young prospect we have right now. The difference is their potential ceiling is much higher than that of the riders who have been on the scene and flattered to deceive for years now. Those riders have had years to chase experience in Europe but have mainly spent them doubling up here instead. The right decision was made in my opinion, if there is no chance of winning then use these events to help our chances of winning in future. The second Tai (or Rob Lambert) is unavailable we have no hope in the SON.

Scrap doubling up. Improve the standard of our riders by putting them out of their comfort zone and improve the quality of the product here by not having riders with more clubs than Tiger Woods. I like it.

If this is rained off after 14 they’re going to pack their bikes up and drive the four hours to Torun to complete the remaining heats this evening.

I don’t know why nobody on this thread has suggested moving the event to Torun. The weather there is good all weekend apparently and it’s only a four hour drive away...

I think I’d prefer semi’s and a B and A final personally. If you’re outside the top eight then your night is over.

The virus only comes out after 10pm in the UK, it’ll only strike if you’re in a group of over six too. Nice of it to tell us in advance that it’s going to be in Lublin from Saturday too but not on Friday night.

That doesn’t make the system flawed, it’s just an example of teams that aren’t evenly matched. That is always going to happen in international meetings.

Team riding is dead in fairness. But the thought process is that not finishing last is more important than finishing first in pairs racing and that makes perfect sense.

Again, to an extent. It’s not the perfect analogy granted. Teams qualify for the World Cup final through 90 minute games and the final is a 90 minute game, not a penalty shoot out. As Iainb said there can be unpredictable elements to a final heat which can leave it as a damp squib. It is no guarantee of excitement and we have to remember this is a sporting event, the best team should win as opposed to the one who wins a final heat. That’s my opinion of all championship play offs, final heats in individual meetings etc. Ultimately of course the rules are what they are and every competitor knows that going in. The playing field is the same for everyone.

Not claiming to be an expert but considering what AFC have been through a little more sensitivity wouldn’t have gone amiss. Lost a lot of respect for the club when I read an article about what has seemingly happened a year or so back.

Pairs racing should use the 4-3-2-0 points format as this encourages team riding. Why it isn’t used in the SON is beyond me. The whole two day event coming down to a single final heat is also farcical but the rules are the same for every team entering. Imagine the football World Cup final going to a penalty shoot out every time regardless of the final score of the match though. Stupid right? That’s Speedway.

How about the heartache of the Kingstonian fans who appear to have had their ground sold from under them?

That would be an Arris...

I don’t think C and D finals are necessary, I would have a B final for the riders who don’t make it through the semi finals however.

This could lead to the sport cutting it’s cloth accordingly which wouldn’t be a terrible thing. A financially viable model is key going forward and I’d guess the sport hasn’t been financially viable here for a long time.

The second one of Tai or Lambert is ruled out we have no chance of winning. Glad we’ve given riders who can use the experience a chance rather than Cook or Bomber who will be outclassed anyway.

As far as I’m concerned the decline was accelerated when BMR came on to the scene. In hindsight things probably began on a downward trajectory from around the end of the 2010 season. We declared a side before the rules changed which would have allowed us to retain Linus Sundstrom who was the stand out rider in the division the season before. The rule change allowed doubling down from the then Elite League and relaxed the conversion rate for averages between the divisions. Len dug his heels in and didn’t redeclare which left us at a disadvantage from the word go. The debacle a season or two after where Jason Doyle was dropped for Steve Boxall was the straw that broke the camel’s back for many regulars and the point that I stopped attending religiously. BMR came on to the scene and it was clear they didn’t know how to build a Speedway team, “names” were signed and riders who had done good things before but had since declined markedly. While their desire to run at the highest level was commendable the reality is Rye House had no business being in the top tier, especially once fixed race nights were implemented. Ironically we could have been a force at second tier level and possibly even made a profit. The way the sport is going now the standard of the top tier would have watered down to such a point that racing at that level could have become viable in the near future.

Didn’t realise that. Makes sense why he hasn’t figured over here then. Get them all in and around the event, the experience will be valuable for them all, would be wasted on a Lawson or a Harris.

Has Rowe been active this season? Can’t recall seeing his name much if at all in the meetings that have been staged. Brennan (according to averages) is the best of the three. Kemp did well in the British Final, is British Under-19 champion and has been racing as regularly as possible at the moment at home and in Europe. Would say for that reason alone Kemp and Brennan are better picks than Rowe right now.

Agreed, see if Kemp or Brennan want it and give experience to a rider who will learn from it. We have no chance of winning without Tai. Calls for Harris to go are baffling.

That is true and let’s not forget Smolinski was a last minute replacement for Hancock too. I’d say Thomsen is better, not by a massive amount but better nonetheless. Polish averages would seemingly agree too.

The timed qualifying that has happened in previous seasons is pretty pointless. For certain rounds a double header weekend wouldn’t be a bad thing. Cancel the qualifying and have double headers at a couple of the permanent tracks. Don’t make Torun a double round though, hold the GP Challenge on day two (either there or at Bydgoszcz) and make a bigger deal of it.