Grachan

At the end of the day, Harris (or whoever else might have been selected) was just there to be replaced. In theory it was fine, with GB's best rider (Lambert) at reserve we would not have had to track a weakened pair in one heat, and Harris's big meeting experience and patriotism would work well for team spirit. It all fell apart in our first heat, but you can't blame the manager for that. After Woffinden, Lambert and Cook we have nobody who can compete at this level, although Harris at least has experience of top level competition. It's all debateable really. Harris probably wouldn't have even ridden if Cook and Lambert hadn't crashed.

I think the commentator just went to the toilet. He's back now.

Radio coverage here. Not great. Lots of periods of silence or just background noise, but keeps you up to date. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/motorsport/48958914?fbclid=IwAR3hqs-9nLFYoEViD3AXBtYAhobq4gMSeg6luZa8qKXHPRWTun7ootsR26c

Dunno. That's just the figure on the BSPA website. Maybe not then.

5.84. Identical to Nick Morris, interestingly.

Musielak back in the side now. https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/speedway/17772552.swindon-robins-set-welcome-back-tobiasz-musielak-return-injury/?fbclid=IwAR2F0k4DU7xMBMZicQjKY7Ly2iV3aBXD3sOjfBlGZsdsunS0Qn7pKevdZMM

If Doyle can ride on Thursday then why should Ipswich have a guest?

Not sure how well Charles has been going, but I would also think that it might have been better to go with someone of that ilk - such as Wright or Ellis. Harris is, to all intents and purposes, reserve anyway. Lambert will get the rides. So it might have been an opportunity to give someone some top level experience.

Is this true or are you making stuff up again? Doyle is riding for Swindon, apparently, so no reason for Bomber not to be riding.

And this information comes from where?

Swindon sign Claus Vissing. Looks like he is a temporary signing and the intention would probably be to have Stefan and Toby back when fit. Presumably this gives us a bit of a higher averaged reserve than having guests.

In 96 it was set at EL standard. If the league was set at CL standard then the teams would be the strength of CL teams, so the same as now.

If the league was set at Championship level - perfectly feasable bearing in mind rider ability - why could they not afford it?

They showed 1983 too (as did ITV). I remember it being very "bitty", showing it in 3 or 4 separate sections throughout the afternoon.

Well, obviously. They're in the Premiership, not the Championship.

Which is why we need someone at reserve who can win reserve races. It's useful to have a good reserve. For me, though, Rasmus is too good to be at reserve. A lot of his rides would be wasted on weaker opposition.

I still don't see the point of having Rasmus at reserve while having someone in the top 5 who struggles to score. So, Rasmus can replace him in one of his rides. What about the other 3 rides? If Rasmus was in the top 5 he could have all of those rides and the rider who struggles in the top 5 could score decently at reserve.

I think that for this level of racing to be a success at Swindon they need to have their own riders and not just be a NL Select side. Apart from Anders Rowe there's no real association with Swindon from the side, and even he was a guest who actually rides for the opposition in the NL. I think if a batch of riders came through that were proper Swindon juniors like we had before - Chessells, Smarts, Broadbank and so on - it would catch on a lot more because the crowd could get more behind them.

I'm sure your ideas are well intentioned, but you seem to be coming up with theories that will make crowds even lower. Why would you want the sport to only attract 600-800 spectators at the top level?

If he is out for less than a month, as he is saying, then I would, yes. I like Bellego, but Tobi is a proper heatleader and makes our top 5 very strong. Bellego apparently rode well last night, but we still missed a big scorer and Tobi might have given us that extra possibility.

He has tweeted that he expects to be back in 2 to 3 weeks and posted a video of himself on an exercise bike, but nothing confirmed. Yes, we need a permanent reserve, but I would guess we will wait until we know how many points are available. Last night, for example, Swindon missed a big heatleader score. Musielak might have been to guy to get one. It's a tricky one though. Musielak and a low reserve or Bellego and a better reserve. If Perks can score decently, as he has been, I would go with Musielak.

I would think he is waiting on the signing of a reserve until a decision is made on whether or not Musielak comes back in.

A big decision, though, because doesn't that mean no Musielak? He says he is only out for 2 or 3 more weeks.

Bellego still has to take 3 rides though. Sure, Jensen would be a good reserve, but I think the side would be more balanced once he moved back into the top 5. I'd rather have Jensen in the top 5 beating heatleaders and a reserve beating reserves. Better than having Jensen at reserve beating reserves and a rider in the top 5 struggling in 3 rides and needing replacing.

Only needs to take 7 rides if the top 5 are crap. If you have a top 5 that are scoring well then there's no need to replace them. A reserve that can beat other reserves is all we need.