marko

Hmm so to add to the rumour and innuendo, if said rider is a Swindon asset he could therefore be part of a deal which saw the sale of Zach to the Robins? Lets speculate here, could we fit Morris, Schlien, Lawson, Morley and Zach W in and still leave say seven - eight points to play with?

Assetts though don't mean much in speedway anymore and it never prevented us from being able to track the likes of AJ. In the grand scheme of things Lakeside have and for the immediate future will be a selling club, but in the CH that could over time change. If and its a big IF we end up with a top three of Kim, Edward and Richard, only Edward and Richard would i pressume be on loan, and if we got Lewis Kerr he would also be on loan, but it does not really matter, so long as they are there each and every week bar injury, I don't care who owns them.

I bet it was and such is my memory I can still remember the rider who won it for, Paul Bentley The potential clue is Jon saying it will be an almost all British team or maybe he is throwing out a curved ball there? Would love Kim to be involved though, I know some compromise might be required over dates but at this level on his average we would have the pick of almost any rider as a guest, not that I want to start having loads of guests but away from home at tracks Kim is not so familiar with it might be in our favour, wouldn’t be the first time a scenario like that has been used against us, Cough Dryml Brothers Cough

Oh indeed, and Simmo hiding in the Dartford Tunnel, well that was the rumour that was going around when he went missing at one point in I think 1988. My favourite years of the Hammers being a second division club was 1990, I recall us going to Eastbourne and caning them on their own track with Troy Pratt getting a maximum, 1991 of course where we won just about everything, the late 90s when we brought through Gary Corbett and Colin Chalky White had his most successful run, then 2003 where Henning Bager joined us and became one of the most popular riders to ever don a Hammers race jacket, we also had Kylmakorpi entertaining us for fun that season. Not so great however was the fours final at Coventry in 2002, we came so close to winning it but luck was not on our side, I was there and I still haven’t forgotten it to this day, the mood on the club coach coming home was very sombre.

We always build to have good home advantage, its just the way it has always been, the only exception was 1991 when we were awesome away from home too but that was a side unlikely ever to be repeated. However with this latest news it begs the question if we are going to have a new track, even if its in the same location, what would everyone want? I would love a track built to the same dimensions as Gustrow, that is an awesome track, very wide plenty of lines and speed, if i had to pick a British League track to copy then Somerset or Peterborough, Belle Vues is very good but its sheer size and area it would take up i think would make it a no go.

Said it before but Lewis Bridger for me is a guy with issues which has not corrected itself with age so I doubt he will change now, when his head is in the right place he can be a very good rider but when it’s not it’s dead weight, sorry but Lewis for me is too unpredictable. Adam Ellis.....the jury is out on him, could never ride our track then joined Poole and delivered a back handed insult to his former club and came back and rode the track like he had mastered it, again very good rider potentially but would his head be in the right place to ride our track (which he claims to not like) every week? Lawson, Kennet, Morley and Zach should all be in the frame but as mentioned before I would really love to see Rory Schlein race for us at some point, of course he is not British but I think he only rides in England and maybe Sweden on Tuesdays? With the tactical subs coming back having a good top three is going to be paramount in picking up points on the road. Wow that’s interesting, never saw that coming and what’s more important is the words come from Stuart Douglas himself.

The good Friday or bank holiday home and away meets with the Witches also seemed to be well attended, I hope we will see a return to them in 2018

But the whole point is with the fixed race nights it will be no different to when riders raced in several different countries, in fact it will be better because they will be able to travel around the UK riding for two clubs without either club being affected by the other unless of course said gets injured, and that could happen anytime. More chance of seeing a settled team next season, than for some time.

I am pretty happy with that, my team is in the division I have always prefered to watch them in, fixed race nights should help keep teams together and not just seven individuals and the biggest plus of all, getting rid of the tactical ride which has irritated me like a gnat bite ever since there inception. Thank you BSPA, you can and will get my money in 2018

This plus the return of the tactical sub rule and the fixed race nights has got me more excited for the sport in this country than I have been for a long long time, Certainly enough for me to want to start attending on a regular basis again.

Wonder who will represent Lakeside then as the promotion don't travel outside of Kent or Essex, yet alone the UK

My Hammers Team Kim Nilsson 7.13 Zach Wajtknecht 3.21 Danny King 6.66 Edward Kennett 6.39 Richard Lawson 6.43 Ben Morley 3.12 Alfie Bowtell 2.00 Total 34.94

Bridger no thanks, far too unstable mentally, and rides only for himself, not for a team.

Absolutely, Adam Ellis would be a high seven so effectively a second or third heat leader.

Don’t think anyone can have an issue with Lakeside joining the CH, as there was no promotion/relegation between the CH and NL, the prem however is a different story and should for at least this winter be honoured, so in short no change to the teams in that division unless someone wanted to drop down because the only alternative would be to close in which case Sheffield should be given first refusal to keep the numbers as per 2017. BIG IF Kent are still NL, Rye are prem, then some of those fans might double up, it happened in the past, I used to go and watch Rye sometimes when they were second division and Arena were in the first, granted back then you would not have loads of double uppers so you went to see riders you would not normally watch but were still at a good level. Ipswich I imagine will stay as CH and with Lakeside looking at that option you would have a derby of sorts.

It’s not 100% confirmed yet though, we have an intention but as with most things in life, these things are subject to change, we will know for certain once the AGM has been ratified.

Apparently it came from an end of season get together, I think it’s a case of they couldn’t afford the top flight as it stood at the time, dropped down to the NL only to find it was a bit of a drop to far so have decided to go for a more intermediate approach.

There is bound to be protests if Lakeside are seen to be getting a rider with an average that doesnt suit other clubs (wink wink)

I don’t see Kim riding for us either, his average would be too big a chunk and I don’t think he would ride in the second tier anyway, think the lad has more ambition than that. But despite Jon claiming to have said he would like an all British team I don’t think you can rule out the odd Australian. I am sure we could find seven brits though no problem at all, if we can get at least three hopefully four of those all well under 23 and future prospects then Even better, Ben, Zach and Alfie (at reserve) would fit that bill, just need another reserve to partner Alfie, could we get someone like Tom Brennan?

A question for a question here- I wonder if riders in next years Championship will be given an average based on one they attained in the CH in 2017 or will they reconvert the PR 2017 one? you never know, they might state the higher of the two figures will be used for team building purposes but i would expect the following roughly Ben Morley and Zach to be around 5.50, Adam Ellis around 7.50, Edward Kennett 9.00 and Kim Nillson around the 10.50-11.00

They would have averages too high to ride at reserve Addio, Ben maybe could if the top five was very so so, but we could do with a couple of big hitters, I see Ben and Zach as second strings as they will be around 5-6 point riders.

Totally agree and whilst i will never likely see eye to eye with the current promoter, I would actively support the club at this level, would rather it not Friday nights but if everything else set up nicely then it’s something I will put up with, after all it’s not the race night that draws in the crowds, it’s the whole product on offer.

This could be a clever move, if the top division is racing Monday/Thursday and Lakeside are racing Friday or Saturday then we could have the odd double up/down rider without too much risk of having said rider double booked, of the riders who could double up, without a doubt Rory Schlien would be a very popular signing and I would like to see Justin Sedgmen too as he was quite popular the last time he rode for us, Ben and Zach would be second strings, and I would suspect Zach would push on more than Ben towards the heat leader bracket. This would be the first time since 2003 that the Hammers have raced in the second tier, and 2003 was a very enjoyable season, I have found memories of that one.

Do Ipswich have more vulunteers then? as they are in the same situation and they race on week night. I don't know if its me but if I cast my mind back or watch videos from the 80/90s we seemed to have more staff then, starting gate staff/rakers etc

So what do they do Cityrebel? Friday just isnt an option, not only because of the traffic but also restrictions on certain riders having to travel ahead of weekend commitments abroad, Saturday for the latter also, Sunday is Polish speedway day, Grasstrack and heaven knows what else. Monday or Wednesday or Thursday is not ideal but i have always felt if the product is right people will come, you only have to look at previous seasons of meetings by SKY TV, most Mondays played out in front of near empty stadia, but come the play offs when something really counts all of a sudden being a Monday is no longer a problem, fans flock in their droves and not just for the home team. I would sum it up as this, if a meeting has enough incentive about it, fans will come no matter what day, however if the meeting means nothing and is full of guests etc, the day, even if its perfect for travelling and no school the next day, it wont make any difference, it won't even draw flies.