eric i

Is that a new rule this year?

What are the rules regarding guest riders, I thought it was only for number ones?

After next Sunday Scunthorpe will have a 6.30 start time, so hopefully track prep shouldn't be a problem.

Enjoyable first meeting, I noticed the race times were quite slow nothing below 59sec I don't think there was a lot of grip in the track compared to usual.

I notice the sky meeting with Poole is off the sky sport schedule. http://www.skysports.com/watch/speedway-on-sky

Financially, the losers will be the engine tuners and riders who are not as talented but have excellent equipment. The winners will be talented riders with poor equipment and Club promoters.

Those who have already invested in equipment and are reaping the rewards would no doubt protest but I can't see many riders leaving.

I would agree with you that Newman is currently a better rider than Garrity, he is more reliable and a mature rider. It is curious why his PL average is 6.84 whereas Garrity's average is 8.46 yet I would guess their EL averages would be the reverse and Newman would have the greater average. Is it really down to Poole getting the best out of Newman?

Ipswitch to win by 12 tonight, Scunny to win by 8 on Sunday.

Yes but even accounting for his easier rides he seems to ride at higher standard in the Elite League. It would be better if fast track rider averages were based on the elite league scores rather than their premier league scores.

Kyle Newman seems to save his best for the Elite League, does he use different bike for the Elite?

£50k for 14 new engines that would be a £3571 an engine, I think they could get them cheaper than that, peter johns talks about a potential cost of £2000 per engine in his article. Although I agree some clubs would still struggle to finance a pool of engines.

It was interesting article but he only gave examples of engines that had lasted an exceptionally long time, he didn't say how many competitive races the average engine lasts and how often it comes in for a service. From what I hear, top riders are often sending engines back because they not giving them the performance they expected. I take the point that looking after the machinery could save some money however I think the money saved would be small compared to what could be saved by switching to standardised engines.

It might mean its been in storage and only taken out for a few select meetings. It would be interesting if a few of the top riders opened up on the costs of speedway.

It would be great if Tai gets drawn in the Scunthorpe semi final.

I don't think Peter johns is going say he is making a load of money, naturally he wants to protect his business and investment.

Fair point but I think the top riders would need to be told years in advance as they would want to get some use out of all their expensive equipment before they sold it on at cut down prices.

The BSPA seem keen to introduce standardised engines that are sealed and can only be serviced by a few designated tuners. It is hoped this could reduce costs, level the playing field and make the sport safer. The cost to riders who have already invested heavily in equipment would be massive, however if the engines were introduced over a number of years the riders could plan for it, say national league in 2018, premier in 2019 and elite in 2020.

Has anyone got the team line ups for the NICE Polish league?

Denmark mainly rides Wednesday, and I am sure most people would consider it a stronger league than Swedish 2nd division. As the Elite league is trying to attract a better standard of rider I would suggest Thursday would be preferable over Wednesday.

The Danish league is on a Wednesday which is stronger than the Swedish 2nd division that runs on a Thursday.

Lets hope he doesn't get many meetings as I think its a national league guest as his replacement. I don't think he has been signed yet.

I thought Andreas was in the same polish team as Nicolai.

I think the team will be Tai, Harris, Cookie and Nicholls if they are all fit. I don't think they will opt for youth, this is our best chance of getting a medal for years and probably for many years to come. Having said that if Rob Lambert continues to progress he could earn himself a team place.

I would put Holub at number 2 so he has 3 rides with Auty, this will hopefully keep his average down ready for when we make a change.