Poole 2027

[Neila]

Genuine question were any riders missing from the end of season party ? Seems looking at reports of many functions most if not all had riders missing ours was a shambles to be honest, only 1 rider turned up and that was due to his guest appearance being called off 

[PhantomPirate]

Here’s the team with the averages they achieved in 2026, both including and excluding bonus points.

2026 averages including bonus points:

R. Lawson  9.14

C. Rushen  6.27

L. Harrison  6.97

M. McDiarmid  6.26

W. Cairns  7.57

E. Kennett  5.16

S. Lightcap  5.83

 

2026 averages excluding bonus points:

R. Lawson  8.10

C. Rushen  5.14

L. Harrison  6.46

M. McDiarmid  5.79

W. Cairns  6.94

E. Kennett  4.74

S. Lightcap  4.83

 

The difference between the two is interesting:

Rushen: 5.14 → 6.27 = +1.13

Lawson: 8.10 → 9.14 = +1.04

Lightcap: 4.83 → 5.83 = +1.00

Cairns: 6.94 → 7.57 = +0.63

Harrison: 6.46 → 6.97 = +0.51

McDiarmid: 5.79 → 6.26 = +0.47

Kennett: 4.74 → 5.16 = +0.42

That already shows how much more some of these riders contribute to the team than their official averages suggest.

Then you’ve got the potential for improvement next season.

Cairns, Harrison, McDiarmid, Rushen and Lightcap are all young riders who should still have plenty of natural progression in them, so you’d expect several of those averages to rise simply through another year of experience and development.

Lawson himself described 2026 as “CHAOS” and an “eye-opening” year, so after a more settled winter and season I’d expect there to be every chance of him getting back to his best.

Then there’s Kennett. If he stays fit and is on good machinery, he is more than capable of putting a couple of points on his average. It wasn’t that long ago that he was operating as a genuine No.1 level Championship rider, so starting him at reserve on that sort of figure could be a real trump card.

And if Kennett does increase his average quickly, that doesn’t necessarily weaken the reserves. One of Rushen, Harrison or McDiarmid could then move down, meaning a strong reserve pairing throughout the season.

That’s what I like most about the side. Other than Lawson, and perhaps Cairns, I could see the rest of them ending up relatively close together average-wise. There isn’t really an obvious weak link, and there’s plenty of scope for improvement right through the team.

[Aries]

1 hour ago, Paddy The Rebel said:

 

I think essentially with having Cairns at 5 who essentially is not a number 5 the team is built with protection around him all the other riders are basically going to be 6.00 riders so if cairns has a bad night there’s plenty of cover for him,that’s my thought anyway.

Yet. He may well be next season if his progression continues. To average what he did in his very first season at the age of 16/17 was some achievement. 
 

So much more to come. 

[LisaColette]

54 minutes ago, Neila said:

Genuine question were any riders missing from the end of season party ? Seems looking at reports of many functions most if not all had riders missing ours was a shambles to be honest, only 1 rider turned up and that was due to his guest appearance being called off 

From photos i've seen, Kerr, Zach, Will and Cooper were there. Even Ben Cook was there. They were talking about video messages from Slater and Fraser. Not sure about Kyle or Lawson. 

Not bad seeing as going against Traitors final 

Edited Sunday at 11:19 AM by LisaColette

[daz9100]

10 minutes ago, LisaColette said:

From photos i've seen, Kerr, Zach, Will and Cooper were there. Even Ben Cook was there. They were talking about video messages from Slater and Fraser. Not sure about Kyle or Lawson. 

Not bad seeing as going against Traitors final 

Kyle was there too with his family, Lewi also had his family with him.

The only person missing was Richard, who obviously has his young family to look after and I believe is in the middle of a house move too.

[SteveLyric2]

1 hour ago, daz9100 said:

Kyle was there too with his family, Lewi also had his family with him.

The only person missing was Richard, who obviously has his young family to look after and I believe is in the middle of a house move too.

....and Richard did advise the management beforehand, so it wasn't a case of him simply not turning up....!😉

[Pirates Of Poole]

35 minutes ago, SteveLyric2 said:

....and Richard did advise the management beforehand, so it wasn't a case of him simply not turning up....!😉

Shame he could not send a video for the fans like Fraser from Aussie and Slater from the states! 

[TigerIain]

5 hours ago, daz9100 said:

Kyle was there too with his family, Lewi also had his family with him.

The only person missing was Richard, who obviously has his young family to look after and I believe is in the middle of a house move too.

Maybe he'd heard that the fuel testers were there 🤷‍♂️

[Colsimmo58]

On 11/1/2026 at 10:27 AM, PhantomPirate said:

Here’s the team with the averages they achieved in 2026, both including and excluding bonus points.

2026 averages including bonus points:

R. Lawson  9.14

C. Rushen  6.27

L. Harrison  6.97

M. McDiarmid  6.26

W. Cairns  7.57

E. Kennett  5.16

S. Lightcap  5.83

 

2026 averages excluding bonus points:

R. Lawson  8.10

C. Rushen  5.14

L. Harrison  6.46

M. McDiarmid  5.79

W. Cairns  6.94

E. Kennett  4.74

S. Lightcap  4.83

 

The difference between the two is interesting:

Rushen: 5.14 → 6.27 = +1.13

Lawson: 8.10 → 9.14 = +1.04

Lightcap: 4.83 → 5.83 = +1.00

Cairns: 6.94 → 7.57 = +0.63

Harrison: 6.46 → 6.97 = +0.51

McDiarmid: 5.79 → 6.26 = +0.47

Kennett: 4.74 → 5.16 = +0.42

That already shows how much more some of these riders contribute to the team than their official averages suggest.

Then you’ve got the potential for improvement next season.

Cairns, Harrison, McDiarmid, Rushen and Lightcap are all young riders who should still have plenty of natural progression in them, so you’d expect several of those averages to rise simply through another year of experience and development.

Lawson himself described 2026 as “CHAOS” and an “eye-opening” year, so after a more settled winter and season I’d expect there to be every chance of him getting back to his best.

Then there’s Kennett. If he stays fit and is on good machinery, he is more than capable of putting a couple of points on his average. It wasn’t that long ago that he was operating as a genuine No.1 level Championship rider, so starting him at reserve on that sort of figure could be a real trump card.

And if Kennett does increase his average quickly, that doesn’t necessarily weaken the reserves. One of Rushen, Harrison or McDiarmid could then move down, meaning a strong reserve pairing throughout the season.

That’s what I like most about the side. Other than Lawson, and perhaps Cairns, I could see the rest of them ending up relatively close together average-wise. There isn’t really an obvious weak link, and there’s plenty of scope for improvement right through the team.

SLATER LIGHTCAP Average is not 4.83,as he has not ridden 6 league matches therefore is has to go on the average that Poole signed him on which would be 4.00.IMO.

[PhantomPirate]

54 minutes ago, Colsimmo58 said:

SLATER LIGHTCAP Average is not 4.83,as he has not ridden 6 league matches therefore is has to go on the average that Poole signed him on which would be 4.00.IMO.

I think you’ve missed my post from Friday.

I’ve already got Lightcap on 4.00 in the proposed 2027 team.

The 4.83 figure in the later post was simply the average he actually achieved from his rides in 2026, purely for comparison with his average including bonus points.

[Colsimmo58]

1 hour ago, PhantomPirate said:

I think you’ve missed my post from Friday.

I’ve already got Lightcap on 4.00 in the proposed 2027 team.

The 4.83 figure in the later post was simply the average he actually achieved from his rides in 2026, purely for comparison with his average including bonus points.

 

1 hour ago, PhantomPirate said:

I think you’ve missed my post from Friday.

I’ve already got Lightcap on 4.00 in the proposed 2027 team.

The 4.83 figure in the later post was simply the average he actually achieved from his rides in 2026, purely for comparison with his average including bonus points.

Sorry, never noticed your previous post.Might be interest from other teams on that average.

[ASpeedwayfan]

On 11/1/2026 at 8:22 AM, szkocjasid said:

If we're expecting surprises, how about this team? Using Newman, left room for a stronger 2nd heat leader, Sedgmen was the highest available that fits in!

Upskill Teams

 

Poole    
Richard Lawson    8.15
Justin Sedgmen    6.84
Will Cairns    6.44
Cooper Rushen    5.01
Kyle Newman    4.92
Edward Kennett    4.62
Slater Lightcap    4.00
Total    39.98

99% sure Luke Harrison is in the team, Castange might be the surprise..

Kennet at reserve and unfortunate if Kyle misses out, but you’re left with 7 riders who should all put at least one point on their ave with the exception of Will who you’d settle with 0.5 of a point. 

Either way, like Danny said, it’s a team that wouldn’t start necessarily as favourites due to the big names at other teams, but it’s 7 riders who should all pick up points all over the place, and 2 strong riders at reserve no matter who’s there. 
 

My only concern is that every Poole (since moving down) team has consisted with huge fire power at 1 and 5, so this is a change of style despite the top end power working. That said with no 2 point bargains like Cooper and Will have been in the last 2 years it was always going to be hard to copy 

[YeOldPitGate]

53 minutes ago, ASpeedwayfan said:

99% sure Luke Harrison is in the team, Castange might be the surprise..

Kennet at reserve and unfortunate if Kyle misses out, but you’re left with 7 riders who should all put at least one point on their ave with the exception of Will who you’d settle with 0.5 of a point. 

Either way, like Danny said, it’s a team that wouldn’t start necessarily as favourites due to the big names at other teams, but it’s 7 riders who should all pick up points all over the place, and 2 strong riders at reserve no matter who’s there. 
 

My only concern is that every Poole (since moving down) team has consisted with huge fire power at 1 and 5, so this is a change of style despite the top end power working. That said with no 2 point bargains like Cooper and Will have been in the last 2 years it was always going to be hard to copy 

Agree with most of that but one thing with the Ford's if something isn't working they won't just coast along you can be sure action will be taken to improve the team if needed.

[LisaColette]

1 hour ago, ASpeedwayfan said:

99% sure Luke Harrison is in the team, Castange might be the surprise..

Kennet at reserve and unfortunate if Kyle misses out, but you’re left with 7 riders who should all put at least one point on their ave with the exception of Will who you’d settle with 0.5 of a point. 

Either way, like Danny said, it’s a team that wouldn’t start necessarily as favourites due to the big names at other teams, but it’s 7 riders who should all pick up points all over the place, and 2 strong riders at reserve no matter who’s there. 
 

Upskill Teams

 

My only concern is that every Poole (since moving down) team has consisted with huge fire power at 1 and 5, so this is a change of style despite the top end power working. That said with no 2 point bargains like Cooper and Will have been in the last 2 years it was always going to be hard to copy 

Paco be an interesting one. Been going long enough to remember his dad riding for Poole in late 90s! Would have been pre Matt Ford days and may have only been half a season. 

But Paco got 10 at Poole in play offs so can see why it is a consideration. 

[Neila]

Think cairns is on a falsely high average thanks to the rocket man gifting Will several race wins, yes will an up and coming rider but no where near a heat leader at the moment 

[LisaColette]

15 minutes ago, Neila said:

Think cairns is on a falsely high average thanks to the rocket man gifting Will several race wins, yes will an up and coming rider but no where near a heat leader at the moment 

Learn Math

 

Tbf to Will, most of the time they weren't gifted. He either gated better or was on better part of the track. Lawson didn't team ride as much last season as normal. Especially in middle part of the season where it just seemed like he was just going through the motions. 

Edited 20 hours ago by LisaColette

[foreverblue]

27 minutes ago, Neila said:

Think cairns is on a falsely high average thanks to the rocket man gifting Will several race wins, yes will an up and coming rider but no where near a heat leader at the moment 

Learn Math

 

Disagree with your assessment, Lawson did not gift many if any points to Will, he won races on his own merit, nothing gifted, Lawson had trouble keeping up!

[Fromafar]

24 minutes ago, LisaColette said:

Tbf to Will, most of the time they weren't gifted. He either gated better or was on better part of the track. Lawson didn't team ride as much last season as normal. Especially in middle part of the season where it just seemed like he was just going through the motions. 

Going through the motions! Lawson was just looking after his average and machinery,what’s the point of racing your Team mate.Still a No1 in ant Team

[Neila]

11 minutes ago, foreverblue said:

Disagree with your assessment, Lawson did not gift many if any points to Will, he won races on his own merit, nothing gifted, Lawson had trouble keeping up!

Will was impressive at Workington but it's a track that he knows well, having ridden or hired it out several times, 

[szkocjasid]

3 hours ago, Neila said:

Think cairns is on a falsely high average thanks to the rocket man gifting Will several race wins, yes will an up and coming rider but no where near a heat leader at the moment 

It depends what you consider a heat leader, as Cairns would've been a heat leader at Berwick, Oxford, Redcar & Scunthorpe.

Plus the league will be weaker in 2027.

.  

Edited 16 hours ago by szkocjasid