BRITISH OPEN: Do we need the repechage this year?

There were calls on social media last night asking the question, “do we need a repechage?” in the Senior Open competition this year, in light of the low entry numbers.

The repechage was brought in last year, seemingly as a safety net to try and ensure we got the best riders present on finals day, after 2012 had some big name casualties in the “round of death” at Filton. It more or less worked as we had a great final at Coventry the following day.

This year though, with the perfect number of 32 entering, a “top 8” going straight through to the final from each semi final would surely make perfect sense, rather than having pre-qualifiers and then a repechage “top 8” qualifying the next day. Even moving the semis to the Sunday (if that’s possible with logistics), would help enormously with travel and hotel costs for riders.

Perhaps it’s something for the organisers to consider on this occasion?

Coming this afternoon, “Where is everybody?” – the reaction to the low entry numbers for the Senior Open and what it means for Cycle Speedway.