Here's what else happened. . .



OWNER Rick Frost has a very special title tilt on his mind for next season.

He said: "It is the club's 40th anniversary year and it would be very special if we could mark it by becoming the champions again.
"Trevor Swales is already formulating plans for next year and I happily leave that side of things to him."

And Frost is keen to return to the days of regular Friday night racing at their Showground fortress - even though that could pose logistical problems with tracking GP riders.

"Making Friday night speedway night again is one of my big aims," added Frost.



PROMOTER Mick Bratley revealed the team building points limit for next year is expected to be set at 39.90 (this year was 38.85). He revealed Panthers will oppose any moves to make the figure lower at the British Speedway Promoters' Association AGM in November.

"We have suffered this season due to a low limit and we are not prepared to do that again," said Bratley. "Ideally we at Panthers would like a 45-point limit and a reduction in the number of fixtures.

"I think it would be far better for the sport if we only had one home and one away meeting against other clubs and then used our imagination to create other fixtures such as individual and pairs events."



ANOTHER plan in the pipeline is to have alternate GP and Elite League weeks next season.

That basically means there would be no Elite League racing in a week leading up to a GP, but all teams will have two meetings in weeks when there is no GP.

"The BSPA have realised the GPs are here to stay and are only going to get stronger," said Bratley. "It is about working around them."



SWALES side-stepped a question regarding a possible return for 2006 title hero and former skipper Hans Andersen, who left the club in the summer over unpaid wages.

"At this stage we can't really rule anyone in or out of our plans for next year," said Swales. "It is a fine balancing act because we have to know the riders we want, but we can't risk moving too early until we know the criteria for next season - and that will be decided at the BSPA AGM.

"We took the very unusual step of announcing Karol Zabik as a 2009 rider because we felt it was essential he committed his long-term future to the club before returning for the remainder of this season."



SWALES confirmed the club are aware of interest from Reading in buying Ulrich Ostergaard - the Premier League club where he has been a revelation this season. But there has been no official approach as yet.

He also admitted the club have no immediate plans to resurrect a Conference League team. Panthers did try to run junior second half races last season but struggled to find youngsters who were available to compete.