Jump to content
British Speedway Forum

mikebv

Members
  • Content count

    8,078
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    73

Everything posted by mikebv

  1. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    For me, a top Div 2 rider, but seems to struggle in the higher league.. Strange, as bags of ability..
  2. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    Dont mess about do they? Batch. Last then replaced.. No hiding place/job for the season over there in Poland.. Dont cut it and you are out.. Must have a positive impact mentally to those young Poles who come through the system.. Truly survival of the fittest... Meaning as they progress they truly know what pressure is.. Great to see Robert Lambert more than holding his own in World Class company in the last two meetings.. Will do him a world of good testing himself and proving himself worthy of the chance..
  3. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    A bit strange.. Seems home and back straight in use.. Creates atmosphere I suppose.. And maybe spreads a virus or two.. Great opening lap in heat five.. Cant beat Polish speedway for commitment.. Proper 'everything depends on this' team sport..
  4. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    Exactly what I thought.. The back straight looks around half full.. Cant believe they would close other sections to just use certain areas, as this would create congestion, so can only presume a 'few more' than 25%.
  5. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    Some do 'disappear'... But mostly one at least stays the course..
  6. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    Early days, but I think Robert Lambert might be busy again.
  7. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    Go on to YouTube... Several on there..
  8. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    Is that a 'one night only deal' akin to the way British Speedway shares riders on a whim or, (hopefully), it means he cannot ride for anyone else this year..? The only thing Mickey Mouse about Polish Speedway should be ZG's race kevlars, so let's hope it stays that way..
  9. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    Madsen does always seem to have the happy knack of getting lots of grip coming out of a turn when riding the kerb, even though it is invariably slick down there later in the meeting.. Even though some rides ride what they perceive to be the wider, faster line he can still pass under them... A rider you never feel you can relax if behind you I would suggest... And a rider good to watch from an entertainment point of view too.. Maybe this will be his year in the GP..?
  10. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    Maybe making a wider point? I would think a rider of his standing would be one of the more vulnerable ones in the team as he isn't quite 'top class' and invariably gets found wanting on too many occasions.. A kick up the backside pre the next transfer window?
  11. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    Wroclaws manager needs to be telling his riders to do the same.. Ref obviously isnt too fussed about pulling them back..
  12. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    Not going to do Dan any good this. Well out of his depth.. Half a straight behind third, never mind first.. Hope he can stay mentally strong to get through the first few weeks. And Wroclaw stay with him to see if he can become competitive. 8pt averages in the UK literally can count for nought over there....
  13. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    This ref doesnt seem too fussed about flyers..
  14. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    Track looks a bit like marbles in places and then grippy in others.. Max must have got a bit of grip.
  15. mikebv

    Polish Speedway on TV

    Most of what passes as 'news' these days, starts off with someone filming on a phone and putting it on to one of the various media outlets.. You often then find a local journo asking for more photos to be sent directly to them or requesting permission to use the original footage.. They then report the story via their paper.. No longer do they have to even arrive at the scene to send out their reports and often just quote Twitter updates from any potential eye witnesses. Often using the caveat of 'unconfirmed reports'... Certainly a very different world is 'journalism' today..
  16. mikebv

    Polish Speedway on TV

    Don't you know by now that Polands racing is rubbish and that every heat on the tracks of the UK is full of passing and breathtaking incident.. The Star this week has a section in it where serveral social media comments are listed stating that Polands presentation wasnt up to much.. This was summarised as maybe helping British Speedway, with the inference, I presume, being that it was no better, and equally as rubbish as over here.. A laudable aspiration indeed to be delivered... Being as poor as someone else... However, as we know, when the crowds get back, (and just 25% of the usual Lublin full house yesterday made a difference), the whole experience takes on a massive change, with the passion on the terraces often making the meeting itself. Where even the most mundane race delivers either a huge celebration or a chorus of boos depending on whether they appreciate the efforts of their riders or not, and the usual (one or two at least), 'cracking races', bring the house down.. Also, the coverage of watching the same recurring slow mo action of previous races does make the meeting seem like its dragging too, unlike when you have interviews, discussion and adverts which naturally break up the racing.. Not anyones fault and a small price to pay for watching the racing via an English commentary, (and a good one at that), rather than a Polish one..
  17. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    And loads of them left at the same time too, queueing to go up the stairs to the exit.. Might as well just let everyone in given the lack of any stringent controls....
  18. Only attend FIM events over here nowadays so, no, not really missing domestic UK Speedway in 'the flesh' as it were, but have/will missed/miss the SON, the World U21 and Cardiff.. Missing watching the domestic TV coverage though, (and Sweden), although the plethora of racing on YouTube have been great to watch and Poland is always worth watching..
  19. mikebv

    Odsal hopes

    Graham Drury in the Speedway Star (another excellent issue), talks about how he loved his time promoting in the NL, "riders just rode, no flights, accommodation, or transport requests". And when he rode 2nd Division how it was mainly 'part time' with riders having jobs, unlike today where so many have salary expectations to allow them to be 'pro' speedway riders in that league... So, we actually know 'what can work', and we also know 'what used to work' (pretty much the old 2nd Division NL).. Therefore that surely has to be the target to get back too? It does also make me wonder how much of my admission cost goes into the riders' own personal agendas through their salary from the clubs. By that I mean their own individual aspirations... I've said before, so much money comes into Speedway through fans attendance and individual sponsorship, yet so much of what gets paid out doesn't postively impact the domestic leagues in any way shape or form, but instead, goes to fund riders wanting to be full time pros and help support their own ambitions on the wider global individual stage.. No disrespect but any current GB rider winning the World Individual title won't put bums on seats over here every week. This was a pipe dream mantra from a long time ago, ie a belief a GB World Champ would be like finding The Holy Grail for the sport in the UK.. Havelock, Loram and Woffy (3 times) subsequently proved that wasn't correct. (Even when Tai rode here).. Therefore, the UK should just cut its cloth accordingly, putting the clubs first... In short, if charging £18 isn't bringing in enough punters through the doors as they tell you that you are too expensive, then listen to them and drop your prices... And if you can't drop your prices as you say your costs won't allow it, then reduce your costs so you can... I can guarantee that the many punters who no longer attend due to them not seeing £18-£20 as an acceptable or affordable price point, wont wake up one morning and suddenly then decide that it is and rock up in their droves.. And this absent, silent majority, are the ones that need 'listening' to..
  20. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    To be fair, you could say that about most Sport's that have a "best league in the world" moniker attached to them, as it attracts, by definition, all the best overseas competitors.. The IPL in Cricket has many 'foreign superstars', The RFU Premiership has many 'foreign superstars' and the Premier League in Football has many of the teams where 'foreign superstars' outshine their domestic counterparts. . Considering it's 4/7ths Poland v 3/7ths The Rest of The World in a lot of the teams (we'll ignore Norway and Russian Poles), they don't do too bad..
  21. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    Pawlicki, KK, Kolodzei, Hampel, and Protasiewicz have all been good enough to qualify for the GP's, with several winning GP's so shows just how strong the Polish system is to bring this many through to the top table. . GB would have loved to have had that level of rider (who may be 'club and journey men' now) over the years.. As would every other country in the world.. And of those five (as well as a few other 'club and journey men' listed) some would still be very worthy, and some at least challenging, for a top 3 place in many of the Premiership teams over here.. With Musielak to add to that from Div 2 and Miesiac too, who has become a genuine heat leader in Polands top league in the past two years..
  22. mikebv

    Odsal hopes

    Spot on.. Cinemas and Pizza Hut though won't be paying out £10k (and maybe much more) for two nights work to their employees... A £10 - £12 price point simply couldn't sustain that, however is probably the price point that reflects the sports standing, and its circa 15 mins of actual amount of on track entertainment time..
  23. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    Polish teams have to have four Poles per team and not only easily comply but also have several replacements available to replace poor performers and injuries.. All of which will have been U21 at some stage... An U21 system that brought so many riders through to World Class level, and made them so dominant as a nation, that the FIM had to change the World Cup format to give the others a chance... Poland might only have had 3 Individual World Champs but as a nation have a strength in depth no other can compete with. . With much of that strength in depth starting as U21 reserves... Some, naturally will drop out by the way side, but many come through.. And to a very elite level..
  24. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    Flowed a lot better Dave, and you sounded far more confident and informed, which isnt surprising considering the 'deep end' that you were thrown in at the weekend... Less long gaps between racing obviously helped too, there were certainly one or two unusually long ones at weekend that needed a considerable amount of 'dead air' filling, which can never be easy from someone else's feed I would think.. Good job fella, looking forward to next weekend. .
  25. mikebv

    Polish Extraleague 2020

    And Dan Bewley too.. Some are saying it's 'too early' for him... Absolute nonsense.. He is 21 and now needs to be challenging himself against the world's best if he is to make it to the top.. Which some seem to think he is capable of doing.. Poland will have ten 'Dan Bewleys' who will be miles in from of him when it comes to the experience of riding with, and against, top level riders.. He will actually be playing 'catch up' against other 21 year olds (and even younger) over there.. If he succeeds over there this season he will show he can develop to top level status, if he doesn't it will show he isn't of that level and will no doubt be replaced by another rider of potential.. It's good to see though that Lambert and Bewley are giving it a go as riding against the same riders over and over again in the UK, beating them every week, wont improve them and will actually stagnate their progress..
×

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy