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waiheke1

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Posts posted by waiheke1


  1. On 5/25/2022 at 7:51 PM, TonyMac said:

    Thank you. We'll definitely continuing to produce DVDs and publish occasional books with a retro theme if the subject warrants it. The Peter Collins autobiography, launching at the Cardiff GP in August, will be our biggest yet at 386 full colour pages. Next year we'll publish another autobiography that we expect will provoke plenty of reaction.

    Any update on whether this autobiography will still be published this year, or any other news? If prior to Christmas, I know what my Christmas reading will be...


  2. 1 hour ago, steve roberts said:

    If the 1980 World Championship had been run on GP lines he may well have been champion rather than Michael Lee? DJ dominated the qualifying rounds if I recall?

    I think he would hsve done. Scored a max in the world pairs final as well iiirc, and was favourite for the final. Drew two heats in gate 3 which scored only around 19pts all night...always needed a little luck to be world champ, and he never had it. 

    • Like 1

  3. 5 minutes ago, arnieg said:

    The years he chose to miss were when he was mid 20s. Many top riders peak over 30 these days (Vaculik, Lindgren, Madsen), so he could be at his peak now, or may not even have reached it.

    Fair point ArnieG! That said, I think racers may peak earlier in their careers than gaters


  4. 25 minutes ago, fatface said:

    True dat.

    Also, in Sayfutdinov's case, he's had ten cracks at the World Championship and never won it. I don't argue that he is top class, but he's a unlikely World Champion at this stage of his career. Laguta is a more interesting case. Just my opinion of course, but in the year he did win it, he frequently ventured beyond calculated risk and was often outright dangerous. I don't think he could repeat that.

    Emil is one of my all time favourite riders, and will go into discussions about the greatest riders never to be world champion.

    Bur his peak years he was missing from the series of his own volition. Similarly, I wouldn't have sympathy for Darcy if the only reason he missed out was his ban. 

    Agree that at this point, he is, imo, less of a threat to Zmarzlik than the young talent in the series. 


  5. 7 minutes ago, fatface said:

    Agree. A lot of hyperbole over this being the "worst line up ever" and the like. It isn't perfect, but it's still very good. With Zmarzlik we have an all-time great, Woffinden and Doyle two highly capable ex-World Champions, hardened contenders and proven GP winners like Madsen, Vaculik, Lindgren....younger contenders for medals like Holder, Bewley, maybe even Lambert? 

    If people are determined to find the weaker GP years, probably 2013 at the end of the Rickardsson/Crump/Pedersen/Gollob era when Tai was able to come in as a wild card and win the whole damn thing. Unimaginable today. And in overall World Championship speedway, then you'd be hard pressed to beat 1989. Injuries and a flawed qualifying system meant we had a World Final missing Ermolenko, Moran, Knudsen, Jonsson, Pedersen, Nilsen...and instead had Tyrvainen, Olsson, Smith, Riss, Butler, Maier, Adorjan, Brhel. Not so good old days.

    Every final in the 80s was missing a genuine contender, with the possible exception of 81.  And had at least 4 riders that you couldn't see winning a ride.

    Zmarzlik as you say is an all-time great - if GPs were present in the 80s, would Nielsen have cleaned up from 83 onwards and we be bemoaning the lack of competition? - but the title went to the last heat. Holder, Bewley and Lambert are improving each season.  Woffy reminds me of a post-77 Peter Collins, both he and Doyley would have an outside chance in a one off final, unlikely to be world champion agsin in this format, but are top ten riders. Freddy, Vaculik and Mads capable of pushing Zmarzlik close if they have a great season, though I can't see any of them being world champ. 

    The rider we still miss in this era tbh is Darcy. 

    • Like 2

  6. 23 hours ago, arnieg said:

    In theory supplementing qualification with wildcards should ensure the strongest possible field, but the problem is that there is no transparency - who makes the choice and what are the criteria?

     

    For example in the last 5 GPs:

    Lebedevs 5 GPs 0 semi finals

    Fricke 5 GPs 5 semi finals.

     

    Yet Fricke is out and Lebedevs is in

    (I quite like Lebedevs and don't think he'll be out of his depth, but still...)

    Fricke is very unlucky, and deserved a place imo. 

    I can understand going Kubera over Janowski/Dudek, and I think in the past we've seen an unwillingness to seed riders from nations that already hsve 3 representatives. 

    Would have liked to see Becker higher in the reserve list. 

    I'm not as disappointed with the wildcards as others, though obviously would hsve liked (from a speedway perspective) to see Artem and Emil in rather than Lebedevs and Huckenbeck.

    And while those latter two may be in, at least partly, to give representation to more nations; they will be far more competitive than  the continental riders in the world finals of the 80s (Muller excepted of course).

    And outside the Russians, there is noone who would hsve been fighting for a medal missing from thr series

    • Like 3

  7. 8 hours ago, arnieg said:

    Bartosz and Freddie 18 semis - 16 finals reached

    Dan and Robert - 15 semis - 4 finals

    That's where it is won and lost.

    It's also why I think Dan and Robert are probably going to be the closest rivals to Zmarzlik in the coming years. Just need to be a little tougher, and mentally stranger in the crunch heats


  8. 21 hours ago, OldHawk said:

    I don't dislike Zmarzlik at all but I do feel his titles are lessened and here is why....

    What if Gundersen had not had Nielsen (or vice versa) because the other was banned for no good reason and won 6 world titles. Or Olsen/Mauger. For sure it would have lessened the victories.

    Here two of the three best riders in the world have been excluded for no reason which is the first time in speedway history.

    And why no good reason:

    1. They both left Russia before the war and settled in Poland becoming citizens

    2. There is no justification for letting them ride domestically but not internationally.

    This is a classic case of PC overriding common sense. The lack of these two has made the GP a farce and boring and left Bartoz with no real decent opponent measured over 10 rounds.

    I haven't watched and wont watch another GP until these two are restored to their rightful place.

    Bartoz is a really brilliant rider but any decent opposition has simply been removed.

     

     

     

    Interesting you mention Nielsen and Gundersen. Their titles were all won against line-ups missing, for various reasons, Penhall, Lee, Carter and Sigalos, arguably the 4 other best riders of that era. Sanders and the Moran brothers also missed most of those finals.

    • Like 1

  9. On 10/2/2022 at 4:57 PM, steve roberts said:

    What I've seen on DVD (only went to Bradford once) it struck me that although the track was very wide and heavily banked much of it offered no advantage after the first two bends from the start? I'm happy to be corrected by those with a better knowledge of attending meetings at Odsal.

    Wide yes, banked yes, though nowhere near as steep as the Shay.  Gundersen certainly made good use of the full width in 85!

    • Like 1

  10. 22 hours ago, mikebv said:

    Bradford was for me, similar to Coventry...

    Two tracks with a shape that should have lent itself to great racing, but, for some reason, you often came away from both extremely underwhelmed...

    Yet, on the odd occasion,  you got to see some cracking racing at both...

    Just, not enough times...

    85 overseas final and 90 World Final both had cracking racing, and 85 World Final wasn't too bad either.

    But for league meetings, I preferred my visits to the Shay, and neither produced racing on a consistent basis to rival Hyde rd

    • Like 2

  11. 4 hours ago, DazS said:

    older than him,, but did ride against him when i left the colts and went to Halifax.

    Now I'm intrigued! One of the Clegg brothers? David Clay? Trying to think which of the colts I subsequently saw at the Shay. 


  12. 2 hours ago, Fromafar said:

    It’s all hypothetical,it’s just an opinion.Mauger was just so consistent.He still was averaging  over 10pts in 1979

    Agreed, it's all opinions. I'm just interested. There's been a fair amount of debate on this on the forum, and I think the general consensus is he would hsve won 7 titles under a gp system, all between 68-75, with Olsen winning one in that period ( with one school of thought thinking Michanek may have won in 73, which would reduce Ivan back to six).

    Nielsen I think would hsve been the big beneficiary of a gp system, he could easily have doubled his world title tally...


  13. 19 hours ago, OveFundinFan said:

    Then there is those who would like to see the 2 Russians back.  Fricke doesn’t deserve to be in next year but Vaculik does, bad injury stopped him this year.What Nilsson and Kolodzeij will bring to the GP’s……I can’t see it being much.  Woffy will get a place

    The selectors have a tough job anytime, but particularly this year.

    I'd say it's not so tough- places 7-9 plus the two former Russians. If they are not available then a second Dane (prob Michelsen) and Vaculik. 

    Doyle definitely deserves a pick over Fricke if it comes down to it

    • Like 1

  14. 10 hours ago, phillipsr said:

    I think he gets a wildcard pick over Doyle! I think Bewley will drop out of the top 6 in Torun (hope im wrong) but Fricke will be back anyway! Not a pick i agree with but think it will happen  

     

    11 hours ago, OveFundinFan said:

    His best GP years were 15 years or so ago. He is a gater. He rides like Laguta did prior to 2021…..get in a tight spot and he pulls out.  That’s ok if you gate and earn a living, but that’s no good for GP’s. It’s like Berntzon said to Scotty last night “GP racing is a level above league racing”. Kolodzeij is riding for his pension pot. That’s ok, but not in the GP’s please.

    As well as looking like he could win the SEC, he's also in the top 10 in the Ekstraliga averages. If he qualifies then he deserves his place and he'll be competitive next season, nowhere near top six, but he won't be last either. 


  15. 6 hours ago, The Third Man said:

    Don't think Bewley will make top 6 this season, but think Lambert will be up there challenging for second next season, not quite ready to challenge for first, maybe 2024 season

    Hope i am wrong on both counts

     

    You could well be right. For sure  they are both some way off Zmarzlik right now. But looking at the field, they are the ones I see with the highest potential to challenge him in the years ahead- next season may be too soon though.

    • Like 1
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