PolskiZuzel

...and I know a poor man who doesn't have (own) a house at all. If he wants to have "an event" he has to rent it for one day in a week. He has no ways, or more precisely the money for improvement or modernisation, so his "do's" are staged at places which people less and less want to attend. No sitting , no proper loos facilities, but entry to it cost more money than an average working man wishes to part with.

Tell me...when speedway was about riders just having fun ? In my opinion speedway was always treated as a way of making living, and no rider was riding for just having fun., whether it was in Capitalist West or Communist East.

That is exactly how I read (understood) this article.

I am more than surprised that not a one person commented on the revelations highlighted in red

It's interesting what you say... I wonder if anyone of you heard of referee being persuaded to change his original verdict on something that happened on a speedway track. With reference to Zenon Plech's premature passing there quitea few article being published in Poland. In one of them https://www.speedwaynews.pl/aktualnosci/item/70913-to-byl-bieg-30-wierze-ze-zrobie-to-na-co-wszyscy-licza?fbclid=IwAR31iZCICd_EmMhAM-nJoxtY_70DTzHeAfNk6P0y_0a4mD_lPoyodfLuVdk respectful Polish journalist claims just that...and it happened - in his words - after the infamous race in the Katowice 1973 world final in which Zenon Plech was knocked down by Khlynovski . Anyway, read it for yourself ( in my translation): (...) The English used to call Plech – a Golden Boy. The Golden Boy entered the speedway world like a hurricane, and his riding style electrified fans around the world. Unbridled, crazy and extravagant - that's how Plech was on the track. He used the entire width of the track and the entire saddle on his motorcycle, the long characteristic saddle of the time in the Czech ESO speedway bikes. - I liked them because I could move freely back and forth - said Zuper Zenon a few years ago. All the described values were on show to over a hundred thousand fans during the final in Chorzów. In the second race of the day - next to the Sweden’s Michanek – lined up the biggest favourites of the tournament's: Plech, Mauger and Olsen. The New Zealander was the fastest at the start , so Plech began competition with a point loss, but with a victory over Olsen. In the following heats, Plech was unstoppable, whilst his rivals began to lose points. The united forces of Szczakiel-Waloszek stopped Mauger in the eighth heat, while in the last series, Olsen defeated Szczakiel. As a result, two heats before the end of the competition, the classification was as follows: Szczakiel and Mauger on 13 points, Ole Olsen and Zenem Plech on 11, and Grigorij Khlynowski on 10. The last two had one more race up their sleeve. They both came up to the tapes in heat 19. At the starting line everyone was surprised by Peter Collins, whose style of entering world class riders resembled that of Plech. So far the Englishman riding was an average. Plech starting from the outside chose a wide lane and picked up speed on the opposite straight and as he entered the second bend he sharply rode under the Brit. Plech withstood the challenge, rode close to a foul and in speedway jargon - pushed Collin wide on the outside. So Plech , with deafening cheering took the lead. Behind him was Khlynowski, who began to sense his chance of overtaking leading Plech. If this was the end of the race, Plech would have joined the race-off for the gold medal. Khlynowski, however, would not give up. He closed on the Pole and finally rode very close to his rival on the bend that started the fourth lap. At the exit of that bend Russian staggered a bit, then he blocked Plech’s racing lane and the Pole consequently fell onto the track, and landed on the fence. At first, the referee from the GDR (East Germany) excluded Khlynowski and awarded three points to Plech, two to Collins, and one to Gorideyev . It is known in speedway that once the referee makes a decision, there is no point in protesting , because he will not change it. This time however it was different. Immediately after the referee verdict, the Anglo-Saxon camp started to defend the Ivan Mauger’s interests . They assumed that in the run-off Mauger would defeat Szczakiel, (…) who, incidentally, was a huge revelation of the tournament. They realised that it would be more difficult with Plech, and moreover, Mauger would have a coalition of opponents rather than having to settle for a one-to-one duel. The leaders of the protests turned out to be Ole Olsen (Mauger's close friend), the leading British journalist Phil Rising and the influential man in British speedway, Reg Fearman. The telephone line between the referee's booth and the pits got heated up. There were arguments that throughout the tournament the referee favoured the Russians and the Poles. That he did not care about the flying starts of his Eastern friends, and kept the Western stars under the tape. Sharp words and accusations began to fall without limitation. Words about scandal, lack of fair-play and protests to the FIM. In the end referee bowed down and changed his original decision in favour of a new, daring interpretation! Well, Khlynowski remained disqualified, but three points went to Collins, two to Plech, who did not finish the race, and one point for Gordeyev who at the time of Plech’s crash was in fourth position . "This interpretation had no logic," said Plech later on. - It is difficult to justify why the German referee decided in this way. To this day, I don't know and I wonder how the run-off with my participation would go. Unfortunately, I will never know - said Super Zenon years later, who finally finished the competition in third place, and the title was won by his countryman Jerzy Szczakiel.

What about compulsory 14 day quarantine for riders ( Brady Kurtz, Daniel Bewley, Sam Masters, Troy Batchelor) arriving from Poland?

I wholeheartedly agree with you... In my opinion league format match between two countries is the only test of any value. In the WTC format we have individual riders aiming for individual win, and only total points scored by each rider representing given country are counted in. One might say that with with such a format we might as well add up individual score of the SGP riders representing given country, and not bother with anything else.

Can you remind what happened then, please.

It was the Poles who volunteered to save the "Speedway of Nations" final and it was not for the first time they extended a helping hand to the British rights holders - the Benfield Sports International (BSI). The tournament was to be hosted by Manchester, but the British gave up - after all why risk it? In the circumstances, the BSI did not hesitate for a long time and approached the Polish Motor Association. After all they always run for help to Poland. Remember abandoned GPS in Germany transferred in the last minute to Bydgoszcz. Anyway this time help came from Lublin. BSI initially expected a payment of PLN 500,000. or one hundred thousand pound sterling. .Quite a lot, considering the uncertain situation and the increasing number of coronavirus infections. After all Polish government could close the stadium and lock fans at home at any time, and so they did. Anyone watching the Lublin event, had most probably a mixed feelings. Phil Morris the Race Director was pushing the tournament forward even though track conditions were terrible. He and his bosses were so determined to run the competition that only one thought comes to mind. - money, because if you don’t know what’s going on it usually comes to money. For the BSI, the most important thing was that the competition would take place, i.e. the regulatory 14 races were to be raced at all cost and then we all could go home. It a surprise that they managed to set up the winners rostrum and award medals at all. (as seen from magazynzuzel.pl point of view)

When In the 80s, the Danes dominated WTC somehow it did not bother anyone. The Danes had a golden generation of champions, and they used them for quite a few years. Nobody thought of calling off the competition in which one nation dominates, in the same way nobody is calling off Polish club competition dominated in the last four years by one club. So when Poles came to the fore after years of drought, the FIM abandoned the exciting competition that often kept fans in suspense until the last race, and sometimes even the last bend. They did it under the ridiculous pretext of allegedly caring for the development of the speedway. Mind you, it has to be clear that Poles did not always win. They also had to swallow the bitterness of defeat, for example in Bydgoszcz, where Niels Kristian Iversen stole the gold from them in the last few yards. All the time, however, there were great emotions and great promotion of speedway. What do we have now? A two-day competition, where riders are to run 42 races, but in the end everything is decided by the grand final anyway. To this day, no one knows whether this competition called the Speedway of Nations is a continuator of the WTC or the World Best Pairs. FIM itself, cannot answer this question, saying that it is the championship of … wait for it… Speedway of Nations. What a ridiculous name. Finally, a simple question for the gentlemen from the FIM. Isn’t he Speedway of Nations getting boring? After all the Russians win it year after year. it doesn't matter whether the final takes place in Wrocław, Togliatti or on a soggy track in Lublin, interrupted after 14 races? Russia are the champion and that's it! I’d say, yes it is getting boring. (as seen from sportowefakty.pl point of view)

I am not, and never was

...and this is the first ( and perhaps last) time that I agree with Steve Shovlar. There are better riders in Poland than Wozniak, but because Janowski and Pawlicki last year had doctor's certificate to prove that they were not feeling well enough to represent Poland in a "mickey mouse'" international, he rejected them this year Poland's representatives in a FIM event. Shame.

I like it, I like it...

Here he goes again...If Emil is the best rider then he had opportunity to prove in eight GP rounds. ...and please, don't call it "cup", because it isn't.

You call it "cup"... and I call it CRAP. Bring back Daily Mirror Tournament of 1973...then we can talk about CUP...if not that then a minimum of 5 riders from each competing nation...and if not even that, ten four riders as we used to have few years back...two ridewrs don't make a team... its a pair and I don't have argument with this. So don't call "cup", don't call it SoN, byt call what it is..Pairs Championship

Tai Woffinden, despite having broken hand, did his best to make sure that his team Wroclaw reached for bronze medal in the Polish Speedway ExtraLiga. He made available for Dan Bewley not only his engines from Ryszard Kowalski, but also mechanics, and during the two final matches personally supervised the progress.The effect was surprisingly good, because the young Bewley scored 23 points in two matches for the bronze medal and was by far the biggest surprise at the end of the season. Most importantly, the 21-year-old rode not only efficiently, but also very effectively, and confirmed that his problems at the start of the season were due to poor equipment and not fear of risky riding. (…)His position in the Wroclaw team will be rather unchallenged, because currently Tai Woffinden, Artiom Łaguta, Maciej Janowski, Gleb Czugunow and Bewley are sure of a contract for the next season. In recent weeks, several clubs have applied for the Brit, but Wrocław have told them that they do not intend to release him. (source: Przegląd Sportowy)

Stop spreading lies... To top averages a certain number of rides is required... and Pludra rode only once.

No he doesn't. ! To top the averages there are a certain number of rides required, and Pludra rode only once

It will... after heat 12.

Yes, he is. It does make a difference, doesn't it

I would suggest that in 2021 at least six rounds of the SGP should be staged by Poole's Pirates Perhaps then Steve Shovlar would have his way...and began commenting here with some sense .

well done to Max Frickie....and Jaimon Lidsey:-)

You were supposed be quite on the other big meeting oc the day

Boring Showlar...change your tune

It is...if you are "dirty minded" :-)