AndyM

Who says I am?

You didn't say that as such, only by inference. You did say that Olsen et al only pay attention to money. They are producing lousy tracks that make for dismal speedway, which are televised everywhere and give the impression that speedway is a processional sport. Olsen is paid to produce these tracks and if money talks that suggests that he believes this situation is satisfactory, unless and until someone pays him more money to produce deeper tracks. My question is why the people who ARE paying him believe that the tracks he produces are satisfactory and give value for that money? Some ulterior motive, maybe - other than saving a few quid on the extra shale?

Are you suggesting Olsen is being paid to make GPs as boring as possible?

Totally agree. International petition called for - let's use fan power!!

Nope, but what it indicates to me is that EL offers 31.25% of the level of competition you would hope to achieve if you hope to compete with the current best.

...but the following don't. Any conclusions from 5 out of a field of 16 riding in the GP tonight? Pedersen Crump Gollob Hancock Andersen Jonsson Holta Nicholls Walasek Ulamek Sayfutdinov

He has had some good GPs but isn't consistent enough. So for that matter has Nicholls. I agree, though it begs two questions: why does that apparently work for other riders, and how would returning to EL actually help Nicholls improve his game? Is he not getting enough decent competition, because there aren't be too many top level riders here to sharpen his game if he did!

But would coming back to EL work any better for him, even assuming he could get a team place at anything like the rate he would be looking for?

Can always contact him via his business of course! http://www.petercollinsvintagecars.co.uk/

Thanks for trying, Jim.

Indeed so, the cyrillic alphabet. Just as Chinese and Japanese names are often translated with different spellings too, for example.

I wonder if it isn't wiser for riders like Nicholls to forego the GP circus and stick to domestic racing instead. The myth is that you have a chance of glory and mega money, but clearly the majority struggle to make GP pay. Remembering Paul Scholes and others giving up playing for England to concentrate on their club, it's surely better for all parties for the likes of Nicholls and the EL clubs to be loyal to one another and forget the international scene?

Thanks for that. CM. Apologies would have gone some way towards mitigating a bad situation, but frankly there can be no excuses. If the track needed relaying then the riders should have been kicked off. Who was organising the event? Is there any professionalism among the echelons?

On the night Bridger did look better, tho Tai was unlucky to drop 3 points when leading - his fall seemed to follow some kind of mechanical failure. Having seen both at several tracks I'd have said that on balance Tai is the more composed of the two. He looked very uncomfortable in dealing with an absolutely pig of a track at Lakeside, and he wasn't alone in that. Of the two, I believe he has the bigger potential, though Lewis is also clearly a talented rider who can go far.

Think this discussion has been from the wrong angle. What we should be asking is this: what would it take for Scotty to be up there in the top 3 consistently? Other than giving up EL, I don't know what he has done to prepare but he should have been gearing up in a very big way. How about these ideas: Employ a commercial manger to get really big sponsorship deals with top companies to fund a massive investment in his GP bid Big investment in the best equipment, tuning and mechanics to get equipment up there with the very best Employ at least a part-time personal fitness coach to keep him at tip top condition through the season Employ a manager to take full responsibility for logistics and to keep his mind focused on the job in hand Employ time with Mauger, Briggo or another seasoned pro to work on his technique and iron out flaws Employ a sports psychologist to identify and iron out flaws in his personality that prevent him achieving his potential ...and that's just for starters! With the right backing, there's no doubt he could do a lot better, however low down we feel he is among the top ranking riders.

That certainly suited him as a rider, but how is it "more professional" or "better racing" for riders, fans, sponsors or anyone to have processional races on a track that gives no grip? That way lies madness and extinction for the sport!! Come to think of it, has anyone else heard him say that we need less dirt? I haven't!

I remember Olsen being interviewed about the disastrous GP at Ullevi in Gothenburg, where you will recall he did not have responsibility for preparing the track and which later proved so bad the whole thing had to be rerun. He said words to the effect that he always prepared the best track he could in the time available but where temporary tracks were required it was a very imprecise science and the results were never as good as when you had a solid base on which to work. Not that I saw it, but presumably last night was one of those occasions where he could have done with more time?

Thanks, Kid, but I get out quite a lot actually. Down your way via London yesterday, for example!!

Difference between what a rider is capable of on the day and his results. Are league averages from one country an indicator of which are the best riders in the world? Quite possibly not. That said, I agree that he isn't consistently capable of beating the best, week in week out. But what is he doing about that?

If they were all set up identically, surely that wouldn't be a problem? Sure, components can change but a lottery to determine who had which bike would prevent any cheating in advance.

Ho hum, so much for the British challenge again. Perhaps someone in the echelons of power will recognise that we should be supporting our countrymen and making a real breakthrough on the world stage....particularly in view of the actual winner of this GP!!

Have to say that the organisation of the turnstiles was woefully bad and didn't help anybody. When I was near the front, they belatedly decided to let people withthe right money come in through a separate gate, thus allowing people at the back of the queue to jump forward. The whole event was a bit of a shambles and couldn't have inspired any confidence among new fans. As for refereeing decisions, anything particular you were complaining about? Didn't seem too bad to me.

All I can is that judging by how you looked last night, you won't have a problem for a considerable time yet!!

With no disrespect to you, Bryn, I meant that there was a large pot hole on the second bend and a track almost totally devoid of shale. If that isn't underprepared, what is?

Obviously. And you haven't even met me, either!! Perhaps we should recall PC, Mort, Mike Lee, Dave Jessup and Malc Simmons?