Swc Round 2 Coventry 14th July

[ylinenhare5-1 0]

Absolutely Subedei, his number of British titles is a testament to the lack of competition; it wasn't that long ago that riders with 8 point plus league averages were finishing way down the order in British finals, now we're lucky if anyone with an 8 point plus average is actually in the meeting!

 

Don't get me started on the British Final - used to mean alot and there was plenty of competition and the odd surprise. But now its either Harris or Nicholls and just depends who is in the better form. Tai Woffinden, who has made massive strides in a short space of time, almost won the British Final this year. It was good to see, but shows how bad the competition is IMO.

 

Nicholls seems more concerned with staying ahead of Chris, rather than concentrating on getting to the same level as his GP rivals - which he can't manage.

 

Will be interesting to see if both Chris and Scott can score even half what they did in Cardiff in the next GP.

[Jo_1515 0]

If olly is the best we have at the moment then its no wonder we are ad poor as we are.

Hes done nothing to prove he has any credentials to be considered. Other than it was at Cov.

 

This is what I don't understand. What has Woffinden done to show he should be considered? Yes he's doing well in the Premier League and the U21, but he hasn't ridden against the best riders to prove he can do it at this level. I'm not saying he doesn't have talent, but he hasn't proven it at the highlest level yet.

[hatcham 1]

Yes, yes, I can see that - BUT, my point is looking at last year's scores compared to this year just brings home how cr@p we were! Regardless of who our opposition were, I expected more.

 

truth is leanne,nicholls should have beaten all 5 czech riders,ljung and nermark,and picked up another 2 or 3 points from the rest,so 4 points was 5 or 6 less than acceptable,but i fail to see how the others failed to perform to their relevant abilitiy.

 

[leanne1706 0]

truth is leanne,nicholls should have beaten all 5 czech riders,ljung and nermark,and picked up another 2 or 3 points from the rest,so 4 points was 5 or 6 less than acceptable,but i fail to see how the others failed to perform to their relevant abilitiy.

Agree about Nicholls, completely unacceptable.

 

Harris, our other GP rider who has beaten Crump, Hancock, Gollob etc etc... he didn't even reach double points. This is his home track, what went wrong?

 

Lee Richardson, an EL and ex-GP rider, practically going backwards! Like Bomber, he's beaten the big boys on more than one occasion, so what was different last night?

 

Steady - ok, I didn't expect much from him, but two points, seriously? I kinda expected a tad more than that! His average at Brandon is a lot more than two, so I thought we'd have seen him score more than two.

 

Allen - did as I expected, and worked bloody hard for it, too!

[21st century heathen 220]

He's had it all too easy.

 

This season I agree, but it's not always been the case.

 

anyone know why Hamill & Herbie didn't ride?...

 

They've had some disagreements with the AMA over years. Billy is now, sadly, retired from European action.

 

But everyone seemed to think British speedway was being done a favour. John Postlethwaite could barely wait to get himself onto Sky Sports during the Elite League final to tell a grateful British public that he was awarding the global superstar and some other duffer free places in the GPs after another season of failure. And then everyone rushed on here to say how just and right it was that the global superstar was going to get another go. He's had over sixty GPs now and still hasn't won one. But, come the end of the GP series, if he's out of the top eight I guarantee you that this forum will be full of people saying he deserves to be in the GPs.

It isn't doing the sport a favour. It just means that British riders don't have to achieve, so they don't. Look at Hans Andersen. Kicked out of the GPs but came back stronger.

 

I don't necessarily disagree, but at least one Brit will always (at least for quite some time) get a nomination to pull the crowds. Like it or loathe it that's just the way it is. Scott is still by far the best British rider, although he did absolutely nothing to prove it last night.

 

If olly is the best we have at the moment then its no wonder we are ad poor as we are.

Hes done nothing to prove he has any credentials to be considered. Other than it was at Cov.

 

I meant the best option to go into the top 5 with the obvious top 3. The fact is that the meeting was at Coventry where Olly has a 7 point average and has beaten some good riders (incl. Crump twice this season). Pretty sure Tai hasn't done that.

 

[Subedei 0]

I don't necessarily disagree, but at least one Brit will always (at least for quite some time) get a nomination to pull the crowds. Like it or loathe it that's just the way it is. Scott is still by far the best British rider, although he did absolutely nothing to prove it last night.

 

You see, the guy lives in a permanent comfort zone where he doesn't have to compete with the best. Kicking him out of the GPs would either make him or break him. I suspect the latter, since he's been conditioned to believe he has a right to be there and I think it would destroy him if that assumption were torn asunder. Andersen gained strength from being ejected from the GPs, I doubt the global superstar would do likewise. But I suspect it's about time we found out.

Edited July 15, 2008 by Subedei

[MARK246 243]

I don't necessarily disagree, but at least one Brit will always (at least for quite some time) get a nomination to pull the crowds. Like it or loathe it that's just the way it is. Scott is still by far the best British rider, although he did absolutely nothing to prove it last night.

 

Best British Qualifier last year was Richard Hall and this year it's Lee Richardson. Why does Scott Nicholls get the nomination?

[Subedei 0]

Best British Qualifier last year was Richard Hall and this year it's Lee Richardson. Why does Scott Nicholls get the nomination?

 

Because he's a global superstar (in his own mind) and entitled to it. Just like he's entitled to barge riders out of the way when he feels like it. If they hit the fence, tough, they shouldn't have got in his way. And if the referee excludes him, well it's just so unfair. The referee clearly isn't away of the exalted status of the "chosen one".

 

[21st century heathen 220]

Sub - I doubt he has many 'get out of jail free' cards left. Especially if Lee qualifies. I suspect Chris would get the nod ahead of Scott, meaning he has to qualify again. As you say, that's no bad thing. It would make him re-group and take a long hard look at a few things. He has the talent to be easily in the top 8, but the application of that talent isn't quite right. There's a missing piece somewhere.

[21st century heathen 220]

Best British Qualifier last year was Richard Hall and this year it's Lee Richardson. Why does Scott Nicholls get the nomination?

 

Because he is the top ranked Brit in world speedway.

 

He has the highest British EL average of all currently riding Brits.

 

He has more British titles to his name than any other currently riding Brit, and is the current British Champion.

[MACK1 0]

He was a fantastic captain for Coventry, whether things were going well or not.

Had a quick scan through posts. Scott Nichols was and still is a great rider,but even he cannot control a bike with using only one arm(i.e.he had a badly damaged shoulder).It speaks volumes for the bloke's courage that he was prepared to give it a go.Make no mistake Scotty will be back and improving on that GP final place he earned at Cardiff.

[Subedei 0]

And as you can see, both the global superstar and his acolytes are never short of excuses.

[MARK246 243]

Because he is the top ranked Brit in world speedway.

 

He has the highest British EL average of all currently riding Brits.

 

He has more British titles to his name than any other currently riding Brit, and is the current British Champion.

 

The FIM have put a qualification system in place to try to ensure the best riders are in the championship.

Why do riders bother to spend money and time investing in the system, when the individual federations ignore

the results.

If a rider does not feel confident about his chance of qualification through the proper route, he should not be included in the championship

 

 

[Coventry_Bee 467]

 

It does make you think what planet people are on sometimes. If the GB team are getting comments like this even when they are still in the competition then god help them if they go out on Thurdsay. Everybody knows it wasnt a great show but look at who they were against...Andreas even struggled to get a big score and he usually unbeatable at Brandon.

 

The team picked was done in part i would say as it was at Coventry, but if he has left a few of them out people would be saying why didnt he use riders who know the track...

 

Last year Scott was being praised as he went through the card unbeaten, this year 2 weeks after a nasty crash, he is in some peoples eyes not worth his place in the team !!! Coventry fans who will have a soft spot for scotty after what he helped us win will tell you week in, week out how fast he is around Brandon. Bomber is just back after injury, Stead is so low on confidence its scary and Ollie is another comming back from injury. The team as a whole didnt perform and it is strange they all struggled.

 

They didnt go out to perform like that on purpose, i`d rather support team GB than say stupid things that are way over the top and uncalled for.

 

If on thursday we perform really well.......what then ??? will Monday be forgotten ???

 

 

Roll on Thursday...........

[superguest 194]

I think you should all look at what happened in Denmark over the last week, a mini WC on 80cc bikes between Danish, Swedish, Polish and Austrialian teenagers...where was the young British lads???...The SCB must have known it was happening because the ref was British. We've gotta put far more in to get any rewards like winning the SWC. I hope Denmark do win, they have an awesome team full of characters and entertaining riders.