tigerblues 10 Posted October 12, 2008 Well Smolinski must not be allowed to be the wild card next week, and the Poles have had their turn. So bring on Chris Holder for the Finale !!!!!!! NO! It's not Martin Smolinski's fault Ole Olsen hasn't got a clue. And if we're having a new wildcard, which we're not, then bring on Sajfutdinov. Why? Because it's his home track. Oh, and the small matter of beating Holder to the World U21 title. I like Holder but honestly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zonkers 7 Posted October 12, 2008 Wouldn't have been able to use Cardiff next week as there's a Heineken Cup rugby match there next weekend. You sure? Not according to the website. Or what about the following weekend anyway... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
screm 8,050 Posted October 12, 2008 NO! It's not Martin Smolinski's fault Ole Olsen hasn't got a clue. And if we're having a new wildcard, which we're not, then bring on Sajfutdinov. Why? Because it's his home track. Oh, and the small matter of beating Holder to the World U21 title. I like Holder but honestly 1st choice should be Smolinski has he hasnt done anything wrong and must be gutted but if there is going to be a change then it should go to the under21 champ whether he is in next year or not. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MRY 0 Posted October 12, 2008 Strange, isn't it, that all the forumites based in Germany at the moment have been reporting stonking hot weather, yet the BSI/FIM press release says that the combination of wet shale and low temperatures in the stadium meant that the track was not fit for racing. At least knowing that it was called off at lunchtime explains why it was that Rosco was advertising the footy at his pub rather than the speedway! I'm angry at the whole situation. It makes speedway look, as was aptly put in an earlier post, like a mickey mouse sport. The sight of Keith Hewen trying to explain why it had been called off - without laughing and calling it a farce - was awful. Chris Louis looked like he could hardly contain his anger, and appeared to be stopping just short of calling them all clowns. If, and TBH we don't really know what happened, it was a schoolboy error by Olsen then he must go. It's been bad enough seeing bald, slick tracks all season (because he likes them like that) and the ridiculously dangerous track he prepared at Gothenburg. It was very hot for October (21c when we left around 2pm), but it wasn't that hot in the stadium unless you were directly in the sunlight (but the opening isn't really that big). There was a decent breeze blowing under the grandstand where the pitch is taken out, but obviously none of that gets to the track because of the fence around the outside. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
markpoulton 1 Posted October 12, 2008 You sure? Not according to the website. Or what about the following weekend anyway... Millennium Stadium next weekend Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
THE Wolverine 0 Posted October 12, 2008 Exactly. Ignoramus. R Sole Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
colincooke 0 Posted October 12, 2008 Flight £136, Hotel £50, Car Hire £52, Ticket £25, Changing to an earlier return flight £55 admin charge – arriving at the stadium and discovering a complete disaster, priceless! Three of us flew out yesterday (Friday) from Heathrow and were scheduled to return mid afternoon on Sunday. Arrived at the stadium on Saturday morning to purchase tickets at around 10.30am. Everything seemed very quiet compared to 2007 when even early in the day there was a real buzz about the stadium. Still, the weather was absolutely glorious, the temperature gauge on the hire car read 19 degrees and it was most certainly t-shirt weather. Brilliant! At the ticket booth we found one window was open, there was no queue so we walked up and purchased our tickets – no problem at all. We were informed by the lady behind the ticketing window that meeting programmes were currently not available. Apparently this was because there had been a major printing error and subsequently the programmes were ALL being printed again. This seemed very strange, but hey mistakes happen and we thought we'd purchase a programme later in the day. Still things around the arena were eerily quiet, we walked the whole stadium and saw no more than fifty people, by now it's about 11am. Still early I know, but the place was just dead. We peered through the gates into the stadium and everything looked fine, the roof was open and even though the shale looked a touch darker than usual there was no reason to be concerned. We headed back to the hotel for some lunch and then planned to return to the stadium about three. Still the weather was beautiful. About 1.30ish we received a text from a friend saying that the meeting had been postponed. We thought this was a joke and laughed it off between us, the weather was glorious why would the meeting be off? Just out of curiosity we checked the speedwayworld.tv website on our mobile phones. Jaws collectively dropped when we read the official statement. We jumped in the car, drove to the stadium and parked up. The first thing that became apparent was the poor level of communication coming from the organisers. In the space of an hour, the trikes that were obviously scheduled to take the riders on parade showed up. Then, the Audi cars that were clearly intended for the presentation laps showed up. The Girl Band who were meant to be performing even arrived!! Spectators were arriving still expecting to see a meeting. There was no signs telling fans the meeting was off, there were no handouts. We walked to the ticket booth to get a refund on our tickets and the whole place was locked up, the shutters were pulled down. The fans were treated with utter contempt and the organisers acted weakly by fleeing the stadium and leaving sheer chaos in their wake. I understand if the track was dangerous then the riders can't race, I perfectly appreciate that but the organisers have a duty to ensure a surface is prepared that is acceptable. We paid £55 to change our flight to get home early, so in that sense we were fortunate to get away. I feel sorry for those who have stayed tonight, they must feel completely and utterly deflated. All in all it cost us around £320 each so a grand total of £960. That's a fair chunk of money for a completely wasted journey. So what you're saying is that when you went to the stadium nobody gave any indication that there was a problem & allowed you to purchase your tickets even though it was at that stage obvious there was. Utterly dispicable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CaptainMarvel 2 Posted October 12, 2008 Just to follow on from my post yesterday; last night in Dortmund (10 mins) from Vetlins arena Germany played Russia in front of about a 76000 sell out crowd in a world cup qualifier, this was also shown on national TV! any one wonder why no tickets had been purchased and the crowd was going to be so small and to read more of the statement today saying the shale got wet on the barge from Denmark - well every barge that has gone up the river has a cover on it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spanner47 336 Posted October 12, 2008 Cant believe sky didn't insist on an interview with bellamy or olsen, surely the paying public and the tv companies, deserve a full explanation as to what exactly went wrong, and why it was <apparently> impossible to sort out. But all we got was a short statement from bellamy. We felt last year was a waste of £150 as the racing was so crap, but at least we saw some and had a fun weekend. But on the bright side for those who can afford it, what a weekend next weekend, G.P. on a decent track on the saturday, and the 2nd leg of the polish final just down the road on the sunday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bellevueace 912 Posted October 12, 2008 Th GP sucks never been a fan of it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blazeaway 1,501 Posted October 12, 2008 Th GP sucks never been a fan of it. Well thought out and intelligent input. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MARK246 243 Posted October 12, 2008 Th GP sucks never been a fan of it. IMO no one's a "fan" but it's the product thats available. There are enough threads on this forum to prove the one day final was more appealing to the average punter, but it will never return. Next season this forum will be full of posts about which GP they are going to and all this will be forgotten. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blazeaway 1,501 Posted October 12, 2008 IMO no one's a "fan" but it's the product thats available. There are enough threads on this forum to prove the one day final was more appealing to the average punter, but it will never return. Next season this forum will be full of posts about which GP they are going to and all this will be forgotten. I disagree, I think most fans have embraced the GP's it's only the dinosaurs that just won't let the one day final go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trees 2,814 Posted October 12, 2008 Oh dear, I keep telling people they shouldn't support IMG! Nah I genuinely feel gutted for those fans who have chucked money away attempting to attend this meeting, apart from a day or so in sunny Germany I guess ............... Funny thing is though all the ribbing the BSPA get for their supposed unprofessionalism and this meeting was organised by the ultra professional promoters IMG and they have balllllllllllllllsed up BIG TIME! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MARK246 243 Posted October 12, 2008 I disagree, I think most fans have embraced the GP's it's only the dinosaurs that just won't let the one day final go. Most fans go to the GP's because, it's the only chance they have to see top riders racing each other, unless they travel to Sweden or Poland to watch the league racing. A monopoly is one way to sell a product but it isn't the best way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
