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GP qualifying - Changes needed?

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9 hours ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

Don't know how many times it needs to be said that speedway isn't football.

You're comparing apples and pears, not least because the Champions League is a team event whose fans will generally follow regardless of who's playing, versus the individual event that's the SGP. And not to mention that fans can be sure both teams will be playing in the final match.

If having qualifying events before the main event was such a good idea, why does the Champions League not hold its Semi-Finals and Final at the same venue? 

As I said, I'm sure speedway has thought of running two-day meetings before, and has indeed experimented with it on the odd occasion. But they obviously don't do it for good reasons, and the ditching of the SWC which had a qualifier on the Friday before the Final, is just another nail in the coffin of the idea. 

Both are forms of entertainment, both competing for custom but if you want a more direct comparison how about speedway itself.  Based on the potential for injury (or work permit issues if you want an example from today) what guarantees are there that the advertised line up at the time of purchase will be the actual participants?  Absolutely none.  You also have people who buy their tickets a year in advance.  Effectively they don't know how will be appearing but it's the event that they subscribe to.  i.e. a whole host of people didn't stop watching SGP when Rickardsson retired.  You'll also find that not everyone in Kiev tonight is either a Liverpool or Real supporter. You don't have to be a supporter of a team or individual to enjoy an event.  Granted you might not enjoy it as much as a supporter of the winning team but you enjoy it if the product is entertaining.

Sport has moved on.  It competes as a form of entertainment against anything else people can spend their disposable income on. 

If UEFA thought they could make more money holding Champions League semi finals at the same venue they would.  Alas those poor footballers aren't able to perform on  successive evenings so it's not feasible.

You've got me on that SWC nail in the coffin though.  They'd never replace it with SON which has finals on a Friday and Saturday night at the same venue.  Apologies for resorting to sarcasm but some of your arguments are wafer thin.

 

 

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1 hour ago, enotian said:

They'd never replace it with SON which has finals on a Friday and Saturday night at the same venue.  Apologies for resorting to sarcasm but some of your arguments are wafer thin.

Difference is that the same lineup is guaranteed for both days of the best pairs, and of course it remains to be seen how successful this 2-day event will be.

Like I said, if there was money in a two-day GP it'll already have been done.

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Spoken like a true innovator.  I look forward to nothing new ever happening ever again on the basis that it would have already been done if it was worthwhile doing.

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8 minutes ago, enotian said:

Spoken like a true innovator.  I look forward to nothing new ever happening ever again on the basis that it would have already been done if it was worthwhile doing.

There's nothing new about a glorified pairs competition. Was previously run from 1993 to 1998 and everyone was relieved when the proper team competition came back.

There's nothing even new about running it over 2 days - ice racing has been doing it for years.

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3 hours ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

Difference is that the same lineup is guaranteed for both days of the best pairs, and of course it remains to be seen how successful this 2-day event will be.

Like I said, if there was money in a two-day GP it'll already have been done.

Apparently the Poles are selling two-days tickets only for the SoN Finals on Friday and Saturday. They need to, otherwise the stadium would be half empty on the Friday.

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On 5/26/2018 at 5:38 PM, Bavarian said:

Apparently the Poles are selling two-days tickets only for the SoN Finals on Friday and Saturday. They need to, otherwise the stadium would be half empty on the Friday.

Of course that’s assuming that everyone buying the two day tickets actually attend both days.

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Was generally the same for the world cup, the race offs (often brilliant racing)  were generally very small crowds as the home nation wasnt there and most people just wanna see the 'Main Event'

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On 5/17/2018 at 7:18 PM, Tex said:

I know we could fill 1000 pages with the rights and wrongs of qualifying for the GP but  there's 1 issue in particular that I find a real shame... Speedway like many sports has a lot to do with who is on 'form' everything going right for them and therefore performing at their best. Cant help but feel that by qualifying 1 season for the NEXT season GPs, we get robbed of seeing a rider performing at their best. First time noticed it was in fact was 1995 when Joe Screen was on fire but then not quite the same rider in 1996. Hans Andersen a similar scenario in 2006/07 and there's been a good few others too. Cookie to a certain extent is a similar scenario this year.

So I guess the question is, would there be anyway of the  qualifiers being done at the start of the season? I know they need the winter to build sponsors etc & Its not a major issue, but was just wondering if there was any way around it?

I like innovation and every sport needs a refresh every now and then. But this is just change for change sake. I think the current system works well. Each GP has its individual climax and ultimately the best rider across the year wins.  I don't buy into the view that many in the pro-one off World Finals camp subscribe to that the GPs somehow miss out on the best riders that year because they have had to qualify the previous season. So often in speedway - and indeed wider sport - a competitor can seem an absolute world beater when outside of the harsh spotlight of a World Championship or Olympic Games. But when they do step into that spotlight, they are not quite as great as they seem. I like him, but harsh reality is something Craig Cook is going to have to swallow this year. There have been lots of others too...Chris Morton was my big hero and regularly he was in the top 3 of the averages across the season...an absolute giant of the British League, but on World Final night, he just wasn't at the races.

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36 minutes ago, falcace said:

I like innovation and every sport needs a refresh every now and then. But this is just change for change sake. I think the current system works well. Each GP has its individual climax and ultimately the best rider across the year wins.  I don't buy into the view that many in the pro-one off World Finals camp subscribe to that the GPs somehow miss out on the best riders that year because they have had to qualify the previous season. So often in speedway - and indeed wider sport - a competitor can seem an absolute world beater when outside of the harsh spotlight of a World Championship or Olympic Games. But when they do step into that spotlight, they are not quite as great as they seem. I like him, but harsh reality is something Craig Cook is going to have to swallow this year. There have been lots of others too...Chris Morton was my big hero and regularly he was in the top 3 of the averages across the season...an absolute giant of the British League, but on World Final night, he just wasn't at the races.

I hear what you are saying. I love the GP series as it is, was just wondering if there was anyway to make it even better!

Edited by Tex

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I quite like the qualifying format this year. What I don't understand is how the 4 SGP Challenge wildcards get picked.

Zagar chose to ride the challenge and qualified through his semi so does that mean that current SGP riders wont get a pick for the final as they could have rode in the semi? 

Can anyone shed any light on this. Seems really weird

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Do rounds for National titles as normal but early in the season like April/May

OVERSEAS FINAL - Top 8 British Riders, Top 5 Australians, Top 2 Americans and NZ Champion. 

 

NORDIC FINAL - Top 6 Danes and Swedes and 2 each from Norway and Finland.

 

CONTINENTAL FINALS - Done in two semi finals then a final. Top 12 Poles, 4 Germans, 4 Russians, 4 Czechs, 2 Latvians, 2 Slovenia, 1 Italy and 3 nominated. 

 

 

GP CHALLENGE SEMI FINAL - Top 6 from Overseas, Top 4 from Nordic, Top 6 from Continental.

 

GP CHALLENGE FINAL - Top 10 from Semi Final and riders from GP listed 9th - 12th plus 2 nominated riders to cover for injuries but if not required, 13th then 14th take priority.  - Top 7 from this meeting meet the 8 qualifiers for following year in GP

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