iainb 4,863 Posted October 4, 2020 15 hours ago, iwright71 said: Gleb is Polish at present which effectively rules him out ruled him out for this year, but he wasn't going to get a pick this year anyway, it remains to be seen what nationality he'll be next year Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iainb 4,863 Posted October 4, 2020 6 minutes ago, Wee Eck said: I can’t see beyond top 10 - no one around to rival them. Too early for Lidsey, Kubera etc. For commercial reasons, the series needs a second Dane so Thomsen or Pedersen. It’s BSI’s last year so, will they go down the income maximising route and go with NP, or will they accept that he won’t be competitive at this level and go for Thomsen? Maybe Thomsen should get himself on the Monster gravy train because, regardless of what is said publicly, only a fool would think they won’t have an opportunity to give their view. I'm inclined to agree with you but you have to ask yourself what was the reasoning behind changing to top 6 from top 8 if you're not going to include the likes of Lidsey, Chuggers, Holder, Loktaev etc. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OveFundinFan 4,133 Posted October 4, 2020 (edited) 16 minutes ago, iainb said: I'm inclined to agree with you but you have to ask yourself what was the reasoning behind changing to top 6 from top 8 if you're not going to include the likes of Lidsey, Chuggers, Holder, Loktaev etc. It gives them more choices to make it better the following year. 2020 I think including for next year 7to 10 would be right, that leaves 1 to pick. However, could easily only 7 and 8 worthy of next year leaving 3 to pick. This year I don’t think there is 3 riders outside the current lot ready for a full season. Nicki P looking good for the 1 pick left, that might work in Freddie’s favour next year as NP could be a big spoiler. Edited October 4, 2020 by OveFundinFan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norbold 7,053 Posted October 4, 2020 All of this does beg the question, why the number of automatic qualifiers was reduced from 8 to 6. Even when it was 8, it was usually the case that numbers 9 & 10 got a pick. With only 6 qualifiers, it makes it even more likely that nos. 7 & 8 are going to be two of those picks. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OveFundinFan 4,133 Posted October 4, 2020 Like I just said, it gives more choice, and you just explained it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fromafar 10,224 Posted October 4, 2020 (edited) To be honest you can’t really see any reason why the top 9 shouldn’t be included next season,they are still the best in the World at that level.New riders struggle to make an impact over the whole seriesIMO.This years Top 4 are still the most consistent in the World. Vaculik and Emil have been disappointing and lacking consistency this year and I personally think Madsen is struggling with his back problems and riding conservatively this season( doesn’t complain about it though) Zager,KK and Bertzon won’t add much to the line-up IMo.Lambert is much improved this year and is interesting. Difficult to pick Wildcards,but certainly won’t make any difference to Top End of the Championship.IMO. Edited October 4, 2020 by Fromafar 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruno 1,790 Posted October 4, 2020 How many times this year did the 2 semi's not include the top 9/10. Not many I wouldn't have thought 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moomin man 76 171 Posted October 4, 2020 13 hours ago, KeirStarmerFan said: Russia's GDP on its own is higher than Poland, Sweden and Denmark's combined GDP. If the BSI are serious about cracking the Russian market then Grigory should get a wild card. GDP is a measure of total output per country, so on account of size of population, Russia will have a higher GDP than Poland, Sweden and Denmark. So does China, but I can't see any calls for SGP in China. Since 98% of the Russian population doesn't know anything about speedway adding an extra Russian, who has never shown any interest in SGP is not going to make one iota of difference to interest levels in Russia. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moomin man 76 171 Posted October 4, 2020 11 hours ago, gbrussell said: I was quite impressed with the Latvian Rider Lebedevs in the swc a couple of years ago. What has he done lately since winning the SEC? Sadly Andrejs Lebedevs hasn't done much this year, as a result of crashing into his own team mate (Robert Lambert) and breaking his leg, whilst riding for Rybnik. He missed the SEC (replaced by Timo Lahti) and GP Challenge through injury, so he won't be considered for a wild card. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iand 133 Posted October 4, 2020 1 hour ago, bruno said: How many times this year did the 2 semi's not include the top 9/10. Not many I wouldn't have thought Fricke who was 10th made 2 S/F, Zager,NKI and Chugonov each made 1. Emil and Zaculik who were 8th and 9th actually made 6 S/F each 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OveFundinFan 4,133 Posted October 4, 2020 So no 7 was Laguta, a gp winner plus other semi and final, 8 and 9 got into 6 semis each, and Fricke (in his first year) won a Gp (did I say it was his first year) and did another semi. Someone (try) tell me an intelligent reason why those four should not be in next year...... I will wait patiently. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
therefused 809 Posted October 4, 2020 (edited) Wild cards confirmed Laguta Sayfutdinov Vaculik Thomsen Fricke Edited October 4, 2020 by therefused Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AlexBrady 94 Posted October 4, 2020 No surprises - Laguta, Sayfutdinov, Vaculik, Fricke & Thomsen confirmed. I had a sneaky feeling that Nicki P would be back - shows what I know! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OveFundinFan 4,133 Posted October 4, 2020 (edited) So we got 3 fresh ones, Lambert, Berntzon, Thomson. Let’s see how they go.i happy with the 11from this year (Including Zagar) ,they experienced enough to give it a go, like they have this year just finished. It’s a swop of Lindback for Kaszperak......... which Kristoff wil we get Edited October 4, 2020 by OveFundinFan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
szkocjasid 2,840 Posted October 4, 2020 (edited) On 10/4/2020 at 2:07 AM, gbrussell said: On another note i would like to see riders in the GP field barred from entering the qualifying rounds held in the same season so they can't sneak back in through the back door for the next season. This would open the door for more riders on the way up rather than having riders in the series who rarely threaten to make the top 6 (formerly 8) but keep getting back in through the GP Challenge. Not sure why you should ban current GP riders from racing in the GP challenge, if a rider can't beat them in qualifying can they claim to deserve a GP place ahead of a current GP rider! Also if the top 15 in the World were in the GP's but 7th - 15th were guaranteed not to be in the next season's series it would be a much weaker GP the following year! Edited October 7, 2020 by szkocjasid 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites