For or against the GP series.?

[iris123 20,912]

1 hour ago, bill94d said:

Please note that I quoted “titles”, not necessarily world crowns.

I am not sure what Ove could have meant. Not as if he admitted' anything though. He might have thought it, and I would say he was probably wrapped up in the ocassion

I wondered what he might have not won if PC was still alive and at first glance thought maybe the European title in 1965. But then no British rider rode in that, being seeded through to the World Final from the British and Commonwealth Final. And I doubt PC would have made up the 13 pt difference in the two WTC finals (1964+ 1967) . In fact it was impossible by my reckoning. So if Ove really thought that, then he was talking about some open meeting like Pride of the East style level

[chunky 6,071]

9 minutes ago, iris123 said:

I am not sure what Ove could have meant. Not as if he admitted' anything though. He might have thought it, and I would say he was probably wrapped up in the ocassion

I hate to pick holes in what Ove said, but remember that when someone dies, people say things without thinking, just in order to build someone up.

[iris123 20,912]

4 minutes ago, chunky said:

I hate to pick holes in what Ove said, but remember that when someone dies, people say things without thinking, just in order to build someone up.

What I said

Wrapped up in the occasion. I just think he was being respectful at such an event to honour PC

[OveFundinFan 4,136]

15 minutes ago, iris123 said:

What I said

Wrapped up in the occasion. I just think he was being respectful at such an event to honour PC

He could have been, many people do it. Though, some 12 years ago I got a reply from an email I sent him, and he was very respectful to Peter, and I think that was genuine. On the track they put complete trust in each other’s riding, you could see that, the closeness of the racing I saw at BV was incredible at times - without touching never mind barging.

[customhouseregular 1,651]

1 hour ago, chunky said:

Yeah; when they missed the corner, and ended up in the Serpentine...

I typed Road... predictive text hijacked me 

[customhouseregular 1,651]

1 hour ago, PirateShip said:

Hyde Park? 

Must admit I would have loved to have gone to a Wembley world final especially '81 which was arguably the greatest of all finals. 

Comparing the old Wembley with anywhere else is always like comparing night with day. Went there for football but sadly the speedway was no longer there. 

Grr. I typed Road!

[iris123 20,912]

5 minutes ago, customhouseregular said:

Grr. I typed Road!

Funny. I typed in Castagna yesterday and it came out Cartagena. Then I looked later at the Poole thread and someone else had put Cartagena in, so I assume the same thing happened to them

[fatface 2,546]

3 hours ago, customhouseregular said:

The BLRC and the Internationale had great fields and were great meetings in their own way. But... the WF had drama and Wembley had magic. Most GP’s don’t have drama, there’s another one in two weeks, and Cardiff had zero magic compared to Wembley on my only visit to Cardiff. I can’t comment on other WF venues. Rose- coloured glasses maybe, but I have rarely seen a GP to compare with the BLRC. Hyde park was a magic night.

I agree with some of this. But I think it's telling to look at where the BLRC (or today's incarnation) is. It's a perfect example of what happens when a sport doesn't evolve and move forward. Today's Riders Championship is light years behind the occasion the BLRC was. The World Final was heading the same way at Norden, Vojens, Pocking and so forth. Without the evolution of the GPs, there is no doubt the World Championship would have been a pretty tepid occasion, untelevised in some British, Swedish or Polish backwater. Anyone who thinks the continuation of  World Finals would have meant massive Wembley occasions is kidding themselves. I got to a few World Finals....Norden, Bradford, Amsterdam, Bradford and Wroclaw...I can honestly say that all of them have been bettered by GP occasions I have attended in Cardiff, Torun, Bydgoszcz.

2 hours ago, chunky said:

The World Final may have had drama - sometimes. It also had a relatively weak field based on nationality.

Wembley had magic. Can't argue that, but why do we hang on to something that's been dead for 40 years? Even if we had a new Wembley track, it wouldn't get close to the old one.

Did you see the Wroclaw GP in 2019? Racing-wise - and drama-wise - it was the greatest meeting I have ever seen. And I'm not the only one on here to say that.

Agree. Some of the modern day racing in the GPs is staggering. You could spend hours scouring footage from the 70s, 80s on YouTube and you wouldn't find anything to beat some from the stuff served up by Zmarzlik, Woffinden, Janowski, Laguta, Sayfutdinov, Doyle and Lindgren. I admit to not be as invested in today's racing as I was in the 80s/90s...perhaps that's more to do with my age and other life commitments taking precedent? But I couldn't squarely look a modern day fan in the eye and tell them all the racing was better in the 80s/90s, it simply wasn't. 

Edited August 30, 2021 by falcace

[steve roberts 9,242]

30 minutes ago, falcace said:

I agree with some of this. But I think it's telling to look at where the BLRC (or today's incarnation) is. It's a perfect example of what happens when a sport doesn't evolve and move forward. Today's Riders Championship is light years behind the occasion the BLRC was. The World Final was heading the same way at Norden, Vojens, Pocking and so forth. Without the evolution of the GPs, there is no doubt the World Championship would have been a pretty tepid occasion, untelevised in some British, Swedish or Polish backwater. Anyone who thinks the continuation of  World Finals would have meant massive Wembley occasions is kidding themselves. I got to three World Finals....Norden, Bradford, Amsterdam, Bradford and Wroclaw...I can honestly say that all of them have been bettered by GP occasions I have attended in Cardiff, Torun, Bydgoszcz.

Agree. Some of the modern day racing in the GPs is staggering. You could spend hours scouring footage from the 70s, 80s on YouTube and you wouldn't find anything to beat some from the stuff served up by Zmarzlik, Woffinden, Janowski, Laguta, Sayfutdinov, Doyle and Lindgren. I admit to not be as invested in today's racing as I was in the 80s/90s...perhaps that's more to do with my age and other life commitments taking precedent? But I couldn't squarely look a modern day fan in the eye and tell them all the racing was better in the 80s/90s, it simply wasn't. 

I have to say I attended one Cardiff GP and to say that I was underwhelmed is an understatement.

[fatface 2,546]

Just now, steve roberts said:

I have to say I attended one Cardiff GP and to say that I was underwhelmed is an understatement.

Well, you can't please everyone all of the time.

I've been to around 75% of Cardiff GPs. I've seen incredible racing there, poor racing there and mostly, some pretty passable decent stuff. But every single time I have found the atmosphere in and around the stadium to be fantastic. Of course, everyone's different, but the consistent 40k crowd suggest I am far from being alone in my experience.  

[Midland Red 2,383]

3 hours ago, chunky said:

Did you see the Wroclaw GP in 2019? Racing-wise - and drama-wise - it was the greatest meeting I have ever seen. And I'm not the only one on here to say that.

Maybe…. but it was only a qualifying round, not a World Final 

[customhouseregular 1,651]

1 hour ago, steve roberts said:

I have to say I attended one Cardiff GP and to say that I was underwhelmed is an understatement.

Me too

[chunky 6,071]

4 minutes ago, Midland Red said:

Maybe…. but it was only a qualifying round, not a World Final 

Tthat's irrelevant...

[chunky 6,071]

2 minutes ago, customhouseregular said:

Me too

Quite honestly, leaving the "occasion" out of it, most World Finals have been underwhelming.

[customhouseregular 1,651]

1 hour ago, falcace said:

I agree with some of this. But I think it's telling to look at where the BLRC (or today's incarnation) is. It's a perfect example of what happens when a sport doesn't evolve and move forward. Today's Riders Championship is light years behind the occasion the BLRC was. The World Final was heading the same way at Norden, Vojens, Pocking and so forth. Without the evolution of the GPs, there is no doubt the World Championship would have been a pretty tepid occasion, untelevised in some British, Swedish or Polish backwater. Anyone who thinks the continuation of  World Finals would have meant massive Wembley occasions is kidding themselves. I got to a few World Finals....Norden, Bradford, Amsterdam, Bradford and Wroclaw...I can honestly say that all of them have been bettered by GP occasions I have attended in Cardiff, Torun, Bydgoszcz.

Agree. Some of the modern day racing in the GPs is staggering. You could spend hours scouring footage from the 70s, 80s on YouTube and you wouldn't find anything to beat some from the stuff served up by Zmarzlik, Woffinden, Janowski, Laguta, Sayfutdinov, Doyle and Lindgren. I admit to not be as invested in today's racing as I was in the 80s/90s...perhaps that's more to do with my age and other life commitments taking precedent? But I couldn't squarely look a modern day fan in the eye and tell them all the racing was better in the 80s/90s, it simply wasn't. 

I admit the only WF’s I attended were at Wembley and my attendance at meetings were spasmodic post-1981. Had WF’s at Wembley continued post-1981 would successive finals have been better and better attended?. I know I am a dinosaur and living in the past, but it loved my speedway in the 60’s/70’s. I really can’t say anything I have seen on tv in the GP era has excited me as much.