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tomhaines

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Posts posted by tomhaines

  1. Posted

    2 hours ago, racers and royals said:

    Anyone going to Riga beware !! The GP and the SGP 2 are both 12pm starts-which is 10am UK time !!! SGP 2 is on Friday 6th September and GP Saturday 7th September.

    Where have you seen this? I questioned the Riga SGP Instagram on this point (as the tickets say 12,00) and they responded saying fan zones open 12.00 but both meetings start at 19.00

  4. Posted

    6 minutes ago, Bagpuss said:

    What forecast is that? The Met Office is the most reliable one and its filthy on there from 6pm onwards.

    As others have said if you shell out money when the weather is unsettled thats the risk you take unfortunately.

    Weather forecast on the iPhone - suggests 1mm of rain each hour from 6pm… I’d call that light drizzle. I really hope for BVs sake that their forecast is right or it’s an expensive mistake. 

    Agree if you shell out money it’s a risk you take, but what I object to is a meeting being called off on the basis of a weather forecast. Forecasts are often wrong and having kept an eye on it since Saturday it hadn’t actually changed much!! 

    I guess there are worse cities to be in and we’ll make the most of Manchester! (With or without the rain)

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    Bone dry with a nice breeze here in the city centre… defying the previous forecast. 7mm of rain due in the next 24hours according to my iPhone…. Surely not enough to postpone.

    I hope for Belle Vue’s sake they’ve got a better weather forecaster than me, otherwise it’s a speedway shambles before we even start.

    Whilst I’m not advocating running in the worst of weather, I thought this track was supposed to be great with drainage and seem to remember the Covid year British Final was run behind closed doors in atrocious conditions. 

    Started another season with optimism, hopped on a train (£50 x 2), booked a hotel (£50) and pre booked tickets (2x£26)…. Don’t think I’ll be bothering again this season in the UK if I’m honest. 

  6. Posted

    4 hours ago, Speedtiger said:

    Fair point Tony. Still a bit odd attitude by BV manger as PC is a BV Ace? But its better to go were you are welcome. 

    When you read the book you’ll understand why… 

    Personal view, both sides need to grow a pair but PC comes out sounding very bitter at the end of the book (which is a shame as the rest is great). Whilst I don’t agree with BVs current position it’s their business to run how they feel.

    • Like 1

  7. Posted

    Any news/rumours on any likely date when we’ll find out the remainder of the calendar? Seems odd being this far past Torun and only having dates for Cardiff & Warsaw? 
     

    Is the delay going to be due to some exciting news or are they simply deliberating over whether Krsko or Gorican is going to capture the imagination of the paying public and create the ‘new era of speedway’ ;) 

  8. Posted

    8 hours ago, Grand Central said:

    Three pages in the Star this week with the deluded boss of Discovery events ... Apparently 2022 was the best year ever and any (VERY) minor imperfections were negligible.

    All in an interview with a totally independent journalist.

    And this is the problem with speedway (at GP level and below). Speedway journos are too entrenched with their paymasters… not dissimilar from some of our MSM during Covid ;)

    If the head honchos at DSE think that was the best year ever then ‘new era of speedway’ isn’t filling me with confidence. You’d hope outsiders would freshen it up - every conversation I have with my non speedway partner about the GP is “why do they do that/why don’t they just do that”… surely a professional outfit should be asking the same simple questions… clearly not… can the last person leaving Cardiff in 2023 please turn off the lights 

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    6 hours ago, f-s-p said:

    Actually he was rubbish, even when he had enough back up people in the pits.

    Me thinks this SGP2 is a good idea in principle. Having them riding in the biggest stadia without a crowd, having some chap who has NO IDEA interviewing them for tv and KT and CL trying to be polite in commentating makes it a joke though.

    There's this Jeff fellow in twitter who cant stop moaning how rubbish the Discovery presentation is. Dont tell him, but he’s right.

     

    Agree FSP, fantastic idea in principle but it just hasn’t worked. Will be interesting to see if they go for more of the same in 23 (likely) or do something different… it worked better stand alone but now it’s under the same umbrella I can’t see them wanting to promote additional stand alone events. 

  15. Posted

    :)Some good talent on show this afternoon in the Polish sunshine. Luke in with a real shout of being in the mix tomorrow. Looking forward to this evening. 

    A shame Speedway GP seem to have forgotten this championship is happening across all their socials and website and aren’t giving the boys the airtime and promotion their efforts deserve. 

    • Like 1

  20. Posted

    Random question, are Polish meetings generally well run in terms of timing or can they be long drawn out affairs like some of our meetings? (Granted incidents can happen to delay)

    Asking as it looks like Częstochowa may be at home the day after Wrocław GP with a 7.15 start for all the 2nd legs of the quarter finals and trying to see if I can fit it in and get to Krakow afterwards easily for hotel and early Monday flight.

  22. Posted

    A good entertaining meeting with some exciting talents on show - future looks bright for Czechia and Latvia on that showing if the likes of Gusts and Kvech can kick on. Adding to the likes of Salonen for Finland. 

    Concerning future for Sweden - where is their next GP rider coming from? None of their 3 looked like potential world beaters or special talents. 

    Positive outcome for GB but like the senior team, felt the body language on the podium said a lot about the mood in the camp - Flint particularly looking very hard done by to have gone all the way for no rides! Questionable decision on gates and lack of Flint rides - why pay TMs if you are just going to go as per programme (and GB have 3!).

    Looking forward to tomorrow but for the pinnacle of the sport and ‘new era’ the coverage is at times embarrassing  - can somebody please give Kelvin and Chris a calculator or programme… it isn’t difficult to follow and professional commentators should be able to tell us the implications of a race! Secondly they should have some knowledge of the riders to add a bit of colour to their commentary - “I don’t know a lot about him” isn’t a great look with all the detail easily available online. And finally, Abi… please ask one question at a time with simpler words when speaking to riders who don’t speak a word of English… the poor Poles had a glazed look as she asked multiple questions in one! 

    • Like 9

  23. Posted

    2 minutes ago, racers and royals said:

    Trouble is we are talking Speedway here- in Wroclaw no crowd for 2 semi`s and race-off- sell out final(if pricing right) and you want qualifiers !!

    Edit they have not been seeded as it has been said all season that the SON would be the determining factor in teams in the SWC(top 8)

    Not suggesting Wrocław is the place to hold the qualifiers… but if Germany are in the qualifier and it’s held at the right German track and marketed correctly surely the crowd would be ok? Likewise Latvia, Czechia, Hungary who all get decent crowds for one off meetings.

    Replace the weird and wonderful UEM meetings with a meaningful pathway and market it as such. 

    • Like 1

  24. Posted

    1 hour ago, racers and royals said:

    Speedway World cup in 2023 is now in Wroclaw instead of Torun.

    Poland are seeded to the final and the 8 teams in the semi’s and race- off are

    GB

    Sweden

    Denmark

    Australia

    France

    Czech Rep

    Finland

    Germany

    SON 2 will not be part of the Wroclaw event but will instead be a part of a GP weekend- venue TBC

     

     

    Seems strange to seed all 9 straight to the World Cup when the alleged mission of Discovery+ is to develop Speedway (yer right).

    Surely a qualifying round or two for the smaller nations outside of the World Cup cycle to make it to the competition should be in place - the likes of USA, Latvia and Slovenia could outqualify a Finland, Germany or France on their day…. Let alone the question of what to do if Russia re-join the fold in 2023 (albeit unlikely). 

    Ideally a ‘tiered’ solution should be in place allowing nations to ride meaningful competition against others of a similar level - with a pathway to the ‘World Cup’ and promotion/relegation between the tiers. (Almost like the UEFA Nations League). 

    For example:

    World Cup

    Poland, Sweden, Russia*, GB, Australia, Denmark, 2 x Qualifier from T1

    Tier 1

    Finland, Germany, France, Czech

    Tier 2

    Slovenia, USA, Latvia, Ukraine

    Tier 3 (run as pairs)

    Norway, Italy, Hungary, Argentina, Slovakia, New Zealand + others (Estonia/Romania/Austria/Netherlands?

  25. Posted

    On 7/20/2022 at 9:02 AM, racers and royals said:

    1st semi is 12 noon local time and 2nd semi is 7pm local.

    Thanks R&R where did you see this and any idea if it’ll be open to the public (can’t see why it wouldn’t be but nothing on GP or Wrocław websites!) 

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