mikebv

Mmmmm... Hear what you are saying but don't agree... Tai isn't the same rider of three and more years ago... Hasn't been getting out of the gate well enough for two years.. Just hasn't got that 'edge' that the very best needs.. Lindgren an example of 'being ruthless'... Tai seems to be a 'good guy in the paddock' with lots of riders liking him.. Nice guys seldom win.. Great rider, the best GB has ever had for me without doubt, but not anymore someone with that 'winning is everything' desire..

And that is the frustration.. Obviously got the talent but almost only shows it when forced into it.. Someone as uniquely talented as Tai should be doing that run round the outside more often.. I just think he has gone 'slightly' off the boil and even a 5% drop at world level is massive.. Still a great rider, but just maybe is now (understandably) happy with is lot.

For those watching BT you are missing some commentary 'Gold' from Nigel and Kelvin... In these 'breaks' they truly go off on some tangents...

Watching tonight on the YouTube world feed for the first time.. Ukraine VPN Nigel and Kelvin are truly a tremendous commentary duo... The way they keep the conversation going and bounce off each other is tremendous..

Woffy misses gate.. Woffy rides around the inside and picks off points to minimise the impact.. Rinse and repeat... Woffy makes a gate and wins easily.. Rinse and repeat.. He seems to have lost his ability (desire?) over the past two years or so to pass anyone on the outside... Won't win the title riding like this, which will be unfortunate given he isn't too far away in 'real terms'.. Seem to have lost that extra hunger you need to be at the very top..

A rare warning for Doyley there...

My lad has played six pre season friendlies and has the first game of the season tomorrow in the North West Counties League... Playing in the FA Youth Cup Prelim Round on Wednesday.. Approx 100 expected tomorrow and 300 on Wednesday.. All matches played in Stadiums.. Social distancing an optional extra I believe from what I have observed pre season.. ..

Four main reasons I would think 1. Manchester is in varying degrees of lockdown week to week so planning an event there at the moment is very risky and has no guarantee it will happen. 2. Ipswich has around two thirds more capacity than the NSS so when percentage restrictions are applied you can still get a reasonable (and more importantly viable), crowd in.. 3. With Kings Lynn, Peterborough and Mildenhall all 'local' you have four lots of Speedway starved fanbases to pull from, which (with a good few from around other parts attending) hopefully will ensure all tickets available will be sold.. And 4. Ipswich might be 'in the middle of nowhere' but does traditionally at Easter get one of the largest crowds (if not THE largest single crowd), of the season at any track, so obviously have a strong underlying fanbase who show they will attend on one off occasions.. Put it all together and I would think the size of the venue, the amount of awareness of Speedway that exists in that geographical area, and the fairly low impact of Covid 19 to that part of the country, ticks a lot of boxes when it comes to planning and putting on an event that needs a crowd to be a financially viable...

Poland respecting Sweden's priority night there....

Good news.. It will help put any fires out...

Is Ipswich an FIM certificated track? If they want to keep it in the UK maybe they could step in if the 'test event' (British Final), goes well..? Might be able to get 50% in by then? If so, circa 5000 would be a decent crowd.. Be interesting to watch the Polish track experts around there too..

Wouldn't it be part of the Eurosport contract? If not, then maybe therefore a chance to stream it around the country on a PPV basis? Wouldn't charge more than a fiver though if they did.. The reason being is that one of the anomalies of having "no Speedway over here" this year is that I have never watched so much of it...!! Poland, Sweden, SEC, GP Challenge and the GP's... Almost becoming too much Speedway.. Having to record so much I am not sure I will get round to watch it all.. Best Speedway watching season ever..

Makes sense to plan a move away from Greyhound tracks.. No long term growth plan (no matter how good), will be delivered if you are relying on the sport of greyhound racing to provide you ongoing with their facilities to use..

Any system is open to rider manipulation and it can easily exist in the 'every point counts' system.. Riders could throw away race points to let other 'no threat' riders qualify for the top eight at the expense of riders who might beat them to the title.. For me, it would be better to have a full qualifications system for four finals than the current half and half differing process for the top eight and bottom eight that we have now.. Keeps it simple for the fans..

Great minds..... It would tick a lot of their boxes... Why was it changed? Presume there was a flaw in the cunning plan? Personally can't see one as it would deliver the winner getting the most points, and four hard fought final races...

Re the points system. . Should do a D Final, C Final, B Final and an A.. Keep it simple, top four to A Final, next four to B Final etc.. That way it rewards the best riders on the night for their performance v their counterparts, and the commentators can explain to those watching that each race counts to the riders final qualifying position.. 25 to the winner, 20 to second, 18 and then 16 to the A Final riders 14, 13, 12, 11 to the next four.. 9,8,7,6 to the next four And 4,3,2,1 to the D Final riders.. Two points difference per final to reward those who qualify for the C, B and A Finals.. And a big points tally to the rider who wins a GP, (to reflect that hugh achievement).. And the more GP wins a rider gets the more the likelihood he will win the World Title... Which is how it should be.. And the rider who crosses the line first in the Final scores the most points, Which is what the FIM want.. It would also keep most riders in with a chance of either going "up" a Final or dropping "down" a Final going into their last rides, and therefore potentially meaning a big swing in their final points tally (eg first in a C Final or last in a D would be an eight points difference), so should make for some great racing..

Fair comment.. Woffy's gating isnt where it needs to be head to head, but his natural talent will always put him in the mix.. With his eyes closed he is definitely top 8 given he is so good.. And he does very well at Prague where so many 'top riders in the Polish league' seem to not go as well.. Four would be amazing but not unrealistic..

Both meetings would make a great DVD.. At this level you truly are amazed at what these guys can do.. What a sport... The two meetings in Prague may decide the title... And Woffy seems to like it..

Well done Magic.. And Woffy in a great place to win another World title..

That will be it.. Gate three was by far and away the worst all night with hardly any winners.. But NKI and Artem knew it would come good in the semis..

Wow.. What a sport this is/can be... Truly awesome.. PS Why choose White?

I bet that pits interviewer is eye candy.. Hard to see with the masks on.. She certainly hasn't a clue about Speedway..

Those tyres are rubbish..

Awwwww, no!! I put Dudek down and meant to put Laguta.. Its those Polish letters that confused me...

The huge plus for the SGP was that every position in every race counted because every point counted.. Now it no longer works like that.. Maybe they should call the 20 heats 'qualifiers' to the Semi Finals and Grand Final?.. (As that is effectively what they are) That would then make it a bit clearer to the 'layman' watching as the scores achieved during the meeting for the riders then have zero relevance other than gaining their final position in the meeting if outside the top 8. Or their qualification for the final races if within the top 8 qualifiers.. Nigel and Kelvin could mention the heats as "Semi Final Qualifiers" at every opportunity to push home the understanding of what's actually going on.