celticboy

Completely agree. I've knocked Tai more than once because of his prior performances and attitude, but he's focused himself this year and is taking the series seriously. This has shown in his riding and prep work. I'm very happy for him. Still not a fan of the person yet, but I'm still a die-hard Jason Crump fan and mourning his retirement

I'd consider it a legitimate term in place of "scrubbing off speed" or "using engine braking to slow down"

I think it was the old crime of "Being in front when a more popular/sponsored rider hits him"

Well this SUCKS. I've followed Crump since he started out (We're the same age), and he's the only rider I've consistently and emphatically rooted for each and every time. Leigh Adams was the next closet. I guess time is catching up and I'm seeing my heroes getting old too. The sad part is, I haven't seen anyone yet that I feel the same way about. There's plenty of good riders, but none of them stir the same loyalty. Personally, I'd much rather have seen a certain Polish rider of intedertiminate manliness leave the sport. (I appreciate the guys talent on the bike, it's his attitude, demeanour and behaviour that leaves a sour taste) Good luck Jase, come back to the UK to ride and we'll see you right.

most sports have consequences if you are abusive to the referees. Maybe it's time the hotline to the ref's box was removed. And maybe it's time for pedersen to actually get hit with a DQ for his reactions.

Are we looking at a 0 point meeting from Harris?

Yes, there definitely SHOULD be a British Rider in the GP series, providing he or she is there on merit. I'd do away with the popularity contest that the wild card selection is, and base it on the preceding season's performance. Perhaps a "seeding" approach would be best. the top 8 in the championship this year would be seeded 1-8. The Under 21 Champ would be seeded 9 (unless he is already in the top 8, then the 2nd placed in that championship would be seeded 9). Then the next 6 would be seeded based on their finishing international average for the season. The final wild card place for each GP should be doled as 1 appearance per country, and for countries that have multiple GPS (poland etc), then the appearance would be by the highest averaging rider for that country. This would give aussies & americans a chance. The host countr can decide which event their home rider will appear at.

Except when she's waving them in the air

But the ref can't start it till the marshall is out of the way, and his delaying just adds to the problem, especially when he walks in front of riders who are prepped.

Track looks awful & start marshall needs a smack upside the head. He's the one delaying starts by tryng to squeeze between riders instead of either moving them further apart or moving to a different postition so he's not looking like an idiot

According to the FIM preliminary programme for 2012, it's Slovenia & Germany for the first two races http://www.speedway.org/wm/2012/fim-calender.pdf

Well, damn, I find myself agreeing with Steve Shovlar. Something is amiss in the state of Newport. But he nails my point exactly, I can underatand coming back and winning races, but coming back and dominating so completely in 6 seperate heats. Every Polish rider had 1 race where they were miles faster than every other rider, and then they tailed off slightly. Gollob's 4th ride was baulked (thank god) by the riders in front, and he didn't get a clear chance to use the bike's straight line speed advantage. As for complaints from other riders, well, who pays their wages? Do you really expect polish clubs to keep riders who don't toe the line? same deal with sponsors. Right now, POland is far too dominant in the money side of things for the rest to get a really fair deal (hence 3 Gp's in Poland, 2 WC events in Poland etc.) (what's actually wrong with having the 3rd event raceoff in another country to share it out somewhat?

The only Pole I can't stand is Gollob, and that's on a personal level. I admit he's a very good rider, but his entire attitude has always stunk. As for the cheating, how else do you explain 5 heats where they were absolutely dominant, after 9 heats of nothing. First Gollob & Hampel had immense speed, then the other 3 had it identically at different points. They certainly didn't cheat all the way, just enough to get them equal. And before you say they'd be caught, can you imagine the FIM actually banning the Polish team because of cheating? They'd lose an immense amount of money and the officials wouldn't get out of the country alive. Sweden, Denmark & Australia made that meeting a lot closer than the poles wanted. As for the referee, that's the first time I've ever seen a ref change his mind after declaring a result. And I'll bet a £1 to a pinch of sh*t that the WC final will be back in Poland next year.

Despite the utter bullrubbish joker situation, the ridiculous machine doctoring and referee decisions, it was a good meeting. From heat 9 on, it was clearly australia not wanting to give in that kept the race alive. Utterly disgusted by the polish team. 5 obviously talented riders that felt the need to cheat.

I just find it bloody suspicious that the top 3 riders for Poland had massive leads in the last round of heats, then the bottom two riders do the same in this round of heats. All it takes is one round of wins (including a joker) and you're in top spot. I know they're talented, but it's just the sudden explosiveness of the domination that raises my suspicions. And be honest, would the FIM risk losing Polish fans money by banning the team?

Surely they should hand ALL Their bikes in, considering each rider has 3-4 of them. Do the FIM strip down each engine and test the fuel tank for additives?

Game over, Poland will win this, home advantage, definite machine advantage and "joker" points guarantee it. And watch next year's WC Final? Poland as well I bet.

How the hell did he do that? It was like he had an extra 100bhp over everyone else.

Nicely done Batchelor, and well done Iversen. Just a shame that Gollob couldn't have come last. Throwing his usual tantrum when things don't go his way. Pleasantly surprised to see Poland at the back, but at this rate, riders will have to come back next week to finish the WC, just so they can meet their league commitments tomorrow. Referee is a bit of a twitchy pillock and needs to be given videos of good starts and false starts so he can tell the difference. Mind you, with Australia having a couple of twitchers in their side, you can fotgive him for one error.

Ward tried to slam the door shut but was a day late and fenced Hampel. Fully deserved the exclusion.

There's making a pass, then there's wiping out another rider. He did have a couple of good rides later on. The first exclusion was the referee being a pillock, the second was completely Tai's fault for riding the man, not the track. If that had been Nicki Pedersen, he'd have been pilloried on here. Tai's got fabulous talent, but he's still young and lacking maturity to deal with the bad things that happen. He was pissed off with the first heat so wanted to really stiff the opposition in the second ride and lost a possible heat win because he let his anger blind him. Given another two or three years, he could be really good, but he could also end up being another British no-hoper if he doesn't learn how to ride with intelligence rathat than just passion and skill. He's not a dirty rider by any means, but he can come across as petulant.

Well, i was pleasantly surprised by the turn around, but it was a two horse race all along, and we threw away the first half and the joker. My views are 1 - Chris Harris - Excellent tonight, showed a lot of grit & determination, especially after 3 or 4 falls, but his gating is still a huge weakness. 2 - Scott Nicholls - Seemed at sea for much of it. Wasted his chance with the joker. I suspect this may be his last WC. 3 - Tai - Appalling first half performance. 1st fall not his fault in my opinion. 2nd definitely rider error on his behalf. Needs a much cooler head. I think so much has been made of his talent, it's gotten into his head. He's too young to deal with the pressure. In another 5 years, he could be an absolute class rider but he has a lot to learn in terms of riding tactically and being a sportsman. Do NOT touch the camera Tai. Ther's a good boy. 4 - Eddie Kennett - There or there abouts all evening. Showed some good speed & determination once his bike was dialled in 5 - Ben Barker - completely outclassed all evening. showed slight promises in the last race, but this was mostly due to lots of tinkering & freshness i think. 3 rides are certainly not enough for this to be a learning experience. Team GB as a whole has some talent, but there's a weakness there. The polish team are beautifully turned out, and I get the feeling that throughout the league, GP and WC series, there are few that can match them in terms of sponsorship levels, equipment preparation etc. They just come across as being more professional and that's why they're the best right now. We have a slight chance on Thursday if Sweden & Australia take enough points of each other, but Poland are looking a dead cert for the cup.

Wonderful meeting. (Sarcasm) Poland are going to romp this, Russia will be 2nd with 4 riders and GB are going to struggle to beat the Czech's at this rate. Referee is playing the Czech's side, Woffinden needs to be smacked in the back of the head and Barker is so far out of his depth, it's unreal. Kennett's managed to win but it's not nearly good enough from what really is a poor team

Just looked at the Sky sports live score.. Funny, I didn't see Harris in the semi finals. Whoever does that needs a good smack

I suspect a certain young Miss DB was going a little nuts in the last heat before the Semis... She does have a soft spot for Tai (shame it's in her head) He certainly did well (to screw up Crumpy's semi-final)