SPEEDY69

Touche! However I don't think it's fair as it depends which track is the last one on the calendar and also the way the gates were picked seemed made up on the night to me - mind you, I haven't read the rule book!! However, I think all three will be in the GPs next year and deserve to be and so the run-off was a little pointless in that sense. I know many didn't think Holta would get a nomination but I think, as Polish Champion, he should have, were it needed.

No agenda here I'm afraid. I'm not concerned how, as long as it was fair and known to all. Whoever was then included out of the three of them then I couldn't argue with it and neither could they.

Perhaps I saw a different race to others then. It appeared to me to be a mild nudge on the left side in the middle of the bend - many riders do not fall when receiving this type of contact which is very common on the first turn and was completely different to taking out a front/back wheel or t-boning. The real issue for me is why was a run-off held, especially considering the absolutely awful track where 'racing' was non-existent, with gate picks being blind. The WC is decided over many rounds, as well as qualification for next year, so some form of count back would have been the fairest way to do it (or a run-off on all the tracks!!!)

I'm still a bit confused why there needed to be a race off. EVery time in the past, as Chris Louis confirmed, when riders are tied on points the verdict goes to the one with the lowest starting number. Also, if they were having a race off, why did the same rule not apply for gate positionpick? Irrelevant in any case I suppose as Harris is guaranteed a nomination so no point worrying unduly.

Don't see how he can get another nomination as he was beaten in the qualifiers this year.

I think Holta will get a nomination if he doesn't make the top 8 - he is after all the Polish Champion and there was a precedent set a couple of years back with one of the Danes getting picked ahead of Andersen because he finished above him in the Danish Championship. The former Polish Champion has done well to get in to the upper reaches with good results in the last few GPs and I think this helps for Holta's nomination. I don't think Hampel deserves another lifeline - give it to a newbie. However, it was rgeat performance from Scott, especially from the dreaded gate 3 and I hope his usual adaptability remains when they hit the next one-off track to secure his position. If harris does well also it could see Hancock drop down and I think he'd call it a day then for the GPs.

Everyone seems to be forgetting that Hampel got knocked out of the qualifiers so if he gets a nomination then that system loses credibility as riders who beat him could quite rightly claim to be higher in the pecking order than him. I think Holta would get the 'Polish' nomination ahead of Hampel as he is the National Champion. Don't think Iversen, Dryml or Bjerre rode like they were even in the top 50 in the world at Swindon on Monday! Think only top 3 should be in for the next year, with riders 4 to 10 being seeded to the qualifying final, from where 9 places are up for grabs, leaving 3 nominations (if they must have them).

Went to watch the GP highlights on Sky Anytime but they only have 2 races!! A bit of a waste downloading the software!

Does anyone know if Sky repeat the GP later than the following morning, or if it's available to watch on demand over the internet? The reason is I am away this weekend at a wedding and all friends etc. will be there as well and no-one wants to leave their recorders on!

Thanks, didn't know that. I'll have a look later.

Don't think I am. You could use alternative stats from British racing where he's had 9 races against Adams and won 5, or 8 against Bjarne and won 6, what I am saying is that in team events these type of stats are irrelevant. In the 7 GPs thus far, Harris has outscored Scott 4 times and Scott outscored Harris 3 times and considering Scott was injured for one of those it's hardly "clearly has the beating of Nicholls" is it? (Scott also outscored Harris in the World Cup, which is effectively individual racing.)

Don't forget these are TEAM meetings, the priority for any of the Cov riders is that the team wins - they had achieved that before heat 15. Individual match ups do not matter, the team score does.

We've done the GP qualifying debate on here so many times. It will be interesting to see if Hampel gets a wildcard for next year as he failed to get through the qualifiers.

My mistake, it was the week before.

Who do you consider to be "the elite" As far as I remember one example was that he beat Leigh Adams twice at Swindon earlier this year and he used to beat Crump at B Vue, regularly defeated Hancock etc, not sure about NP but as they are in the top 5 in the GPs I'm not quite sure what you are meaning. As for Schumi's example from Sweden I believe he scored a maximum the previous week, when the great NP only got 9, very poor. The point is to use these examples is ridiculous. He is one of the most entertaining riders in the GPs and I much prefer that to a gate and go merchant and would have him in my BEL team over any other rider. Not sure why certain people are so concerned with him on this forum?

I agree, which leaves Hampel vulnerable as he went throught the qualifiers but failed to get through. If he then gets seeded because he misses a couple of GPs what does that say about the qualifying system - pointless???

I think Nicki is still a bit annoyed with Hans who was excluded a couple of weeks ago in Sweden for taking Nicki off.

Excellent performance from Scott in the Prague GP on a challenging track that put many riders off. Well done.

It seemed he was a bad loser, whining about the use of the reserve and also saying his bike had a problem - it could have just been that he was beaten fair and square by two riders in the final heat!! As for the use of the reserve, everybody knows Walasek, Holder & Kennett weren't injured but even so there was no doubting that the Poles were the best team. I doubt they'd have won outside of Poland but competing in your home country(Norwegians excepted) seems to give you a lift.

It seems there are a lot of things going on to help some of the more seriously injured riders and they are covered in the injured riders section.

It's in this weeks Speedway Star, but I don't know if there was anything in there about how to donate and don't have my copy to hand.

An even better gesture is that Steve Johnston is cycling about 170 miles in aid of Garry Stead. This involves quite a lot of his time, is physically demanding and outside of his job. Let's hope all these events get support.

I thought Jonsson was 2nd at the time Lindback fell off, so would have been through anyway? (Might be wrong though) All the same, had to smile about the Nicki description!

There is no way that Jonsson "took out Hans". As was said in the Sky studio, if you look at the footage it is clear to see that Hans was very keen on turning left out of the bend to try and prevent Jonsson coming through - this is something he is renowned for but it doesn't work when the rider is already alongside!

Scott has always considered his riding in England to be his priority over other leagues so I don't read too much into those figures - look at Joonas D's average in the UK compared to Sweden as one the other way round.