SPEEDY69

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.

I think he tried Brian Andersen either last year or the year before. I don't think the engine tuning is so much an issue but more the actual setup of the bike on raceday and changing things in reaction to track changes. Someone like Andersen could help in this regard - however Lee R started making major changes when his results weren't as he liked and too much of that can set you going backwards!

It's quite clear to me that Scott hasn't had his bike set up correctly in the GPs so far - the best was in Wroclaw. You can see from his progress down the straights that his bike is slower than nearly all the others. This will be even more frustrating for him than for his fans. The switch to GMs over the winter will take a bit of time to get used to but his pit crew haven't got it right yet - there is certainly no lack of talent/ability/bottle in the rider himself. He will have to do the GP qualifiers this year I think if he wants to maintain his GP place for next season, unless he can pick up serious points in the next few GPs. He does tend to do quite well on the smaller tracks, where the bike setup for top speed is less critical so I will be keeping my fingers crossed that he can.

It's quite clear to me that Scott hasn't had his bike set up correctly in the GPs so far - the best was in Wroclaw. You can see from his progress down the straights that his bike is slower than nearly all the others. This will be even more frustrating for him than for his fans. The switch to GMs over the winter will take a bit of time to get used to but his pit crew haven't got it right yet - there is certainly no lack of talent/ability/bottle in the rider himself. He will have to do the GP qualifiers this year I think if he wants to maintain his GP place for next season, unless he can pick up serious points in the next few GPs. He does tend to do quite well on the smaller tracks, where the bike setup for top speed is less critical so I will be keeping my fingers crossed that he can.

And therein lies the misoconception. Scott never said he wouldn't carry on, he said if he didn't make the top 8 then he didn't deserve to be automatically in. However, when offered a wildcard he accepted - he never begged for a wildcard, ro even asked for one, that decision was made by the GP organisers.

Think that both event 1 & 2 will be tough. Think Poland will need the race off to get through, but on home soil should win again but it all depends upon the state of the track!

To me all the riders have failed, except the ones who have won the world title - that is what they are all competing for and some have failed for several years. However for me it is exciting racing (and teamwork at club level) that I watch speedway for - I couldn't really care less who has a higher average than who, who gates better than who etc. (gating and remaining in that position for the rest of the race is generally extremely boring to watch). I will continue to support the Cardiff GP because at present it is the best supported of the series and British speedway needs this accolade/support for its international standing. I can watch all the others on TV but the atmosphere over the whole weekend is great and it's only a few hours driving to get there. The racing also provides plenty of incidents/talking points and the track ensures that riders cannot just blast round smoothly at full throttle, as you can on some of the tracks.

Moving the start time would have little effect in my opinion. Many people will stil look to stay over, so they can have a drink and a GP 'weekend'. The next day is Sunday so if you like travelling there and back you will have the pleasure of empty roads once you clear Cardiff for the return journey and only a small number of people work on the Sunday. I like the timing as we don't have to rise too early on the Saturday to get there, can soak up the atmosphere in the city beforehand and travel back on the Sunday. It will always be quite expensive whenever it's held but the Hotel situation is deplorable as they rip-off people because they know they can get away with inflammatory prices. The number of block booked rooms by the organiser/sponsors doesn't help the paying fans at all!

Having a quick look at last years scores, TG scored 40 points across 7 meetings and 54 points in 3 meetings. BP scored 64 pts across 9 meetings and 18 in 1. SN scored 63 pts across 8 meetings and 20 in 1. Under the new scoring system, the final points table should reflect much more closely the riders' position according to their average score, in the same way that league averages rank riders now. This show that some significant changes could occur but I stand by my point that it rewards riders who score well across the whole series in each and every race. This is how the league averages are worked out (not just on heat 15 results for example).

He may well be a legend and quality racer but my point was that all that really matters is the World Championship title and the same could be said for all those riders that have had many many opportunities to win it but have failed. I used it to illustrate that perhaps under the new system we may see a change in riders who qualify for next season by rights.

The new system does have its merits. All the GPs simply make up what is the World Championship and under the old system, doing well in just two meetings was pretty much enough to guarantee qualification for the next year (personally I think only the World Champ should automatically, but that's another issue). The new system, whilst seemingly unjust in potentially awarding more points for someone who does not reach the main final than someone who does, it does recognise all the points scored on the track. i.e. under the old system someone could get 25 points but only win one race all evening and someone else could win 6 races and only get 16 points. Another benefit from this system is that serial failures (to use a Sub expression) such as Gollob, may not do as well in that by simply doing well in a couple of GPs will not affect the overall scorechart as significantly as it does now. I am prepared to keep an open mind and wait and see what actually happens - it would interesting if a comparison from previous seasons could be made using this years points system.

We seem to have the same debate every year about who deserves and who doesn't deserve to be in the GPs. It's a commercial product and a commercial decision who is included. Those riders in the top eight are not necessarily the top eight riders in the world - a couple of finals and you're in pretty much, even if you ride like a novice in the other rounds (see TG for this). The old world finals were also flawed, with places allocated by nation so nothing's changed really. My priority is team racing in Britain, individual events have always held less appeal.

Subedei is just upset that his main man has not won the individual world title yet. As this goes to prove, GP wins are totally irrelevant - it's the title that counts.

I hope Scott can retain this prestigious title.

So, just like Andersen in the GP at Cardiff last year then. What goes around comes around!

I have not joined this 'debate' so far but this post sums up some of the complete nonsense being aired. If any of you have raced a speedway bike you will know that one of the most dangerous things a rider can do is change their line rapidly, like Andersen did. Sometimes it happens involuntarily but this was on purpose. Someone less skilled than Scott could well have ended up seriously hurt. There is an unwritten code of conduct amongst racers and Andersen broke it. It is not childish whatsoever to point that out. The comment about popularity at Ipswich is also a complete fantasy. I presume this is based on the 100 or so people that voted for Andersen in an end of season competition between all 7 Ipswich riders? Ipswich has around 130,000 population and the ususla Foxhall crowds are 1500-2000 so it's just a complete lie. So as for Hans behaving impecably, I suppose as they say, love is blind.

Papers today report that Andy Smith has now been given a place due to Lee Richardson's withdrawal. Go get em Andy!

Once again 'selection' of a rider is very contentious. I feel really sorry for Andy Smith being ignored. Why should it be up to Middleditch? He is only the England team manager and not the spokesman for the BSPA - surely they should decide? As I have and others have said countless times before, the only fair way is for riders to battle it out on the track and qualify that way instead of being nominated. The points about Danny King are valid here as well because as it's just down to nominations, whether they were in the British Final or not is immaterial. King is averaging much higher than Kennett and his selection for this, as well as the Cardiff wild card smacks of nepotism.

I can't understand why Daniel King isn't in the GB squad. He is averaging a healthy 6.00 this year and in recent weeks has been riding really well. He was runner up in the bRitish U21 and certainly deserves a place ahead of Kennett. These are the stats for the riders in the squad: 8.75 ~ Mark Loram (Ipswich…GB…35) after 102 rides 8.73 ~ Simon Stead (Belle Vue…GB…24) after 82 rides 8.68 ~ Scott Nicholls (Coventry…GB…28) after 100 rides 7.84 ~ Joe Screen (Belle Vue…GB…33) after 75 rides 7.61 ~ Chris Louis (Ipswich…GB…36) after 93 rides 7.07 ~ David Norris (Eastbourne…GB…33) after 95 rides 6.80 ~ Lee Richardson (Swindon…GB…27) after 90 rides 6.52 ~ Chris Harris (Coventry…GB…23) after 89 rides 5.78 ~ David Howe (Oxford…GB…24) after 90 rides 4.00 ~ Edward Kennett (Eastbourne…GB…19) after 24 rides These are the ones not selected: 7.57 ~ Dean Barker (Eastbourne…GB…35) after 83 rides 7.27 ~ Leigh Lanham (Arena Essex…GB…28) after 77 rides 6.55 ~ Paul Hurry (Arena Essex…GB…31) after 66 rides 6.00 ~ Daniel King (Ipswich…GB…19) after 76 rides 5.86 ~ Oliver Allen (Coventry…GB…24) after 86 rides 5.82 ~ Carl Wilkinson (Ipswich…GB…25) after 22 rides 5.71 ~ William Lawson (Wolverhampton…GB…19) after 28 rides 5.46 ~ Andy Smith (Reading…GB…40) after 82 rides 5.18 ~ Lewis Bridger (Eastbourne…GB…16) after 95 rides 4.92 ~ Shaun Tacey (Poole…GB…31) after 13 rides 4.36 ~ Phil Morris (Belle Vue…GB…30) after 88 rides 4.07 ~ James Wright (Belle Vue…GB…20) after 55 rides 4.06 ~ Andrew Moore (Eastbourne…GB…23) after 62 rides 4.00 ~ Andrew Appleton (Eastbourne…GB…23) after 17 rides

This is getting a bit too high brow for me, I think I'd better make myself scarce in case you get your Dad on me.

I see you are still bitter that Scott finished 3 places above Hans in the GPs last year then! Is there really any need to make childish comments against him all the time? Think you will find the reaction was louder because it affected the British team, which is who most of the fans in Britain support at the World Cup.

There were no rules, that was why the committee, whoever they are, decided upon the seeded places. What I am saying is that if the DMU have an input to that then they couldn't ignore Iversen. Poland is Poland and they will have decided on Pepe for whatever reasons. Kolodziej didn't even make their World Cup squad did he? I don't think Hans is a victim of anything here because he had the chance to qualify and didn't, but I think the system is wrong as I said before and that all places should be available via qualification. Can't wait for the Russians to start on here about their National Champion! They certainly don't deserve it any less! None of them qualified. Nicholls was 9th, Andersen 12th and Richardson 13th. We all know what happened at Cardiff with the 'dive' so anything was possible. I am not defending the selection committee here but pointing out why I think certain riders were or were not nominated. As I said before, no World Championship that I can remember has had the best 16 riders in the world in it.

Seeded places were originally there to allow a rider who had been injured and missed GPs to remian in the series next year. It has now progressed to seeding places according to Nationality. This is nothing new - in the old World Finals qualification places were awarded to different groups of countries and it was impossible to have a field of 16 Brits for example, even if they were the best riders in the world. Last year Poland need another rider and their reps, along with BSI picked Pepe. Britain needed two, Nicholls was 9th and British champion and Richardson was next best, especially remembering his World Cup performance. The Danes needed another rider and as Iversen finished AHEAD of Andersen in the Danish Championship, he was picked and he could rightly feel aggrieved if he wasn't. Therefore FALCACE it has little to do with enemies in high places but more with quotas and consistency. No World Championship has ever featured the best 16 riders in the world and the organisers always have business reasons for decisions. Even the top eight in the series could be filled with less strong riders - it only takes one good round to give the points total a huge lift and they could be mediocre in the other rounds but stilll get through to next year The only fair way to decide the field is a qualification system for all places and I accept this is difficult to organise fairly but at least everyone would have a chance - even if some riders chances were bigger than others!

He was left out because he didn't qualify after a poor year in the GPs (despite being helped by some acting at Cardiff) and finished 13th or 12th, can't remember. He was beaten in the Danish Championship by Nicki Pedersen and Iversen and therefore he had to be lower in the pecking order for a seeded place than Iversen. His league form last was also good, but was poor in the GPs. Qualification was open to him and he didn't make it, so whatever anyone thinks about the relative merits of any of the riders it's for others to decide. Personally, I think all the places should be based on qualification, with no seeded or permanent wild card entries.

People will never agree on who are the best 16 riders in the world - is that for that year or previous years, or in Championship events, or leagues? In my view Iversen was selected ahead of Andersen because he beat Andersen fair and square in the Danish Final. No one can deny that Richardson had a great World Cup, and reached one GP final. The only fair system for the riders is qualification rounds but that would be too unpredictable for the GP organisers e.g. If it wasn't held in Poland then Gollob might not get in, or Rickardsson may suffer a couple of EF's & be eliminated. Still, this was how the old World Champs used to be. I was also quite surprised that Lindback got a place (but that's just based on his very poor performances at Ipswich and some of the GPs this year). We can debate all we like but the GP series is a commercial venture and they have the power to decide some of the competitors for whatever reasons.