lucifer sam

Interesting that the new system stretched out the field, particularly the top three from the rest. Last night, it meant the championship wasn't decided until the first semi-final instead of earlier in the meeting. But it could very easily go the other way. If you look at this year's European Championship, it went down to the last race. Had points been awarded on finishing positions, it would have been over as a contest after three rounds and Madsen would have won easily. I still prefer the old system. Had Bart finished on 8 rather than 9 points last night, then Woffy and Lindgren (both already qualified on 10 and 9 respectively) would have been looking at ways on how they could have eliminated Bart from the semis. Under a system where every point counts, that kind of manipulation was much harder. But we were one point away from it happening last night.

Whoever was the pit lane interviewer in Prague should be brought back for the whole series next year. She's miles ahead of the one we've had for the six Polish rounds.

How about Vaculik, Emil, A Laguta, Fricke and Nicki P? (Assuming the current order stays the same - if not, then Doyle and Madsen get a wildcard). That's not really bringing in any flesh blood, though. So Thomsen instead of Nicki P?

That's a shame - I was going to come down on October 17th. But, nevertheless, well done to Plymouth for getting a couple of meetings on.

For speedway, the government seem to have decided that the top two leagues are "Elite" and NDL downwards is "Grassroots". As other posters have said, it's largely down to whether most of the competitors at that level are deemed to be professional.

Let's hope it's October 1st.

Anyway, IMO it's fine to call it the British Final. Fingers crossed, that as a test event, it's not affected by this morning's news from the government. The BSPA have had to really jump the hurdles to get this on - let's hope all that hard work is not scuppered.

You are missing something - Cardiff 2020 was cancelled months ago.

I then looked at the previous two paragraphs, and I'm less sure now. I'm waiting to see what the FIM put out tonight

Hold on, let me quote the whole thing, where the third paragraph seems to contradict the first two paragraphs: Reaching the semi-final ensures a rider will go home with at least nine points. The third-placed semi-finalist who scores the most race points in their five heats will earn 12, with the other third finisher awarded 11. The fourth-placed semi-finalist who scored the most points in the heats will receive 10, with the other fourth finisher receiving nine. Should a rider be excluded or fail to finish their semi-final, they will be ranked lower than a third or fourth finisher who does complete their race. If both third or fourth-placed stars fail to finish, they will be ranked according to how many race points they scored in the heats.

Maybe not so simple, because the official website states: Should a rider be excluded or fail to finish their semi-final, they will be ranked lower than a third or fourth finisher who does complete their race. If both third or fourth-placed stars fail to finish, they will be ranked according to how many race points they scored in the heats.

Ah, so a non-finishing 3rd out-ranks a finishing 4th. Thanks for clarifying.

That's a bit bizarre - so they don't take their figures from the official standings? So I am right in thinking tonight it was: Lindgren 12 (3rd in semi 1) Laguta 11 (4th in semi 1) Doyle 10 (excluded in semi 2 - but after Madsen) Madsen 9 (excluded 1st in semi 2)

Were those standings right? Lindgren finished his semi - Doyle didn't. I think Lindgren therefore gets the place. Very poor if it goes up incorrectly on screen. Don't even the FIM know their own scoring system? EDIT: And thinking about it, Laguta's 4th is also better than Doyle's non-finish.

Major improvement in the pit-lane interviewer tonight - she knows what she's talking about.

I thought it was just a good gate. He hadn't moved before the tapes went up. I wonder how many times Todd Wiltshire would have been unfairly excluded under the current starting regulations?

The other two are still unbalanced - but the Oxford win is impressive because it's unbalanced and they still managed to win!

Best winning unbalanced performance: Oxford 47 Newcastle 49 from 1983 Both Rod Hunter and Joe Owen scored 20+1 for Newcastle - two riders scoring 40 out of 49 for a winning side! Also, unless anyone can find evidence to the contrary, the only time two seven-ride paid maximums were scored in the same meeting!

Any chance of BWitcher disappearing back to waffle complete nonsense on his Covid-19 thread, so that we can get on with discussing the Prague rounds. Intriguing couple of rounds ahead. Woffy is traditionally strong around Prague - can he come strong and get himself back into contention? On the other hand, not a track that Zmarzlik seems to like! But Lindgren seems to be the rider who is pulling out all the stops at the sharp end of meetings, which is critical under the new points system.

Anyway, just to summarise what a few seem to be missing: There’s a very rich heritage of Commonwealth riders in the British Final. From 1961 to 1974, it was, in effect, the British Commonwealth Final. Barry Briggs and Ivan Mauger won 10 out of the 14 championships from this era – with Peter Craven, Ray Wilson and Eric Boocock winning the other four. Briggo, Ivan and all weren’t considered to be foreign, but considered to the British. They rode for Great Britain in the World Team Cup – the 1971 winning squad considered of World Cup Willie, one Australian and three New Zealanders. Briggo even twice finished second in the BBC British Sports Personality Of The Year in 1964 and 1966 – he was considered eligible for the main award because he rode for Britain. British riders (and indeed from other nationalities) have competed in the Australian and New Championships over the years. Joe Screen finished third in the Australian Final as recently as 2008. Dan Bewley is the current South Australian state champion. Jason Bunyan holds a record 10 New Zealand Championships, and Andrew Appleton and James Sarjeant have also won it during the 21st century. As far as I know, none of these riders had dual nationality. Again, as far as I know, Rory Schlein, Jason Crump and Troy Batchelor all hold dual nationality. Jason Crump is a three-time World Champion and his presence adds quality to any line-up. Several leading British riders have turned down the 2020 British Final, and punters deserve a line-up worthy of their £20. Arguably the presence of the legendary Crump alone is worth £20. This is a rather unique year.

Blimey, so a legend in the shape of Jason Crump is announced and some are still moaning

Sigh - yes I know he was. And so were Barry Briggs and Ivan Mauger in speedway terms! Briggo even finished second as BBC British Sports Personality Of The Year twice!

Star Lady, I think it's decent value - I'll be watching.

No foreign winners in it. All British Commonwealth at a time the British Final was effectively the British Commonwealth Final and all Australian and New Zealand riders competed under British ACU licences, because they didn't have their own ACUs, which were only created later on. Ivan Mauger was very annoyed the way he was cast out of the British World Team Cup squad when England had enough good riders of its own. It made his 1979 victory with New Zealand all the sweeter.