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Point for debate amongst a, so far, tedious meeting. Pawlicki moves and as a result Lindgren touches the tapes and is excluded. Pawlicki is warned by the referee. Is there a case here that if a rider moves, and as a result other riders touch the tapes they should not be excluded? The rider that initially moved early gets a warning and remains in the heat, the rider that reacted to that move is excluded. Is that right?

Well. well.has there ever been a more hotly debated topic? I have read through the posts here and there are many perfectly good and valid points. The biggest loser here is the sport of speedway, closely followed by Greg Hancock's reputation, which is now definitely in the bin! Like many others in this forum I have been watching speedway for many many years and seen many many races. I know what a mechanical failure, or a mechanical issue looks like on track. Watching heat 9 on TV Greg Hancock disappeared off my screen, he went that wide. Initially I did think it was mechanical but amazingly he found the speed again and "raced" to the line, didn't feel the need to go too wide on the last bend though! Comments on here saying proof beyond reasonable doubt are not necessarily needed at this point. We are not in a court of law. Not yet anyway! Everyone can only go on what they see, similar to any tribunal in sport. What was seen was enough for a riders camp to protest, an experienced referee and panel to agree, experienced ex-riders to comment that he "allowed" the pass and for the authorities to administer a suitable punishment. The only thing heard in his defence is "no-one can prove it" That's pretty much it. It's a bit like finding a dead body next to a man with a gun, and the guys says you didn't see me shoot therefore you cannot prove it. Hancock is guilty here. If he felt that hard done by then come on camera and say so, protest your innocence, show your bike to the camera, ride the rest of the meeting under protest if necessary, come out and try to win your remaining races and demonstrate what a racer and competitor you actually are. To walk out in a prima dona style strop is totally unacceptable, and adds to his guilt in the incident. (how dare you accuse me of cheating!!!)) To then insult the intelligence of the speedway public with such a lame and pathetic statement further exposes what type of character we have here. I would not advocate stripping him of the title, despite it being very funny, it would actually serve no purpose. We are talking about his behaviour in one meeting not over the series. Walking out of a GP cannot be excused under any circumstances. You are cheating the series,you are cheating the paying public and you are cheating the other riders. The riders involved in Hancock's last 2 heats had their chances of scoring points significantly improved. My view is that we need a statement of condemnation from either BSI or the FIM, or both. This then needs to be followed up with a level of punishment that befits the offence. My personal view would be ban from the opening 2, or maybe 3 GPs of next season. Send out a clear message that riders cannot simply walk away from decisions they don't like. It's a shame that the season has finished this way as I thought this years was a great series. Bit of an anti-climax with Doyle's injury though, but the racing has been good.

Potential dilemma on the cards here with the wildcard picks. My understanding of the selections is they are for quality riders who, for whatever reason, have missed out on a top 8 placing. Injury is the obvious one so Hampel, having won GPs and finished on the rostrum more than once is a definite candidate. Emil fits the bill too. Outside of those 2 it's difficult to see any other outstanding candidates, which brings us to the current crop, and potential problems. Say for example Pawlicki finishes 9th and misses out by an odd point. Is he going to be overlooked and a place given to a rider finishing 12th or 13th? based purely on nationality? That cannot be right. Personally I think NP will just about scrape into the top 8, Lindgren is already there so will be interesting to see how he goes for the remaining GPs, he has been pretty competitive so far though. Lindback needs to pick up, but with a GP win under his belt his wildcard selection is possible, I fear for NKI and Kildemand, with PK a slightly ahead due to his opening GP win. Zagar needs to improve rapidly with some seriously big scores to be considered, and I think we can say farewell to AJ and the GP stalwart that is Chris Harris.

Some interesting replies. As I said in the opening piece, its an enjoyable spectacle as it stands. I like the idea of national qualifiers, and if this could be linked to to national championships all the better. Imagine the British final where the the top 6,7 or 8 qualify, that would certainly improve that event. Not sure if it could all be fitted into a yearly calendar, but it's an idea I would endorse. My mine gripe at the moment though is the final. A rider who reaches the final should receive some sort of reward for doing do, so 4,3,2,1 would get my vote. Also any campaign to get the GP qualifiers onto TV gets my backing. Do BSI have any control over this?

I thoroughly enjoy the GPs. However there is always room for improvement. So here's a thread to add your own ideas. What would you do to change things, if anything at all. Here's a few ideas to get the debate going: Change the scoring in the GP final to 4,3,2,1. This rewards qualification with a rider guaranteed at least a point, providing he finishes the race Do away with wild-cards for the qualification rounds. Out means you are out. Reduce permanent wild cards from 4 to 3, increase GP challenge qualification from 3 to 4? Do away with the local wild card in all GPs. Let's have the top 16 riders competing If you compete in the GP challenge you are not eligible for a permanent wildcard pick the following year? These are just a few suggestions, not necessarily endorsing them as good ideas. Please add you own or comment on those already mentioned.

Some good advice given already. Main point I will make is to do it all yourself, do NOT use STT unless you have money to give away. We've done GPs abroad for less than half the price of the tours. Tickets can be easily booked on the Speedway GP website, as can flights using Ryanair, Easyjet or whatever one suits you. Hotels are easy for find, use Trivago (hotel search engine) to find best deals. If you don't find a deal you like immediately then just wait and keep checking back. Deals change all the time and you get some cracking prices. Travelling from airports to city centres is very easy, use local trains or buses, avoid cabs if you can. Check on trip adviser, loads of information about what train or bus to catch, or simply pop up a post here and ask. A good tip would be Warsaw, great stadium, easy to find, easy to get to and from and Warsaw is a very cheap city to visit.(nice beer too) I have not done Prague, but that too looks pretty straightforward. Final tip would be to be "on the ball" Look at the speedway GP website regularly for confirmation of the dates of GPs and book your flight (and tickets, if it's Poland) ASAP. Once the airlines get wind of a big event you can expect their prices to rise considerably. This can be avoided by stretching out your trip a bit, fly Thursday, return Tuesday for example. As has already been mentioned make a short holiday of it too. Good Luck and enjoy!!

Thank you for that, had a feeling it would be a non starter...shame as it looks a competitive meeting.

The semi final at Lonigo on 2nd July...anyone know where, or if, I can get live streaming of this??

Unfortunately this is the way most sport is going.. Plenty of cricket fans were up arms at the ashes series being on Sky. BT sport actually has a very good sport portfolio, I am a big rugby fan too and they cover it very well. On the plus side it has to be good for the sport overall that a big TV player is prepared to throw money at it, they'll not be concerned at who misses out, rather all the extra subscribers they'll get. I am with Virgin media and BT sport is included as part of my package. So if you can get virgin in your area might be worth exploring that option. I fully sympathise with those that'll miss out due to cost, but TV and sport have become very good partners of late and more and more sports and events will be going this way.

Well well, where do we start with this latest comedy of errors? Currently in my Warsaw hotel room after witnessing last nights farcical events. Last year I went to Tampere and Riga, so maybe I'm a jinx? Watch out Krsko I'm on my way there later this year! Last night though really did reach new heights of incompetence. The whole event has been completely mismanaged from the outset. Ordering tickets was an ordeal so the warning signs were there. The stadium is fantastic, the location ideal, in a speedway mad country. Great ingredients for a what should be a showcase event to kick off the GP series. There is, however, something called planning and management to these, or indeed any, sporting event. Without them you have chaos and that is what we were unfortunate enough to witness last night. So now on to the finger pointing, of which there will be plenty over the next few weeks. As is often the case no-one is quite sure where the blame lies, Race director? BSI? IMG Group? Track curator? Riders? bloke selling the hot dogs? BSI are the promoters and organisers so should take collective responsibility. Lets blame Phil Morris (welcome to the GP Phil!!) but who appointed him? and what was his remit for the event? plenty of job titles thrown around but not too much information on job description, and who has a say over his continued involvement? same goes for the track curator, who exactly is the top dog here? Who picks the team? Who said "this is how we;re going to build the track"? who ordered and manufactured the starting gate? who was responsible for testing it? Questions, questions for which I doubt there will be answers. Plenty of comments saying "heads will roll" and maybe they will, but we're not looking for scapegoats here, we are looking for a collective responsibility from event organisers to stand up and say "we messed up". After Riga last year nothing was really said. A short statement saying "can't be helped, rider safety, let's move on... blah blah blah" that doesn't compensate or explain anything, and we get a very similar one from last nights event. Time to come clean people and stop hiding. If you;re going to put an event on in front of 55,000 people and you get it so terribly wrong then at least have the courtesy to explain yourself...I won't be holding my breath though. I fully advocate the venture into big cities and stadia, speedway should be showcased in this environment and last nights attendance showed there is support. But if you cannot get the most basic of requirements right then you will always struggle. I wonder if too much focus goes into promoting the event rather than actually managing it? Number one on the list has to be the track. Can a good racing circuit be produced? if the answer to that question is no then you have to give serious thought as to whether the location is suitable. Fireworks, music, glamorous girls, etc etc are all well and good, but we don't' pay our ticket prices for that. We pay to watch the worlds best rider race. If you cannot produce a stage for that you have no event, irrespective of the environment surrounding it. Let's hope this really is the wake up call needed, making such a mess on such a big night might just open a few eyes...

Follow this link http://www.bilesuserviss.lv/eng/news/news/fim-speedway-grand-prix-in-riga-has-been-cancelled-by-the-fim-jury-16-08-2014/ Note at the bottom says money refunds accepted till 22/08/14, I'm pretty sure this date has moved. I took mine to the Riga Congress Centre on the Monday. Still no refund and I've sent them 2 emails both of which have been completely ignored. Unless something happens soon and refunds are paid out then I might suggest a mass communication with BSI asking them to get involved, although at the moment they seem to have covered themselves in teflon. Their performance on this whole issue, the cancellation and the follow up information has been absolutely pathetic. We really need to get hold of these clowns and kick their backsides.

Humphrey A is quite right here and that is exactly what I intend. Lets make a nuisance. Show BSI we will not be fobbed off with feeble excuses for their negligence. My point here is that an event was advertised to be held in Riga. Had it been advertised to be held in Daugavpils I doubt very much I would have gone. I'm sure there are several people in that category. It is a question of what was reasonable about the re-staging. Had it been Riga on the following day then there would be no foundation for any claims as it is reasonable, and well known, that GPs are staged on the Sunday afternoon following a rain off. That,s why I booked my flight back on the Monday. However to move the event 140 miles away, the next day, and offer no assistance whatsoever in getting there, and also involving a 7 hour round trip via train at our own expense is most definitely not reasonable. A key factor is also why the event was moved. If the track construction was properly supervised by BSI then it can be argued that the event could easily have been re-staged on the Sunday at the same venue. The point here will be to demonstrate that BSI have been negligent, which is why the event was moved, and not the weather! We have missed out on an event which we travelled and paid for due to negligence on someone else's part. If that can be proven then damages will flow. It is now a question of how much to claim. You cannot claim the whole cost of the holiday as it will be argued, quite correctly, that you actually had a break in Riga and therefore, speedway notwithstanding, you had a break. I have taken a company to the small claims court before, in similar circumstances, and won, you don't need a solicitor, you do however have to pay fees dependant on how much you are claiming. Herein lies the issue. I would guess that a claim of about £200 each would be the absolute maximum you could ask for in damages. the cost if it goes to a hearing will be around the £300 mark. If you win you get this back, if you lose it's gone. Before taking a company to the small claims you have to write to them, explain the issue, and ask them to make you an offer. A time scale of 14 days is usually best here. Explain that legal proceedings will follow should they ignore the letter or refuse to make a reasonable offer. From here it is the first to blink! Fortunately my sister works for Trading Standards so currently getting advice on this. It is quite a gamble and I am undecided on whether to pursue it. But we should all certainly write to BSI, as I have said before they have just walked away from this debacle without a single word of explanation.

Still seething after the Riga shambles but a letter will be on it's way to BSI once I have received my refund. I claimed this in Riga on the Monday morning at the conference centre where Bilesu services are based. Told its a bank transfer and I have to wait 10 days!! Also very concerned about the amount being refunded it looks like a lower exchange rate will be used to refund so every chance we will be out of pocket there. I'll be asking BSI if they intend to make up the shortfall. Also looking into a legal claim against them for cancelling and moving an event. We all booked in good faith to watch an event in Riga, to move it on the morning of the said event to 140 miles down the road cannot go unchallenged. Just seeking advice on this at the moment so not sure if we have a claim. We would not be able to claim back the full price of the holiday but I think damages may flow. Watch this space. On the issue of Travel Plus they are outrageously expensive so I choose not to use them. The same break can be easily booked for a lot less. However this is a personal choice for each of us to make. Just a point on that, the travel plus users were scheduled to have a city break day on the Sunday, which would have been very pleasant. Instead they were forced into a 7 hour round coach trip to watch something they should seen the previous night. Not my idea of fun! I am intent on at least getting a response from BSI, who appear to have gone into hiding. They simply cannot be allowed to walk away from this debacle without explanation.Time to make a stand.

Refunds can be obtained via the ticket agent, although this usually does not include the booking fee. I got my ticket via Bilesu services and refund information is available here: http://www.bilesuserviss.lv/lat/zinas/zinas/sportistu-drosibas-un-nelabveligo-laika-apstaklu-del-parceltas-rietumu-bank-latvia-fim-speedway-grand-prix-sacensibas-spidveja-16-08-2014/ I will endeavor to get an address for Paul Bellamy as I intend to write to him personally and seek a proper response to the whole shambles. Saying sorry here's your money back is not good enough. If anyone knows the address to communicate or an email then please post it here. I will post the letter on this forum for comment. It's time to stop putting up with this and demanding a fair deal and appropriate compensation where applicable.

Back in the hotel room In Riga. The whole saga had an air of inevitability about it from the get go. BSI have a lot to answer for here. Firstly blaming the rain is a cop out. Yes it rained heavily here but a re staging on Sunday would not have caused to much of an issue with anyone. We booked our break with that in mind, as I am sure many others have. Main question has to be how long have BSI been aware that a problem might be coming? I'll make the same comment with the Finnish GP that I'll make here. Why aren't these tracks tested well in advance of the staging date? It should be a requirement that tracks are ready well in advance for testing and verification by the BSI. To call off a GP on the morning of the meeting and then to re-stage it 141 miles away the next day is totally unacceptable. Many people have paid lots and lots of money to come here from many countries in Europe. To be subjected to this amateurish shambles reeks of incompetence and inefficiency. For Paul Bellamy to simply say our money will be refunded if you can;t make the re-staging is just not good enough. People will be out of pocket and will not get to see a Grand Prix which is the sole reason we are over here!! Had I known the GP was in Daugavpils I very much doubt I would have come over, and I am sure many others will be thinking likewise. BSI cannot be allowed to get away with this. Does anyone have an address for Paul Bellamy? I think a letter needs to be written and signed by several of us that made this trip but cannot get to the restaging. He cannot just make a one line comment and walk away. If we club together as supporters and let BSI know that people are angry, maybe we can make a difference and improve the Speedway GP for the future.