GP Format next year

[Guest dontforgetoturnleft!!]

If we keep it as it is - which I would vote for - only change must be how grids are allocated for semi's and final (ask Mr Crump).

 

How about all riders doing a flying lap during practice, or an hour before the meeting, and the ranking for that counting as the highest in each semi has 1st choice the 2nd 2nd choice etc.

 

Also it should be winner of each semi to final and then 2nd and 3rd from each semi race in a last chance semi, 1st and 2nd to final. At the moment a rider seeded to main event can have two wins and one bad ride/bad luck leads to knock out wheras a rider from the pre main event can came 3rd of 4th twice and still qualify.

 

The fastest semi winner would then get 1st choice of grid, the 2nd fastest 2nd, 1st in the last chance 3rd and 4th in the last chance 4th.

 

What thinks you !!

[sjw ministerofport 1]

Got to say i do like the way the GPs are run, however if you think about it settling for second place is not what races should be about. And now the tacticle way of slowing down to get a easier next race stinks. The old system made it vital to score as many points as you could, the problem being with that is that towards the end of the heats you get riders who's chance of winning have already gone so they don't try so hard.

 

I certainly would like to see the old style qualifying rounds back, give every rider a chance of being in the GP's.

 

But if they don't change the system thats alright by me i will still enjoy it

[HenryW 1,178]

I definitely dont think they should revert to traditional 20 heat meetings, I love the current format.

 

Whilst it is undoubtedly fairer, with everyone meeting each other and a more even distribution of gate positions, it wouldn't provide nearly as much exciting racing as the current format does.

 

Since the introduction of the knockout system, the intensity of racing has increased dramatically.

 

The suggestion of using the current WU21 and WC qualifier system would be the worst option, where riders knew that they just had to do enough to make the top 8 over 20 heats to have a chance of winning.

 

How BSI can reduce the number of riders but keep the excitement is surely a key debate that they'll be having at the moment.

 

Hopefully they will come up with a good solution.

[tomhaines 68]

At least riders wouldnt go half way round europe just for 2 rides.

Not just Europe but the world... If they have just 16 riders, then the prize money, sponsorship money and other things are distributed between less riders and therefore each gets more. Shipping 16 riders equiptment to Australia, New Zealand etc.. costs less than 24 which makes a more global series very much more viable. Also it seems likely that each rider will get more than 2 rides therefore sponsors will be more interested. Imagine a 16 rider series, in the present series there are at least 10 possibly more riders capable of winning a GP. With less riders it will be even more exciting as you are guaranteed 4 world class riders in each heat, unlike a few in the present system.

[f-s-p 832]

I believe they are reverting to the tradition World Final format with each rider having a total of five rides and meeting every other rider in the process. This will then be followed by an A and B Final for the top eight scoring riders.

A and B SEMIFINAL, of which 2 best goes to the final. Thats what I think I know. The system they are using in the qualis.

 

EDIT: Ice racing system is different, and it sucks

Edited June 23, 2004 by f-s-p

[Guest richcovbee]

i understand that they are cutting the grand prix numbers down so that only the best riders end up competing. I believe they are trying to reduce the wild cards and also loose some of the lesser known riders. in my view this should make the grand prix better. A top class field is what every speedway fan wants to see

[rob 0]

Having less GP riders should benefit British speedway as there will be less fixture disruption. Teams with no or one GP riders could ride on Friday nights if they wished.

[Lioness 1,478]

i understand that they are cutting the grand prix numbers down so that only the best riders end up competing. I believe they are trying to reduce the wild cards and also loose some of the lesser known riders. in my view this should make the grand prix better. A top class field is what every speedway fan wants to see

Whilst I can see where you are coming from I must admit I felt the Cardiff GP was greatly enhanced by the performance of Dave Norris - a wildcard!

 

I'd say good racing is what every speedway fan wants to see - thats not necessarily the same thing as a top class field (although obviously that helps!)

[The_Stranger 0]

I like the idea of a series of 20 heat GP rounds where each rider gets an equal number of rides. Personally I dislike the elimination system. It hardly seems fair that some riders travel long distances to ride just two races (& end up out of pocket too), and supporters of a particular rider also travelling abroad to see him in two or three races only.

 

I'm not one of those in favour of a one-off world final, as I don't believe that the best rider in the world becomes WC with that system. Luck plays too big a part in it - a rider may not be able to compete if he's out injured at that particular time, or a rider may be riding with an injury or illness.

 

IMO if they run a series of 20 heats each round, where every rider meets each other it would be the fairest way to find the real World Champion.

[iris123 21,097]

I'm not one of those in favour of a one-off world final, as I don't believe that the best rider in the world becomes WC with that system. Luck plays too big a part in it - a rider may not be able to compete if he's out injured at that particular time, or a rider may be riding with an injury or illness.

 

IMO if they run a series of 20 heats each round, where every rider meets each other it would be the fairest way to find the real World Champion.

A rider can`t compete in a GP or 2 if he is out injured as well and that leaves the door open for someone who wins few if any GP`s to win the title Its the same with the system where a rider only has to win one heat all night to be the winner,as long as its the final

[coma 0]

I have to say I enjoy the current KO system, it is obvious BSI want to cut costs and get rid of 8 of the "also rans".

 

All we need to do now is do away with the system of behind closed doors nominating of riders for the series and go back to the idea of riders qualifying for the GP on the track, surely the only way to do it.

The reason there are 8 "also rans" is due to the qualifying system which takes place on all sorts of strange tracks across europe.

 

Getting rid of the qualifying system will mean far less riders missing league meetings and or getting injured. They will also save the riders wasted trips / money for which they get very little back trying to work their way to the final. They will be picked purely on their league performances in England, Sweden and Poland which will mean more effort and commitment to their teams if they want to be picked by BSI.

 

Only 16 riders in the GP's will also mean less disruption to the leagues and each rider will be able to get paid more money which was always one of the reasons many riders struggled when in the GP series.

 

I suspect the top 8 will remain in the GP's each year with 2 slots left for local wildcards to keep the local crowds interested. The remaining 6 permanent wildcards will be chosen on league performance.

 

How about BSI choose 16 potential permanent wildcards each year and hold one or two race offs in the afternoon of specific GP race days on the GP track with the top 6 getting places in the next years series and the other finishing positions deciding reserve orders. They could charge us punters a small fee to watch the event and everything would already be in place for the event so no extra expenses.

The riders that could actually ride the tracks used in the GP series would be the ones to qualify rather than those that can ride a couple of tracks in outer Mongolia.

[Steve Shovlar 10,450]

What a shame if they revert to the old 20 heats, two semis and a final. The current setup is excellent. Sudden death, two thirds and your out brings early excitment to a meeting and the 20 heat formula cannot acheive this at all.

 

keep it as it is I say.

[Kevin Meynell 2]

They find something that really works well, so they change it.

The trouble is that the current format isn't working well. There aren't enough quality riders at the moment, and the Pre-Main Event is just a waste of space. You also have the problem that riders only have to finish second in each race to progress, and often attempt to manipulate their positions in order to get a favourable gate in their next heat.

 

The other problem with having 24 riders are that you have to pay out more prize money, and it makes non-European GPs prohibitively expensive. I also suspect that by scrapping the qualifying rounds and reducing the number of riders, it'll persuade British speedway not to take the decision to ban them. If that happened, I imagine a number of riders would withdraw because the SGP certainly doesn't pay enough for riders to ride in full-time.

 

The knockout format was a good experiment, but I think it's well and truly run its course now. I think the proposed new format is the standard 20 heats followed by knockout Semi-Finals and Final.

[Grachan 7,365]

So you could still fail to win a race all evening and win the final then! Unless they going to do things like carry over race points etc etc, which will become very complicated, particularly for casual observers.

 

Speedway die-hards like the people on this forum may well know and love the old 20 heat formula, but part of the beauty of the current format is the KO formula makes it relatively easy to understand and exciting to non-fans. I do agree, though, that the pre-main event races can drag a bit.

 

Maybe the previously mentioned idea of reversing the race formula would at least bring it to a bit of a climax though, bearing in mind they ride in World Ranking order.

[tomhaines 68]

How about BSI choose 16 potential permanent wildcards each year and hold one or two race offs in the afternoon of specific GP race days on the GP track with the top 6 getting places in the next years series and the other finishing positions deciding reserve orders. They could charge us punters a small fee to watch the event and everything would already be in place for the event so no extra expenses.

The riders that could actually ride the tracks used in the GP series would be the ones to qualify rather than those that can ride a couple of tracks in outer Mongolia.

That's a pretty cool idea. Prehaps less than 16 though. It could have say 8-10 potential wildcards with a kind of race-off system just before the normal heat 1. With the top 1/2 going into the meeting proper and the next 2 going in as meeting reserves (with 20 heat formula there will probably be reserves)

 

Having these local riders wouldn't cost much extra as they would belocal, would give the fans some extra value for money, also give people a chance to look at some riders we don't normally see and even allow riders to put themselves in the shop window for a team place in one of the big leagues.

 

Obviously if they want to try and move the series to non-speedway nations then this is not possible as there would be no local riders, but would work for the current rounds.

 

I'm pretty sure i have seen a similar format for Swedish championships(?) Where there is a pre-meeting race-off series to determine the final two placings in the meeting proper.