Swc Event 1 - Rybnik

[Rob B 1,266]

(Reluctant) congratulations to the Aussies, same to GB - the best team by a distance. Really good meeting, improved when the track got sorted but spoiled for me by the ludicrous joker rule and Gollob getting 6 rides.

 

How can they be the best team if they didn't finish with the most points. OK each member may have scored a similar amount but the Aussies scored one 1 point without using tacticals which meant they were the best team on the night.

 

Also Wiltshire had an engine failure when leading plus that crash, they would have won by even more.

[Paulco 7,110]

Wonderful entertainment and well done great britain who more than exceeded any ones expectations .

Good to see the sole glasgow tiger kauko neiminen didnt seem overawed by the occasion and always seemed on the pace .

Hard to name a british star of the night cause they all did equally as well , but if you had to push me it has to go to sophies cleavage - once again outstanding

Dont worry about thursday if britain reproduce tonights form they will qualify no problem .

[rabbit 1]

Aah RobB but one of our guys was leading one heat with Crumpy 3rd when that race was stopped. Anyone can count back as much as you want with ifs and maybes but it's what actually happened that matters. Sure the Aussies won tonight but they don't look invincible. you make your own luck and I think the Reading track will be quite a leveller rather than a big pacy Polish track.

Edited July 16, 2006 by rabbit

[BritPete 625]

Suberb meeting. Australia would have won with ease had it not been for Todd's E/F while leading, and his fall when challenging.

 

Great show by the Brits though. Can we go all the way? Maybe, just maybe!

[Rob B 1,266]

Good to see the sole glasgow tiger kauko neiminen didnt seem overawed by the occasion and always seemed on the pace .

 

Yep forgot to mention that earlier, Neiminen did well, was always on the pace, just come back from injury also hasn't he? Practised at Belle Vue on Monday after the meeting.

[tony159 46]

Great team performance from the Brits tonight.

Not one of them didnt give 100% in every race .

 

Congratulation to the Aussies on their win at least the Poles didnt sneak through on the Joker rule .

 

Hope the rest of the World Cup is as good as tonight , what a great advert for Speedway .

[Subedei 0]

I assume Rybnik is the Polish equivalent of Brandon, with all the shenanigans at the starting gate.

A very poor performance from the Poles, especially Protasiewicz. They'll need to make changes for the race-off. But I still don't hold out much hope for them, unless Denmark can upset the Swedish applecart in Malilla on Tuesday. If they do, it could make for interesting viewing on Thursday (is there anywhere I can watch it in West Cumbria?).

I expect Team GB to win the race-off, so long as Denmark aren't in it. But Sweden, with or without TR could be there for the taking by the Poles.

Anyway, my assessment of the individual performances:

 

Lee Richardson - put his troubles behind him to do sterling work for the team.

Simon Stead - another who put in sterling work for the team.

Chris Harris - he never gives up and provided excellent entertainment and a solid score.

Scott Nicholls - can't fault his performance tonight.

Mark Loram - another excellent performance.

 

Juha Hautamaki - tried his best.

Kauko Nieminen - got himself into the thick of the action a few times.

Kaj Laukkanen - another who got himself into the thick of the action at times.

Tomi Reima - took a very nasty tumble, for which Crump could've been excluded.

Juha Makela - wasn't disgraced.

 

Piotr Protasiewicz - pretty hopeless really.

Seb Ulamek - did enough, I guess, but the Poles will have expected more.

Wieslaw Jagus - disappointing. I doubt he'll be at Reading.

Jaroslaw Hampel - subdued, but came to life in Ht 23.

Tomasz Gollob - wsan't making starts, but provided wonderful entertainment.

 

Ryan Sullivan - he's getting back to his best, but must've got sick of Gollob flying past him.

Rory Schlein - out of his depth a little.

Leigh Adams - what is it about Adams and his first race? He always seems to lose his first heat in Poland and then go unbeaten. Was excellent tonight.

Jason Crump - the guy is just on a different level to everyone else at the minute, but he could've been excluded in his first outing.

Todd Wiltshire - a encouraging display and he seems critical to team spirit for the Australians.

[Tactical Sub 0]

How can they be the best team if they didn't finish with the most points. OK each member may have scored a similar amount but the Aussies scored one 1 point without using tacticals which meant they were the best team on the night.

 

Also Wiltshire had an engine failure when leading plus that crash, they would have won by even more.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Depends on your definition of team I guess, but my personal view is that I'd rather have five blokes riding consistently going into the next stage than be reliant on two to score maximums or near maximums. The crash and engine failure were their own fault and actually worked against GB, as did the Finn's in the 4th heat and the Polish tactical impacted more on us than the Aussies, in my view. As I said though, no complaints with the Aussies who did score one point more and won fair and square, the racing or any of the riders, just that silly rule.

[Jive 47]

Absolutely superb speedway! No quarter given, close, passing and a last heat decider. An absolute joy to watch!!

Edited July 16, 2006 by Jive

[ouch 1,199]

That will do for me. I’m more than happy.

 

The Aussies cannot take any physiological advantage from this meeting, as there was nothing between them and Team GB. Todd e/f was accounted for with Scottys re-run, and if he hadn’t have fallen whilst in no-mans land then the leading brit would have won the race.

I’d much rather face the Poles at the race-off than the Aussies and its another match for the lads to ride together as a team. Hopefully they will keep in their minds the riding of the track under race conditions and take that knowledge forward to the final. From a personnel point of view, I’d prefer to watch a match with Team GB in than without.

 

I now know how it feels to have the 2006 vintage Jason Crump in opposition and quite frankly he’s a pain in the backside. It’s a daunting prospect when your lads have to come up against him.

Also from an Aces point of view I still think Stead get pushed about too much. He rode a good race to keep Gollob behind him, but too often he lets others dictate the race. Watching the meeting, if you beat Nicholls or Harris you certainly had to work for it with no quarter given.

 

If Middlo reads the thread then remember the next two meeting are in Britain, so we should prepare the track for our team. If you had to describe Loram, Nicholls, Harris and Stead then you would say they were racers. Forget what Olsen wants for the Danes, we’re running it so we decide.

 

Come you Brits!

[Subedei 0]

(Reluctant) congratulations to the Aussies, same to GB - the best team by a distance. Really good meeting, improved when the track got sorted but spoiled for me by the ludicrous joker rule and Gollob getting 6 rides.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Which, in fairness, hasn't just been introduced this year. Team GB, together with Australia, Denmark, Sweden and even Poland used the Joker at least once last season. It just so happens that when Team GB used it, Nicholls scored nothing. And I think Lee Richardson had 6 rides in the final, while Adams certainly had 6 in the race-off.

Edited July 16, 2006 by Subedei

[shazzybird 10]

they would have won by even more.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

But they didn't did they, luckily for them JC was in the final race anyone else and Markie would of been there and we would of been into the final. It's all full of if only but that's speedway

 

 

Hope the rest of the World Cup is as good as tonight , what a great advert for Speedway .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

100% there Tony even dragged in my next door neighbours kid tonight, he's hooked

[G the Bee 639]

I agree with the comments posted above about the doube point 'Joker'. It adds nothing other than a general feeling that an injustice has been committed when double points are scored.

Yes we were treated to a great ride by Gollob when he was on the Joker, but if Poland had gone through tonight then it would have been a travesty of justice. They were the third best team on the night by a mile.

The meeting was no more exciting for its inclusion. The fact the Aussies and Team GB were so close made the meeting exciting and it would have still have gone to a last heat decider.

I know that some would argue that Speedway is entertainment, and the joker adds to the entertainment value of the product. However, it's also a sport and in sport, teams that are not the best on the night should not be given extra assistance to win.

If the powers that be are genuinely concerned about entertainment I would suggest there are other areas they could focus their attention.

[ajh 0]

A great effort by Team GB tonight. Couldn't fault any of the squad.

 

Some of the racing was breathtaking and thankfully everyone seems to of come away unscathed after some horrible looking crashes. Thought Gollob was awesome tonight though turning left on Scott Nicholls down the middle of the straight was a tad naughty

 

As an aside from the action, it was good to see Craig Watson with the Aussie team. Any news on a possible comeback?

[Chivs 10]

Like Rob I enjoyed it from about heat 9 to 10 onwards. Some terrific racing tonight - such a shame we missed out by a point but thats the way it goes - the boys rode hard - but the Aussies just had enough.

 

And re the comment about the format and the aussies getting gate 1 in heat 24 and 25 - if the inside gate wasnt working very well then we wouldnt be complaining would we At the end of the 25 heats the Aussies had more than us - end of.