The Old Or The New?

[barrow boy 119]

If Saturdays GP was a one off World Final Hancock would be world champion, a worthy winner on the night but better than Pedersen!!

 

 

Excepting Hans Andersen in 2006 can anyone say the GP series to date did not contain the best 15 riders in the world.

I think there are 2 or 3 in there this time that might be considered to be not as good as quite a few others.

[Humphrey Appleby 13,961]

Effectively the series is dead and buried now with the Italian and German (again) rounds now meaningless

 

There are simply too many rounds. There should be no more than 6-8 GPs per year.

 

A couple of years ago the general concensus of those in power was that it had become tired and so it was tinkered with in an attempt to revive it's appeal

 

Hardly. It was a cost-cutting exercise so that riders could be given a pay rise without the overall prize money having to go up.

 

The problems then might show the 'owners' in their true light as being far from professional in what they do.

 

I have long been of the belief that BSI only look good because the rest of speedway is so bad. However, I think the SGP ultimately has limited appeal beyond a few countries, and BSI found they got diminishing returns. Probably still a reasonable earner, but whether it can deliver the return that IMG expect, I have my doubts. One wonders if IMG really knew what they were buying into.

 

[speedyguy 20]

New poll for oldtimespeedway:

 

Enter your vote today! A new poll has been created for the oldtimespeedway group:

Was the original world championship formula (qualifying rounds to a one-off final) preferable to the present Grand Prix format. To vote, please visit the following web page:

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oldtimespeed...veys?id=2091179

 

 

 

Any ideas on how the Poll is likely to finish?

[Ray Rocket 0]

The funny thing is, speedway is mainly run as a team sport, but we have this separate competition in speedway for the 'best' individual rider. I do wonder why we put so much emphasis on this area of speedway anyway.

 

With so many countries now running speedway teams and I don't mean national teams, perhaps we should have competitions involving teams from other countries, similar to the way international competitions are run in football. After all, we don't have a competition for the best individual World Champion Footballer.

[Parsloes 1928 nearly 495]

The funny thing is, speedway is mainly run as a team sport, but we have this separate competition in speedway for the 'best' individual rider. I do wonder why we put so much emphasis on this area of speedway anyway.

 

With so many countries now running speedway teams and I don't mean national teams, perhaps we should have competitions involving teams from other countries, similar to the way international competitions are run in football. After all, we don't have a competition for the best individual World Champion Footballer.

 

I agree.

The 1973 International Series held in the UK was surely the BEST tournament in the history of the sport and the only true, proper World Cup tourny there's ever really been: the WTC being on the '4TT, one rider per team in each race and therefore no team riding', format...

 

As the world indiv championship has become, thanks to the hopeless GP format, an almost pointless event, efforts should be made to make the World (Team) Cup the top event and have a repeat (in ONE staging country each, say two years...) of the '73-style tournament..

 

A World Cup Final at Wembley..?? Now that's a tasty thought!!!

 

 

[Humphrey Appleby 13,961]

I do wonder why we put so much emphasis on this area of speedway anyway.

 

In the days of the old World Championship, it used to be an interesting adjunct to what was primarily a team sport, and I'm sure it probably also helped promote day-to-day racing. However, with so many individual events these days, people just seem to think it's the be-all and end-all of the sport, even though it actually rides roughshod over the parts of the sport that pay the real wages.

 

With so many countries now running speedway teams

 

I don't think it's much different from the past, except that other national leagues have gained greater prominence and prestige at the expense of the British leagues.

 

perhaps we should have competitions involving teams from other countries, similar to the way international competitions are run in football.

 

Speedway is set up different to other sports, and is almost unique in that its competitors ride for multiple teams in different countries. That makes a Champions' League type competition impractical, although there may be scope for a European Super League or similar.

 

[Jeff. 2]

New poll for oldtimespeedway:

 

Enter your vote today! A new poll has been created for the oldtimespeedway group:

Was the original world championship formula (qualifying rounds to a one-off final) preferable to the present Grand Prix format. To vote, please visit the following web page:

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oldtimespeed...veys?id=2091179

 

Incidentally the original formula was not strictly qualifying rounds to a one off final, with qualifying points counting on final night meaning that the winner of the final was not necessarily the champion (Bluey Wilkinson actually won the World Final in 1936 but Van Praag was World Champion.

 

 

[Jeff. 2]

I agree.

The 1973 International Series held in the UK was surely the BEST tournament in the history of the sport and the only true, proper World Cup tourny there's ever really been: the WTC being on the '4TT, one rider per team in each race and therefore no team riding', format...

 

 

A World Cup Final at Wembley..?? Now that's a tasty thought!!!

 

In truth speedway is, and always has been, an individual sport, the team element is largely contrived and team results are purely an accumulation of individual scores, no one team members performance is directly affected by the ability or otherwise of those making up his team.

 

 

 

[speedyguy 20]

In truth speedway is, and always has been, an individual sport, the team element is largely contrived and team results are purely an accumulation of individual scores, no one team members performance is directly affected by the ability or otherwise of those making up his team.

 

 

That's very profound. I tend to agree with you.

[Parsloes 1928 nearly 495]

In truth speedway is, and always has been, an individual sport, the team element is largely contrived and team results are purely an accumulation of individual scores, no one team members performance is directly affected by the ability or otherwise of those making up his team.

 

I don't thinjk that is correct at all..

Team Riding is a vital part of Speedway!

Also historians will tell you that the creation of teams and team riding in 1929 saved the sport from early extinction..

The public simply wouldn't then (and still won't now...) come in sufficient numbers just to see nothing but individual events.. After the initial exciretement of the first flush of Speedway in 1928 the public were indeed weary of seeing the same riders competing for a variety of similarily named individual titles.

Team and Leagues saved that from being the case.

 

Your assertion that Speedway is purely an individual sport is really light miles off the mark!!!

[Ray Rocket 0]

In truth speedway is, and always has been, an individual sport, the team element is largely contrived and team results are purely an accumulation of individual scores, no one team members performance is directly affected by the ability or otherwise of those making up his team.

 

I know what you mean, especially as there are only 2 team members out there at any one time. However, they are, or should be, all working and pulling together, encouraging each other and as their accumulated scores, from both weak and strong riders, determine which team has won at the end of the meeting, it is not an individual event. In any case, I thought that the 2 riders out there in any heat, are expected to team ride.

 

Also, somebody in a slightly earlier posting, suggested there are a number of indivdual speedway meetings. Outside of testimonials/farewells and the 'Under' meetings, what are these?

 

 

 

 

[MattK 3,447]

I know what you mean, especially as there are only 2 team members out there at any one time. However, they are, or should be, all working and pulling together, encouraging each other and as their accumulated scores, from both weak and strong riders, determine which team has won at the end of the meeting, it is not an individual event. In any case, I thought that the 2 riders out there in any heat, are expected to team ride.

 

Also, somebody in a slightly earlier posting, suggested there are a number of indivdual speedway meetings. Outside of testimonials/farewells and the 'Under' meetings, what are these?

Obviously there's the individual World Championships (otherwise known as the Grand Prix), World/European U21, individual European Championship, European U19, Czech Golden Helmet (along with several other Golden Helmet events), each country has their own "final" i.e. British Final, Polish Final, Danish etc. as well Elite/Premier League Rider Championships and undoubtedly many more.

[Ray Rocket 0]

Obviously there's the individual World Championships (otherwise known as the Grand Prix), World/European U21, individual European Championship, European U19, Czech Golden Helmet (along with several other Golden Helmet events), each country has their own "final" i.e. British Final, Polish Final, Danish etc. as well Elite/Premier League Rider Championships and undoubtedly many more.

 

But in the main, in each 'main stream' speedway operating country, the version of speedway mostly held, is team racing.

 

I do accept the doubling of riders in teams in other countries would make life a little complicated, however, you could have a rule, that the rider could only ride in the team of his own country, if there was a doubling up situation. Maybe, that would encourage more British riders in the leagues.

 

[Trees 2,814]

no one team members performance is directly affected by the ability or otherwise of those making up his team

Yes I agree with parsloes, you are wrong because within a team the team members do help one another at the expense of their personal glory, it's part and parcel of team speedway. You've been bereft of team speedway so long you've forgotten what it's all about Jeff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You should come to Lynn if you want to see a team performing in the pits and on track ..............

[speedyguy 20]

New poll for oldtimespeedway:

 

Enter your vote today! A new poll has been created for the oldtimespeedway group:

Was the original world championship formula (qualifying rounds to a one-off final) preferable to the present Grand Prix format. To vote, please visit the following web page:

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oldtimespeed...veys?id=2091179

 

 

 

Poll results for oldtimespeedway

 

 

The following oldtimespeedway poll is now closed. Here are the

final results:

 

 

POLL QUESTION: Was the original world championship formula (qualifying rounds to

a one-off final) preferable to the present Grand Prix format?

 

 

 

CHOICES AND RESULTS

- No., 2 votes, 9.52%

- Yes., 19 votes, 90.48%

 

 

 

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