phil g 0 Posted October 20, 2009 Does anyone know when the wild cards will be announced? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spook 28 Posted October 20, 2009 I WAS curious to see a consensus of opinion on who the world's top 15 riders are and how that would marry up to the 2010 Grand Prix line-up. Magnus Zetterstrom hasn't appeared on anyone's list and that is hardly surprising so does that add weight to the argument that riders should have to qualify or does it reinforce the seeding scheme? PHILIP RISING Well I think you have highlighted the area in world championship speedway which is still confusing for most....... the old world finals were supposed to be the top 16 in the world..... but we know they weren't with a quarter who definitely werent top 16 and another quarter who quite possibly might not have made it either if it wasnt for geographical quotas in the qualifiers.................. if anything the gp's make a better fist of presenting the top 16 in the world ...... but of course that is done with less than a 5th of the field made up from qualifiers... In an ideal world i'd only secure the top 4 and make the other 11 places come from qualifiers................ but unfortunately the world is a much more cynical, and media & corporate driven place I truly believe that IMG have it about right at the moment...... compare the Speedway GP with Moto GP and the difference is clear....... we have had 6 different winners this year, seven the year before, five the year before that...... It has been a long time since Moto GP experienced anything like that kind of even spread........................ and while this is taking place the world championship has been shared out between 3 riders for the last decade while a couple of others are specialists at top 5 finishes... this is normal for any motor sport.......................... and all this has taken place while IMG have been using a quota system with the major nations I feel sorry for the likes of Jarek Hampel who has not shown himself to be a good qualifier over the years and has paid the penalty.... since he missed out on the top 8 there have always been 4 poles who have qualified............ and now I can only feel sorry for those riders who come from nations such as Slovenia, Croatia etc because either the maths have to fall particularly their way when it comes to permanent wildcard picks or they have to squeeze into those 3 qualifier positions................. and for me this highlights even more the hot potato which is 'the brits'...... and IMG showing a need for them .... in particular the last couple of years where those round blocks have been looking a bit more square..................................... and its only going to get worse isnt it? since Ryan Sullivan dropped out of the GP's we have got used to the Aussies only needing two places... but with the scarily impressive conveyor belt of talented riders now starting to kick in it wont be long until they need 4 places ramble ramble ramble haha ... so in short good luck to Magnus and he is already down as one for me to cheer for but I am also quite happy with the 15 riders that we are given from year to year with only the odd eyebrow raised..... if they can be given the track surfaces to put on a show, and a transparent working system in place to ensure fairplay with machinery.......then all should be well Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norbold 7,116 Posted October 20, 2009 I liked the old system they had in place whereas those outside the top 8 from that years series raced against those who'd qualified through from all the usual world championship rounds.....British,Nordic,Commonwealth etc...... You then had pretty much half the field qualifying, but it seemed a fair system. Why did they have to tinker with it? Was it because if it was done this way a nation like Britain(just usung us as an example) could possibly be without representation at the following years series? They did away with the old system to stop Andy Smith qualifying every year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pandorum 1,259 Posted October 20, 2009 Zagar, Lindback, Woffinden and prolly Andersen. I don't think any of the bottom 8 in the GP really deserve a pick but Andersen is likely gonna get one. Darcy Ward is an outside choice and if not picked the organisers should wangle a wild card for him because the Aussies miss out on that as do the Yanks if they had anyone worth a pick. UK has a good pool of decent prospects coming up but as yet Wuffy is it really as none of the rest are worth putting in. UK should NOT get 2 picks as we don't deserve 2. Slovenia has Zagar who has been awesome here this year and deserve a chance to see one of thiers in the mix. Lindback showed what he could do in 2 GPs and deserves a chance. Wuffy is pure class and has done enough this year to warrant a place and anyone who thinks it's tooearly for him is bonkers. Pavlic would have been in my four but he has been pretty much a disgrace to himself this year and needs to sort himself out bigstyle as he has a lot of talent. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian Hamilton 1 Posted October 20, 2009 Not sure why so many go for Rico as he is well past his sell by date in GP terms. Tai, Chris Holder are much better bets I feel and I think Bomber should get one more crack at it as I feel he was a little unlucky in some of his outings.; Certainly not Scotty. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ladyluck 1 Posted October 20, 2009 Magnus Zetterstrom hasn't appeared on anyone's list and that is hardly surprising so does that add weight to the argument that riders should have to qualify or does it reinforce the seeding scheme? PHILIP RISING It does neither. Many riders, whether in the top fifteen or not, choose not to enter the qualifiers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ghostwalker 1,859 Posted October 20, 2009 (edited) I WAS curious to see a consensus of opinion on who the world's top 15 riders are and how that would marry up to the 2010 Grand Prix line-up. Magnus Zetterstrom hasn't appeared on anyone's list and that is hardly surprising so does that add weight to the argument that riders should have to qualify or does it reinforce the seeding scheme? PHILIP RISING the question should rather be asked how many of those who have qualified for the GP via the GP Challenge have managed to finish within top 8 vs. how many of the WCs that have managed top 8? the three latest seasons (2007 first season with riders from GPC): 2007: Riders entered via GPC: Jagus, Holta, Andersen (Jagus missed out on top 8 The other two were in) Riders entered via WC: Nicholls, Lindbäck, Bjarne, Harris (Nicholls the only in top 8) 2008: Riders entered via GPC: Iversen, L.Dryml, B.Pedersen (none of them were top) Riders entered via WC: Harris, Jonsson, Lindgren, Kasprzak (Jonsson the only in top 8) 2009: Riders entered via GPC: Bjerre, Walasek, Ulamek (Bjerre the only in top 8) Riders entered via WC: Nicholls, Harris, Lindgren, Emil S (Emil S the only in top 8) that makes: 3 out of 9 GPC riders managed top 8 3 out of 12 WC riders managed top 8 Edited October 20, 2009 by Ghostwalker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HenryW 1,178 Posted October 20, 2009 3 out of 9 GPC riders managed top 8 3 out of 9 WC riders managed top 8 I think you made a typo or a miscount there...You listed 12 wildcard riders! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ghostwalker 1,859 Posted October 20, 2009 I think you made a typo or a miscount there...You listed 12 wildcard riders! tnks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
keef 105 Posted October 20, 2009 Crump Sayfutdinov Gollob Pedersen Hancock Jonsson Adams Zagar Lindgren Andersen Holder Harris Bjerre Woffinden Hampel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barrow boy 119 Posted October 21, 2009 Interesting point. I think you will find few people begrudge Zorro his spot, because he qualified, but by the same token very few people would consider him in the best 15 in the world. Agreed. he did the job on the night by beating some more fancied rivals but he only had to do it once in the final because he did not have to qualify via the qualifiers and semis. Why was this incidentally? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Woz01 3,589 Posted October 21, 2009 There is a lot of talk about Chris Harris not being GP standard, i would say he would be if there wasnt so many slick tracks in the gp's. Granted you should have to ride on different type of of tracks but near enough every track was slick this year. Give Harris a track to work with and he will do we well, i hope Tony Olsson is listening to what the speedway world are saying. By the way im not saying Harris would have made the top 8 but he would have challenged if some tracks had dirt on it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ghostwalker 1,859 Posted October 21, 2009 Agreed. he did the job on the night by beating some more fancied rivals but he only had to do it once in the final because he did not have to qualify via the qualifiers and semis. Why was this incidentally? he did qualify in the semis although it was thanks to a somewhat strange incident where Zorro, in his final heat, managed to pass Jonas D in the last bend becasue Jonas D slowed down. Intentionally or not well who knows but it also meant that It was Zorro who took the last place in that semi. If Jonas D had beaten Zorro in that heat it would have been ANtonio who had gone through. It is correct though that Zorro was given a free place in the semi. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
salty 2,202 Posted October 21, 2009 (edited) Agreed. he did the job on the night by beating some more fancied rivals but he only had to do it once in the final because he did not have to qualify via the qualifiers and semis. Why was this incidentally? He was seeded through to the semi at Motala because he won the Swedish final last year. I suppose you could argue that therefore the Swedish Championship was a qualifier in itself, albeit the previous year. Edited October 21, 2009 by salty Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lucifer sam 3,953 Posted October 21, 2009 (edited) Does anyone know when the wild cards will be announced? Normally a fortnight before each Grand Prix. Do you mean the four seeded riders as opposed to the one wildcard for each Grand Prix? All the best Rob Edited October 21, 2009 by lucifer sam Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
