Wild Cards 2014

[SCB 15]

No evidence as far as I can see for the first statement in bold. For the second one, why were Kennett and Nicholls not asked?(they both finished higher than Harris in the qualifiers). I do keep contesting this because people continue to overlook particularly key issues.

It's what was said at the time, I've no reason to disbelieve it. Nicholls had quit international speedway by then. Kennett is a waste of time and effort and will never amount to any more than a cheat and even after Harris was promoted didn't appear as either of the reserves which suggests he wasn't interested. Barker and Bridger were the eventual reserves so they would have been next if Bomber had said no

[JT 167]

No, the riders pulled out as they didn't want to be reserve. So after trying all the riders who were eligible the staging country were asked to pick reserves. They picked Craig Cook who said no, so they asked Bomber who said yes. Then, amazingly when Zagar pulled out, them same riders who didn't want to be reserve wanted to ride in the meeting but it was too late then, by being reserve it meant Bomber was next in line.

 

You're an intelligent guy, Shawn, do you seriously believe they asked every rider ahead of Harris in the pecking order? It's irrelevant now as they've finalised everything for next year, but after Zagar pulled out, Harris was 25th in line to receive a reserve place behind such illustrious names as Roland Benko and Jakub Jamrog!

 

GP Qualifiers Semi-Final Exit.

 

1.Jurica Pavlic (Croatia) - 2, 1, 1, 3, 2 = 9

2.Krzysztof Buczkowski (Poland) - 2, 2, 1, 1, 3 = 9

3.Max Dilger (Germany) - 0, 0, 2, 2, 3 = 7

4.Cameron Woodward (Australia) - 2, 1, 1, 1, 1 = 6

5.Matic Voldrih (Slovenia) - 1, 0, 3, X, 2 = 6

6.Martin Gavenda - 0, 2, 0, 2, 1 5

7.Ales Dryml (Czech Republic) - 0, 1, 2, 1, 1 = 5

8.Tomas Suchanek - 2, 1, 0, 1, 1 = 5

9.Tobias Kroner (Germany) - 1, 2, 1, 1, 0 = 5

10.Andrzej Lebedev (Latvia) - F, 3, 2, R, R = 5

11.Jakub Jamrog (Poland) - 1, 2, 0, 0, 1 = 4

12.Edward Kennett (GB) - 2, F, 0, 1, 1 = 4

13.Roland Benko (Hungary) - 1, 0, 0, 1, 0 = 2

14.Dakota North (Australia) - 0, 2, 0, 0, R = 2

15.Guglielmo Franchetti (Italy) - 0, 1, 0, 0, 0 = 1

16.Wiktor Golubowskij (Russia) - 1, 0, 0, 0, 0 = 1

17.Norbert Magosi (Hungary) - 0, X, 0, 1, 0 = 1

 

 

GP Qualifiers First Round Exit

 

18.Scott Nicholls (GB) - 0, 1, 2, 2, 2 = 7

19.Aleksandr Conda (Slovenia) - 0, 2, 0, 1, 3 = 6

20.Linus Sundstrom (Sweden) - 3, 0, X, 1, 2 = 6

21.Kevin Wolbert (Germany) - 1, 0, 2, 1, 1 = 5

22.Dennis Andersson (Sweden) - 1, Fx, 1, 2, 1 = 5

23.Andriej Karpov (Ukraine) - 2, 0, 0, 0, 2 = 4

24.Peter Ljung (Sweden) - 1, 1, 1, 0, 1 = 4

25.Chris Harris (GB) - F, 1, FX, 1, 2 = 4

 

JT.

Edited December 11, 2013 by JT

[SPEEDY69 1,281]

It's what was said at the time, I've no reason to disbelieve it. Nicholls had quit international speedway by then. Kennett is a waste of time and effort and will never amount to any more than a cheat and even after Harris was promoted didn't appear as either of the reserves which suggests he wasn't interested. Barker and Bridger were the eventual reserves so they would have been next if Bomber had said no

 

You're very trusting then if you've no reason to disbelieve what some poster said on here. Nicholls had not quit international speedway - he merely refused to ride in the World Cup in protest at what he saw as discrimination by the BSPA around the Euro Champs. Kennett at least got way further than Harris in the qualifiers. Both should have been asked ahead of Harris - if they were and refused, that's fine but if not, someone has shown favouritism again

Edited December 11, 2013 by SPEEDY69

[DutchGrasstrack 804]

I think there is a major flaw in this qualifying system. Why should riders have the right to take part in further meetings when they got kicked out in the qualifiers? It was the same with Pavlic last year who did manage to qualify for the Race-off but then failed to get a spot in the challenge. BUT the challenge was in his own backyard so he qualified anyway with a wildcard.

 

Some rules need to be changed for 2014.

[fullbore 129]

Its fast becoming a private club with no new members, as far as wildcards go..

 

What about last year's wildcard who just so happened to become world champion?

 

Niamh

[BluTiger 21,719]

What about last year's wildcard who just so happened to become world champion?

 

Niamh

Tai is the sort of rider that should get the wild cards, along with the likes of MJJ and Dudek. AJ and Lindgren are not going to offer the 2014 series anything imo.

[Haza 1,782]

So Harris is back in just hope he isn't an embarsesment he was in 2012 as others have said he was eliminated in the semi final 25 others ahead of him he shouldn't even have been in the GP challenge the WC should have gone to Kennet . All I can add is you can't keep living of the back of past glory for ever yes he won Cardiff can't take that away from him but the GP series needs young blood not keep going with tried and failed riders .

Edited December 11, 2013 by Haza

[racers and royals 8,782]

So Harris is back in just hope he isn't an embarsesment he was in 2012 as others have said he was eliminated in the semi final 25 others ahead of him he shouldn't even have been in the GP challenge the WC should have gone to Kennet . All I can add is you can't keep living of the back of past glory for ever yes he won Cardiff can't take that away from him but the GP series needs young blood not keep going with tried and failed riders .

Just to correct one point Haza-it wasn`t the semi-final it was one of the three 1st round qualifiers in St Johann where he scored 4.

[f-s-p 832]

Tai is the sort of rider that should get the wild cards, along with the likes of MJJ and Dudek. AJ and Lindgren are not going to offer the 2014 series anything imo.

tai wasnt "the sort of rider" 12 months ago though...

[Haza 1,782]

Just to correct one point Haza-it wasn`t the semi-final it was one of the three 1st round qualifiers in St Johann where he scored 4.

that's makes it even worse that's he's in I suppose you have to grab opportunities in life and Bomber has certainly done that and I guess a year ago we was saying hope Tai doesn't struggle like Harris did and look at Tai world champion so who knows Bomber 2014 world champion some how I think not

[screm 8,077]

Harris is indeed the next rider in line from last years GP Challenge meeting to qualify for next years series,should the chance ever arise.Well it has arose,so Harris has taken his chance,and no one can blame him for that.But come on people there is nothing to suggest that Harris will be anything other than an emmbrassment next year,and dont give me this whooey about we said the same about Woffinden last year.Anybody that thinks that Harris could be 2014 World Champ needs serious help.

[BluTiger 21,719]

tai wasnt "the sort of rider" 12 months ago though...

He was a young improver already riding at a high level, he fitted the wildcard perfectly..

[phillipsr 2,062]

I like having a villain at Cardiff who i can boo. At least Harris will have one use this year

[f-s-p 832]

He was a young improver already riding at a high level, he fitted the wildcard perfectly..

i know many young improvers on a high level, none of them ready for gp though. But what ever, you thought then that he was a good pick, thats whats important.

[Barry The Cat 78]

Last point, but when you say the 'others' couldn't be arsed, do you mean the dozens of riders who finished ahead of Harris in the first round and went to the considerable expense and effort of going through the following rounds to qualify for the Poole meeting by right? The same riders who probably weren't even asked to ride at Poole (as it appears, I can't believe they all turned it down) or even if they were, were given next to no time to get there because of Zagar's very late withdrawal.

We were told Zagar withdrew because he wanted to qualify by right, but apparently the guy couldn't come to this conclusion until the 11th hour, by which point only a rider based in Britain could realistically reach Poole in time.

 

Sufficient notice for withdrawing is the first rule that needs changing next season and a heavy fine for a rider who pulls out late without a medical note.

 

Water under the bridge now, and not Harris' fault by any means, but the whole saga has only served to weaken the series next season in my opinion. He should finish ahead of Smolinski, and maybe Kasprzak, but anywhere near the top 10 would be a massive achievement. Good luck to him.PS. My bugbear here isn't with Harris, but with the organisers and the system that has seen a track reserve qualify for a full time place in the series after a solitary meeting.

Believe it or not, I quite like Harris as a league rider, but at this level I think his time has passed, and although the plethora of wild cards have obviously lifted his profile in World Speedway, overall, I don't think they've helped him improve as a rider.

I hope he can prove me wrong this time.

 

JT.

When the Ukranian lad failed to secure permission to ride in the challenge. BSPA were asked to nominate a rider for number 18 jacket Kennett and 1 other Brit both declined. Harris accepted. Pavlic the number 17 then produced a sick note so Barker accepted second reserve spot and Harris moved to 17. When Zagar withdrew Harris was promoted to meeting proper even though pavlic tried the I am much better now trick.

So yes massive stroke of luck for Bomber to get into field in first place but at the end if the day he did the business on the track on the night and earnt his right to be there by the rules of the competition.

So why don't we accept this bit of luck and back the guy, it's great to have two Brits in the field. Love for him to prove knockers wrong and get in top 8. He's working with a new team behind scenes which just could help him back to more consistent performances that we know he is capable of.

Edited December 11, 2013 by Barry The Cat