World Cup - Wroclaw July 2023

[stewmac 474]

On 7/25/2023 at 8:31 PM, Mr Blobby said:

Hopefully he FIM have learned their lesson in track prep tonight and don’t make this mistake for the rest of the week. As they’ve somehow managed to ruin the best track in the world and made one lined.

Agree 100%

They seem determined to ruin what is usually one of the best tracks in the world by making it so ultra slick this week. Is this Morris who is to blame? Whoever, they should have a good, long, hard think ahead of Friday and Saturday.

Edited July 27, 2023 by stewmac

[SPEEDY69 1,260]

The primary concern for the organisers is making sure the events go ahead - it's a commercial enterprise. I'm not surprised the track has been very hard and slick, it would cost a lot of money to rearrange.

Even though it was a very slick I did enjoy it because it was unpredictable at times and we got to see some new faces mixng it up. I wonder if Aus will give Chris Holder a ride or two on Friday, couldn't be worse than Fricke surely? 

As for the scores display, I thought it was good to see both the team scores in the bottom right and the individual rider scores, something i'd be looking at had I had a programme. 

Edited July 27, 2023 by SPEEDY69

[racers and royals 8,728]

Friday’s race-off draw

Red France

Blue Australia

White Sweden

Yellow Czech Rep

 

Final draw

Red Denmark

Blue Poland

White GB

Yellow Race-off winner

Edited July 27, 2023 by racers and royals

[DazS 430]

i thought last night was 50% better than previous meeting should get even better from now. and was impressed how close some of the racing was with no major incident's, you could see the effort a lot of these riders were putting in, including Fricke, so some of you are being a bit too harsh on some of these lads. 

[Odds On 373]

The track is renowned for being one of the best in the world, yet you would hardly think that looking at the last two meetings this week around it. Seems a normal GP track, smooth, lack of grip, one line which all equates to a total non event entertainment wise.

[topaz325 1,859]

Well I enjoy any Speedway on the telly ( er.   Well maybe not !) , stands by for flak , why name riders for the last four heats then two minutes later make a change , GB/ UK/ England did it on Tuesday also.

 

The attempted telephone call issue to the ref by Nicki was comedy gold, he knew the ref was not going to change his mind but just upsetting the flow.

Good to see teams like France and Finland mixing it and winning heats against the big boys.

Edited July 27, 2023 by topaz325

[nw42 2,048]

22 minutes ago, topaz325 said:

Well I enjoy any Speedway on the telly ( er.   Well maybe not !) , stands by for flak , why name riders for the last four heats then two minutes later make a change , GB/ UK/ England did it on Tuesday also.

 

The attempted telephone call issue to the ref by Nicki was comedy gold, he knew the ref was not going to change his mind but just upsetting the flow.

Good to see teams like France and Finland mixing it and winning heats against the big boys.

I'm with you, any speedway on tv is better than none, ok the 2 meetings weren't the best but they have to look after the track to ensure it's raceable by Saturday.  Of course it would've been better with a bit more dirt on it but all things considered it was good to see riders giving their all for their countries.  

I enjoyed the first race off because my country were in it, the second because there was essentially 2 duels going on, the France/Finland one had plenty of twists, the exclusion of Jensen meant we could've been treated to a grandstand finish.  

As for the commentary, Tatum goes from bad to worse, mixing up his metaphors, "Denmark are now in the box office" being a prime example.  Great to hear from Darcy Ward and good to know that he's been included in everything by Mark Lemon, what a talent he was and to think he'd probably be hitting his peak around now if things had worked out different.

I'm looking forward to both Friday & Saturday and can see no reason why we can't mix it with the Danes and the Aussies for the medals while the Poles disappear into the distance.

 

[Grachan 7,362]

3 minutes ago, nw42 said:

I'm with you, any speedway on tv is better than none, ok the 2 meetings weren't the best but they have to look after the track to ensure it's raceable by Saturday.  Of course it would've been better with a bit more dirt on it but all things considered it was good to see riders giving their all for their countries.  

I enjoyed the first race off because my country were in it, the second because there was essentially 2 duels going on, the France/Finland one had plenty of twists, the exclusion of Jensen meant we could've been treated to a grandstand finish.  

As for the commentary, Tatum goes from bad to worse, mixing up his metaphors, "Denmark are now in the box office" being a prime example.  Great to hear from Darcy Ward and good to know that he's been included in everything by Mark Lemon, what a talent he was and to think he'd probably be hitting his peak around now if things had worked out different.

I'm looking forward to both Friday & Saturday and can see no reason why we can't mix it with the Danes and the Aussies for the medals while the Poles disappear into the distance.

 

If UK are on form then our top 3 have the beating of everyone bar Zmarzlik - and there's no reason why he can't also be beaten sometimes. So we have a chance.

Out Achilles heel, of course, is the lack of a World class 4th rider, which will probably be our undoing even if we keep it close. I have seen all the whining about Adam Ellis, but he won a race and beat Freddie Lindgren, so I doubt we have anyone who could have done any better at this level.

I'm pretty sure Poland will win though, but I think they can be kept within sight.

[racers and royals 8,728]

Just a reminder that the race- off tomorrow is 6pm UK time start however the final on Saturday is 7pm UK time start. 

[chunky 6,093]

1 hour ago, Grachan said:

If UK are on form then our top 3 have the beating of everyone bar Zmarzlik - and there's no reason why he can't also be beaten sometimes. So we have a chance.

Thank you! I'm not really sure why everybody is writing us off before a wheel has been turned. If our top 3 are performing anywhere near their best, we can do it. They have all proven that Zmarzlik is beatable. Our fourth - whoever that may be - just has to avoid finishing last. There has been nothing from the Danes, Swedes, or Aussies, to suggest that they are superior to us.

No, it's not going to be easy, but it's the World Cup - and it shouldn't be easy. All I'm hoping for is that they can provide a half-decent racing track, which won't be easy after three meetings in four days.

[chunky 6,093]

2 hours ago, Odds On said:

The track is renowned for being one of the best in the world, yet you would hardly think that looking at the last two meetings this week around it. Seems a normal GP track, smooth, lack of grip, one line which all equates to a total non event entertainment wise.

Again, several people have commented that the track condition is perfectly understandable, knowing that there are four meetings in five days. The main thing is that the track is not cutting up with holes and ruts everywhere. Something has to be said for that.

[DJC 251]

2 minutes ago, chunky said:

Thank you! I'm not really sure why everybody is writing us off before a wheel has been turned. If our top 3 are performing anywhere near their best, we can do it. They have all proven that Zmarzlik is beatable. Our fourth - whoever that may be - just has to avoid finishing last. There has been nothing from the Danes, Swedes, or Aussies, to suggest that they are superior to us.

No, it's not going to be easy, but it's the World Cup - and it shouldn't be easy. All I'm hoping for is that they can provide a half-decent racing track, which won't be easy after three meetings in four days.

That's the main thing, no last places  and there's a really good chance.

Bar Lidsey who was the best I've ever seen him the Aussie's didn't look great but imagine they'll take the last place in the final. Danes looked solid as usual but if the track is a little grippier they will fade for me.

 

[racers and royals 8,728]

3 minutes ago, chunky said:

Again, several people have commented that the track condition is perfectly understandable, knowing that there are four meetings in five days. The main thing is that the track is not cutting up with holes and ruts everywhere. Something has to be said for that.

Remaining  schedule 

Tomorrow Race-off 7 pm local

Saturday final Practice 2pm local

final 8pm Local

[chunky 6,093]

30 minutes ago, DJC said:

That's the main thing, no last places  and there's a really good chance.

Bar Lidsey who was the best I've ever seen him the Aussie's didn't look great but imagine they'll take the last place in the final. Danes looked solid as usual but if the track is a little grippier they will fade for me.

 

Yeah, I've seen Lidsey a few times, and was never over-impressed, but he was fantastic last night.

[chunky 6,093]

Okay, let's assume the Aussies make the final. Each of the four teams has three full-time GP riders. I know that the draw and individual race lineups will affect things, but I just worked something out simply.

Let's say that every GP rider will lose to every rider above him in the standings, and beat everyone below him in the standings. So, as Number 1, Zmarzlik would be unbeaten, and Madsen (No. 7), would lose to the four above him (leaving out Lindgren and Vaculik) but beat everyone below him. This is how it would work out:

POL 30 - Zmarzlik 15, Dudek 8, Janowski 7.

DEN 24 - Madsen 11, Thomsen 7, Michelsen 6.

GBR 35 - Bewley 13, Lambert 11, Woffinden 11.

AUS 37 - Holder 14, Doyle 13, Fricke 10.

So, that's just a simple rating system based on standings, but it doesn't appear to be as clear-cut as a lot of people think.