Swedish GP Malilla Saturday July 15th 2023

[SPEEDY69 1,260]

46 minutes ago, racers and royals said:

I was going to give you a list of the non-GP riders in the challenge but on the thread you have named Becker, Kvech and Smolinski.

Each to there own but not sure many would swap 3 for those 3 

Indeed, that's why they weren't wild card picks but I've never been one to follow the masses 

[SPEEDY69 1,260]

17 minutes ago, phillipsr said:

Kubera, Drabik, Sayfutdinov, Laguta, Pedersen, theres a few others that would shake it up!! im sure the response will be that there not as good but who would of thought Holder Bewley etc would be in the top 6 in the world when they entered....

That's right.  I wouldn't have had Thorsell down to do much but he was in the mix on Saturday and to finish 11th was creditable, even though others kept trying to have him off!

[OveFundinFan 4,142]

5 hours ago, SPEEDY69 said:

That's right.  I wouldn't have had Thorsell down to do much but he was in the mix on Saturday and to finish 11th was creditable, even though others kept trying to have him off!

Thing is with riders like Thorsell is that they can mix it in a one off, but mixing it at the top level for the GP season is another matter, not everyone can do it.

Just a few years ago the names of Drabik and Smektala were being branded as ones that can take it to the big guns, just before them it was Lebedevs and Milik. Sometimes its better not to get what you wish for.

[truthsayer 234]

9 hours ago, OGT said:

It's snobbery, MSM in this country doesn't like motorcycles or motorcycle sport. They only mention the TT if there's a fatality. BSB is well supported but is never mentioned, WSBK and MotoGP events are well attended but again, nothing. 

It's not snobbery, it's just numbers. The 'MSM' (as you call it) is all about getting the maximum number of eyeballs on their article, because that's what makes money. It's not about what they like. Fatalities create clickbait headlines, which get numbers, hence TT death articles are published. BSB is well supported, but on a typical sporting weekend I would doubt it would get in the top 20 of sporting events by attendance/viewership, probably not even the top 40. 

It's shallow but if speedway had enough fans to justify publishing articles then speedway articles would be published in your 'MSM'. The media is full of lowbrow activities, who get their share of voice purely because it makes commercial sense for that to be the case, or because they've paid to be there.

[Tim G 512]

11 minutes ago, truthsayer said:

It's not snobbery, it's just numbers. The 'MSM' (as you call it) is all about getting the maximum number of eyeballs on their article, because that's what makes money. It's not about what they like. Fatalities create clickbait headlines, which get numbers, hence TT death articles are published. BSB is well supported, but on a typical sporting weekend I would doubt it would get in the top 20 of sporting events by attendance/viewership, probably not even the top 40. 

It's shallow but if speedway had enough fans to justify publishing articles then speedway articles would be published in your 'MSM'. The media is full of lowbrow activities, who get their share of voice purely because it makes commercial sense for that to be the case, or because they've paid to be there.

BSB at Brands Hatch next weekend will definitely be in the top 20 attended sporting events in this country but the media is not interested in motorbike racing. When Carl Fogarty was at his peak drawing massive crowds in WSB he was hardly mentioned in the MSM. Wins a crap celebrity event and they are all over him.

BBC News will always show some WSL football match in the round up even though hardly anyone is in the stadium just to come across as inclusive.

[truthsayer 234]

3 minutes ago, Tim G said:

BSB at Brands Hatch next weekend will definitely be in the top 20 attended sporting events in this country but the media is not interested in motorbike racing. When Carl Fogarty was at his peak drawing massive crowds in WSB he was hardly mentioned in the MSM. Wins a crap celebrity event and they are all over him.

BBC News will always show some WSL football match in the round up even though hardly anyone is in the stadium just to come across as inclusive.

This weekend, almost certainly yes. But behind cricket and horse racing, and in terms of general interest still behind football. In the football season, a BSB round will be behind all the premiership and championship games and international sports like F1 when it comes to TV audience. Fans attending in person doesn't really matter in a lot of ways, it's all about the overall audience. Touring Cars are also typically more popular than superbikes. Rugby is also ahead in the popularity stakes too, as well as cycling.

My point is that it is no conspiracy. Foggy was all over the press when he won a TV show watched by 9 million people. That's 9 million people buying your newspaper or clicking on your website. Foggy did get some mainstream coverage when winning world superbikes, but at peak the audience at Brands Hatch was a claimed 120,000. That's a lot less than 9,000,000.

I'm not saying its right, but it is what it is. Speedway either has to pay to be featured in the mainstream media, or else it needs to have a big enough audience to be (commercially) worth their while to cover. Media cover the things they think are popular, because that's what pays the bills. WSL is a bit in the middle though. There is an appetite for women's football, as shown by the world cup viewing figures and the popularity of some of the personalities in the game.

 

 

[AFCB Wildcat 1,362]

On 7/15/2023 at 6:47 PM, CB252 said:

I love that everyone, quite rightly, agrees that Zmarzlik was correctly excluded in heat 3, yet there would be all kinds of outrage going on had the roles been reversed 

I only had the chance to watch it last night, but my thoughts exactly.

Even if the exclusion was technically correct, it was at best an ungentlemanly & dangerous move. 

Holder knew he was there as they were side by side coming off the corner and while I accept  that he had pulled clear, he left Zmarzlik nowhere to go.

Lambert in heat 16 was clearly faster on the outside, but if Zmarzlik had pulled that move on him, he would have been slaughtered. Instead, he left Lambert room to race.

I guess it's the same as it being "boring" if Zmarzlik is dominating the series, but if it was a Brit dominating the series it would be fantastic!

[Gavan 5,050]

Still wouldn’t have a Kubera or Kurtz in a series instead of a Woffinfen or Madsen….. sure they may have one good meeting like Nilsson recently did but they would be quite clearly at the bottom of the standings which again in my opinion being bottom isn’t an issue as someone has to be … 

In my opinion Nilsson and Michelsen I would replace with Laguta and Emil and then you would have the worlds best 

[iainb 5,017]

29 minutes ago, Gavan said:

Still wouldn’t have a Kubera or Kurtz in a series instead of a Woffinfen or Madsen….. sure they may have one good meeting like Nilsson recently did but they would be quite clearly at the bottom of the standings which again in my opinion being bottom isn’t an issue as someone has to be … 

In my opinion Nilsson and Michelsen I would replace with Laguta and Emil and then you would have the worlds best 

Woffinden has been allowed to get to the level he has by the fact he's in the GP's despite never having qualified. Madsen was ignored for a number of years while being the top rider in Poland. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again would Holder & Bewley be at the level they're now at had they not been given the opportunity to ride in the GP's at the expense of the Russians? Or would they still be at the level they were at bumbling about on the cusp? We'll never know of course but just because you're not currently in the GP series doesn't mean you can't raise your game to the level of a GP rider 

[racers and royals 8,727]

25 minutes ago, iainb said:

Woffinden has been allowed to get to the level he has by the fact he's in the GP's despite never having qualified. Madsen was ignored for a number of years while being the top rider in Poland. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again would Holder & Bewley be at the level they're now at had they not been given the opportunity to ride in the GP's at the expense of the Russians? Or would they still be at the level they were at bumbling about on the cusp? We'll never know of course but just because you're not currently in the GP series doesn't mean you can't raise your game to the level of a GP rider 

We will of course see to an extent in Gislaved in August !!

[chunky 6,093]

1 hour ago, Gavan said:

Still wouldn’t have a Kubera or Kurtz in a series instead of a Woffinfen or Madsen….. sure they may have one good meeting like Nilsson recently did but they would be quite clearly at the bottom of the standings which again in my opinion being bottom isn’t an issue as someone has to be … 

In my opinion Nilsson and Michelsen I would replace with Laguta and Emil and then you would have the worlds best 

Agree 100%...

[FAST GATER 853]

16 hours ago, AFCB Wildcat said:

Lambert in heat 16 was clearly faster on the outside, but if Zmarzlik had pulled that move on him, he would have been slaughtered. Instead, he left Lambert room to race.

I guess it's the same as it being "boring" if Zmarzlik is dominating the series, but if it was a Brit dominating the series it would be fantastic!

I agree totally