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Late to the fun as ever but I thought the final race was very odd. Pairs events have always worked on the basis that not finishing last is more important than finishing first, so why Tai felt the need to race Laguta is a mystery. Ok, when you see a rider slowing down (Zagar in the first meeting springs to mind) its quite strange as it goes against the nature of racing but those are the rules. Woffinden was out of this world over the two meetings so it seems harsh to criticise but it is a valid point. Our only chance was him helping Lambert. He didn't and we lost.

That's funny because in that final race he was and right on his back wheel That's disappointing to hear... perhaps Speedway is not the sport I thought it was or maybe it's just the difference between winners and losers so we would have gone from a losing position to... a losing position

How many times did we see slowing down during the SWC for the Joker? It's nothing new to the highest levels of our sport. If Tai played darts he'd be the type to hit hit a 180 during a pairs match when on 183 - individually brilliant but tactically a dreadful decision.

Team looks awful after that re declaration.. full of riders on there way down or not good enough.. At least Poole wont finish bottom now

Looks like we will do http://www.poolepirates.co/news/2018-06-11_tough-finals-night-for-richie.html

As is moving someone over, diving up the inside, making a blast around the outside. I once saw a rider crash and break his leg because he was trying to pass someone. Next time folks complain about a dull meeting, I'll mention it. Manzares was simply out of his depth and made a mistake. As for 'thinking of Poland'. Yes of course they were.. Tai thought "I'm in Poland tomorrow, I'll just take a safe second". No he went hell for leather after winning the race. Lambert and Sayfutdinov nearly collided and had zero thought of Poland the next day either. Still good to see folks getting creative to try and avoid simply saying, Great performance GB, messed up the tactics in the final,we'll learn next time. Was it on this thread or another where Krompa, or perhaps another Polish poster, posted the video of Tomasz Gollob, slowing Tommy Knudsen (no mug) down and eventually getting his partner through?

Maybe just maybe they were thinking of Poland on the following Sunday where they would be earning fortunes which they couldn’t do if they were injured trying to play games and risk ending up in the fence.

We obviously had a plan but it didn't survive the first two bends, after which the Russians were in front. Bit difficult to come up with plan B in the middle of a speedway race. Out of interest, how many times in the whole SoN did a rider in front successfully slow a race down to let his partner get through?

Still waiting for an explanation of why it makes perfect sense to NOT try to win a gold medal. You advocate it. Phillip Rising advocates it. Seems Team GB advocated it. Champions League Final.. Liverpool trail Milan 3-0.. co managers Phil Rising and Sommelier.. "Shut up shop lads, let's not concede anymore. Silver is great! We can't take risks and chase the game at this level, not in a final, the standard is far too high" Superbowl 51.. New England trail Atlanta by 25pts.. head coach Phil Rising... you get the idea. Now apply it to Speedway of Nations Pairs Final.. Sayfutidnov gets into 3rd on bend 2.. less then 15% into the race and you're advocating throwing in the white towel.

I am at the track,, looks like a decent crowd again, it is probably somewhere between 4000-5000.

Actually the issue has NOT been answered at all. In fact what has just been revealed is that we now KNOW they got the tactics wrong on Saturday AND now, in addition, we know that they still haven't worked that fact out. Amazing.

Does seem strange that he felt going for and holding on to a 5-1 was a strategy,but trying to get a 3-3 and hold it wasn’t on the cards

How is it fair? It's nonsensical, or did I miss a new set of riders being shipped in for the final that were of a much higher standard than the others? Actually, in consideration his comments do make perfect sense.. it's the conclusion that is nonsensical. Basically it's being said the final is of a higher standard, riders going for it to a greater degree so therefore it's much more difficult to beat the opposition.... conclusion, we'll leave Lambert on his own, sure he needed a bit of help when the standard was lower, but now it's higher he'll be fine as he is! Sorry.. but the argument Tai puts forward once again leads to one conclusion.. the wrong tactics were used.

TOP BRIT Tai Woffinden says it was ‘good to be back’ riding for his country last week. The Scunthorpe born double World Champion scored a stunning 38 points out of a possible 39 in the Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations Final. But it wasn’t quite enough to hand GB the gold as Russia pipped them to the post in the final – despite Woffinden winning the race. Now he’s looking forward to a bright new future for the national side under the franchise ownership of Rob Painter and Vicky Blackwell through their VRX Motorsport team. “This is the first stage of a five-year plan for GB and whilst Rob Painter (team supremo) is making all the right noises I’ll be alongside him, he said. “I want to say I’m proud of young Robert Lambert, he did a great job throughout the tournament and also a special mention to Craig Cook who travelled with us and was a big member for us as part of the team. “It was good to be back racing for my country on a team basis.” Woffinden has explained the circumstances behind the final in Poland – he won the decider but with Russian duo Artem Laguta and Emil Sayfutdinov claiming second and third they effectively won the race 3+1-3. He said: “The plan was to win the final 5-1 or 4-2 and we knew we could do that so that was the goal. “In a final like that you cannot slow down the race like I did in previous heats. The competition is just too good, maybe 10 years ago you could but at world level now anyone can beat anyone and you have to do the best job you can. “Unfortunately the event rules state if you’re second and third you’re better then the winner! “There’s not many things in life where you get rewarded for losing! “I would like to congratulate Emil and Artem for their world title and look forward to doing it all again next year.” Woffinden has also congratulated newly crowned British Champion Lambert, who romped to the title with a six-ride maximum in Manchester on Monday. “He’s the future,” said Woffinden. “Congratulations to him, he deserves it. I know what it means to win your first national title and it’s pretty special.”

I'd be happy with Kus at number 7

They need to strengthen up and replace Clegg with the extra 1.81 available, only way they will get near the top 4 imo!

Likewise!! Have a programme for every meeting I have attended since I first went in 1976. Stored lovingly in boxes and looked at when the need for nostalga arises!! Would be gutted if they stopped!!

Don't really understand how you can get the full experience of a speedway meeting without filling in a programme. Still, each to his own...... But if you want to try it without any cost go onto the Speedway Plus website (http://speedwayplus.com/) where you can create your own race card and it doesn't cost you anything. (League matches only)

IMO the same thing is happening in Speedway with SGB Championship programmes now mainly costing between £2.50 - £3.00. With the Speedway Star running a rating feature on each track's programme, it appears that some Promotions have entered into a vanity contest to be top dog, with the result that larger, in terms of size and number of pages, are being produced, which in turn has resulted in the prices rocketing. If they reverted to producing a more compact & smaller sized version at about £1 - £1.50, I wonder if those who now print off a basic scoresheet to fill in, might be tempted to purchase a low cost Official programme instead?

Gurning ,oh yes i forgot richard lawson was riding.

oops sorry,,, damn predictive texting, meant to say figures and will amend it sharpish,,, MEOW

Don't think so now, I think its his latest established match average (EMA, I think) which can be converted either way. The guy from Peterborough would be best to clarify, as he seems on the ball with all the average figures,,, sorry for getting in muddles.

Tai: “The plan was to win the final 5-1 or 4-2 and we knew we could do that so that was the goal" Pure genius, tactical wizardry right there.

But none of the 3 of them are an improvement on Grondal who I think is worth waiting for.

Wouldn't want any of those three anyway, hardly add to what we've already got

And he was at the Motocross at Winchester too. Maybe he's an 'illegal' and jumped on a lorry at Calais?!

It's actually a funny fact of the whole competition ... I don't think there was much evidence that many of the teams really understood the difference in tactics required for the race/off and finals that made them VERY different from all the other races. There were only 6 races where setting out to get one of your opponents into last place was the ONLY effective 'plan'. And in three of them one side ended being reduced to one man so it became a little irrelevant. In the other three race ALL of them ended 3-3. It was obvious that Australia, Denmark and Russia had 'got' it by either 'going' for a second/third 3-3, or at least being very happy to settle for it when it happened. And in all three races that really came about BECAUSE the lead rider of the 'other' side singlemindedly (and pointlessly) went for the win and Zagar, Millik and Tai never make any attempt to assist their partner at all. We all know that hardly any team other than GB had actually done any team riding all week AND their partner in each case could be regarded as being 'difficult to help' so that comes as no surprise in the qualifiers. But we know Lambert WAS able to make use of Tai's help which was very different. BUT the reality is that NONE of those three winners ever even gave it a thought. And none of them had it as a 'tactic' that they had even thought of. They still seem to think that there was something 'helpful' about going for the win ! Including Tai.

was he not in the pits at belle vue

I am still keen to find out who came up with the genius tactics. Tai himself, which as you said yesterday if that is the case he's done enough over three days to be forgiven for the error in tactic judgement. If some member of the Team GB management came up with that, well questions should be asked.

Well good to have an explanation. But in that final meeting every nation had capable riders, so I am not sure the final was any different to other races.

Fair comment from Tai about the final.

I always thought i was clever around averages, but finding it much harder this year to follow them!

Yours is now the 2nd thread on this meeting, Tosh, as Dan has started most, recently.

IMO there is no need to waste a wild card on Hampel but I am all for a wild card each to Lambert and Milik.

He was in the UK at the SON so must have had a passport surely? That was put on the forum last week wasn't it.Phillip Rising i think put that on one of the threads,possibly the SON thread.

Typical that a team is going to change and strengthen up yet again just as we get to them

Kennett is at reserve if Robson has been reintroduced meaning they'll just use a guest. No idea why they haven't pulled their finger out and signed someone using the extra points after the averages changed. 3 meetings in 6 days using guests and well under the limit is stupid.

From the moment Robert made his National League debut around Saddlebow Road he seemed destined for this. He was, as Webby says, majestic, seeing off the young guns of his own generation and going head to head in superb battling style with the British "veteran" riders. Thank you BT for a stunning broadcast which allowed me to almost "be there" ( as I can no longer attend in person ). That man Bewley is going to share the future with Robert and they will likely form the spearhead of the GB Speedway Team - how lucky we are to look forward to that exciting prospect. With Garrity, Cook and Woffinden WOW!

im sure most of us will he has just had the week of his life racing speedway

This was such a boring series nobody is even talking about it...... Did anyone wonder how Denmark would have finished if Leon Madsen was "on" and on the team. Jepson Jensen in my opinion was the most exciting rider of the series. Of course not up to Tai's standard but he really put on a show. Haven't read all the posts. But not counting the team riding Artem Laguta was just a tick off Tai's great scoring in the series. If he rides like that in the GP for the rest of the year look out. As Racers and Royals said Emil's interview was a perfect ending to an exciting evening. (Not quite what he said but a very nice post) It sounds like the prices were quite high for the two nights of the finals but I would have gladly paid the price and then to see the Russian team singing their national anthem with trophies in hand.....priceless!! Yes there needs to be some tweaking but I really enjoyed it.

so holders situation is out in the open but no mention of what that situation is apart from personal situation stopping him riding in uk does that also include the gp at cardif ?

Your source is simply wrong. There was no CONCERTED campaign...and if you still believe that it was - prove it... and don't spread lies.

I blame Rosco,he should have put Cook in Final heat,he would have made one of his trademark GP gates led round 1st bend,Tai would have joined him and Team Road to a5/1

Agree, in my youth I was an avid collector of programmes of speedway, football and ice hockey going back to the 1920's. Still get them out occasionally to look at them. I love them from a historical point of view. The last time I went to a premier league football match it was more like a glossy magazine full of stuff that didn't interest me, for which they wanted £6. I didn't bother. Gone are the days when programmes were a cheap and simple addition to the match day experience.

Quite frankly it doesn't matter how many opinions you canvass. If they suggest anything other than helping your partner in the final, they are wrong or simply short of a few brain cells. Let me put it this way.. Why bother with team riding in the heats then? Any argument that has been put forward for Tai not helping in the final is wiped out by him doing it in the heats. Yet in the one race where it was ABSOLUTELY essential (the heats weren't)... it wasn't done? You seem to be taking a stance that suggesting the tactics were wrong is somehow painting Tai to be a villain and wiping out the amazing efforts he put in during the week. That is utterly false. Yes, there are some anti Tai posters doing that, but they'll find fault regardless. As said, I class myself as a massive Tai fan and defended his decisions over the British Final and not riding for GB. I can however see GB got it wrong in the Final. If it was the managers decision, he should go. If you ran the final 100 times with Tai chasing the lead, barring mechanical failure Lambert wasn't going to pass Emil in any of them. If you ran the final 100 times with Tai attempting to help Lambert, I'd say at least ten of the times Lambert would get up for 3rd. Others may end up with Emil getting 2nd but it would be irrelevant. The fact is quite simply, the tactics used gave 0% chance of success barring engine failure.

My polish friends say the price of tickets was reason, sounds very familiar, if you read the polish speedway page on Facebook, price is a big factor

You weren't accused of all sorts at all, just the continuous insulting people and their intelligence. Your opinions on speedway are usually worth reading but your attitude stinks.

Long-winded? I'm trying to HELP you. Okay, here's an alternative: Poor, amateur effort with many errors but I've seen worse. Other are already doing it better. Don't see the point. There, is that better? You know best. Exactly how does this promote speedway?

I'm not sure about the naming of the channel... you may as well have called it CrapSportsTV But, good luck

Hi Everyone Thanks for all the very interesting views on this thread. As you know we are in a unique place which pretty much prevents us from being an attractive offer to the next 15 year old starlet unless we can find them ourselves. This is indeed one of the primary reasons for developing My First Skid, entering the Wizards into the SDL because we know we have to find our own and even when we do, we equally know we have to fend off the other clubs. However, we almost managed to get a starlet this year, even had a place for him at the local school that sponsors the club... but brighter lights pulled him away. But we do now have some prospects coming through, at all ages so now the work begins to develop them. Our other weakness is loyalty to or riders... we know that....... but its because Martin and I have a vision of speedway and we have really tried to stick to that. Jamie was probably the hardest (and possibly the best) decision we made. Jamie is family to us, but this year we had too many tough meetings perhaps too quickly and something had to change and Jamie was the person. But of course Jamie stays with the club, he will Captain the Wizards, be our number 8 and we want him back in the team - he is good enough once we iron out his one or two weaknesses we have discussed with him. He is working on them, with our support and this is why the decision was right. I am as disappointed with the results as the next person.... it hurts me, well it hurts us all. Few of you will really know what goes on in the build up to a speedway meeting, the preparation, the marketing, the track work, purchasing, printing, administration, coordination and so on.... it's no small task in fact its an enormous task and then when your side comes and you feel that hey...something isnt right, I cannot see the effort from them that I have given myself... why not...and then we lose.... it is a pain that rips everything out of you. We should have beaten both Plymouth and Eastbourne, but we didn't. The middle order have to step up and start delivering for us to achieve our goals and believe me we are never complacent, we perhaps care too much for our riders, but we never want to lose. All I want is a club that breaks even, provides great family fun, top racing and Martin, our staff and I are treated with respect for our efforts to make our club and both teams the best they can be. Right.... I am off to work out how we are going to stuff Coventry Always look forward and not back. See you trackside.