salty

Not so sure whether the GP's have taken the sport forward, but I do think that they re-energised it when they were introduced in 1995. Unfortunately the old system was at a very low ebb and I dread to think what state Speedway would be in today if the change hadn't happened. One of the side effects has been the negative impact on the sport in GB, primarily the loss of regular weekend fixtures at the highest level. Personally I think the GP's as a spectacle have suffered since the change to the 16 rider format. Whilst I can understand the difficulties of the old 24 rider knock out system in terms of cost, I felt it did make for a better and more exciting event. With regard to the 4 nominations or seeded riders, in principle I am against the idea, but I can see that from a commercial point of view it does give the organisers some input into which riders take part. Just goes against the grain when you see riders of a lesser worth getting picks just because of their nationality.

I thought the old style of World finals left a lot to be desired to be honest. The qualifying rounds had long lost their lustre by 1994 and whilst there is a lot to be said for the drama of the one-off finals I can't see a return to those days I'm afraid. Prefer the 24 rider knock out system to the 16 rider 20 Heat formula we have at the moment though.

Speedway got shunted last night because Sky were showing US Open Tennis on 1 (which they have done all week), Super League on 3 and Spanish Football on 4 with their Football First on 2. Unfortunately, a GP from Slovenia is not going to hold sway over those 4 programmes and having watched the re-run this morning you can't blame Sky can you? Only one point to make re last night. Surely riders who get nominations should have numbers 12-15 and the riders who qualify through the GP challenge should get 9-11. That would prevent the farce where Nicholls gets a semi spot ahead of Bjerre. What's wrong with them having run-off?

Remember getting that over to White City for a World Championship round one Sunday, journey seemed to take for ever.

Would certainly give him an improved case, but its a tough ask...

You are supposing there "has" to be 2 British riders. Surely if they are not up to the standard of the other 13 there is no point having them! Why should the British Championship be the qualifier? The rest of the world has to compete against each other to get a spot.

Don't think Ed has done anything near enough to be gifted a spot. Didn't even get through his initial qualifier and his form in the major leagues is inferior to Richardson. Bit hard to second guess the nominations prior to the GP challenge, because the qualifiers at Coventry and indeed the top 8 at the end of the season will have a lot of bearing over who gets picked. Its possible that of the 11 who qualify by right then there may be only 1 Pole (Gollob) so at least 2 of the nominations would almost certainly be handed their way. Which leaves it less likely there may be 2 Brits.

All well and good saying "let Harris keep trying" but if he fails to get in the top 8 this year (which seems certain) then that is 3 years in a row in which he has failed. Unless he qualifies at Brandon, then surely it is time to give someone else a crack and in the absence of any worthwhile British candidates then it must be time that the GB quota is cut to 1 or even less.

Do they not even open it for the Greyhound Derby Final? Used to be a pretty full stadium for that night.

You should have come back to the main Wimbledon station with me Shadders. Granted a bit further to walk but better lit! Haven't been to Plough Lane for a dog meeting since they booted out the Dons in 1991. I was slightly surprised to see the popular side (the opposite to the starting gate) was no longer opened up for the dogs. When I used to go it used be fairly full with about 6 bookies.

Tony, if I remember right "Kiwi" is Bob's son Robert so I am sure if you ask these questions Bob will know what you are on about. PS I would be interested on his views of team riding with Chris Julian.

Obviously I can't speak for TMC and plans may have changed, but the opening blurb said "A BIG welcome to Part 1 of Speedway in the 70's" and the season by season write up's only covered 1970-71-72. So that all sounds promising for a sequel....

I'll second that. Enjoyed the first one very much and got the impression there was going to be a sequel... Maybe in time for Xmas?

Would love to know any memories Bob has of his time at Cradley. Particularly what he remembers of the infamous match versus Hackney when Garry Middleton had to be sneaked out of the stadium in the boot of Len Silver's car.

We're Speedway fans Randy - of course we remember you! Just to put my 2p's worth into the debate. I have been a subscriber since Issue 1 and always look forward to each new copy. Like all magazines there are going to be some features you prefer more than others and I have to say I wasn't taken by the recent one on the American riders as I felt it tried to cover to many riders and therefore spread itself too thinly. I feel riders like Sigalos, Cook and the Morans were probably worthy of Main Man features in their own right, though I appreciate it would be difficult to conduct interviews with them now they are back over the pond. I particularly enjoy reading about the more unsung riders form the Backtrack era and sometimes the stories they tell are more interesting than those told by the more media-exposed stars of that time. Look forward to seeing the changes in the next issue and will be interesting to read the rider columns. Long may Backtrack thrive! PS would like to see the quizzes come back.

Don't see anyone blaming anyone to be honest. But you can't argue with the fact it was a disappointing spectacle, with a ridiculous amount of disparity between the effectiveness of the gate positions.

Did my ears deceive me, but at some point this evening I'm sure Millard said something along the lines of "We all think of Jason Crump as a youngster but he's actually 34 next week" and then a few moments later say about Emil something like "we think he's been around for ages but he's not yet 20" Forgive me if I've got the wording wrong but I am sure that was the gist of what the maestro was saying. Different planet.

The young Aussie at Sheffield - Hugh Skidmore - has a name made for Speedway!

Suppose you can't look past McMillan, Beaton, Hunter and Collins from the 70's. Throw in a McKinna (or 2) and maybe even Bert Harkins who was a heat leader in the British League for the first half of the 70's. Hope there is something about Jim Beaton Jnr as the way he came back after his serious arm injury was some story.

Holta represented Norway in the 1995 World Cup Final (the old 3 man formula). When he rode for Poland in the 2005 Final he became the first to ride for 2 countries.

Amazing how year after year the World Cup throws up some great finishes. People might slag the joker rules, but they certainly do play a part in keeping things close. The Russians looked dead and buried today but the 6 point joker ride gave them a boost and they were able to carry on and be right in the mix for the rest of the meeting. Another super performance by them. You might argue that the Aussies should have been a bit cuter and not gone 6 up over Poland near the end, but it wasn't out of the realms of possibility for the Poles to have engineered it anyway.

Clearly they should be when a country loses a rider like the Danes did last night. But if I remember right the 6th rider was done away with following teams abusing the facility a couple of years ago.

Really enjoyed that! Fantastic performance by the Russians, with Emil inspiring the other guys to ride out of their skins. Great to see them pulling off that victory, hope for more of the same next Saturday. Means the run-off on Thursday will be even more tasty than expected with both the Danes and the Swedes in it.

Hard -Yes. Dirty - No. Pedersen put himself in a difficult position, if you watch every other heat all riders are going on the line Laguta took down the home straight. Hope Pedersen isn't too badly hurt.

Totally agree with that point Iris. Having 2 Brits rather than 3 on parade in Cardiff would have a negligable effect on the attendance. Hopefully Harris will qualify by one method or the other, but unless Nicholls comes on strong in the second half of the season I can't see any justification for him to get a nomination. As for the other Brits, not one of them managed to get through any round of the qualifiers, so it's hard to see any of them coping with GP's in 2010.