ImpartialOne

Thanks for the link spook. Having watched it again, I can confirm that Parsloes is indeed talking nonsense. Harris was way faster than Hancock, anyone can see that. Hancock knew he wasn't quick enough and the only way he'd stop Harris would be to block him, but Harris out-thought him. Had to smile at the comments at the beginning about Hancock doing well to maintain his enthusiasm after such a long career. Who would have bet on him being World Champion four years later and still maintaining that ever-present record?

I can well believe it. You only have to look at Gollob's reported divorce settlement to see that there is still money to be made in speedway.

I'm going to have to watch this again now!

Haven't seen Greg's but Crump's £620,000 isn't far off the mark and that's just for one league. Even if Nicki earns half that in Poland it's already more than the quoted figure for one league alone. If reports of a guarantee of £3,000 per meeting for Peterborough are to be believed, then add £66,000 for Elite League, then there's Swedish League, Danish League, SGP, SWC, extra bookings... And of course, sponsorship. Bearing in mind that sponsorship in Poland is big bucks (Polish reserves can attract sponsorship in excess of £50,000 a time) and all of a sudden it's not looking too shabby.

Don't forget that "expenditure" is always falsely high.

Like it or not, the World Championship has long been bemoaned for it's "lack of pay." Billy Sanders once threatened not to contest the world championship qualifiers because there was "no money in it." This was in the good old eighties in the "glory days" of your beloved World Finals. I believe the year was 1985, his final year.

What has F1 got to do with anything?

I think IMG have been fantastic for the sport. The GP and SWC are huge box office events, in speedway terms at least, and we are fortunate to be able to see speedway in top class stadia that we never had before. I think the riders could do the GPs on a much tighter budget than they do but certainly the money isn't as bad as some will have you believe. Some of these guys are millionaires so let's not feel too sorry for them. Where would you like to see some of the money IMG make put into speedway? They are running a business, not a charity, and year on year their events get better and better and they put on a proper show, unlike anything we see in the Elite League. If they could just get the tracks a little better at some venues we will have the complete package.

Blimey, let's have a minute...

Ivan Mauger 1979, no different to the last two years. Nobody is willing the youngster to fail, and I don't believe they are. It's just a fact that a series of 11/12 meetings brings the title to the most consistent, and that comes with age. What does it matter if they take 10 years to do it? I've already given you examples in Crump, Ermolenko, Loram, etc. Even Nielsen took 8 years and he was one of the greats and this was before the GPs. Gary Havelock is a perfect example of what can happen to a rider who wins it too early. I said at the time I feared for his career as I didn't believe he would have the drive to win it a second time. All the years of striving is what makes a rider. To have it instantly does them no good at all.

This is so self contradicting I don't even know where to start. One moment you say the GP sucks the life out of new riders and the next you give an example of a man in about his 5th GP beating a man who had been at the top for over 10 years. By the way, repeating the same thing over and over doesn't make any difference. We saw it the first time and it's still wrong.

I have to admit I was very tempted not to play the final round as I knew most would be on minus points. As it turned out, it would have elevated me to 3rd had I not played! Maybe there could be a way to avoid this tactic next year?

Add Chris Harris to 2010 picks

World Games 1985, Wimbledon. John Cook v Alan Grahame. John Cook made that meeting, as he did many others. I can remember going to Ipswich in 1985 v Oxford on a fairly wet night. Only one race stands out from that night; John Cook v Hans Nielsen. Cook, as ever was trying everything he could to pass Nielsen, maybe too hard for his own good if anything. On a difficult muddy track, he was all over Nielsen, mostly on one wheel and as they came to the apex of the final bend, Cook found himself sideways on his back wheel and somehow managed to ride it out from the apex to the chequered flag almost vertical the whole time. He didn't win the race but he put on a show no other rider could and his antics in that race alone made the trip worthwhile. And just to add effect to proceedings, as he went back to the pits, the cold, wet "mud" plastered on his hot engine caused steam to billow from his bike. Fantastic stuff!

Can you expand on this? In what way has the GP system squeezed the life out of youngsters yet not older riders? Could it be they just aren't up to it yet? Jason Crump started his British career in 1991 but didn't win the title until 2004. Nothing to do with GP life sucking systems as he rode in one world final and several GP series almost half as demanding as today's. Mark Loram started out in 1987 and didn't win the title until 2000. Let's go back to 1983 when Ermolenko came over. Finished world no. 3 two years later and again two years after that but it was a whole 10 years before he won it. And of course Gollob, you could say had the life squeezed out of him in the 1993 and 1994 World Finals and the following 15 years of GPs before becoming champion? History shows that many riders have to wait years as, like WIE-JA says, only one man per year can win it.

Quite. So what makes you think Hancock would struggle to cope with Ward?

He doesn't deserve to be there either. The fact Lindgren hasn't won one doesn't strengthen Harris' case.

Was it that one who was seeded in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 and has only won one GP in fifty five attempts?

Ricky Wells? In a GP? I'd rather they put Bruce Cribb in.

I would think more likely would be Team Hagon, although even that is unlikely as they tried it before with Crump, Louis and Screen and unless it is recognised by BSI it won't mean anything. Hancock wanted riders own numbers to be recognised, as in his own 45, but again it is pointless if just one or two do it.

For someone who seems to have been around speedway for quite some time, that's a very naive comment.

I disagree. I would wager that, as talented as Darcy is, it will be several years before he can become world champion. Crump looked just as breathtaking as Ward when he first came over, it took him a couple of years to settle, like Darcy and then in 1993 he looked every inch the future World Champion. He made his world final debut the following year but it took him another 10 years before finally nailing his first world title. Ward may well have to wait until 2020 and beyond before he gets it spot on.

I agree with the last part. They should be told that unless they contest the qualifiers they have to make the top 8 next year or miss out. Bomber's on borrowed time now as well as borrowed machinery and next year could well see the likes of Woffinden and Barker as more likely choices in 2013 if they make the progress I expect them to.

And you're worse at spelling than my cat. Where did you get 14 from? I never mentioned 14. So are you still trying to say that 7 points from 6 rides is a good average? Forget eggs, the only comparison we need to eggs is that you are well beaten on this. If you wish to count it as a 7.00 average then you must agree that it is an average from 18.00, which doesn't back up your theory of it being a good performance, which was my original point. If you still can't grasp it, tell me why the likes of Chris Holder and Darcy Ward are not on 13.00 averages in the Elite League. They have five races almost every meeting so why are their averages so low? PS: It's not "my formula". By saying it is suggests I dreamt it up out of the blue. Here's a little test: A rider scores: 32333=14 1321=7 21332=11 What is his average?

I'm amazed it even needs explaining to be perfectly honest.