celticboy

Completely agree. I've knocked Tai more than once because of his prior performances and attitude, but he's focused himself this year and is taking the series seriously. This has shown in his riding and prep work. I'm very happy for him. Still not a fan of the person yet, but I'm still a die-hard Jason Crump fan and mourning his retirement

I'd consider it a legitimate term in place of "scrubbing off speed" or "using engine braking to slow down"

I think it was the old crime of "Being in front when a more popular/sponsored rider hits him"

Well this SUCKS. I've followed Crump since he started out (We're the same age), and he's the only rider I've consistently and emphatically rooted for each and every time. Leigh Adams was the next closet. I guess time is catching up and I'm seeing my heroes getting old too. The sad part is, I haven't seen anyone yet that I feel the same way about. There's plenty of good riders, but none of them stir the same loyalty. Personally, I'd much rather have seen a certain Polish rider of intedertiminate manliness leave the sport. (I appreciate the guys talent on the bike, it's his attitude, demeanour and behaviour that leaves a sour taste) Good luck Jase, come back to the UK to ride and we'll see you right.

most sports have consequences if you are abusive to the referees. Maybe it's time the hotline to the ref's box was removed. And maybe it's time for pedersen to actually get hit with a DQ for his reactions.

Are we looking at a 0 point meeting from Harris?

Yes, there definitely SHOULD be a British Rider in the GP series, providing he or she is there on merit. I'd do away with the popularity contest that the wild card selection is, and base it on the preceding season's performance. Perhaps a "seeding" approach would be best. the top 8 in the championship this year would be seeded 1-8. The Under 21 Champ would be seeded 9 (unless he is already in the top 8, then the 2nd placed in that championship would be seeded 9). Then the next 6 would be seeded based on their finishing international average for the season. The final wild card place for each GP should be doled as 1 appearance per country, and for countries that have multiple GPS (poland etc), then the appearance would be by the highest averaging rider for that country. This would give aussies & americans a chance. The host countr can decide which event their home rider will appear at.

Except when she's waving them in the air

But the ref can't start it till the marshall is out of the way, and his delaying just adds to the problem, especially when he walks in front of riders who are prepped.

Track looks awful & start marshall needs a smack upside the head. He's the one delaying starts by tryng to squeeze between riders instead of either moving them further apart or moving to a different postition so he's not looking like an idiot

According to the FIM preliminary programme for 2012, it's Slovenia & Germany for the first two races http://www.speedway.org/wm/2012/fim-calender.pdf

Well, damn, I find myself agreeing with Steve Shovlar. Something is amiss in the state of Newport. But he nails my point exactly, I can underatand coming back and winning races, but coming back and dominating so completely in 6 seperate heats. Every Polish rider had 1 race where they were miles faster than every other rider, and then they tailed off slightly. Gollob's 4th ride was baulked (thank god) by the riders in front, and he didn't get a clear chance to use the bike's straight line speed advantage. As for complaints from other riders, well, who pays their wages? Do you really expect polish clubs to keep riders who don't toe the line? same deal with sponsors. Right now, POland is far too dominant in the money side of things for the rest to get a really fair deal (hence 3 Gp's in Poland, 2 WC events in Poland etc.) (what's actually wrong with having the 3rd event raceoff in another country to share it out somewhat?

The only Pole I can't stand is Gollob, and that's on a personal level. I admit he's a very good rider, but his entire attitude has always stunk. As for the cheating, how else do you explain 5 heats where they were absolutely dominant, after 9 heats of nothing. First Gollob & Hampel had immense speed, then the other 3 had it identically at different points. They certainly didn't cheat all the way, just enough to get them equal. And before you say they'd be caught, can you imagine the FIM actually banning the Polish team because of cheating? They'd lose an immense amount of money and the officials wouldn't get out of the country alive. Sweden, Denmark & Australia made that meeting a lot closer than the poles wanted. As for the referee, that's the first time I've ever seen a ref change his mind after declaring a result. And I'll bet a £1 to a pinch of sh*t that the WC final will be back in Poland next year.

Despite the utter bullrubbish joker situation, the ridiculous machine doctoring and referee decisions, it was a good meeting. From heat 9 on, it was clearly australia not wanting to give in that kept the race alive. Utterly disgusted by the polish team. 5 obviously talented riders that felt the need to cheat.

I just find it bloody suspicious that the top 3 riders for Poland had massive leads in the last round of heats, then the bottom two riders do the same in this round of heats. All it takes is one round of wins (including a joker) and you're in top spot. I know they're talented, but it's just the sudden explosiveness of the domination that raises my suspicions. And be honest, would the FIM risk losing Polish fans money by banning the team?