tyler42

Unfortunately how many Elite League riders are there that ride in both leagues? Off the top of my head I would say 5 or 6. As we know the Polish League pays more and has a bit more kudos Than the Elite League. You are quite correct though in that it is quite arrogant of them.

What facility have they been using for Hampel all season?

Big mistake using Hampel in a play off semi final?. What options did they have RR?

How does this Lawrence get on the FIM refs list?

Fantastic effort to get 2nd, when I was one of many doubters who thought we would be in the final just to make up the numbers. The proof in the pudding will be next year, when we will have to qualify and progress to the semi final and then on to the final. If we can achieve that, then maybe our fortunes as a international speedway nation will be turning a corner.

If Lambert could get a place in next seasons Polish top league, I think this would bring him on no end. Racing with the top boys every week in week out would in my opinion be really good for him.

Iversen was on one wheel before contact was made, so there is a case where you could say he was already out of control.

I would say both competitions are completely different. The one off World Final meant you could not really afford a bad ride. The pressure must have been very intense to say the least. You had to put together five good rides, no second chances. Where as In the GP's it's all about accumulating points throughout the series. Tai said in an interview, that he was quite happy just to get into the final. To him winning was not the most important thing, but to keep raking up the points. Imo both are just as good as the other.

I think results don't lie and unfortunately for Bomber 7pts behind 14th place and 15pts behind 8th place after just three GP's. Two 2nds and three ducks from 5 rides does not in my opinion constitute 'right on it'

In the EL he may come against one of these riders per race. In the GPs he is up against three per race. At the end of the day Bomber is a good EL rider and always gives 100%. He always rides very well in the WTC but, his lack of meetings in the Polish and Sweden Leagues tell there own story.

I'll think you'll find the GP's are a tad more harder then the EL.

Danish Ref for a Danish GP?

I don't think that was the debate. I think most would agree the track caused him to fall, it was more the fact that he did not clear the track.

No mention from Nige or Kelv about Pedersen not clearing the track!!

But if he does finish 15th. It certainly does not make him the 15th best rider in the world! No disrespect to bomber, but he can't even get a ride in Poland's 2nd League. I think you yourself do stats on all the riders. Where does bomber come there. not top 15 I would guess.

My own personal opinion as to when it stopped being as good as it use to be. Was when most of the teams would be made up of guests, R/R. Yes I know back in the day There were guests and R/R, but when the likes of Belle Vue came to Wimbledon, You would know unless injured that P.C Chris Morton Les Collins etc would be riding and The Dons would have the same team as they had the week before and the week before that. Now you have so many riders from the premier league doubling up and that in my opinion is purely down to not having enough top class riders in the Elite league. You could argue and say back then the top riders were not riding Poland Sundays, Sweden Tuesdays and so on. Maybe that is why there is a lack of top riders riding here now. If you take the standard of our league racing today and put it up against 70s and 80s. I think no one who has seen both eras could say today's standard is better. The racing on the other hand is no better or worse than it was then. You still get fantastic racing today as you did then. Just without the crowds! Ironically the sport in my opinion has gone full circle in that, Poland was the poor relation to us, but now sadly it is us. you only have to look at our rider input on the world stage bar Tai Wooffinden. we are no where. Things are starting to look up, with a lot of promising youngsters, but if you let them just stagnate in the lower leagues, then when they come up against the young Polish, Danish and Swedish riders, they will be found wanting.

And to think, we had riders of Gordon Kennetts quality 2nd in the 1978 World Final, threatening to take out a Danish licence because he could not get into the English Team.

This though is where the problem lies with the laydown bikes. On more than one occasion I have read they are not suited to tracks where there is a lot of dirt. You look at most meetings in this day and age. The riders come in from heat 1 with hardly any shale on there suits. The tracks are setup slick as this is what most riders want. We've seen, when the tracks are a tad heavy. The riders what all the dirt scrapped off. I agree we you, there is no point going back in time. Speedway today is a totally different sport to when the upright was used. I loved speedway in the late 70's and 80's. That was my era, but the world moves on as does speedway.

Maybe Bomber can handle the pressure better than these so called better riders in a one off old fashion 20 heat meeting. He's there on merit. Good luck for next years GP's Bomber.

Maybe the ref was trying to even it up. Like they do in football.

We certainly do but, unfortunately the majority of them ride in the Polish and Swedish Leagues.

Taken from his Wikipedia page. I assume it is correct. Maybe not? I'm not sure. Lee began his professional speedway career in 1975 with Boston in the second division of speedway in the United Kingdom, the National League. In his first season he recorded an impressive average points score of 9.13, he also rode part-time for top division team King's Lynn

I think this is open to debate. Back in 88/ 89 'Yes I know I'm only picking certain years ' You had a fair few Aussies. Who showed tremendous talent in there 1st season of racing. i.e Todd Wiltshire,Craig Boyce, Leigh Adams. With in Todd's case 2nd in the 1990 world Final. 88 No 7 for Wimbledon NL, On the rostrum within 2 years. This with the Likes of Loram, Dugard, Chris Louis made for a very competitive League. Good foreigner riders yes will make the league better, just like the Aussies back then but, imo there are a lot of very average foreign riders riding here at the expense of young English riders. Hence Imo why we as a nation lack top quality riders Excluding Woffindon and Lambert of course.

Yes you are quite correct that, he rode for Boston and Kings Lynn but, did he not make his league début for Boston I must apologise, I did not realise it was a joke.