PersonalResponsibility

We only had 8 points after 2 races last year in fairness. We just need to ignore the fact we'd faced Aus/Den last year, not Den/Lat. Keep the faith.

Can we get Bubba to teach Bewley how to gate? We might end up with the world's best rider.

GB looked poor there. I'm not too worried yet, the track in the semi/final will be much more suited to Bewley. We just have to get there!

Poland looked dominant there. Reminiscent of when they used to steamroller the SWC 15 years ago. Big statement of intent.

Everyone will be getting a block to themselves at Warsaw next year judging by this!

Is it time they split out the U21s from the whole SGP/SGP2 structure and replace the SGP2 with something more akin to the SEC? SGP2 then becomes a place where your Huckenbecks, Kvechs, etc. ride. Maybe they can offer a full SGP spot for the winner/top 3 (balanced out by a relegation spot(s) from the SGP). This way, we can find out how good a rider is amongst what would theoretically be the top 16-30 in the world. It also offers a nice route for the likes of Parnitskyi, Przyjemski, etc. to experience a season-long competition without being dumped into the GPs. They could even have it on a Friday night before a GP, offering something meaningful and competitive for fans to make a weekend of it.

Unbelievable achievement. I don't think anyone had them down to win gold! They deserve it for that team riding in the last heat - only took 28 heats. The 12 year streak is over!!

They did, which I'm sure was a great help, but there's a lot of development before that. Woffinden didn't arrive in the UK until he was 15. Lambert did at least ride in the British Youth rounds, but famously spent plenty time in Germany. I don't even think Bewley rode in the British Youth rounds, he was another straight into the NL. The NL is (was?) a great training ground for youngsters, I was thinking more about what impact Vatcher & co's words of wisdom may have had.

And how much did the GB set-up realistically contribute to the development of 2 of those 3?

You could see the difference in Nagel there by keeping it tighter as opposed to hanging off around the outside. Smart riding. Germany might still have the edge by facing the Czechs in their last one.

Capitulation from the Poles. I thought Denmark might be able to beat them but I wasn't expecting most of field to.

Whoever it is—can we find someone else? (It's Vatcher)

Agreed. I'd like to see how he'd do if he swapped equipment with the Poles. Doesn't look that quick but is very effective and puts himself in the right places.

I know Kelv isn't everyone's cup of tea...but is he alright? I've always thought he was pretty good, and he was dropped in the deep end with the main commentary role, but it feels like it's one thing after the other this week. Even in the main comms role in the last couple of seasons he hasn't been this poor.

What have they done with Ratajczak's 550cc then? 😏

I can't tell if Pawelczak wins every SGP2/SGP title for the next 15 years or he doesn't win a single one. It's a pretty scary thought if he's only getting started.

Not a great update. Fingers crossed. https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/zuzel/1212975/zuzel-stal-dostala-ultimatum-trudne-do-spelnienia-pokerowy-ruch-pge-ekstraliga

Dan Thompson, Luke Harrison + Luke Killeen.

I never said we should just use averages, but they provide a very good indicator. Are you really saying that Brady Kurtz finishing within a point of the world title this year wasn't a "surprise packet"? Out of curiosity, who would you pick as a WC and why? Anyway, every single rider in the competition has been awarded a future place on previous performance, how else could they do it?

Cristian Zubillaga leading for 2.5 laps was probably the highlight of this meeting.

It's an average score across a season in the best league in the world, why wouldn't you base a lot of your decision on it? Ben Cook managed to finish 17th once (from only 8 meetings) and I'm not sure why Kolodziej is mentioned, he won a GP in 2019, he wasn't some no-hoper. I think you've also made the point perfectly above: when Kurtz qualified. He was good enough, so he qualified. If there are any other youngsters good enough then they can qualify too. Everyone wants to see new faces and new battles, but nobody ever suggests any realistic names. There are no youngsters now that would provide a genuine challenge. Parnitskyi and Przyjemski will doubtless get there in years to come, but they would struggle next year.

Never a dull day in Polish speedway. The president and co-owner of Fogo Unia Leszno, Piotr R., was detained by the police in connection with an investigation conducted by the National Prosecutor's Office concerning the so-called garbage mafia. https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/zuzel/1212627/prezes-znanego-klubu-zatrzymany-przez-policje-byl-powiazany-z-mafia-smieciowa

You can say, with c.90% certainty, whether a young rider is good enough for the GPs. It's not like football where a player can bang them in against the U21s or lower league teams and you're never sure if they'll do it at the top level, we see these young riders every week in Poland/Sweden/Denmark/GB vs the same riders as they'd face in the GP. The only rider in the top 20 of the Ekstraliga averages who you could argue is young and could/should be given a chance is Przyjemski, but even then he's racing as a junior, so his average doesn't tell the full story. Cierniak...maybe? He's sat between Woryna and Janowski in the averages, so it's difficult to see him being any better than Vaculik/Doyle/etc. I'd love to see new faces in the GPs too, but the long and short of it is, there isn't anyone good enough. Even if you had the very best 15 riders in the world (Emil, Artem back, etc), someone is still going to be last. The one thing I do think it lacks is some genuine jeopardy beyond mid-season. If you can't win the title, and are a few too many points off the top 7, what is your motivation? You'll either be handed a wildcard or you'll just drop out anyway. Same as having the GP Challenge before the end of the GPs - Kubera scored 6 race points in 2 GPs after winning the GP Challenge, why does he need to risk anything?

I agree that would help matters, but equally it's the year 2025. If TMs are making changes to the line-up then there's no reason it can't be done digitally, with almost instant notification to appropriate people (commentators), regardless of whether they're in the stadium, London, or Timbuktu. Alas.

That's almost certainly one of the worst SON/SWC meetings I've ever had the misfortune to watch. Dreadful. My main takeaways from that were: a) don't host anything in Poland that doesn't directly involve Poland - who knew? b) don't host one of the flagship international meetings of the season in October - who knew? c) if you're going to televise a meeting in a 20,000 seat arena when there are 14 people in attendance, maybe don't continually show drone shots of said arena, highlighting the 19,986 empty seats. d) if the rules allow team managers to chop and change riders and gate positions at the drop of a hat, for christ's sake let the commentator know. I don't need to hear Kelvin telling us he "thinks" it's rider X or he's "fairly sure" Rider Y is on gate 1 - it's amateurish. Other than that, it wasn't bad, some decent racing.