arnieg

It depends on his reason for not riding in the qualifiers. That might count against him. Can anyone tell me why he wasn't involved?

He'll do well to finish in the top 6. He's done well to qualify, not many Brits do. And there's a reason - the foreign riders are better (at least on the continental tracks where these meetings take place) Przyjemski has to be favourite, and I honestly think Flint will finish about tenth (but I'd be pleased if he proved me wrong)

14 Europeans - so surely no 15 must be Australian (or possibly Lightcap)

Hurrah a Brit qualifies. Lightcap, Andersen and Bednar would be my preferences for wildcards. PS I'd forgotten about Blodorn who must be a dead cert given he couldn't be in two places at once today.

Yes. Can't say it was the most memorable meeting. Lebedevs a deserved winner though

There were four rounds in September and one in October last year (the Rawicz round wasn't staged. http://www.speedwayw.pl/inne/tpp_2023.htm Junior Pairs Tournament (for the six teams eliminated from first round of DMPJ) Pts 1st 2nd 3rd 1 Rawicz 92 3 2 0 Franciszek Majewski 61, Błażej Wypior 31 2 Gdansk 78 1 1 1 Miłosz Wysocki 49, Eryk Kamiński 29 3 Gniezno 67 1 1 0 Patryk Budniak 29 (3), Jędrzej Chmura 20 (3) 4 Pila 67 0 1 1 Bartosz Głogowski 47, Konrad Pawłowski 20 5 Rzeszow 64 0 0 2 Bartosz Curzytek 50 (4) 6 Opole 59 0 0 1 Oskar Stępień 44 (4) Point scorers from 5 rounds unless stated. Rawicz round postponed twice and not staged

But plenty can change when riders are young and developing. A year ago the general view on the forum was that Dan Thompson and Sam Hagon were not making significant advances, but step forward a year and they are both hot. Similarly Vinnie Foord made limited progress last year but is going great guns this year

Are they repeating the underwhelming pairs competition for the six eliminated teams?

Unless all the rounds are at Lonigo and you'd name is ...

Yes to both. There is a 7 ride max so a rider can ONLY have four programmed rides and any three of: RR, IRR, TS, ,ht 15 nomination. [Edit: pedant point you could take a rider out of a programmed ride so he can have all four of the 'additional' rides]

Yes - 18 May v Wolves But he wasn't RS last year.

Of course they thought of it it is a specific paragraph in the rules. It is a clear act of commission, not an omission through oversight. Whether it is a wisely drawn regulation is certainly up for debate though.

Must admit I wasn't sure but 11.4 is quite clear. One oddity is 5% enhancement for home guests is not available if using the guest option for an RS in top 5

Isolated premises with a history of vandalism may be difficult to insure.

'Banned' 'failing' 'despite' 'evidence' - all a little over dramatic me thinks. How about: The standard 7 day sickness protocol, as per SCB regulations, will apply to Dan Thompson who has covid.

Is Kolodziej likely to be fit?

He certainly flirted with Latvian nationality at one stage.

In Russia yes, but as a Putin apologist he's basically stuck riding domestically.

Hard to see beyond Flint or Dan Thompson. Hagon, Boughen and Joe Thompson (+ Ablitt if fit) seem best bets for third rostrum spot.

So you don't want any Poles bar Bartosz, or Max Fricke in the series. Just who do you think should be in the GP's?

Although a 2023 away average of 5.09 is hardly mind blowing.

Paco Castagna is 223 on the list. All the others you quote are in the top 100. Based on 2023 meetings (in practice Nov 22 to Oct 23) covering 900 meetings and featuring over 800 riders here's the top 20: Incidentally the next five are four more Poles and Nicki Pedersen. Note: The exercise involves working out a weighted race average, so for example points scored in a Grand Prix ride are worth over five times those scored in a National Development League match. As the largest league in the world, I have given the British Championship a weighting of 1.00 – tougher competitions have higher ratings and weaker events get a weighting of less than one. The weighting of each competition requires some judgement, aided by comparing the performances of riders who ride in multiple league/events across those competitions.

For top riders the most reliable ranking source would be the Polish Ekstraliga averages. Fricke, Thomsen and Dudek should all be in the GP on that basis. If you want to see some world rankings based on the method you outline see the Oxford Chronicle (formerly Cheetahs Chronicle) issue 1 from this year. [Spoiler alert: Bartosz Zmarzlik comes out at number 1]

It's the 'Zlati Znak' about as important as the 'Teesside Silver Helmet' Line up includes Paco Castagna, Max Dilger, Rickards Anvesulius, Jakub Jamrog, Jan Macek, Den8s Stojs etc

Except you conveniently miss out his 7 at Workington last Saturday and 8 for Redcar at Workington at the start of the month.