AndyM

Gutsy racing by the whole team, credit to them.

Yes, it was a bit harsh to exclude Dryml, but the rules dictate that somebody has to be found solely responsible. Talk about a blame culture!

Can't argue with that. In answer to Home Straight, sounds like Tobias has mastered the art of going backwards that he demonstrated to great success in an Aces race jacket!

Quite right - turns World Championship speedway into Jeux Sans Frontieres!

No complaints about Rico's form from the critics, I take it? Another spectacular win from the back to add to his collection.

Still a great ride by Steady - can't see Suchanek providing much of a benefit for the Pirates!

Blimey! If losing one selection is bad luck and losing two is carelessness, what does that make three?! Presumably Norris would be back in if Rico does pull out, having ridden in the same meeting. Given the recent run of Richardson form it wouldn't be a great loss.

Good luck to the Brits. On paper they ought achieve at least the runner-up spot with ease, despite or maybe because of the inclusion of two form horses, though the Czechs might push them a bit. come on Steady, show what you can do!

Forgive me if someone's already pointed this out, but I notice with interest in the Star that the Russians have a rider called Semen Vlasov riding. Bet you'll see him coming!

No doubt coping with being world champ is difficult to handle in any sport. Sure Crumpie will deal better with losing his title, and come back all the hungrier. And he'll deal with it far better when he's won for the 2nd time. Not to mention the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th & 10th!!

It would take a powerful if not unprecedented agreement between the FIM and ALL domestic bodies to achieve that - and the riders would undoubtedly feel that denied them the right to earn a living since they are not paid when they aren't on the track, and UK fans would definitely feel aggreived if a rider were banned from UK meetings for an offence committed in, say, Poland. Penalties should be levied for persistent bad behaviour, without a doubt, but don't go over the top. Question: if you want to do this on an international basis, Bert, who would keep track of all the yellow and red cards and apply the penalties? Quite some administration required.

Interesting to see a young Gordon Kennett turning out for Oxford, but failing to trouble the scorers. Anyone know what he averaged that season? Doubtless I have all the stats in my book collection in the bowels of the garage, but it's not easily accessible!

Yes - and this time disciplinary issues will almost certainly appear on the BSPA's agenda, but I've yet to see any indication that the FIM will do likewise.

Knowing Nicki as we all do, if he tried to have a talk with himself, he'd probably end up inviting himself out and beating himself up. Or at least, promising not to be his friend any more! Seriously, the last point is the big danger, but I wonder if he'd take more notice if he seriously injured someone else (God forbid!)

Funny we haven't had any riders over here charged with assault for one of the occasional punch-ups. But then, making a complaint to the police wouldn't exactly endear a rider to his fellow-professionals, would it!

Hello Bert. Nice to see you have your old codger avatar at last! You and Trees are both right. Unless NP matures as a rider from his own volition, he may cause some terrible catastrophe and find it's too late to be sorry. I'm quite sure he knows this already, but believes there is no other way to win races and be successful. Here is where advice from others may help him improve his game. The only way the speedway fraternity can advise him of the error of his ways, sadly, is retrospectively - assuming we ever get an effective disciplinary code policed consistently, without fear or favour. And as I say, it'll be too late by then.

Sounds like Crumpie had a bit of a stinker. Bit surprised that the Torun team were top of the league anyway, looking at their personnel.

How interesting! He certainly had that reputation, and on the few times I've seen him he didn't strike me as easily stressed. Whatever his temperament, he earned respect from every fan.

Well said, Jim. Astonishing, isn't it that such poor sportsmanship was tolerated then or now. I guess it might have had something to do with the fact that, like Mauger, Fundin was so ice cool about his racing. He will certainly have shut crowd noise out and not let it affect him. I hope the tournament being named after one of the finest riders will result in his being given due credit for those fine performances. Perhaps someday it'll be named after Peter Collins in recognition of his three consecutive maximums in WTC finals!!

With respect, I and plenty of others have also put down a lot of ideas about what ought to happen to revive British prospects in the championships, but it's simply not going to happen. Nobody in the BSPA regards urgent action to develop and improve our riders into consistently world class superstars as a priority. They don't invest in it and never have. The academy is the ONLY improvement in the past 40 years; yes, the CL might have been but it's not doing the job and in any case without changes to the way PL and EL are run it's making no progress on where we always have been in terms of giving young riders tryouts. Accuse me of pessimism if you like, but in the absence of anyone with vision and drive in positions of authority, none of these measures will ever come to fruition. In this light, how can we hope to move Nicholls or Richardson up a notch towards the Crump/Pedersen/Rickardsson bracket? League form is irrelevant - it's a completely different mindset required.

There have always been aggressive riders around, and Nicki himself would undoubtedly put his success down to the fact that he's prepared to go for gaps other riders shrink from. Why he needs a few wise words is simple and straightforward - one day he will kill or cripple himself or, worse still, someone else. Someone needs to put this into perspective so he can exercise better judgement. If not, he'll discover it for himself some day...but by then it might be too late.

Not that there will never be another British champ, Mr. C, only that for the country steeped in speedway and with a substantial infrastructure for the sport, we've manifestly underachieved. We've never had any champion score more than two victories, and since 1962 there have only been four individual triumphs. The frequency and quality of our wins must be improved, and at present all we're doing is knocking up the occasional semi-final qualifier at GP level, let alone being anywhere close to winning the series. With the academy, there are some grounds for confidence that we may have future champions. And yes, it's true that Nicholls had a good GP that he fluffed at the semi stage, but I'd question whether your belief that Nicholls or Richardson is capable of sustaining a consistent effort over 9 GPs is justified, particularly while we he have the likes of TR, Crump, Adams and Pedersen ruling the roost. Look at this year and you'd think they're already being overtaken in the GP stakes by the likes of Bjarne Pedersen and Lindback, who look much more likely to score victories. Call it big match temperament if you like - they can pull out the key races. This is why we need effective national coaching from people who have been there and done it, and not just from any retired riders. Even if Middlo did put in the time and effort, he was scarcely a World Champ himself. The one reason why we can is contained within that experience - if we take advantage of it!

And so say all of us. On which note, time to close this thread?

With respect, 21CH, I strongly believe there were far more riders of genuine world class capability around in the 60s and 70s. Granted that the qualification process meant that we got some stinkers into World Finals, and therefore a lot of brilliant riders were eliminated en route, but the volume of quality riders who could on their night defeat the best was much higher. The cream of 2005 are great, but there's a far greater differential now - particularly since the GP circus seems intent on cutting itself off from its league racing roots.

Thanks Bert. May have trouble getting anywhere with ten bob postal orders, but it's the thought that counts! Another illustration of your poetic bent, though I'm not suggesting bent poetry is your thing!! Wish we could see the event, at least. Is it being televised in the UK? Good luck to Ken, James and Danny King.