DutchGrasstrack

Photo's (and report in Dutch) from Weissenbach (Austria) can be found here: http://www.baansportfansite.nl/nieuws/283/zorn-heer-en-meester-in-weissenbach.html The lineup for Sankt Johann is almost complete now: Antti Aakko (FI) Tomi Tani (FI) Jan Klatovsky (CZ) Lukas Volejnik (CZ) Stefan Pletschacher (DE) Günther Bauer (DE) Franky Zorn (AT) Harald Simon (AT) Grzegorz Knapp (PL) Stefan Svensson (SE) Per Anders Lindstrom (SE) Ronny Haring (CH) NL (Rene Stelingwerf ??) NL (??) RU (12 january) RU (12 january)

Woke up at 4 for this (Dutch time) lol. Pretty well worth it, some good racing on that lil track Stream came through realy well on my iPad, great stuff

The first final will be held on the 6th of July in Gustrow (Germany).

If a rider refuses to ride in a GP then the rider will be banned from racing on the day before and the day after the event plus he's not allowed to race in the rest of the GP meetings of that season.

Was North asked? He was next in line after Kennett (Holsted race-off) .... I assume Kroner wasn't asked as they couldn't be bothered to call the DMSB.

Yes and the way Harris got in the meeting as second reserve. Kildemand (previous second reserve) was replacing Loktaev so they had to get a rider from the Holsted race-off instead of Harris and this was known 4 (!!) days before the event.

Don't know what's going on at the FIM Europe but it looks like a big mess. They published their 2014 calendar on their website and many venues are now TBA .... http://www.fim-europe.com/index.php/sport/track-racing EDIT: Calendar has been removed from the website.

It's the FIM who need to contact the federations, which obviously didn't happen. Four days before the event they already 'nominated' Chris Harris as a 2nd reserve.

We are just trying to understand was has gone 'wrong', and indeed nothing can be changed. Bomber is in and I have nothing against him, it can only be good for British speedway to have two riders in the GP's.

Correct me if I'm wrong but what about the other side of the qualifiers? This Zagar -> Buczkowski -> Dilger is one side (Lonigo) of the story (replacement for Pavlic). The sudden display of Harris as reserve is the other side (Holsted). When Kildemand was asked to ride instead of Loktaev they had to find a new 2nd reserve. This rider has to come from the Holsted race-off. These are the riders in question: 11. Lebedevs (not available, riding in the UEM U21 final in Gustrow) 12. Dryml (not available, injured) 13. Kroner 14. Kennett 15. North 16. Gublowsky Kroner was next in line for a second reserve spot, but apperently the German federation was never contacted.

Haha no worries - thanks for the update :-)

Interesting, but your post doesn't make any sense when looking at the press releases. Przemyslaw was never number 17. He was number 5 and got replaced by Timo Lathi (on 16.08) due to his injury. Jurica Pavlic was number 17 and stayed there until the 3rd revision (20.08) of the lineup. In the 4th and final revision (23.08) Pavlic disappeared from the lineup and Harris was replacing Zagar ??? This is how it went: http://crazy-jessie.nl/poole.PNG (click)

I think there is a major flaw in this qualifying system. Why should riders have the right to take part in further meetings when they got kicked out in the qualifiers? It was the same with Pavlic last year who did manage to qualify for the Race-off but then failed to get a spot in the challenge. BUT the challenge was in his own backyard so he qualified anyway with a wildcard. Some rules need to be changed for 2014.

Rider allocations for the SEC Qualifiers: 04.05 - Quali 1 - Rivne (UA) 1x CZ, 1x SLO, 1x GER, 2x UA, 1x RO, 1x HRV, 2x LV, 2x RUS, 2x PL, 1x SVK, 1x FIN, 1x SWE 17.05 - Quali 2 - Krsko (SLO) 1x CZ, 1x GB, 1x SLO, 2x GER, 2x DK, 2x FRA, 1x NL, 1x HUN, 1x NOR, 2x PL, 1x FIN, 1x SWE 25.05 - Quali 3 - Zarnovica (SVK) 2x CZ,1x SLO,1x GER,2x DK,2x ITA,1x UA,1x LV,1x HUN,1x RUS,1x AUT,1x PL,1x SVK, 1x SWE The ACU only requested one place which has been allocated to the qualifier in Krsko, Slovenia. In the other FIM Europe speedway meetings we won't see any ACU riders (Juniors, Pairs and Teams).

Lol article has been removed from the FIM website ...

It's official now - Harris is replacing Gollob. http://www.fim-live.com/en/media/news/news-detail/article/1386669102-great-britains-chris-harris-to-replace-tomasz-gollob-in-2014-fim-sgp/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Done some digging: Rumours came to the SGP website on the thursday (22/08), then the official message on the friday (23/08). The first lineup was amended on 16/08 with Lathi replacing Przemek as he was injured. Pavlic and Kildemand as reserve. No sign of Harris yet. Then on 20/08 a new version was published with Kildemand replacing Loktaev as he had visa problems. Harris came in as second reserve with Pavlic still on #17. Then on 23/08 another new version (final lineup) was published with Harris replacing Zagar and Barker and Bridger as reserve. Pavlic disappeared from the entry list. So afterall it seems that Harris took the chance to be a second reserve and he was lucky that Zagar and Pavlic showed no interest and therefore he could race the whole meeting.

Hmmm seems legit. Wonders me though why the German federation posted their (angry) statement in the press that they were never contacted about a possible replacement (Dilger).

Zagar withdrew Thursday if I remember right. German federation was actually quite upset that they weren't called as a German rider (I guess Max Dilger) was ready to go But hey it doesn't matter now anymore, Harris took his chance and he's now probably in :-)

I'm with GW. Harris got knocked out in the first qualification round in Austria with a 13th place. He shouldn't even be near a qualifcation spot for Poole as he didn't even make it to the Race-off rounds ....... I did some calculations and Harris is number 23 (!!) on the reserve list for the challenge. Riders like Dilger, Woodward, Dryml, Kroner, Kenneth, North and many many more are all above Harris. I'm sure on of these could have made the trip down to Poole ....

Nope only Harris, Batch and MJJ are on the substitute list. After them it's up to the FIM.

Under rule 077.8.5 - FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship Qualification System you will find this rule: "Should a rider withdraw after the publication of the official rider line-up for the following year's Grand Prix season, then the first rider available on the official Grand Prix Substitute List shall replace him." Unless the FIM changes their rules for 2014, I think it's pretty clear that Harris is replacing Gollob.

Wittstock will not race in the 2nd liga next year. They have to pay a 10.000 euro fee to the PZM and they will not get it back because they are not a Polish club ...

Calendar: 04.05 - Quali 1 - Rivne (UA) 17.05 - Quali 2 - Krsko (SLO) 25.05 - Quali 3 - Zarnovica (SVK) 08.06 - Challenge - Debrecen (HUN) 06.07 - Finale 1 - tba 20.07 - Finale 2 - tba 09.08 - Finale 3 - tba 19.09 - Finale 4 - tba Juniors: tba - Semi 1 - Elgane (NOR) 13.06 - Semi 2 - Pardubice (CZ) 14.06 - Semi 3 - Macon (FRA) 31.08 - Final - Rivne (UA) Juniors Teams: 24.05 - Semi final - Plzen (CZ) 28.06 - Final - Herxheim (GER) Pairs: 01.05 - Semi final - Debrecen (HUN) 13.09 - Final - Divisov (CZ)

I think it's safe to say that Harris is replacing Tomek .. If he wants by the way, if not then it will be Batch.