Bavarian

It would be much easier to go to St. Johann im Pongau, if You fly into and out of Salzburg, instead of Munich.

But the host nation would anyway only get a wild card for the Challenge, if no one rider of that nation qualifies. Don't You believe in Your British riders' abilitiy to reach that GP Challenge?

O.k., I understand that Olsen, Olsson and IMG/BSI (Paul Bellamy) are the ones who are consulted by the CCP when making rule changes re. the SGP and SWC. And I understand that it is Roy Otto, who is the director of that CCP, plus as regular members there are Armando Castagna, Ila Teroma and Tony Steele. And as You say there are some others, seemingly irregular or fluctuating members on this CCP committee.

Just go ahead and ask for a reduction of the minumum track length required for FIM speedway world campionship events. Easier said tahn doen, You think? I tell You, this can be done in no time, if You have the right connections, and a big MONSTER behind You. See that just a few weeks ago the world long-track championship has made a drastic change and accepted to reduce the minimum track lengths required for long-track racing. It used to be from 500m to 1,000m long tracks for world championship event, but now world champion Joonas K. suggested it would be a good idea to use some of the bigger and wider speedway tracks, such as are found in many Eastern European countries, for long-track events as well. This Joonas K. is good friends with newly appointed FIM long-track race director Thiery Bouin, and hey, just a couple of months after first suggesting it, the allowed minimum track lengths for world long-track racing has indeed been reduced to ... wait, it's true, it has been reduced to just 350 metres !!! Wow, I mean, if long-track now begins at 350m - and that's the case from 2013 on, that's a fact - so You may just as well try getting the the allowed minimum track length for a world speedway event reduced to let's say 150 metres. MIssion accomplished, the US tracks would fit and You could host the World Cup finals.

True, Steve, I forgot that with the one extra team that is seeded straight to the final it is now nine, not eight teams in the SWC events. Sorry for getting that wrong. Indeed, You guys were very unlucky to be in that Polish SWC event when it would have been much more convenient and the easier group at King's Lynn. USA had its best team in years in the 2012 SWC, they rode very well, and I would also agree with You that the future for the sport in California doesn't look that bad. Not at all. You just need to find some really committed youngsters, who want to do their speedway racing not just for the fun of it. But, wait, here is a suggestion of how you guys could easily get into the SWC proper, and soon, and without having to go through the qualifying rounds at some obscure locations in Eastern Europe. Just do what the Czechs do, apply to host the event. The FIM will seed Your team straight into the SWC final. All You have to do is convince your main sponsor MONSTER to provide the financial backbone for the USA to host the SWC race-off and final event in sunny California. Simple idea, isn't it? And at the tiny Costa Mesa or Auburn tracks, I bet that the Team USA would have a pretty good chance to do well even against the best of the rest of the world's teams. That's exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks for giving me this straight answer to my question. I find it rather surprising, that while there is a Swede (Tony Olsson), and a Brit (Tony Steele), and of course the great Dane (Ole Olsen), there is no one from Poland, but a Norwegian, a Finn and an Italian. The Nordic countries are certainly a bit over represented, aren't they?

Steve, the USA actually did finish seventh this year, they outscored Germany (last placed in the other group), while the Czech Republic reached the race-off and finished sixth overall. It is this sixth place that your team USA is chasing, since the seventh and eighth placed teams both have to go through the qualifying rounds again next year. As hosts the Czechs are seeded to the final in 2013 and can't finish worse than fourth overall, thus will definitely avoid the relegation. This is of course another unfair side effect of the seeding of the host nation's team to the final. The SWC event groups will have Denmark, Australia, Russia, Sweden, Poland and Great Britain, plus the two qualifyers, one of which might again be the USA. Tough task for the Yanks trying to kick out one of the big six. Best of luck, boys. I have one question, I hope You can answer. WHO decides changes like this? Is it BSI/IMG, is it the FIM, or a combination of the lot? In the old days there used to be a track racing commission of the FIM, the CCP, but is it still in existance? I would really like to know the names of people, who are making decisions like this new SWC rules and the change of the points for the SGP finals.

Absolutely right. WIth six points for winning he final a rider could really make up ground overall in this race, this will now be reduced with final points down to being just like all the other heat races and semi-finals. But the final of a GP is a special race and I fell it was right that the winner was rewarded with an extra bonus of double points. If it has to be, I can live with 3-2-1-0 now instead of 6-4-2-0 but I can't see any advantage in this change. It will not make much difference anyway. All it does is making the final a little less important, so if anything, makes it a little less exciting in the end. Poor change that.

Or rather about the Czech Republic team being seeded into the SWC Final, because that really is the biggest joke! No idea how the organiseres BSI/IMG/FIM reason this, it is unsportingly and should never happen. The home team may be seeded to the race-off, I could accept this, and if they are good enough they could qualify for the final from there. If not, the final will at least have the four best teams and that's how it should be. Don't tell me the final would be a financial disaster without the home team. What will the race-off be without the home team ! That meetign is held at the same track.

By the way, has anybody in NZ thougth about who will do the track announcing/commentating at the Western Springs stadium for this SGP? Will the FIM/BSI/IMG/SPG oragnisation bring someone over with inside knowlegde about Solo speedway or will the public have to cope with the track's regular race caller, who might know a hell lot about cars, but probably next to nothing about the solo bike scene. This could be an important factor to make the meetng an enjoyable event for the crowd, or spoil it altogether. Perhaps Phil Rising can give an answer or raise the question with the responsible people.

You guys in NZ should aim to achieve what the Argentineans have achieved. Are You aware of how good their International Speedway series has become?

Phantastic speedway, this is a great race track, so very wide it allows passing. What puzzles me is the fact that this track is used for midget car/sprint car racing each Friday night and for Solo Speedway each Tuesday night, and provides spectacular racing for both codes each week during the southern summer season. Why isn't this possible at the major speedway tracks in Oz and Kiwiland, when it is possible in Bahia Blanca?

You mean "run-off" (instead of re-run), but I understand and You are right. Why do the FIM use the formula of the 20 heats PLUS semi-finals and final for a qualifying round? The addition of semis and final is bound to cause trouble with the final qualification positions, because the total points to not neccessarly match with the finishing positions after the semis and the final. It is very well to use this system in a Grand Prix meeting, but not for the qualifying rounds? Take a look at the speedway SGP qualifying rounds, they use the traditional 20 heat formula, with run-offs in case of points ties on crucial positions, BUT NO semi-finals and final. This is not neccessary and will only cause problems, such as is the case with Svensson and Niedermaier in this case.

The best news is the official test series. I hope it happens.

Supposedly this international Solo series is the major speedway event of the season in NZ (the SGP excepted), it is incredibly sad how bad the media coverage for this series is. One can not even find complete race results, or know where and when the meetings did or did not take place. Is there any sort of overall series points standings, or is it just a serious of fun events?

I can hardly believe that the Danes are doing this. This is even weirder than anything the BSPA has as yet introduced for the British League. But wait, I can see this idea catching on in the UK, let's have it for the 2013 season! OMG, how can anyone take this sport serious any more.

Why is the final with FOUR teams?

The calendar is a bit unforgiving, but still allows a so called Champions League to be introduced. It seems it is unforgiving only if it comes to national teams competitions. Anyway, what about changing the F.I.M. team competition in the following way: I'd suggest a three-year rotation of events. First year - a World Pairs championship Second year - a World (Four) Team Championship Third Year - a proper Speedway World Cup Tourmament (team v team as in a test match) In the fourth year it would be the World pairs again, and so on. So we would have a world pairs championship every three years, a world 4-team championship every three years and a 'real' speedway world cup every three years. The pairs event (with as many nations as there are) could serve as a qualifyer for the following year's 4-team event (with a limited number of nations allowed to participate, e.g top 12 or top 16 of the world pairs), and the 4-team championship again serving as a qualifyer for the following year's SWC, perhaps with the top four, six or eight nations in the world. It would add variety to the annual calendar and not create a more crowded fixture list.

One question, what is the BSPA or ACU actually doing for British ice racing? I miss the British riders in this competition, like when Bruce Cribb and others competed in the 1970s or '80s it was always interesting to see some familiar names (Paul Evitts or Martin Goodwin come to mind) that we knew from speedway, taking part in ice racing during the winter. Now I hear that Martin Smolinksi is thinking about taking part in a meeting here in Germany in Januray. That's if the club or some sponsors will provide him with an ice racing bike for the event. I am sure he will be a major attarction and help to draw a big crowd. And I am sure he will not disgrace himself. He has had some practise laps on a borrowed bike last winter. I miss some adventureous guys from GB, or even NZ, AUST, CAN and the USA, to do the same and go ice racing in Holland, Austira, Switzerland or Scandinavia. Their participation would do the sport of ice racing so very good. Where are they all?

Is it so in Britain? Well then I stand corrected because this I did not know. Funny to think that this makes Jason Crump the last British world speedway champion (In the wrong colours though). It is a little bit different here in Germany, were one of the parents has to be German for a child born in Germany automatically becoming a German citizen. German-born children of foreign parents can apply for or choose German citizenship, but don't get it automatically.

glad to see Freddy AND Grigory at Czestochowa, plus Zengota and Nermark. Looks quite good if they have some decent junior as well.

It is on wikipedia, I see, but its wrong. German license, yes, German nationality, no.

No, I am sorry, but that is not so. Cox lived here in Germany and he took out and rode on a German racing license, BUT he never applied for or held a German passport. He was and is British all the time, never German. Wigg rode with a Dutch KNMV licence, but certainly never had Dutch nationality. A rider can apply for any nation's race licence if he is living in that country, regardless of his own nationality. There have been numerous examples for this during the years (John Cook in Sweden, Cox, Todd Wiltshire or the Dryml brothers in Germany, Wigg in Holland, Theo Pijper in France). The crucial difference with Holta (and Smith) is they applied not only for a racing license but for Polish nationality (= a Polish passport). This was required to be regarded as non-foreign in Polish speedway. There are others (Emil Sayfutdinov, Martin Vaculik or Andrey Korolev come to mind) who have recently applied for a Polish passport, too. Actually it seems quite easy to get dual nationality in Poland, if You are considered to be a useful asset for a Polish sports team. It seems a bit strange though, that one is not forced to give up the former nationality, which is quite convenient to have both. Here in Germany there are hundredthousands and more with dual German-Polish nationality. Even some speedway riders (Marcin Sekula, Pawel Hlib and others) have two passports and could in theory ride for either Poland or Germany in the World Cup.

No, I don't agree. The current points system is the best they ever had. It is a true reflection of what a rider has done throughout the whole meeting, as every single point he scores does actually count for his world championship points total. Remember when this was not the case, riders often cruised round in second or third place, not aming an effort to overtake if knowing that the points would not matter if they were already through to a semi or final. Now every heat from the very first race of the night has a meaning and every single point in any of the heats is fought for from the first to the last event of the night. This is the beauty of this points system. And it does not matter if sometimes the winner of the final is not the top points scorer on the night. I have no problem with that.

No he isn't. To be born in Bristol does not make JC a British citizen. It is different to Holta acctually holding a Polish passport. But as far as I know Holta still has his Norwegian passport, too, so he has both nationalities. Does anybody remember Andy Smith also getting a Polish passport when riding in the Polsih League many years ago. Same story of dual nationality as now with Holta, but no one in Britain has ever considered Andy Smith to be a Pole after he got his Polish passport!

But in reality Rune is a Norwegian, isn't he?