Subedei

I believe Crump has an agreement with VMS Elit that enables both club and rider to pick and choose meetings. It doesn't appear to have done either any harm - Crump is world champion and VMS Elit are in the Elitserien final next week. And VMS Elit aren't facing that "strong" looking Luxo Stars team, but are facing last season's champions Vastervik. So, a couple of teams - at least - stronger than Luxo Stars in Sweden.

I'm pleased someone brought up Rybnik - by the way, you've missed out your own much-loved Renat Gafurov, Roman Szombierski, Zbigniew Czerwinski, Dennis Gizatulin and Martin Smolinski from the line-up. What, I wonder, did universally acclaimed British No 1 Scott Nicholls score against Rybnik for Tarnow this season? What's that you say? 2+1 from 5 rides? Surely not. The great Nicholls is incapable of such a lowly score. In fact, in his next Polish meeting, Nicholls failed to score in his first ride and was replaced for the rest of the meeting.

Crump's averages are more-or-less the same in all the leagues in which he competes - the guy is head and shoulders above the opposition at the minute, so I wouldn't get too hung up about which league he has a higher average in. It could come down to the odd engine failure making a difference. As for Lee Richardson, well perhaps the following could be reasons: 1..Fewer meetings in Poland - I think Richardson had a mid-season slump in form, this could've been 6-7 meetings in the UK, but only 1-2 in Poland. 2..The tracks are all broadly similar size and configuration - perhaps Richardson likes the "continental" tracks and feels more comfortable riding on them. The reason most people consider the BEL a "strong" league is because of the different track shapes and sizes - from Swindon to Arena Essex, requiring greater flexibility from the individual rider. In addition there are more meetings to a UK season than either Sweden and Poland. But these are external to the main "team strength" arguement forwarded by those who advocate the foreign leagues. You simply cannot argue with the Wroclaw (stronger than Luxo Stars for me) team: 1..J Hampel 2..K Bjerre 3..H Andersen 4..T Gapinski/P Swiderski 5..J Crump 6..R Jamrozy 7..N Klindt

Very true. But Hampel's time will come. And sporting history is also littered with "just not good enoughs" - that's the Stead category. Your arguement for including him in the GPs seems to be motivated purely by the fact that he rides for your team - if Harris rode for Belle Vue you'd be putting forward his case. Stead had a chance to get into the GPs and he blew it, finishing way down the order in Vetlanda.

Has Hampel's GP form suffered? He's made more GP finals that Mr Nicholls this season. This is just the pet theory of a few to lure the top stars back to the UK - Jonsson's GP form was pretty dreadful early in the season and he's made huge leaps forward in the last 2-3 GPs. Tomasz Gollob started the season well and then God alone knows what happened? Maybe the crisis that has engulfed his Polish team Tarnow has affected him, or maybe he just can't be bothered when the tracks get a little rough and ready. Rune Holta and Wieslaw Jagus don't ride in Britain, but it didn't hamper their ability to QUALIFY for the GPs, something neither Harris nor Stead could manage. But, if you're so enthusiastic to see Stead humiliated drop-a-cog, who am I to argue? Stick him in the GPs for all I care. As I've said, I could do with a laugh every couple of weeks next season.

That's very misleading - Jonsson rode 18 heats in the EL this season. You make it sound like 18 meetings.

And comfortably champions. Here's the result: http://70.85.103.141/zuzel2.htm

I see Stead scored a massive 2+1 points in his most recent outing for Torun (in the same meeting team mate Wieslaw Jagus - someone who can actually QUALIFY for the GPs - scored 12+1). Yes, bang Stead in the GPs and let's all have a good laugh.

Unia Tarnow are said to be chasing the signature of Hans Andersen. And Andersen appeared for Tarnow in the European Club Championship meeting. But, of course, with Tarnow said to be struggling financially, where'd the cash come from. Already looks like Tomasz Gollob will be heading to pastures new for 2007. With the Polish Ekstraliga proposing a switch to ten team, there shouldn't be too many GP rider problems - 15 GP rides divided by 10 clubs.

Wasn't it a Vastervik versus VMS Elit final last year as well, with Vastervik emerging as champions?

A few interesting scenarios present themselves for next year. Wieslaw Jagus (Poland) Hans Andersen (Denmark) Rune Holta (Norway, I guess) The above have qualified. Jason Crump (Australia) Greg Hancock (United States) Nicki Pedersen (Denmark) Andreas Jonsson (Sweden) Leigh Adams (Australia) The above, I'd say, are safe and sound in the top 8 for this season. Which leaves seven places. Matej Zagar (Slovenia) Has done remarkably well in his debut season and is currently lying 7th (6th if you remove Andersen from the equation). I can't see BSI and the FIM dropping Zagar from the circus - should be safe and sound for 2007. Antonio Lindback (Sweden) Early in the season it didn't look promising for Lindback, but the last couple of GPs have seen him in the final and up to 8th (7th excluding Andersen) in the standings. He had a nightmare at Bydgoszcz last season and a repeat would probably see him dip out of the all-important top 8, but I'd guess he'll be invited back regardless. Jaroslaw Hampel (Poland) A bit hit and miss is young Hampel, but a good performance at Bydgoszcz might be enough to see him hold on to his current 9th (8th excluding Andersen) position and security for 2007. Trouble is, I can't recall too many distinguished Bydgoszcz GP performances from Hampel. Failure to secure a "qualified" position could spell danger for Hampel, with Janusz Kolodziej - a BSI asset at Reading - waiting in the wings. Tomasz Gollob (Poland) Currently 10th in the standing, but his usual Bydgoszcz performance will take him safely into the top 8, but if he fails at Bydgoszcz, you've got to question his continued presence. His recent GP performances have been abject. Should be secure, but you never know. Scott Nicholls (United Kingdom) Has already gone on record as saying failure to qualify as of right would indicate that he isn't good enough to be there. I agree with him. But you suspect that he'll be there regardless of his serial failure to perform. Will be around in 2007, but probably shouldn't be. Bjarne Pedersen (Denmark) Has endured a dreadful time in the GPs this season after his encouraging 2006 season. And that could mean trouble for BP. Will BSI and the FIM really drop Iversen after a single season in which he's by no means disgraced himself? I wouldn't be surprised to see BP suffer the same fate as Hans Andersen last season and find himself dropped from the circus. Lee Richardson (United Kingdom) Maybe it was his performance at Bydgoszcz that saved him last season, or maybe it was his nationality. But surely nothing can save him this time around. And, in all honesty, it'd be a mercy killing to leave him out. Time to put him out of his misery. Should he be replaced by a fellow countryman? I feel not. But most disagree. So which Briton should replace him? I don't particularly care. Make it Simon Stead - I could do with a good laugh.

Gol one then, have it your own way, put Simon Stead in the GPs. At least it'll give me something to laugh at next season.

After 18 rides? 18 rides? You class 18 rides as riding in the UK? Sorry, but that's risible. And Andreas Jonsson missed roughly half Arena Essex's meetings during his stay with the club. Do you SERIOUSLY want to make British speedway a laughing stock by having Simon Stead in the GPs - he'll never ever be GP standard.

Would you care to enlighten me as to where in the UK Andreas Jonsson rides?

Simon Stead will never, ever be a GP standard rider. Not ever, That's to say never. Never, not ever, I repeat, in the case of Stead.

Crikey, I lost 4,000 credits and still managed to gain 2 places in the table. I had been dreading seeing how low I'd sunk. A huge shock to find I've gone up in the world.

Well, he did well enough in Poland today (although his team didn't): Tarnow versus Wroclaw Tarnow..41 9..T Gollob..2,3,2',3,2' = 12+2 10..S Burza..0,0,0 = 0 11..J Kolodziej..2,0,3,2,2,3 = 12 12..J Gollob..1',2,0,0 = 3+1 13..M Rempala..1',3,1,2,1 = 8+1 14..K Zielinski..0 = 0 15..P Hlib..3,2,1,0,0,0 = 6 16..M Ciesielski = DNR Wroclaw..49 1..J Hampel..3,3,2',3,0 = 11+1 2..K Bjerre..1,1,3,1,2' = 8+1 3..P Swiderski..3,2,0,2,3 = 10 4..T Gapinski..0,0,1,1' = 2+1 5..J Crump..3,2,3,3,1 = 12 6..R Jamrozy..2,1',1,1 = 5+1 7..F Sitera..1',0 = 1+1 8..NRN Ht 1..Hlib, Jamrozy, Sitera, Zielinski 3-3 (3-3) Ht 2..Hampel, T Gollob, Bjerre, Burza 2-4 (5-7) Ht 3..Swiderski, Kolodziej, J Gollob, Gapinski 3-3 (8-10) Ht 4..Crump, Hlib, Rempala, Sitera 3-3 (11-13) Ht 5..Hampel, J Gollob, Bjerre, Kolodziej 2-4 (13-17) Ht 6..Rempala, Swiderski, Hlib, Gapinski 4-2 (17-19) Ht 7..T Gollob, Crump, Jamrozy, Burza [Ex/T] 3-3 (20-22) Ht 8..Bjerre, Hampel, Rempala, Hlib 1-5 (21-27) Ht 9..Kolodziej, T Gollob, Gapinski, Swiderski 5-1 (26-28) Ht 10..Crump, Kolodziej, Jamrozy, J Gollob 2-4 (28-32) Ht 11..T Gollob, Swiderski, Gapinski, Hlib [Ex] 3-3 (31-35) Ht 12..Hampel, Kolodziej, Jamrozy, J Gollob 2-4 (33-39) Ht 13..Crump, Rempala, Bjerre, Burza 2-4 (35-43) Ht 14..Swiderski, Bjerre, Rempala, Hlib 1-5 (36-48) Ht 15..Kolodziej, T Gollob, Crump, Hampel 5-1 (41-49) Notes: 1..Ht 4 and we've a re-run with all 4 after Wroclaw's Sitera takes a tumble on the 1st turn. 2..Ht 6 and Hlib replaces Zielinski for Tarnow. 3..Ht 7 and Tarnow's Burza gets himself into mischief at the tapes and is excluded. 4..Ht 8 and Hlib replaces Zielinski for Tarnow. 5..Ht 9 and Kolodziej replaces Burza in a tactical move by Tarnow. 6..Ht 11 and Hlib replaces Zielinski for Tarnow. 7..Ht 11 and we've a re-run without Tarnow's Hlib, who takes a tumble and is excluded. 8..Ht 14 and it's Rempala-Hlib for Tarnow and Bjerre-Swiderski for Wroclaw. 9..Ht 15 and it's T Gollob-Kolodziej for Tarnow and Hampel-Crump for Wroclaw. ----------------------- Bonus points calculated per British Elite League. ----------------------- All details from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl --------------------------------------------------------------------- Czestochowa versus Bydgoszcz Czestochowa..49 9..G Hancock..2,1,3,3,2 = 11 10..S Drabik..0,0,2',0 = 2+1 11..S Ulamek..3,1,2,3,3 = 12 12..L Richardson..2',0,1',2',2' = 7+3 13..R Sullivan..3,3,2,1,1' = 10+1 14..M Piekarski = DNR 15..M Szczepaniak..3,0 = 3 16..C Hefenbrock..1,2',1',0 = 4+2 Bydgoszcz..41 1..P Protasiewicz..1,2',3,0,1 = 7+1 2..R Sawina..3,3,0,2',0 = 8+1 3..R Kosciecha..0,1,2 = 3 4..E Sajfutdinov..1,0,1',0 = 2+1 5..A Jonsson..2,3,3,3,3 = 14 6..M Jedrzejewski..0,0 = 0 7..K Buczkowski..2,1',2',1,1 = 7+2 8..K Klecha..0 = 0 Ht 1..Szczepaniak, Buczkowski, Hefenbrock, Jedrzejewski 4-2 (4-2) Ht 2..Sawina, Hancock, Protasiewicz, Drabik 2-4 (6-6) Ht 3..Ulamek, Richardson, Sajfutdinov, Kosciecha 5-1 (11-7) Ht 4..Sullivan, Jonsson, Buczkowski, Szczepaniak 3-3 (14-10) Ht 5..Sawina, Protasiewicz, Ulamek, Richardson 1-5 (15-15) Ht 6..Sullivan, Hefenbrock, Kosciecha, Sajfutdinov [Ex/T] 5-1 (20-16) Ht 7..Jonsson, Buczkowski, Hancock, Drabik 1-5 (21-21) Ht 8..Protasiewicz, Sullivan, Hefenbrock, Sawina 3-3 (24-24) Ht 9..Hancock, Drabik, Buczkowski, Klecha 5-1 (29-25) Ht 10..Jonsson, Ulamek, Richardson, Jedrzejewski 3-3 (32-28) Ht 11..Hancock, Kosciecha, Sajfutdinov, Hefenbrock 3-3 (35-31) Ht 12..Ulamek, Richardson, Buczkowski, Protasiewicz 5-1 (40-32) Ht 13..Jonsson, Sawina, Sullivan, Drabik 1-5 (41-37) Ht 14..Ulamek, Richardson, Protasiewicz, Sajfutdinov 5-1 (46-38) Ht 15..Jonsson, Hancock, Sullivan, Sawina 3-3 (49-41) Notes: 1..Ht 1 and Hefenbrock replaces Piekarski for Czestochowa. 2..Ht 6 and Hefenbrock replaces Piekarski for Czestochowa. 3..Ht 6 and Bydgoszcz's Sajfutdinov gets himself into mischief at the tapes and is excluded. 4..Ht 7 and Buczkowski replaces Jedrzejewski for Bydgoszcz. 5..Ht 8 and Hefenbrock replaces Piekarski for Czestochowa. 6..Ht 9 and Klecha replaces Sajfutdinov for Bydgoszcz. 7..Ht 9 and Buczkowski replaces Kosciecha for Bydgoszcz. 8..Ht 11 and Hefenbrock replaces Piekarski for Czestochowa. 9..Ht 12 and Buczkowski replaces Jedrzejewski for Bydgoszcz. 10..Ht 14 and it's Ulamek-Richardson for Czestochowa and Protasiewicz-Sajfutdinov for Bydgoszcz. 11..Ht 15 and it's Hancock-Sullivan for Czestochowa and Sawina-Jonsson for Bydgoszcz. ----------------------- Bonus points calculated per British Elite League. ----------------------- All details from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl --------------------------------------------------------------------- Rzeszow versus Leszno Rzeszow..47 9..N Pedersen..2,3,3,3,3 = 14 10..M Kuciapa..0,2',1,1' = 4+2 11..K Baran..2,0,3,1',0 = 6+1 12..T Rempala..0,2,1,2,1 = 6 13..T Chrzanowski..3,2,3,2,1 = 11 14..D Stachyra..3,0,1 = 4 15..P Miesiac..1,1,0 = 2 16..M Les = DNR Leszno..43 1..L Adams..3,3,1',3,3,2 = 15+1 2..M Loram..1,1,2,3,2' = 9+1 3..R Dobrucki..1,1,0 = 2 4..D Balinski..3,3,2,2,0 = 10 5..K Kasprzak..2,1,2,0 = 5 6..A Kajoch..0,0,0 = 0 7..M Jurga..2,0,0 = 2 8..R Miskowiak..0 = 0 Ht 1..Stachyra, Jurga, Miesiac, Kajoch 4-2 (4-2) Ht 2..Adams, Pedersen, Loram, Kuciapa 2-4 (6-6) Ht 3..Balinski, Baran, Dobrucki, Rempala 2-4 (8-10) Ht 4..Chrzanowski, Kasprzak, Miesiac, Jurga 4-2 (12-12) Ht 5..Adams, Rempala, Loram, Baran 2-4 (14-16) Ht 6..Balinski, Chrzanowski, Dobrucki, Stachyra 2-4 (16-20) Ht 7..Pedersen, Kuciapa, Kasprzak, Kajoch 5-1 (21-21) Ht 8..Chrzanowski, Loram, Adams, Miesiac 3-3 (24-24) Ht 9..Pedersen, Balinski, Kuciapa, Dobrucki 4-2 (28-26) Ht 10..Baran, Kasprzak, Rempala, Jurga 4-2 (32-28) Ht 11..Pedersen, Balinski, Stachyra, Miskowiak 4-2 (36-30) Ht 12..Adams, Rempala, Baran, Kajoch 3-3 (39-33) Ht 13..Loram, Chrzanowski, Kuciapa, Kasprzak [E/F] 3-3 (42-36) Ht 14..Adams, Loram, Rempala, Baran [E/F] 1-5 (43-41) Ht 15..Pedersen, Adams, Chrzanowski, Balinski 4-2 (47-43) Notes: 1..Ht 8 and Miesiac replaces Stachyra for Rzeszow. 2..Ht 10 and Jurga replaces Kajoch for Leszno. 3..Ht 10 and Leszno's Kasprzak is admonished for something untoward. 4..Ht 11 and Miskowiak replaces Dobrucki for Leszno. 5..Ht 14 and it's Baran-Rempala for Rzeszow and Loram-Kasprzak for Leszno. 6..Ht 14 and Adams replaces Kasprzak in a tactical move by Leszno. 7..Ht 15 and it's Pedersen-Chrzanowski for Rzeszow and Adams-Balinski for Leszno. ----------------------- Bonus points calculated per British Elite League. ----------------------- All details from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl --------------------------------------------------------------------- Torun versus Rybnik Torun..58 9..A Miedzinski..3,3,2,3,3 = 14 10..K Slabon..1,1,0,1,1 = 4 11..B Pedersen..2',1,3,1,3 = 10+1 12..D Celmer = DNR 13..W Jagus..3,3,3,3 = 12 14..A Wisniewski..0 = 0 15..D Stachowiak..1,1,1,0,1 = 4 16..K Zabik..3,3,3,3,2' = 14+1 Rybnik..32 1..C Harris..2,2,2,3,2,1 = 12 2..M Mitko..0,0 = 0 3..R Chromik..0,2,1,0,0,2 = 5 4..NRN 5..R Povazhny..2,2,1',2,2,0 = 9+1 6..S Pyszny..0 = 0 7..W Druchniak..0,0,1',0 = 1+1 8..P Pawlaszczyk..2,1,0,2,0 = 5 Ht 1..Zabik, Pawlaszczyk, Stachowiak, Druchniak 4-2 (4-2) Ht 2..Miedzinski, Harris, Slabon, Mitko [Fall] 4-2 (8-4) Ht 3..Zabik, Pedersen, Pawlaszczyk, Chromik 5-1 (13-5) Ht 4..Jagus, Povazhny, Stachowiak, Druchniak 4-2 (17-7) Ht 5..Zabik, Harris, Pedersen, Mitko 4-2 (21-9) Ht 6..Jagus, Chromik, Stachowiak, Pawlaszczyk 4-2 (25-11) Ht 7..Miedzinski, Povazhny, Slabon, Pyszyn 4-2 (29-13) Ht 8..Jagus, Harris, Povazhny, Wisniewski 3-3 (32-16) Ht 9..Harris, Miedzinski, Chromik, Slabon 2-4 (34-20) Ht 10..Pedersen, Povazhny, Druchniak, Stachowiak 3-3 (37-23) Ht 11..Miedzinski, Pawlaszczyk, Stachowiak, Chromik [E/F] 4-2 (41-25) Ht 12..Zabik, Harris, Pedersen, Druchniak 4-2 (45-27) Ht 13..Jagus, Povazhny, Slabon, Chromik 4-2 (49-29) Ht 14..Pedersen, Chromik, Slabon, Pawlaszczyk 4-2 (53-31) Ht 15..Miedzinski, Zabik, Harris, Povazhny 5-1 (58-32) Notes: 1..Ht 1 and Zabik replaces Wisniewski for Torun. 2..Ht 1 and Pawlaszczyk replaces Pyszyn for Rybnik. 3..Ht 3 and Zabik replaces Celmer for Torun. 4..Ht 3 and Pawlaszczyk replaces NRN for Rybnik. 5..Ht 5 and Zabik replaces Celmer for Torun. 6..Ht 6 and Stachowiak replaces Wisniewski for Torun. 7..Ht 6 and Pawlaszczyk replaces NRN for Rybnik. 8..Ht 8 and Povazhny replaces Mitko in a tactical move by Rybnik. 9..Ht 9 and Harris replaces NRN in a tactical move by Rybnik. 10..Ht 10 and Stachowiak replaces Celmer for Torun. 11..Ht 10 and Druchniak replaces Pyszyn for Rybnik. 12..Ht 11 and Stachowiak replaces Wisniewski for Torun. 13..Ht 11 and Pawlaszczyk replaces NRN for Rybnik. 14..Ht 12 and Zabik replaces Celmer for Torun. 15..Ht 12 and Druchniak replaces Pyszyn for Rybnik. 16..Ht 13 and Chromik replaces Mitko in a tactical move by Rybnik. 17..Ht 14 and it's Slabon-Pedersen for Torun and Chromik-Pawlaszczyk for Rybnik. 18..Ht 15 and it's Miedzinski-Zabik for Torun and Harris-Povazhny for Rybnik. ----------------------- Bonus points calculated per British Elite League. ----------------------- All details from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl --------------------------------------------------------------------- Defeated the mighty Crump a couple of times. Frankly, if he doesn't pull it out of the fire in Bydgoszcz, I'd struggle to justify his inclusion next season.

Oh dear, as ideas go, that's dreadful. Who's Arena Essex's No 1? Kylmakorpi? And Todd Wiltshire from Oxford? Although Ales Dryml is still top of Oxford's averages. Either way, none of them GP standard.

And that's the crux of my arguement regarding Nicholls, although you seem to have missed it. Nicholls and Richardson get permanent wild cards seemingly each and every year while other riders get shunted out. They've been in a "comfort zone". Look at what having a year out has done for Andersen. Kicked out of the GPs he's come out all guns blazing and has won a couple of GPs when he's got the chance. Handing out charity year on year is doing Nicholls no good at all.

Don't recall ever suggesting Nicholls was "gutless", just that he shouldn't be there if he doesn't qualify as of right. I didn't watch the meeting as I was at Berwick, but I'll try and watch the repeat tomorrow.

Not being broadcast live then? Anyone wanting to know what goes on before Sky finally deign to air it (probably pretending it's a live broadcast) can try the following: http://70.85.103.141/launch_speedway_205.html

Not worthy of comment. I believe the criteria was finishing in the top eight. I believe ninth is not in the top eight. Much as it might annoy you, Gollob always manages to finish in the top eight. But, I see your reasoning, drop a rider who consistently finishes in the top eight to make way for a rider who consistently fails to finish in the top eight. What's Bjarne Pedersen's average these days? A couple of good meetings and he's suddenly a viable rival to Crump? BP has his good days, but generally he's only an above average rider. Next season he'll be pottering around on the same average as this season. The guy just isn't a top line rider - although he's won one more GP than Nicholls and that was way back in 2004.

Not worthy of comment. I believe the criteria was finishing in the top eight. I believe ninth is not in the top eight. Much as it might annoy you, but Gollob always manages to finish in the top eight. But, I see your reasoning, drop a rider who consistently finishes in the top eight to make way for a rider who consistently fails to finish in the top eight.

Nicholls was afforded ample opportunity to qualify this season. He chose not to bother himself with such mundane things. And, anyway, two of the GP rounds are on what you refer to as "Polish dust bowls", so aptitude on such tracks is quite important. Furthermore, a Polish dust bowl has to be better than the abortions served up at Cardiff and Copenhagen this season. And what is best for the GPs and British speedway is to have guys in the series on merit. It does Nicholls no favours handing him charity entry year on year on year. Look at what being left out has done for Andersen. It's done him the world of good. Maybe it would be the same with Nicholls.

I don't have a vendetta against Nicholls. I just don't see why his serial failure should be rewarded year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year. If memory serves, he was in the top eight up until Bydgoszcz last season and then flopped at Bydgoszcz and Lonigo, which took him out of the top eight. Andersen, a GP winner was defenestrated from the series, Nicholls was included.