Ben91

No lack of effort from Hume for sure but sometimes you have to know when to settle for your position. Could cost Ipswich massively come the end of the tie on Thursday evening.

Speedway Gonzalez

Richie Hawkins is really pulling off the Mexican looking anxious at the US border look tonight.

It is but I’m still yet to see any of these so called advantages. It isn’t boxing. One has improved, the other has regressed.

I’m not sure what these “advantages” are. He’s just a class above. If Emil and Laguta were back in the series next season he’d be head and shoulders above them too. Emil would probably finish second.

Zmarzlik is just a different gravy. They could race all the rounds away from Poland and he’d still win the series at a canter. He does what he has to when he has to do it. In the clutch there is no rider anywhere near as good as he is. League averages are a comparable metric of riders but very few people will give a toss who was top of the Polish averages in years to come. What they will care about is who won the world title.

The Grand Prix series is used to decide who the best rider in the world is. For me that means Sayfutdinov and Laguta should be involved. If they are however it won’t matter. Zmarzlik is the best rider in the world by a long stretch. Probably the best to ever throw a leg over a Speedway bike. And with it, he’s a very likeable bloke too.

It was all but over after the first leg. While the weather could have been a leveller tonight it’s been quite the opposite. Shame.

I think this is the problem. Once the horse has bolted once it’s easy to let it do so again and again. A strong step to take would be for the authorities to enforce the deadline with no excuses. People won’t take the piss in future that way.

The sport would be a poorer place if all tracks were the same. In the last 20 odd years we’ve lost some real diverse tracks and the sport is poorer for it.

Not a fan of the play-offs but that was great viewing. The racing was decent enough (by the NSS’ high standards) and the scoreline drama going to the wire added to the entertainment. That heat 15 alone would have been worth the entrance fee. A great race with so much riding on the result.

King not even looking for Hume there. You’d think he’s been around long enough to be able to try shepherd his partner home in this scenario.

If Harris doesn’t do one meeting for every team in the play offs then it’s not a fair scientific test and therefore the entire season is rendered pointless.

This will depend massively on what Doyle does. Hasn’t been great around the NSS this season and could have a hangover from that nasty crash last weekend still. If he’s on song it’ll take a big performance from Belle Vue to take the aggregate win.

Assume Jordan Palin will be in Scunthorpe thoughts too if he comes back next season?

Entertainment is a by product of sport. It’s never guaranteed regardless of the event. There have been countless World Cup, Champions League and FA Cup finals devoid of entertainment. They’re not there to advertise the sport, they’re there to decide who is best at the sport.

Have to disagree with the first paragraph. The rules are all too wordy and using percentages of fixtures completed is an attempt at sounding more intelligent than they are (not very). Second paragraph, I appreciate your point completely. But it is again something open to interpretation. It completely contradicts my point I know but If Emil Sayfutdinov gets concussed in the first leg of the play off final for example, that’s a season ender due to the length of time he has to spend out but not a “long term” injury. So should Ipswich be allowed to sign Bartosz Zmarzlik for one meeting?

Rulemakers trying to be too smart for their own good here. “Team changes can only be made between X date and Y date. The only exception to this is the case of proven long term injury.” Simple really.

Adams is always the one that springs to mind for me. Probably the last rider to retire who should have won one but didn’t unless I’m missing someone glaringly obvious. Hans Andersen is another. Was the best in the world in 2006 but only got the second half of the GP series when Rickardsson packed it in. A massive digression from the thread there, apologies.

Will go down as one of the best to never win the world title. No shame in that, the club is full of exceptional talent. There will always be a big what if over his earlier hiatus from the series when he was arguably at the peak of his powers. Now it is Zmarzlik’s world and everyone else just lives in it. I think there’s an awful lot wrong with British Speedway but having Emil here has been a breath of fresh air. I’d love to see him back in the GP series but can’t see Russian riders getting a wild card even though Emil and Artem Laguta should absolutely be in the series. The clock is ticking time wise for Emil on that score but hopefully we see him in the UK again next season.

Bewley’s not been as dominant as could have been expected this season, but I don’t think he’s been phoning it it. For one of the best in the world on tracks he has seen plenty of in the past his away form has been bad. His form around Foxhall is truly awful (relative to his ability) though. Three visits this season and he has averaged 5.24.

Makes a lot of sense. You put him in with a strong chance of coming away with three points. Three points he’s less likely to pick up against King or Harris.

The first point isn’t true. About a third of League Two football grounds are bigger than Dean Court. Speedway is a minority sport. Of course there being a match at the local Premier League ground on the same night would hit the speedway attendance.

Beggars belief. May as well just make the entire league a big knock out cup. They might get the fixtures completed in time that way too.

These things, while they seem insignificant, aren’t to the sponsor who has shelled out to have their name on the race suits. That said, fans have been short changed in terms of seeing the best rider in the world tonight and it also potentially impacts the integrity of the final outcome of the series. Hope Doyley is ok, that was a nasty off.