spook

I do wonder what would actually happen if the top 15 riders in the world (or at least close to it) were included regardless of nationality............. I think in terms of attendance the biggest issue would actually be the Polish GP's ......... as we have seen in the past with SWC race off attendances not involving Polish riders.................... but the money generated from Cardiff and the other temp venues dwarfs the others tbh I think IMG are making the correct business decisions.............. and it has to be considered what happens if they start making the incorrect decisions and it all hits the fan agree about Tai btw and I fear for how he will cope next year if he is included.............. the timing is wrong and the field is probably going to be its strongest ever

I used to like the old format with the furious qualifying taking place before the sweet sixteen.... but it was complex... at least for the casual viewer/spectator....... and it was cut ultimately because of the costs being incurred by those riders not getting more than 2 or 3 rides.......... in effect you are suggesting pretty much the same competition.... or at least the same financial scenario that wasnt very friendly i'm a virgin customer and I do not consider them to be inferior at all!...... the reality is that I have all the channels that I need, a good phone package and a broadband package second to none (except for when I have to phone India!)..................... and here is the crux of the matter..... I have paid for a sports and movies package........ as a speedway fan the sports package is because of the speedway and nothing else...... when I purchased that sports package it was with the full knowledge that it had the SKY sports channels.... the same company who have the speedway contract the biggest losers here are IMG who quite clearly did not make sure that the fine print protected their interests............ will I switch to SKY because they keep doing this? will I buggery!......... The broadband is the most important part of the package for me and the modern world is an interesting place with such things as Danish and Polish TV being streamed..................... will the casual viewer do the same though? It is very doubtful

I 100% agree ... and we are becoming far far removed from a world championship........ but........ we cannot deny who 'owns' the GP's and what their motives are........ while GB have riders 7.00+ the championship will have GB riders in it personally I lean towards 'the good ol' days' and the road to the one off world final but I can see clearly that with decent tracks prepared and a level playing field with no bias (on the night) that the GP's are a great spectacle.......... because of this I cannot blame IMG/BSI for protecting the Cardiff GP attendance at all costs........ if that GP went sour then the deck of cards could well come crashing down and i'm not at all sure that is a good scenario

the only logical explanation is that they are trying to make sure that meetings go ahead no matter what............. there is some validity in that approach but its been taken too far speedway is no longer speedway without the chance of passing........ the sport should not revolve around gating.... in fact everyone involved in the sport should be doing their level best to make sure it isnt................... I asked a valid question a few weeks ago..... 'when was the last time a race was brought back due to movement at the starts?' ............... I am really struggling to remember it has been that long ....................... this means that there must have been a directive sent or expressed covering this at some point and now we are starting to see the results with certain riders creeping at the starts in each of their races .......and they are gaining huge advantages it is this sterile approach to the competition that is starting to throttle it now ............... no one likes a rain off but they are a fact of the sport and if attention is focussed on any area to try to help this then it surely has to be the equipment and innovation............... how quickly can a track be bladed? how quickly should it be bladed? how much are the track drying machines? how effective are they? how easily transported around europe are they? etc etc the last thing that should be happening is that the very sport itself is changed to accomodate a fear of the possibility of rain

there is a part of me that says age is no issue ...... that Tai on the surface appears to be dealing with the trials that life is throwing up.... so why not next year as well?.......... Emil may also be young but not only was he double U21 world champion but he also has an incredible team around him which no doubt costs a pretty penny The standard next year is looking like its going to be higher and could well cause some blips in the GP careers of a few..... maybe even end a couple .......... maybe it wouldnt be such a great idea to rush into it

I guess it depends how you look at it........... tbh I hadnt considered that he is already guaranteed the 17 bib for next year already and this in itself could give IMG all the excuses they need to give Bomber a card ................... if this wasnt given as the reason though then arguably they would be devaluing the competition more by giving someone who finished 15th a WC while they didnt give 13th and 14th wildcards If I was Bomber then i'd be ruling myself out until Ole moved on anyway as he is his Kryptonite and only serves to highlight his deficiencies

maybe this is a tactic to get Virgin customers to switch to SKY? Virgin are about to steal an enormous march on their competitors as the broadband speeds they provide as standard become alarmingly faster than anything that anyone else can provide.......Under these terms I would fully expect a dirty fight to be waged where things like speedway would be caught in the crossfire either that or like some of you are saying Ole is killing world class speedway and this is just one of many side effects...................... as it is, even when he does move on, the years of slick tracks will have made the GP field gating tart heavy and we probably wont be able to get back to a smattering of Lorams and Bombers in the field for some years

I think its fair to say that we can discount Scott, Lewis and Danny for consideration for next year Bomber has suffered from the obsessive slick and dry tracks but if we thought his wildcard for this year was a bit scandalous wait until he gets one despite being behind the likes of walasek and ulamek... ......... I think even IMG will avoid that square block in a round hole The Brits will definitely get at least one card and the most sensible would be Rico.......... but I guess Tai is fast making a case for himself.............. Ed is improving year on year but isnt quite there yet imo another consideration is what is happening with the top 10 because this could well decide if the brits get two cards or not ......... if the top 10 stayed the way they are now then I think Holta and Andersen would get WC's.............. this would give the Swedes, the Danes and the Poles 3 each... and the Aussies their usual 2.............. that would then leave IMG with a few options imo... 1) Zagar gets back in (FIM have wanted this for the last year)... 2) Lindback doesnt have to curse Zorro because he gets in anyway 3) GB get a second WC personally after seeing just how tough the field is probably going to be next year I hope that GB only get one WC and that it goes to Rico...... he knows the prep and infrastructure required and wouldnt have his career damaged by a less than successful season (if it happened)....... this would leave the door open for the likes of Tai and Ed in the future................... I really wouldnt be suprised if GB got two WC's though as BSI/IMG have made their agenda quite plain in recent years and Cardiff remains their cash cow to protect

anyone remember the last time a race was brought back for creeping at the start (as opposed to anticipating)? IMO there is now the start of an issue forming and we are going to end up with either all riders doing it.... or more riders doing it and playing russian roulette with the refs.................. I understand that the meetings need to continue at a brisk pace etc but this is becoming very unsubtle now with riders like Ken Bjerre gaining massive advantages as a result

isnt that a reason to stay with virgin? ..... so that sky's tactics dont work?

SKY are bang out of order for this http://www.justin.tv/sjip

its difficult to know what to say about the track on Sunday tbh........ thankfully Ole does have more than a bit of experience in such matters and the decision he made to not touch the track overnight seemingly paid off............... I also think that despite the Aussies best efforts to turn their highly motivated and confident attitudes into negative ones that the track was absolutely fine after the restart the interesting thing for me is that out of 4 SWC final matches the two where imo the track has been prepared well have involved a huge dose of natural water along the way ..... which takes us full circle back to the subject of watering before and during the other meetings

lol well I understand your frustration but..... basically yes ...................... the alternative of a slow deterioration hasnt exactly been working has it? If Team GB was a business.... in fact your business... what would you do? Would you continue with the same losses year in year out praying for something bordering on a miracle to stem the bleeding? Or would you formulate a new plan investing in the future and accept the same losses over a shorter period of time before hopefully seeing a return? the less dramatic version for a few years time is that Bomber will be around for some years to come and we have a few other rays of light coming through behind these guys ............... Once we have a bonafide team like the Poles, Aussies, Danes it is up to the youngsters to force their way in as posted before I dont understand the direction that people are venting their frustration...... it is clear as crystal for me that the blame lies at the policies of our league system...and the fans that accept it quietly....... not the latest fall guy national team manager..... and not the riders

bet he was still thinking about him though

yeah completely agree ....... and Poland knew the risks when they chose Sunday as their league day only in speedway

Ironically I think this could be one of the issues ....... it seems to me that some of them are only too happy for the tracks to be like this because their gating abilities, machinery and general skill ensures them their top 8 GP position even with follow my leader racing......... and slick tracks with no dirt end up with less incident to gain injury from...........tbh its just the same as the race director's agenda with the track prep...... it ends up changing the very nature of the sport..... speedway is dangerous and does involve spills and injury this for me is why Emil is so important as he indicates a changing of the guard that has been so secure and stagnant for so long and is what is fast becoming an old school style rider where he seems to be happy to give it a go on any surface...........

spot on Nic although I would like Scott to fight back from this and turn it into a positive............. I believe Rico did and it was part of the reason for his great performance......... me too and it puts things into perspective when you consider the age and resources of guys like Gollob

yeah spot on VH I was actually very suprised to see that she was anchoring the meeting last night as it usually takes sky a long time to trust presenters who dont normally do it attractive girl, positive attitude, personable, still learning her trade.... and I should imagine not paid a fortune

welcome to the world of the BSPA speedibee ........ you are fortunate enough to follow a club who invests in British riders and gives them a chance at reserve, 2nd string and heatleader............. I would like to see Coventry do more at grass roots level but what they do is a damn sight more than 95% of other clubs in the EL and PL yes the simple truth is that the chances are we will be unlikely to win it next year or the year after .............. I dont want to be saying that.... nobody wants to be reading it either but it is odds on ................. we can go further into odds and % chances of what is likely or unlikely to happen but I think we all know instinctively the numbers we are working with here ... both in riders and financially............. and this is why it is not primarily the issue of any of the team GB riders... or those that didnt make the team until the BSPA step up to the plate, stop playing the asset game, and allowing low assessed averages this will just continue.................. in fact while we are talking about odds....... I think the odds were low on this group of youngsters coming through together in the first place and we should be thankful

It was a good meeting last night and aside from the disappointment for us at the end the guys combined did what was written on the tin at Pboro it was obvious that the boys were struggling for their first couple of riders to understand which lines to take and cover in bend 2 out of the gate............... at Lezno it was no different from the off............. Rico and Bomber were taking the right line but the others were attempting to either cut the bend or go to wide.......... then their 2nd rides came along and they had learnt that one ...... and it is this that we needed to see As long as the guys arent tailed off..... are pushed to or can see in front of them what the standard is that is required...... and are learning then we cannot ask for any more.... more examples...... our 3 young guys all jumping at the start in their first rides... danny and Tai settled... lewis didnt....................... all 3 of them trying to make long straights in their first couple of rides ...... we didnt get to see if Lewis learnt or not.... but the other two did.... although Danny still thought that the inside was as competitive ive gotta say I really cannot believe the integrity of some people in this thread...... its almost like being right is more important than the speedway itself ............ even with Rico, Nicholls and Bomber at Pboro that would still involve two of our youngsters....... so on general form that would be Ed and Lewis....... on Pboro form probably Danny and Lewis/Tai............................... hands on heart we know that wouldnt be good enough to qualify directly (yet!) ...... and so it proved with the Poles and the Aussies a complete cut above anything we could have put out so then we go to Leszno and the discussion turns to which youngster should sit it out to make way for Rico.............. Ed was sensibly chosen and on we go into such a great experience for the whole team including Ed (as he now knows he has to join some big track clubs .....and quickly)............. but now we have those classic retrospective critical posts saying Danny shouldnt have been picked......... really? as GB team manager you wouldnt have picked him after Monday? ....... that Lewis shouldnt have been picked .............. really? so even after dropping our 3rd best gb rider we should also drop our 4th best? even though despite not scoring highly on Monday he was generally on the pace? Even if we had found 5/10 extra points from somewhere some major things are being ignored here................. the Danes not only had Nicki out, but also had an out of form Bjarne not riding, Hans riding badly or not fit enough, and NKI not riding well............. it is impressive that they did as well as they did tbh........... the Swedes over the last few years have seen there usual team decimated with retirements, and international retirements....... but even with the team they had they were once again lacklustre...................... Rico was magnificent last night and before I say what I am about to I know about his very good SWC record..... but it has to be said that it was not the norm for Rico... he excelled well above what would be a good representation of his average........................ all of these factors papered over the cracks so I really do not think that life would be all ok if we had been psychic enough to know which youngster would struggle the most, and to replace them with a Scott with his head, machinery and team ethos all in the right place................... because against normal Danish or Swedish lineups and performances it still wouldnt be enough................ and we go full circle back to the team that was chosen for Pboro and why

I'll be honest I didnt think the racing was bad last night and as per usual Leszno provided at least a couple of different lines................... but this is Leszno we are talking about and I think you could prepare the track with your eyes closed and it still provide the bare minimum The track was bare last night and to date we still havent seen a Leszno anywhere near to its best........ and the simple question is why? We are talking about one of the most highly regarded tracks in history and in 3 years of regular GP and SWC use it has been prepared slickly each time like I said I thought the racing was decent but why once again limit things at Leszno?

and the team will be that much stronger after this years campaign for when he comes back...

charlie webster is good lee richardson is good scott nicholls is good the whole team are good ok thats half the threads out of the way

the GP's/SWC arent held in denmark solely... or only for Danish riders either I think Ole's 40 odd years of experience of tracks from all over the world should save him from any accusations of ignorance

try someone else Orion are you ready for the responsibility of making that statement and the fall out that is about to happen because of it? I can see what Team Great Britain have done here and I assume are trying to give the more inexperienced guys some feedback of setup before their first races ........ but as someone else has pointed out Tai could suffer in his first heat as a result....................... they all have to meet each other at some point though