spook

I kind of meant to suit his home country's rider rather than the country he is in but.......I think anyone would feel pressure over a Gollob decision in Bydgoszcz .......I mean do you want to get out of the stadium in one piece or not?

Quite simply Hans HAS to qualify ......if he doesn't it spells big trouble for others in getting the final wildcard on offer If we consider that Crump is the only guy who is safe from qualifying automatically with only Hancock and N pedersen who have been able to seperate themselves from the rest of the field to any degree........from Gollob on 62 down to Lindback on 45 there are 8 guys....all of them world class and none of them realistically 'sackable' (hmmmm but we thought the same about Hans last year!)..................i'm finding it a nailed on certainty that positions 9-11 will get wildcards this leaves one permanent wildcard, one reserved for each GP and 3 to come from the qualifier I'm not sure about Pepe or Rico's chances of qualifying or getting a wildcard but it certainly looks like NKI is unlikely to get in for next year now he is out of the qualifier...I really can't see BSI putting a 4th Dane in

to be fair we have seen this many many times in recent seasons when it comes to Polish riders and in particular Mr Gollob...........considering Tony Steele has officiated the most times I have few (if any!) memories of a 'homer' decision that favoured the Brits........or do my rose tinted glasses cleanse my memory as well?

As much as i'm a huge Tomasz fan I would have said tough cookie and given him the third.................he was trying it on for a rerun when in reality he was nowhere near to passing for 1st I also think Scott should have been excluded although I understand what people are saying about Matej's speed and line.......the simple plain fact though is that Scott rode through the guy.......as others have said though these things even themselves out over a season

a bit difficult for him to lose that particular piece of sponsorship! well we all had our suspicions as to some of the real reasons he gained the wildcard in the first place this season ......but I cant see after this year's poor form how even sponsorship could make BSI happy with his inclusion! (sorry HenryW)

sorry not fair play at all........he lied again about 04 in it...........he neglected to mention the hand gestures in the final or paint a fair picture about his 'friendship' with Scott and am I still the only one that thinks something was said at the same time as the hand being offered? Hans has his own biased way of seeing things, Scott has his............and not suprisingly so do the fans.................. meanwhile i'd like to see some great speedway as far as Scott last night goes......something was different about him......technically he was 100% sound but he also had real hunger - crumplike hunger!............can he remember it for 2 weeks time? and on the basis of what we have seen in the last two weeks it is going to be a titanic battle between Hans and Crumpy next year

thx im not sure I know anything about this track........is anyone a home rider? well that is a shame....still im sure Ales has other things to think about (perhaps it was a bit hopeful!) indeed Subedei ......also looking at the current GP lineup and counting the numbers representing each nationality I've come to the conclusion that BSI's winter wildcard selections could well be influenced by the result of this qualifying final....................assuming the top 11 are retained for next season (can't see them dropping any of them) it would leave one final permanent wild card to be given on top of the 3 qualifiers.........If Hans qualifies as of right I really can't see a Danish rider getting one as they would have 3 riders already.....the same with the Swedes, Poles and Aussies if one of their guys gets through............if Simon or Bomber don't make it through and if crowds and TV interest are high on the agenda GB are in pole position for the final wildcard as otherwise they are likely to only have one rider .........the major spanner in the works with this would be if Hans didnt make the top 3 in this final as he surely would be given the final wildcard......wouldnt he? can't see them wanting Pepe through again.....I would have thought their favoured qualifiers would be Hans, Steady and either PK or Janusz p.s. just found Tomazpozrl's original thread on this....that'll teach me not to be observant (although in my defence there are 4 pages of SWC inbetween ) anyway here is the riding order: 1 Chris HARRIS ACU Great Britain 2 Charlie GJEDDE DMU Denmark 3 Janusz KOLODZIEJ PZM Poland 4 Peter KARLSSON SVEMO Sweden 5 Wieslaw JAGUS PZM Poland 6 Renat GAFUROV MFR Russia 7 Simon STEAD ACU Great Britain 8 Mikael MAX SVEMO Sweden 9 Rune HOLTA NMF Norway 10 Robert KOSCIECHA PZM Poland 11 Ryan SULLIVAN MA Australia 12 Kaj LAUKKANEN SML Finland 13 Martin SMOLINSKI DMSB Germany 14 Piotr PROTASIEWICZ PZM Poland 15 Hans ANDERSEN DMU Denmark 16 Matej FERJAN MAMS Slovenia 17 David Howe ACU Great Britain 18 David RUUD SVEMO Sweden

i'm not sure Boycey would like that

we know the lineup involves: Kaj Lukkanen Ales Dryml Janusz Kolodziej Michael Max Hans Andersen Chris Harris Peter Karlsson Simon Stead Piotr Protasiewicz Charlie Gjedde Martin Smolinski Rune Holta Wieslaw Jagus Ryan Sullivan Robert Kosciecha Matej Ferjan and that the top 3 qualify for the '07 GP's but has a date and venue been set yet? It's without doubt a competitive field and one with at least six riders who could hold their own in a GP field. Very suprised at the lack of current GP riders in the lineup and come the announcements for the wildcards some may well regret not taking part. The story of the meeting hopefully will be that Ales is taking part and of course qualifies.....that would really cap off a magnificent recovery

My plan for speedway to become the world's #1 sport The top 4 should qualify automatically BSI have one wild card per GP to ensure their finances and two permanent wildcards to cover injuries .............the rest have to qualify! Qualification rounds should be far more extensive as per years gone by with potentially ALL riders able to have a crack ...........so for GB i'd have a scenario of Round 1 Top 32 CL riders battle out over two qualifiers for 8 places in round 2 Round 2 PL enter.......4 rounds involving 64 riders with 16 riders going through to round 3 Round 3 EL riders join the fray.....32 riders with 16 going to GB final GB Final this would make it 9 meetings instead of the current 3 from the British side of things but I believe that these meetings would gain decent crowds.......and realistically for the riders involved it is 2 meetings max after this point I feel that there should be more qualifiers and semi's before the GP qualifying final as it is still resembling an Elite invite only competition.....so hopefully 6-8 go through from each country (or at least the top ranked ones) so 9 qualifiers go through to the GP's BUT......................I would also allow the option of BSI replacing the bottom four ranked riders midway through the season ......controversial but necessary.........................imagine if Pepe, NKI, Lee Richardson and Scott were up for the chop and BSI decided to put in Hans, PK and Rune Holta while retaining Scott (because he is on the pace).......................this would stop the inevitable results which are going to come from the strugglers while at the same time give the competition a shot in the arm.........harsh but wise as far as U21 stuff goes perhaps the champion can be seeded to GP qualifier final or semi all this I think would give some credibility back to the competition while keeping the same GP format

wierdly it makes perfect sense to me Lee should be a 9 point man...........at least an 8 point man........but this season is actually a 6-7 point man! .........it is not as though his on track talents have left him never to return but lets be honest he is having a p155 poor year ............................so on the basis of being one of the worst 3 EL riders in the final (one of the others was British as well) I reckon his points tally did reflect more than he should have netted

too right don't even consider it Middlo

I think you have made a very good point here in that there is only so much time a club manager can give the job ............but who without a job would be the right candidate? and would they not want more money/any money? As far as the track was concerned I knew as soon as I saw it on Saturday that it had not been prepared with GB or general action and racing in mind hehe yes but i'm very protective of my theories and arguments I have no doubts that Scott Nicholls has all the ability and machinery to take that final step .....quite what is stopping him taking it is a different matter but hopefully he will unlock it .....and I agree despite his average Lee Richardson can beat anyone on his day I'll be honest despite 2 out of 3 finals where we have clawed and fought our way to the brink I still feel we are significantly short of the talent and ability to be able to still score the points when not performing at 110%.....unlike the other 3 teams that were in the final oh well ho hum hopefully Neil will see the likes of Lewis Bridger break through next season, with Bomber and Steady also making progress

cheers SCB..............i'm looking forward to the qualifier this year as I think it is important for the series to have the process btw I wasn't questioning the decision as I feel it was criminal not to have him in anyway.........but it is good to shed some light on some of these decisions that seem to take place quiety in the background sometimes

Tomasz is actually a very good example as he had never ridden at Reading before .....and yet was not disgraced and to some degree led from the front suggesting that he is a topline rider who can deal with any track with any conditions ............yes against the 16 best (sic) riders in the world he will occasionally not make the semi on a temporary track but he still does pretty well considering the Ole Olsen inspired, non racer, slick tracks for every round (in fact a great deal better than the soul brother of Tomasz.....magic Mark Loram)................obviously the Poles were at a disadvantage with not only the track conditions but also the strange location............although judging from their 2nd half performance in the race off it would suggest that they were not set up correctly mechanically or psychologically to start with which must raise questions in their camp by the same token with the Polish question, GB hardly excited in last years final which was as expected .....and this is the crux of the matter as the core of the discussion is whether it is time for a change.....or translated 'Is Middlo Sven' or translated again 'is the manager producing?' .......This surely does not just involve who rides well at Reading.........If that was the case then I would suggest that GB were on to a big loser considering the inconsistent gating abilities of 80% of the team................ .......The EL average example I admit is not perfect but I think it does give a very good guide as to who is a topline rider..... who can go to 95% of tracks and perform at the highest level..........quite clearly 7 point riders cannot do this and 8 point riders will struggle at times...........on this basis I personally would suggest that GB are significantly behind in quality before a wheel has even been turned although the manager seems to combat this with a blend of confidence, ability, wise heads and rising stars Do you think that GB have the same resources as the other nations then Iris?

not at all Iris - the averages show the standard of the riders quite well .....they are at all tracks and over a sustained period of time.................I understand what you are saying about the Reading factor but this wouldn't make much of a difference...................and lets not forget the point that was being made in the first place...............this is the squad that the manager has to work with for all tracks every year..............I didnt say Poland would be 50+ I said they would be pushing 50................on their own tracks I know but I would suggest that if they were all over here they would be matching Oz, Den and true Swe averages......with GB a point a rider behind

erm.....how can there be a qualified reserve??...........there has been no qualification process!!!

If you are in 'the know' then you will know about how far we annually lag behind the other nations when it comes to quality and averages..................if you want an example go to page 19 of the middlo thread..............change the setup and we may well start riding to our level

does anyone know WHY it is Hans who will be taking his place?

where did my post suggest this? be careful what you wish for bellevueace......there are 5 top class world nations with only 4 places in a final.................do you believe that the quality we have available is the same as other nations? an example for youself, Mr Vega et al......averages are Steve Turner's Australia 46.17 Jason Crump 11.42 Leigh Adams 10.48 Ryan Sullivan 8.34 Todd Wiltshire 8.00 Rory Schlein 7.93 (McGowen on 7.00) Denmark 45.09 Hans Andersen 10.47 Nicki Pedersen 9.81 Bjarne Pedersen 9.08 Niels-Kristian Iversen 8.26 Charlie Gjedde 7.47 (not counting Jesper B Jensen on 9.60) Sweden 40.90 Peter Karlsson 10.00 Antonio Lindback 8.61 Fredrik Lindgren 8.00 Andreas Jonsson 7.78 Michael Max 6.51 (with two highly dubious averages in Max and Jonsson and Trick missing) GB 39.91 Scott Nicholls 8.91 Mark Loram 8.69 Simon Stead 8.51 Lee Richardson 6.92 Chris Harris 6.88 (Chris Louis on 8.00) I would try to create a set of averages for poland based on their home country averages but I think we already know that they would be pushing 50 points so on this basis not only do we seemingly have a manager who is coping we seem to have one who is excelling we should arrange to meet up at Arena Shazzy....I know that myself and the Wizard of Shadwell would be overjoyed at having the Vegaman pointed out to us

does anyone know how the replacements have been worked out this year?

come on the guy is sitting on a rocket ship this season..........nothing has changed in Jason's style as far as I can see ......he always gave it 100% anyway

I was personally very disappointed with the track prep over the two events at Reading..............on Saturday they were honoured enough to hold possibly the biggest event on the speedway calendar and also one which has seen some immense racing over the years. For the race off there wasn't much of an attempt to get the track ship shape ......the watering only began an hour before the start which was far too late to expect it to hold any kind of moisture .............I wouldn't have said that it had a respectable amount of dirt befitting a competition like this but then guys like Tomasz and Bomber made it look easy at times For the final there was no choice over when the track was going to be watered as the rain took a hand in proceedings...........there was less dirt than Thursday if that was possible but there was the hope that the rain will have helped deliver some good racing.....the track IMHO delivered less than Thursday with riders not able to gain any of the little grip they sometimes found in the race off The SWC is always an event worth experiencing but I can't help feeling that something went extremely awry this year............whether it is machinery, opinion of the RD, or materials available

so this confidence is able to make his bike that much faster down the straights?

will do ......although am I the only one who thinks SN has some of the fastest bikes in the GP's (outside of Crumpy of course!)????