lucifer sam

Arnie, I'm considering doing just that. All the best Rob

Salty, don't get me wrong, I think Erik was a great rider. That's why I made sure I gave him at least one GP championship, some people didn't even give him that, but I think that's inconceviable. It's just I saw Hans Nielsen a lot - and he had a bad meeting about once every five years. At his prime, I believe he was the most consistent rider ever seen. From 1985 to 1989, Nielsen in a GP series would have been a very, very hard man to beat over 8 rounds - even for a great rider such as Gundersen. 1982 has to be Penhall or Carter - the question is which one. 1983 is maybe the hardest year to predict of all. There's no outstanding candidate, but arould 6 or 7 riders who could have done it. All the best Rob

Salty, apart from maybe 1984, I can't see how Erik would have triumphed in any other year. I don't think Hans would have missed a final of a GP round between 1985 and 1989. Erik may have won more rounds than Hans some years, but it would have been very difficult for Erik to deal with Hans over the 8-round series that Backtrack stipulated. Erik was a great rider but was not consistent - look at the 1986 World Final (7 points), the 1987 BLRC (4 points) or the 1988 World Paris (in which a paid max from Hans carried a hugely up-and-down performance from Erik) as examples to Erik's inconsistency. Remember in the GP series every point counts - in the World Finals between 1984 and 1989, Erik and Hans won three each, but Hans scored 13 points more than Erik from these finals. I believe there would have been years when Erik would have won 3 or 4 rounds, but still missed out due to Hans's sheer consistency. All the best Rob

Yet it is. But I can't help feeling that they've done Ivan Mauger something of a disservice. Mauger was the dominant rider in world speedway up until around 1975, and I can't see him not winning another championship after either 1971 or 1972, whatever the format of the championship. All the best Rob

Did he? He was born in Britain, his dad is British and his mum is British. So in what way did he "choose" to be British?? He IS British. All the best Rob

I only hope you are right. For once. All the best Rob

Blimey, someone needs to get out more. All the best Rob

As Zorro demonstrated at Coventry, underestimate him at your peril. And he qualified, fair and square However, Kennett has never shown any form at all at world level (he was shocking in the World Cup this year)... or even at domestic level outside of the UK for that matter. He's gonna get slaughtered. All the best Rob

Edward Kennett in the GP series? Please tell me this is some sort of joke - the poor bloke will be massacred. He'll be lucky to get a point per GP. All the best Rob

I think they normally decide at the FIM Autumn Congress, which is normally held (I think) in the final week of October. So probably very soon. All the best Rob

Normally a fortnight before each Grand Prix. Do you mean the four seeded riders as opposed to the one wildcard for each Grand Prix? All the best Rob

Snyper, I think there is a need, simply because it is a multi-round series instead of a one-off. There were a couple of times in the early years of the GP series (before seeding) when riders who would have added a little colour to the series weren't in it - e.g. Gollob in 1996 and Crump in 1997. I would add an extra proviso, though - not only is it only one seeded rider per country, but also a rider could only be seeded in just the once. So you wouldn't have a situation develop where a rider who has never qualified for the series is in it for five years!! All the best Rob

Snyper, I think I'd go for: * Top 6 from GP series qualify for next year's series * Qualifying rounds throughout April and May, culminating in a qualifying final in late May, from which 6 riders qualify * Three seeded riders - maximum of one seeded rider from any one country All the best Rob

Phil, he was on my list which automatically contained all 11 riders who had qualified for the 2010 series (which is why I only named the other four). I believe in the qualifiers - and think that a closed shop without qualifying rounds would diminish the status of the World Championship. I'd actually go further and have qualifying rounds through April & may and then start the series in June - so every rider wakes up on January 1 of that year with a chance of being World Champion. Zorro won at Coventry, so he deserves to be there!! All the best Rob

Yep, watched by 10 million on BBC1, plus millions of others worldwide. Well done Mark Webber. All the best Rob

I've resisted posting until the final GP is done and dusted, because otherwise any answer becomes a bit of a nonsense once the top eight changes - as it did last night. OK, we all know the 11 qualifiers for next year's series - and I believe in the majority of riders qualifying instead of being chosen. So I go with those 11. But how about the other four? I will give two answers - firstly who personally I would put in, and then who I think will be in. My seeded riders would be: 1. Fredrik Lindgren. Improving all the time and only just missed out on the top 8. Only a matter of time before he wins a Grand Prix and climbs the rankings further. 2. Hans Andersen. Something of an enigma in 2009, but far too good not to be in the Grand Prix series. 3. Antonio Lindback. Somewhat inconsistent, but has excelled in his two wildcard appearances during this season. Another enigma, but he's exciting to watch and adds a little colour to the GP series. 4. Ummmm... tricky. However, I am going to plump for World Under-21 Champion Darcy Ward. I know people will stay he's too young, but wasn't exactly the same said about Sayfutdinov 12 months ago? If you're good enough, you're old enough. And Ward is a truly exceptional talent. However, I don't think those will be the 4 riders. I think it probably will be: 1. Fredrik Lindgren 2. Hans Andersen 3. Chris Harris 4. Tai Woffinden There aren't any British riders good enough to be in the GP series, but it appears the GP selection committee, rightly or wrongly, always plump for two Brits. Harris, whilst a also-ran in the GP series in 2009, is our best rider. And Woffinden is our best young rider. So I think they'll be the two Brits seeded into the series. All the best Rob

Well done Crumpie. A thoroughly deserving winner. And nice to see him clinch the title by winning a race. All the best Rob

Gollob to remain as captain please. All the best Rob

Yes, but then again, Wimbledon said in 2005 that they would stage a certain testimonial (of M. Burrows esq) and.... (Sorry Parsloes but you walked into that one ) All the best Rob

Andy, there's no doubt Mich's league form was exceptional, BUT: 1. He scored only 6 points in the World Final in Katowice. 2. When the chips were down, Peter Collins bested him twice in vital run-offs (Daily Mirror Tournament and KOC Final). Mauger was the dominant force from 1968 to 1975 - the only rider who could have touched him over a 11-round GP series during this time would have been Ole Olsen. All the best Rob

Blimey, Parsloes & Speedyguy on the same side - how scary!!! Haven't Lakeside said they will stage the LRC in 2010, though? They've simply run out of time this season, who knows what constraints they have to staging speedway there - after all the landlords always have the final say. All the best Rob

Tony, did you notice the lively debate taking place in the Years Gone By section? For the 1970s I went for: 1970: Ivan Mauger 1971: Ivan Mauger 1972: Ole Olsen 1973: Ivan Mauger 1974: Ivan Mauger 1975: Ivan Mauger 1976: Peter Collins 1977: Ole Olsen 1978: Ole Olsen 1979: Michael Lee I'll be interested to see who you guys came up with. All the best Rob

Parsloes, and now you're going to issue another apology, because I don't think Jim Dale was in Carry On Up the Khyber. All the best Rob

Prodons - you're a year out, the Dons won 46-44 in 2003 after Millsy fell on the last lap, then Oxford won 48-47 in 2004 after a comeback in the second half of the meeting. Both great meetings, despite the limitations of the track. Yes, I realise the track wasn't really down to Wimbledon Speedway - you just had to fit in a track the best you could given the restricted area available. It was a crying shame, though - with a decent track to go with the stadium, Wimbledon would have been an ideal venue for meetings such as the ELRC, and maybe even a GP round. All the best Rob

Parsloes, calm down and read my post again. All the best Rob