MattK

I love these threads were people put forward their very valid ideas for the SGP and SWC yet you always get the rose-tinted dinosaurs crawling out from where they hide (presumably a cave) to diktat the virtues of the one-off World Final. Personally I think the SGP is excellent. I have watched my highlights DVD and the racing is as good as any of the one-off Finals but with 11 rounds you get a far better variety of tracks and conditions. Frankly as has been said before, no modern sport has a "one-off" world championship, from F1 to football and everything in between. As for Joe's initial suggest, I'd like to see something done with the British Championship where it is run over a weekend with qualifying rounds on the Friday and Saturday and the final on the Sunday. With the right facilities, camping etc it could become a proper speedway weekender allowing fans to see a whole spectrum of riders in the space of a few days.

I can't see anyone challenging Nicki Pedersen unfortunately. He was just so consistant in 2008 and I see no reason why he won't be the same in 2009.

The Prophet Rosco warned about seeking richest from the East. Looks like he was right.

Any indication of cost?

What happened to the GP in Australia?

You know what the organisers should do? In order to decide who is best they should have some kind of race.

That's Christmas for every male member of my family sorted!

Ian - who do you think really does have the "good of speedway" at heart? Surely not the promotors - as the charge regularly thrown at the BSPA is that they are only in it for themselves? Obviously not IMG - as you've expressed above? So whom?

I only saw them once this year, but they were both easily on the pace against other Academy riders. It would be interesting to see them at Conference level.

They are definitely short on riders with top flight experience. Would be interesting to see how Gathercole and Sweetman go at world u21 level.

So no Holder or Batchelor next year then?

What is the age require for 2009's World U21s?

Thanks

Is this one leg only?

So let me get this right... If Nicki Pedersen phones me up and saying he's looking for a (32 year-old) protege, and he'll buy all my equipment for me and he'll teach me to ride and he can get me into the GP qualififers as he know the bloke that runs it and I ride in the GP qualifiers and I beat the likes of Adams, Crump and Gollob and the final is held on my home track that Nicki built in my back garden and I qualify into the GP. Could that be a possibility? Carlsberg don't make middle-aged-man-becomes-superstar-speedway-rider-overnight-fantasies, but if they did they'd be the best middle-aged-man-becomes-superstar-speedway-rider-overnight-fantasies in the World.

How can they bring Lee Richardson in as a replacement for Zabik in heat 9?

Really 'The Way Ahead' should be renamed Rose Tinted Glasses, or Cloud Cuckoo Land, so, on that theme, here's my plan for a World Team Cup format with seven man teams. I like the way the current WTC is structured over a week, so we'll keep that. 13 teams will be in the competition, 6 seeded so they don't meet in the first round, 6 unseeed. The host nation is seeded directly into the semi finals. Seeded Teams England Poland - Hosts Sweden Australia Denmark Russia Italy Non-Seeded Teams USA Hungary Solvenia Croatia Czech Rep Germany Monday A - England v USA @ Coventry B - Denmark v Solvenia @ Vojens C - Sweden v Hungary @ Eskiltuna Tuesday D - Australia v Croatia @ Swindon E - Russia v Czech Rep @ You get the picture F - Italy v Germany @ Lonigo Thursday QF1 - Winner of A v Winner of B @ Draw for "home" track QF2 - Winner of C v Winner of D @ Draw for "home" track QF3 - Winner of E v Winner of F @ Draw for "home" track Friday SEMI1 - Winner of QF1 v Winner of QF2 @ Draw for "home" track Saturday SEMI2 - Winner of QF3 v Hosts @ Leszno Sunday Winner of SEMI1 v Winner of SEMI2 @ Leszno IMG - I'll have my commission paid in non-sequential bank notes in a black briefcase left outside The New Inn tonight at 9pm please.

Obviously there's the individual World Championships (otherwise known as the Grand Prix), World/European U21, individual European Championship, European U19, Czech Golden Helmet (along with several other Golden Helmet events), each country has their own "final" i.e. British Final, Polish Final, Danish etc. as well Elite/Premier League Rider Championships and undoubtedly many more.

Having both qualification and nominations is frankly perverse. If they are to have nominations, then these should be used for riders who failed to qualify though exceptional cercumstances such as missing several GPs though injury or for riders like Holder who had two EFs in the qualification or Batchelor who missed a round though injury (these two are just examples, before people take offence at individual riders). The nominations should not be a Get-Out-of-Jail Free card for GP riders who don't take part in the qualifiers and then fail to make the top 8. The riders who have made it though the qualifiers have done so on merit. Ulamek, Walasek and Bjerre can only beat what's in front of them on the day and if Harris, Holta, Lindgren et al choose not to take part then it should be their loss.

If there was a one-off World Final, how often would it come to Britain? Once every four years, six years, eight years? Even less than that? I reckon we'd be lucky to see it once every eight to ten years.

They read it out at Swindon last night. No England line-up I'm afraid.

A question for oldies Was the old one-off World Final shown live on TV during the 70s, 80s and early 90s?

The Australian team for the Swindon test has been announced as: Troy Batchelor Cory Gathercole Chris Holder Robert Ksiezak Cameron Woodward Kozza Smith Richard Sweetman Looks pretty tasty.

Quite like to look of this. Let's hope they get the Swindon boys in for their "home" meeting - that should get the crowds out.

Pretty self explanatory really. Or do the rights not exist?