IainB

Can you tell me who the "characters" were back in the good old days? And what made them characters for you?

SWINDON

Haha! You drop the bait, so I'll bite... There's only one "team" in the GP's and that's Hancock/Holder, just because a number of riders are sponsored by the same company doesn't make them a team, it's like saying there's a Polcopper team or a NEB team or a TengTools team. As for your last sentence, well that's your opinion but going back to your first sentence the statistical facts are indisputable

It really depends if a rider wants to earn in their "Spare" time or not... I work as a contractor for quite a large finance firm and get paid really quite well for what I'm doing for them (which is not a lot tbh) but then I'll also do a few bits at the weekend for other clients I have that don't have the funds to pay the same rates as the finance firm... I do know which one has priority though and so do my clients

So really more than half the field were out of contention after 2 rides Ifs, buts and maybes... The point is that it doesn't matter whether it's a GP series or a one off final a competitors chances could be over in 1 single race When the likes of Gundersen, Nielsen and even Carter burst onto the scene with 8, 9 & 10 point averages in their debut seasons I'd say it was because the standard of the opposition they were riding against is weaker than it is these days and not because they were so good. It took both Nielsen and Gundersen years to win their first title and of course Carter never did ... And didn't Mauger have to go back home to NZ in his early days because he was rubbish?

KK I think (The worst ever WU21 Champ, that's a whole new thread )

I reckon the lowest score you can win an old style world final on was 9 and then win a run off... Meaning it's possible to get 5 seconds to score 10 to beat that... I'm sure there's a mathematician out there who can prove me right! ... Not to mention progressing through all of the qualifying rounds without winning a race

Could it? I can't be bothered to do the maths tbh, but I agree I think it could... But just as unlikely as it is today for somebody to win the championship without winning a GP round as has only been done once in nearly 25 years when there were only 6 rounds

And what would have happened if they'd both had touched the tapes or had engine failure lol? I've seen races with no finishers before

And of those finals, how many could still have won it after 8 heats? And another question for you while you're researching... Would it have been possible to have won a World Final with 5 seconds equaling 10pts?

There'll be somebody to tell you Tai wouldn't have been able to win this either

Only took that one race though... Just like in a one off world final. In Speedway you're only ever one race away from disaster

The earliest it could have been over was heat 17, depending on who was in it, but for half the field it was generally over after their second ride

It only took one race for Jason Doyle to lose the world title in 2016

Good effort pathfinder, you've obviously put a lot of effort into this but I do think you are looking at this as an existing supporter and it seems just a little bit too much like tinkering about around the edges to keep the existing support rather than attracting new support or support that has now gone (probably died). In my opinion the sport in this country needs a complete reinvention based around 4 riders doing 4 laps in a team based event. It should be marketed as an extreme sport which it is and not a cosy family sport, it's too expensive for a family to attend these days. There's no mention of technology, all bikes should have transponders fitted, linked to some kind of live interactive app for the kids to play along with, each rider being a colourful, characterful online avatar, with collectables eg. Selfie with rider etc. The competitors are not diverse enough, no ethnics or females for today's diverse society to connect with. In truth it's probably far too late to do any of this now as the ship has long since sailed and it would be far too expensive to implement unless a benevolent billionaire can be persuaded to buy the sport lock stock and barrel. What I fear will happen is the powers that be will continue to tinker about with the rules (as you suggest in your report) until the professional sport in this country eventually withers to its inevitable death. Just a few thoughts

Best British rider ever

I'm sure if they didn't want it they wouldn't be riding in the GP's... Have you seen the prize money on offer? I can't see they're making a profit from it compared to Poland

Obviously the longer you go into the competition the less contenders there are. And although Doyle wasn't a threat for the title at the start of the year he was certainly a threat of spoiling others chances at the end of the year

Don't think you can ever count Hancock out, Dudek is consistent if nothing else, Janowski if he can eliminate his couple of duffers and Lindgren surely if (as with the others) injury free. Maybe Emil too if he can turn his career around and recapture his speed of a few years ago

Perhaps the GP's should be cut down to 8 riders for the series as the others are just also rans... And then in a few years 6... And then down to 4...

Tommy was a serious contender though

At the beginning of the year based on early performances and performances from the previous year and known quality of riders I'd have said (in no particular order) Zmarzlik, Dudek, Janowski, Doyle, Hancock & Lindgren, of course they all fell away for one reason or another over the course of the season but I wouldn't have been surprised if any of these had claimed top spot

Agreed... But to say there were no other serious contenders is wrong. Wasn't Tommy Knudsen kind of joint favourite in 1986 until Hans knocked him off in his desperation to win his first world title?

Doesn't matter which way you look at it or if you agree with them all or not but I think it does go to show that the real contenders actually capable of winning a world title in a given year you could probably count on one hand whatever the system

Serious contenders (only those that made the final): 84 Billy Sanders 85 Sam Ermolenko 86 Tommy Knudsen, Kelvin Tatum, Sam Ermolenko, Jimmy Nilsen 87 Sam Ermolenko, Jimmy Nilsen 88 Sam Ermolenko, Jimmy Nilsen, Simon Wigg, Kelvin Tatum, Jan O Pedersen, Per Jonsson 89 Tommy Knudsen, Simon Wigg, Kelvin Tatum, Jeremy Doncaster You could permutate all the above names through all the above years as in the old style lottery qualification not all of these quality riders made all of the finals