JT

"If people say I can't do a job in the Grand Prix, then I can't do it in the World Cup either. So what's the point doing it?" Maybe to have the honour of representing your country, Chris? I could sympathise if said he wanted to take a year off the international stage to focus on his league racing. In fact that's probably what he needs, but this plea for another wildcard strikes me as desperate. Leaving with dignity and coming back with a vengeance in 2013 would be far more effective for his career. There's caring about a rider and then there's taking a blind eye to our poor representation at this level. Wouldn't it be nicer if a Brit qualified by right, rather than relying on their nationality for a place? Fortunately after years of blissful ignorance, the various media outlets have woken up to the sorry state of British Speedway on the international stage and started questioning our wild cards year after year. Accepting we're not good enough now and rectifying the situation with a proper development plan will benefit us in the long run. JT.

Oh boo-hoo. If any other rider was given as many chances as Harris has over the years, they'd be grateful for the opportunity, not threaten to pull out of a BSI run event because for once they didn't get their own way. I'm also certain if any other rider was given the charity Bomber has been afforded, they would have sorted out their machinery by now. JT. PS. Thanks for the t.i.t comment. If you must know, I used to enjoy watching Harris. Unfortunately years of GP charity have made him delusional, so much so, every season seems to see Harris coming up with tired excuses for rubbish GP performances. I genuinely believe the guarantee of a place in the past has held him back. Who knows? A season or two reassessing his current set up, and hopefully qualification by right as a result, will see Harris return a much improved rider. Unfortunately quitting your national side because they won't give you another wild card just strikes me as sour grapes.

I see in this weeks Speedway Star, Chris Harris, serial wildcarder and professional whinger, has threatened to quit the Team GB world cup squad unless he's given yet another GP series wildcard in 2013. Having given up on using his machinery, gate selections, inability to adapt to slick tracks and cardiac health as excuses for yet another woeful season, Harris now says his World Cup form shows he should be back in the Grand Prix's next year. I haven't got the quote in front of me, but the three paragraphs went something like; "I'm good in the World Cup, which is the same standard as the GP's. People say I'm not good enough for the Grand Prix, if that's the case I'm giving up on the World Cup next year." Ignoring the fact that the early stages of the World Cup featured such greats as Max Dilger and Matej Kus this term, the threat to quit his national side (surely an honour), unless he's given his own way, strikes me as both petulant and unprofessional. Especially as Harris should count himself lucky for having a free ride for so long. After all he only got into the series with a wildcard and has needed one in every season bar one, since. Hopefully the BSI tell him where to go and we finally see riders given wildcards on talent and potential, not nationality. I won't hold my breath... JT.

If years gone by are anything to go by, some drab Pole like Walasek will qualify, but I'm hoping the following 3 get through; Niels Kristian Iversen (Stunning season. A totally different rider to last season, let alone his last GP stint. World Cup winner, Danish Champion, Top 5 in all three major leagues). Martin Vaculik (GP winner in his first meeting, only a few points behind our 'great hope' Harris, despite riding in about half the amount of meetings). Michael Jepsen Jensen (Young, exciting and a GP and World Cup winner in 2012). I don't care how many Danes are in the series, if anything they deserve more riders in it as a reward for their successful youth policy. JT.

Hancock or Gollob are the only two I can think of. Sadly one of these retiring would see Andersen in the GP series again, or even worse, if he has a half decent round in Torun, the dreaded Chris Harris returning for another season of ludicrous press releases after every crap meeting. Hopefully Hampel will score well in the final round and overtake both Andersen and Harris, thus freeing up a wild card slot for the organisers post season. The fact that Vaculik and Hampel are so close to Andersen and Harris, having missed so many meetings, shows how rubbish Hans and Harris have been this year and why they shouldn't be anywhere near the series next year (unless Andersen qualifies by right in the Challenge). JT.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Anything but Harris for yet another season of charity. Good luck to Crumpy, an excellent servant to the series over the years. JT.

Is he the same man who writes the weekly Chris Harris Grand Prix press release?

Absolutely farcical given the charity the Brits, namely Nicholls and Harris, have had over the years. You seem to have some insider knowledge PHILIPRISING. Can you put us out of our misery, and confirm whether or not BSI will gift another of our riders a full time place next season? After his latest abject display, not even the BSI spin machine could justify giving Harris another place, so are we to assume Woffinden is 'worth betting your house on' for a 2013 place? Thus making the 2013 Wild Cards; Jarek Hampel Darcy Ward Martin Vaculik (Andreas Jonsson, if Vaculik qualifies by right) Tai Woffinden JT.

I've re-watched it and agree that Pedersen may not have seen, but certainly heard AJ, then fenced him.

Thank heavens we have Nigel Pearson, where would I be without his sincere apologies? I was deeply offended and almost in tears when Nicki threw his latest 'Kevin' strop. Cheers Nige. I'm no Pedersen fan and a big Jonsson one, but he did what most other competitive riders would have done. He was in front and took a pretty standard line in my opinion. Best of luck to AJ though. Edit: Just watched it again, take it back, standard Pedersen. Rightly excluded. JT.

Farcical really. One of the top riders in the world (league racing wise at least), Danish champion, World Cup winning captain and SGP challenge qualifier. If he was British and accomplished half the things Iversen has done in 2012, he'd easily be nailed on for a full time wild card place, let alone a wild card for one round (at a track he excels on). Are these wild cards given out by the Danish authorities or BSI? If it's the latter then I have a theory. With Hampel, Ward and Vaculik (if he doesn't qualify by right) nailed on for permanent wild cards, I wonder if the appropriate powers fear Iversen coming in as a wild card this year, winning a round (entirely possible), thus making it even harder for them to justify giving a token Brit like Woffinden a place. If it's the authorities giving out these wild cards, then I'm totally baffled. JT.

Why top 11? Given two of the riders directly below 10th and 11th place have missed 5 GP's each (Vaculik and Hampel) and are still only 7 points behind 10th, surely only a top 9 finish will put a rider in contention for a wild card next season? JT.

Based on his league form here and around the world, I think it's safe to say he's one of the top 5 riders (let alone the top 15) on the planet. I guess from your latest post, you think all riders, Brits included, should have to go through qualification if they don't reach the top 8? JT.

Excellent post. I'm afraid Harris seems to believe his own hype and is totally delusional when it comes to the GP series. Surely nobody in their right mind thinks he deserves yet another shot? 2012 will be the 6th season he has completed in the GP series and out of those many years of charity he has so far only qualified once (having needed a wild card to get into the series in the first place). This year we've already had machinery excuses, the usual bad luck (although deciding to ride over THAT bump in Italy was an act of lunacy) and the laughable 'nobody told me about the gates' excuse a few meetings back. A year away from the series may bring the bloke back down to earth and benefit him in the long run. It's all well and good being patrotic, but we all know the only reason a Brit gets a Wild Card every year is for the television audience, not talent. It's hugely frustrating then to watch Sky and read the various media outlets ignoring this fact and talking about Brits in the series as if they'd got there by merit. The question of whether guaranteed wild card slots are holding back British Speedway, is one of the most pressing at the moment, yet nobody with any clout seems to be willing to discuss it. JT.

Excellent. Amazing to think Hampel has essentially missed 5 rounds (he didn't complete a race in Copenhagen), yet still he's only 6 points behind Harris and ahead of Ljung and Bjarne Pedersen who have competed in every one of those rounds. If that's not reason enough to ignore those riders when it comes to Wild Cards next season, then I don't know what is. Regardless of his form for the rest of the season, surely Hampel will be a certain starter for 2013? JT.

To work out an EL>PL average, DIVIDE the EL figure by 0.6 (for PL>EL, MULTIPLY the PL figure by 0.6) As things stand Kennett would start 2013 on a PL average of 11.42. I imagine he will start really attracting PL clubs if he can drop down on sub 9.75 (an EL average of 5.85-). Unless Kennett does drop a point off his average between now and the end of the season, how about Oliver Allen for Rye? Surely worth 9.62 if (and I know it's a big IF) he can stay injury free? Rye House 2013 1. Oliver Allen 9.62 2. Kasper Nielsen 5.54 (based on current average after 3 meetings) 3. Anders Mellgren 6.46 4. Ricky Kling 6.55 5. Leigh Lanham 6.79 6. Ben Morley 3.00 7. Jason Garrity 4.46 (2.5% National League British reduction?) 42.42 JT.

Fair enough, but I was referring to the Grand Prix series. Nobody is doubting Harris is a top rider in the Elite League, but on the World Stage he has had far too many chances in my opinion. JT.

You've hit the nail on the head, Hasse Holmqvist. Years of GP level sponsorship and the experience of riding with the world's top professionals and he still can't get it right? It's the same with slick tracks, if he can't get them right after all this time, when will he ever? I'm as patriotic as the next person, but doesn't it say something that even on a British forum we think the constant British pity picks are a joke? God Knows what they think of Harris' Wild Cards on the continent. In fairness to Kelvin Tatum, at least he has broached the topic on SKY a few times, unfortunately every time he mentions Harris' poor form and constant Wild Card picks, Pearson shoots him down with some sob story about bad luck. Out of interest, how many of Harris' engine failures have come when he's been in a point scoring position? While I accept engine problems could contribute to him being last in the first place, I can't recall him ever breaking down when in first, like Watt on Monday..... JT.

Precisely, and until then we won't get any better. I see in this weeks Speedway Star the Harris Wildcard Spin machine has already gone into overdrive, "it's my bikes", "I'm not a whiner", "I've beaten the best in the world" ya di ya di yada. Pearson has also started blaming every Tom, Dick or Harry for Harris' crap season. Quite frankly Harris doesn't deserve yet another act of charity unless he finishes in the Top 8. He's had so many free years in the series to get his bikes right and if he still hasn't mastered it, why will he next season? The fact he's only just level with a rider who has missed three meetings with a broken leg sums it up. In this weeks Star he also says he isn't living off his Cardiff win, sorry Chris but you really are delusional if you think they keep putting you in because of your talent. Anyway if winning a Grand Prix is the only criteria for getting a wildcard then there are multiple winners (or multi qualifiers) ahead of Harris, in the list for next season; Kenneth Bjerre Hans Andersen Bjarne Pedersen Antonio Lindback Rune Holta The fact is these riders are all the wrong nationality, the GP organisers won't admit it, but that's the only explanation for including British riders EVERY season. Fans on the continent must laugh with dismay every time they see the token Brit, so mediocre in their own leagues, given a Wildcard year after year. For the same reason, Woffinden doesn't deserve a place, make him qualify. JT.

Pearson was blabbering on about how Harris was unfortunate to be out "through no fault of his own", yet the rut he hit had been there all meeting. While other riders avoided that bump, the fact that Bomber decided to take that line, was nobodies fault but his own. In the interests of being consistent, now Lindback has won a round, and if he finishes in 9th, I guess he'll get a wildcard for next season (and about five years thereafter)? After all, in 2007, this criteria alone was enough to gift Bomber a place in the series...

His form always picks up in Croatia and Italy, two tracks he clearly excels on when others cock things up. Shame he's so crap during the rest of the season though. JT.

Let's face it, Pavlic has been given a Wildcard for the Challenge in Croatia, because of his nationality. Who are we to complain when someone else uses his place of birth, to gain a charity pick for a GP event? David Minall has hit the nail on the head, until our riders fight for a place in the series, we will forever remain a bit of a joke at this level. In fairness to Nicholls, he accepted his exit from the GP's with dignity. He realised he wasn't good enough and vowed to only return to the series, if he qualified by right. I fear Harris is so delusional, he will whine all winter if the organisers have the audacity to boot him out. Instead he should use it as a reality check, sort his machinery out, try to up his game in all leagues and actually qualify. Maybe the confidence of working for his place might give him the neccessary confidence in the series proper. JT.

But at least Lindback and Smith qualified for the SGP series by right, in five (soon to be six) seasons, Harris has only done that once. How pissed off fans and riders from other nations must be by his constant whining. No other rider has had as many opportunities as Bomber, yet still he spends his time in the spotlight making up excuses for his failure. The latest; "nobody told me about the gates" was the most laughable so far.... As one or two others have said, Vaculik would be a valuable addition to the series, GP winner first time out says it all. Obviously Ward would be a hugely exciting rider to have in it and Hampel is surely guarenteed a place? He's still in 9th having missed two meetings. I hope Iversen qualifies from the Challenge as he has proven to be World Class in all countries this year and is a totally different rider to the one who rode in the series a few years back. Woffinden doesn't deserve a place, but he's British and no doubt the Spin Doctors will come up with an excuse to give him a place. Someone like Grigory Laguta would easily be ahead of Tai if the annual wild card charity wasn't based on nationality. JT.

As every season passes, a typical Harris season becomes less a genuine challenge for the world title and more an exercise in spin by the media, the organisers and the Harris camp itself to get him yet another wild card for the following season. God knows who he's black mailed, but we're only halfway through 2012 and we've already had a whole manner of excuses in commentary, press releases and Harris interviews for his crap season. So far it's been his bikes fault, poor set up, the slick tracks, his poor gating, the referee and now, his inability to choose a gate. I've lost count of the number of times Pearson has said "You have to feel for Harris", why? He's had an unprecedented number of wild card selections and still can't bloody crack it. Time to bow out, take a year out to re-focus and qualify by right. Sure he won a GP in 2007, but Bjerre, Andersen and Pedersen have all won at least one round before and I can't see anyone calling for their inclusion in 2013. JT.

In my opinion the only way Harris 'deserves' yet another go, is if he qualifies. If he finishes 9th in a season when one of the top runners (Hampel) has had a serious injury, then he'll have to go through the qualifiers like riders from any other nation. The fact is, aside from one freakish season, Harris has been a serial failure in the GP's. The machinery excuses are tiresome now as well. I'm sorry, but ensuring your bikes are set up correctly is part and parcel of being a speedway rider at any level, let alone in the World Championship. It's not as if he hasn't had years to perfect it either, he's had season after season to get it right and also the benefit of the sponsorship opportunities that go with it. Give someone else a go. JT.