Wroclaw GP round 9 Saturday 30th August

[ShanoXtra]

Also remember Kurtz coped with all the pressure PLUS running over half his heats with a warning, one slip and he would have been done.

[IainB]

8 hours ago, Tactical Joker said:

The foul language from the people running that was unpleasant too, including from a former world speedway champion. I only hope some of the youngsters didn't understand, but I am probably being naive.

Was it the same former world champion that was pretending to masturbate with the trophy when he was walking it out onto the centre accompanied by 2 minors on global TV? 

[Rickyag]

13 hours ago, therefused said:

Cheerio Doyle, hope you don’t get a wild card next year 

Cheerio Kvech, hope you don`t get a wild card next year

[ShanoXtra]

2 minutes ago, Rickyag said:

Cheerio Kvech, hope you don`t get a wild card next year

And Kai, swap with Emil and Łaguta. 

[bellevueace]

Doyle and Lindgen have been past their best, the new guard Holder, Bewley, etc havent as yet stepped up to the level of consitency required, Lambert looks way off too, there are wild cards that really shouldnt be at the level getting qualification due to their nationalitly not ability, far from the days of world finals when several riders in the field could be seen as realistic winners. Only for Brady there is nobody stepping up. Then you have the scoring system where you can afford to score say 8 points win the final and collect 20 yes its the same for everyone but my point about eras is riders couldnt afford to drop so many points and have a hope of being crowned champion, Loram for example became champion without actually winning a round. No one is doubting Zmarsliks talent on a bike but to say hes the best that has ever sat on a bike i dont agree with. The best of his era definately.

Edited 7 hours ago by bellevueace

[bellevueace]

11 hours ago, mikebv said:

BZ, for me, would be in the Fundin, Craven, Briggs, Mauger, Olsen, Collins, Penhall, Nielsen, Trick, Gundersen, Crump,, Hancock and Pedersen pantheon of "all time greats" from the 50's onwards..

You could drop BZ into any era and he would be very, very special...

I remember ten years or so BZ being marked out as a future World Champ..

They weren't wrong were they? 

I respect your opinion but he isnt competing against riders with the same ability as those above especially the earlier eras where dropping a couple of points meant title dreams were gone, no second chances to gain the title after a couple of bad rides. You cant compare Fundin, Briggs, Craven, Moore, for example for the level of competition they were against to the level of competition today, the field is far weaker in comparison. Yes he has a great talent but so many variables come into play, machinery, tracks etc.

 

[The Cheese]

Going back to Prague when Kurtz crashed on the last lap of the LCQ after Madsen passed him, I think that cost him 4 points which might end up being costly. 

Still, what an incredible season for him and I hope he can do it. Nothing against Zmarzlik but it would be nice to see a different winner.

[bellevueace]

40 minutes ago, IainB said:

Was it the same former world champion that was pretending to masturbate with the trophy when he was walking it out onto the centre accompanied by 2 minors on global TV? 

No substitute for class eh?

Edited 6 hours ago by bellevueace
spelling

[norbold]

56 minutes ago, IainB said:

What if they were both to finish much lower down in the points with Kurtz 3 points higher than Zmarzlik, Kurtz 13th and Zmarzlik 16th for example, or 12th and 15th, 11th and 14th etc. etc.

Yes, of course, there are lots of ways a tie could happen. The point I was making was the unlikelihood of them happening, i.e that at least one would fail to reach the final and the other finish fourth.

[IainB]

Just now, norbold said:

Yes, of course, there are lots of ways a tie could happen. The point I was making was the unlikelihood of them happening, i.e that at least one would fail to reach the final and the other finish fourth.

Only takes a crash/injury/exclusion etc. Weather, especially at Vojens in September could have a huge bearing... anyway it'd be nice to know in advance what happens in a tie instead of waiting for the results of an impromptu FIM Jury meeting behind closed doors and having Armando Castanga trying to explain things to everybody 😂

[mikebv]

33 minutes ago, bellevueace said:

I respect your opinion but he isnt competing against riders with the same ability as those above especially the earlier eras where dropping a couple of points meant title dreams were gone, no second chances to gain the title after a couple of bad rides. You cant compare Fundin, Briggs, Craven, Moore, for example for the level of competition they were against to the level of competition today, the field is far weaker in comparison. Yes he has a great talent but so many variables come into play, machinery, tracks etc.

 

His reactions to situations are the best I have ever seen...

That is why he goes into places that others would never dare to....

Early in his career  I thought he was being, at times, reckless, and would eventually pay dearly for his high risk, high reward strategy...

Now, I realise he was (is) just very special so was supremely confident he could handle these situations..

I would say only Trick is up there with such lightening reactions where they both could almost lock up to avoid incidents, but still keep momentum and speed...

You can never accurately say who is the best ever, given so many variables down the years, but he is certainly a very special talent...

[orion]

I dont rate BZ at all really ..the best in a really poor era .. his titles might say otherwise but i  dont even in the top  ten.and i doubt he would have won a world title in another era.

[Phannan]

1 hour ago, orion said:

I dont rate BZ at all really ..the best in a really poor era .. his titles might say otherwise but i  dont even in the top  ten.and i doubt he would have won a world title in another era.

Total garbage …. but you made your point well 

[Fromafar]

2 hours ago, Rickyag said:

Cheerio Kvech, hope you don`t get a wild card next year

Kvech has improved this season but probably won’t get a Wild Card.

[Fromafar]

2 hours ago, Rickyag said:

Cheerio Kvech, hope you don`t get a wild card next year

Kvech has improved this season but probably won’t get a Wild Card.

[CrystalCastles]

The GP Series, has been getting worse every year for the last 10 years, it is no longer genuinely competitive.

The changes to the series, including copying other scoring systems, copying the idea of Qualifying and Sprint races, and the reformat to have the top 2 straight through to the final & LCQ hasn't added anything.

I'd almost go as far to say it's been predictably boring this year.

 

Kurtz getting into the GP's and doing so well has really been the only positive.

 

 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

3 hours ago, bellevueace said:

I respect your opinion but he isnt competing against riders with the same ability as those above especially the earlier eras where dropping a couple of points meant title dreams were gone, no second chances to gain the title after a couple of bad rides. You cant compare Fundin, Briggs, Craven, Moore, for example for the level of competition they were against to the level of competition today, the field is far weaker in comparison. Yes he has a great talent but so many variables come into play, machinery, tracks etc.

 

This has been pointed out many times not least of all by Keith hewen even though he was talking about riad racing but the same applies, back in the day Olsen briggs mauger Collins etc they are far superior equipment to the rest of the competitors so they always had an unfair advantage, that is not true today nobody in the field has anything better than anyone else so it’s harder to win a world championship today than it’s ever been even if you think the field itself is weaker 

[bellevueace]

2 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

This has been pointed out many times not least of all by Keith hewen even though he was talking about riad racing but the same applies, back in the day Olsen briggs mauger Collins etc they are far superior equipment to the rest of the competitors so they always had an unfair advantage, that is not true today nobody in the field has anything better than anyone else so it’s harder to win a world championship today than it’s ever been even if you think the field itself is weaker 

Zmarslik has always looked a lot faster than most, and today the weight is the main issue.

[Fromafar]

6 hours ago, The Cheese said:

Going back to Prague when Kurtz crashed on the last lap of the LCQ after Madsen passed him, I think that cost him 4 points which might end up being costly. 

Still, what an incredible season for him and I hope he can do it. Nothing against Zmarzlik but it would be nice to see a different winner.

Kurtz has surpassed all expectations for me,but if he wins he certainly deserves it .I personally think his main strength is his gating,that’s a big  plus nowadays. Bartosz bike skills are up there with best there’s ever been. .IMO