stevebrum

Thank god for difference of opinion. Naturally i`m with DK on this one.

I agree that has been a flaw of his for years and could count as a reason. However he was head and shoulders above anyone last season and has several rostrum finishes in his back pocket to lay claim to being up there as a great rider of his time. Multi world champions can quite rightly be classed as truly GREAT riders. There is no dispute in that. It is in your opinion that Gollob isnt worthy to be classed in that field, and im sure many will agree with that. However from a consistency perspective over the years Gollob has always been in the hunt. That has to hallmark him as a great rider. Just my opinion naturally.

As is usual people are calling for change when they don`t agree with the result. The Final was great with the verdict still unsure until the penultimate heat. Think that speedway was yet again the winner. I agree, 4 riders teams have been tried before and was open to manipulation by the use of a reserve. IF there was a better way of running 4 rider teams then its an option. But personally speaking think the formula of 5 rider teams is right. The only dispute of a team not having 5 riders was down to country politics. They should be penalised and made to qualify for there actions. There was NO REASON why Emil couldnt have ridden on Monday because the problem was solved for the race off. A tough stance should be made to let countries know if you dont ensure 5 riders WILL be available then you will be withdrawn and allow the next ranked team to take there place. Russia have proved there an emerging nation, but did themselves a diservice on Monday by there own federation (politics or not).

So to people who have never seen Mauger, Olsen, Fundin etc how can they compare?? By stats alone??? I didnt say he was the best ever in the last 10 years, dont know how you interpreted it like that. Just as the GREATS like Ivan, Tricky, Briggs etc Gollob`s record will go before him. He has been at the top of his game for several years and has now finally landed the prize many thought he wouldnt. Of course that would rank him as a great rider. Its a bit like modern polls and opinions on music and icons etc. People currently in vogue and at the top of there game always feature highly in those sort of things. Whether they should really be there or not. Don`t think there is much of an argument to say that Gollob is one of the best riders of a generation (which is no different to Fundin 60`s, mauger 70/80`s etc). And that therefore may make him one of the greatest riders.

He was brilliant last season on ALL tracks tho. How you compare him i`ll never know. But MUST rank amongst the greats alongside Ricko, crump, mauger, fundin (although their amount of world titles will and should put them ahead in the term of greatness.) To a modern generation (post 90`s) then Gollob would be classed as one of the best ever. There is nothing wrong in that.

If the Aussies had won by the rules going there way then that would have been just as much a farce. NONE of it was a farce. ALL teams played a joker so no one had any better advantage. The Poles won fair and square. Congratulations. Can only echo that Lupus. Jonsson for Sweden, Nicki and Bjarne for the Danes and darcy for the Aussies didnt perform as would have been expected. At least each Pole had a glory moment and thats the reason why they won. Pure opinion. Gollob is one of the most naturally talented riders ive ever seen. And that includes from the 70`s onwards.

Darcy was a little out of control tho. But i take your point. He always chokes when the pressure is on. Panthers number 1 letting the Danes down worse tho. The REAL champions are the ones with the most points, naturally Decent meeting so far. Freddie showing his class at last. Jonsson costing the Sweden.

Just caught up with the meeting and results. The Aussies looked easily the pick of the rests. The Swedes look jaded, particularly Freddie - not sure why. The Russians could have even pushed for 2nd if Artem had been there but Emil was superb. GB picked up there game mid way thru and there appeared belief that 2nd was achievable. Harris was great again whilst Barker can take great pride from his performances. Credit where credit is due. Talking of credit, Batchelor eased his way to 13 points. Obviously his experience counted in Poland but he looked very comfortable and if he carries that level of performance into Saturday he can take a massive step towards progressing his career onto a different level.

Thanks for the links.

Just to add i enjoyed the meeting. Had the pleasure of standing with Tai`s rels and the Wolves yam yam crew. Thought the atmosphere was pretty good and the racing was much better there than on TV. Although the stand out battles came across well. My 1st time at Lynn since 96 and the track rode every bit as good as i remember. No wonder the Poles loved it there. If we wanted to go direct thru they should have had it at Monmore The accident on the roundabout just as the meeting finished meant getting out the car park was well delayed, i didnt get on the road till 23.45!!! Still these things happen. Well done to the Kings Lynn management for providing a great platform for the teams fo perform on. Think that the days of the Czech`s are well and truly over if they cant beat a 4 man Russian team.

As has been discussed elsewhere, averages dont just tell the picture. Tai is streets ahead on the WTC/GP stage. So i have to disagree that troy is a far better rider. If we ONLY look at this year in isolation, you may indeed have a point. However if Woofy has a storming WTC then that must factor in just how better Troy is overall. As ive said before, the averages tell ONLY one side of a story (a big side i grant you, but still only one side).

Looking forward to later. Hoping the showers forecast dont ruin things. Only my 2nd trip to Lynn since Wolves were there in 96!

And Troy is 3 years older and is still bearly ahead of Tai Usual anti wolves bias.

Disagree, but im happy with that. Tai over Troy for most sensible people every day of the week.

Batchelor could only hope to be at a level that Woffy is already. Basically Batchelor scored 4 points . Clearly not good enough.

As expected the Danes just did enough. Iversen surely wont last for the final tho? The Aussies should have played the joker earlier. Pulling a blatant cheat trick like that from Batchelor meant that Holder had to prove his worth. Just goes to show he is still a way off from being the finished article. Ward looks already a safe pick for the GP`s he is clearly, by far, the best outside the current 15. At least its for all to see how well out of his depth Batchelor is at this level. And some say he should be in the GP`s Schlein did slightly better than i expected, will wait and see how he gets on in the race off to se if he really has the ability to up his game when it matters. MadsK did a grand job - hope he keeps his place along with Nicolai for Iversen.

Ward had already given the game away. Tho it`s hard to tell because Batchelor isnt good enough in that company.

Thanks for the race sheets. Excellent job

Well done to Tyson and a win over Lanham and 7 points.

Bjerre needs to be in the NL then. Runner up = 1st loser. pedersen AND bjerre. Split loyalties or what?

Sounds like a good meeting. gutted i missed it. Well done to Rory on the win. Is this REALLY the year he lives up to the hype?

Absolutely correct. Only some speedway fans will argue nonesense. (im amazed no one has started a `black and white helmet ` row. Is it really black? Surely thats more cream than white! ). I pretty much read it the same way. A fall IS a fall. The fact there was clear contact meant that the rider being pushed/touched/knocked is likely to be put off balance. So a fall quite often is likely. Who is at fault will ALWAYS be debated - dont think thats the issue. Im sure riders DO make tactical falls tho - if they feel it is safe to do so. With Crump so close there would appear madness to suggest Bomber made a tactical fall. NP made contact and bomber fell. Without the contact there wouldnt have been a fall! Only the dirty Dane to blame if he chooses to ride that way. Only Harris knows if it was tactical. His body language suggest he was aggrieved by it so i tend to agree with Bomber. The problem i guess lies in `history`. If Pedersen has a history of barging thru or into riders and Bomber has a history of jumping off the bike (cant say ive noticed) then more often than not if they clash and Bomber falls then NP is likely to be excluded. And rightly so in my opinion. When NP doesnt have the speed , as has been evidenced in the past few years, he reverts back to type and barges his way thru. He seems to have more exclusions as a result of that. Therefore think there can be only one conclusion to reach! On the subject of `tactical dive` Pedersen again showed how to do that perfectly when he lay it down when Lindback took his line

Well said. The man is tactless and classless. Any accident is never his fault (yea, i know they all say it, but it would appear nicki believes all calls should go his way!). When he had the speed of 2 or 3 seasons ago he may have looked a much different rider and the `dirty` element of his game seemed to be very much a think of the past. However he is true to form. He rides desperate at times and is happy to throw the bike at someone and then moan when its done back. It would appear the riders know his dirty games are back on and are happy to dish it out - fair play to them i say. As a multi champion he has never been a good advocate for the sport, He always threatens to kick of in front of the cameras when he doesnt get his own way. At least the likes of greg and crumpy have some champions class about there demeanor - something that Nicki will never have as part of his game. On his side however he does look to have a bit more speed to keep his game up for the season - but he doesnt look consistent enough to make the top 3, ill be happy with that.

I can appreciate a good joke.

Not sure you could define Kennett`s pass as a clean one. It was a desperate lunge (if there was a gap he was right to take it however) and was carrying way too much speed to make the pass clean. by doing a 180 and bringing down the rider he passed meant the pass was anything but clean. Ill agree however he was right to try and make the pass, if there is a gap and you can pass you will go for it. Unfortunately for Eddie it was all a little bit desperate. Got to applaud on effort tho.