machinn

I'm glad Freddie got his place for obvious reasons, and I'm not surprised Hans and Fred got nominated at all. I was also not surprised by Tai's inclusion, it's been speculated for a while. I think he is one of the best British prospects and his form this year in Britain and the continent has been superb. I wish him all the best, and hope that my fears that it may be a year too early aren't confirmed. Tai needs to grab the oppurtunity when it comes, hopefully he can make an impression at the very least next year. Harris however left me thinking why? We musn't forget that he's 'won a grand prix', yes 1/33. I think one brit in the series plus a wildcard at Cardiff is more than enough. Harris was never in the top 8, never really looked close to reaching the top 8, so to exclude some much better riders to allow him into the GPs is a joke. I do wish him well, he's a Brit afterall, but I definetly was left a bit deflated after the nominations were revealed. Hopefully he can prove us all wrong and have a good season, and in 2011 he can be included on merit.

I don't think any of the Brits are 100% top 8 material. Scott has pretty much ruled himself out, if he's offered a place I would be surprised if he accepted it. Chris has had one good performance all year, in the last GP- he said it was because there was no pressure on him, if he's picked again surely the pressure's back on? Eddie isn't quite there, Lewis isn't scoring consistently across all continents and IMO Tai needs another year. Tai is riding fantastically in his leagues, but another year could see him 100% ready for that level of racing- throwing him in at the deep end too early could have negative effects. That leaves Lee, I don't know how interested he is in doing the GPs. He doesn't seem that bothered, and as some have said he's 'been there, done that.' I don't see why a Brit has to have a wildcard into the series, why not simply nominate a Brit in Cardiff? It would make no difference to me personally, I support the rider more than the nationality and would rather see Freddie get a wildcard than Bomber.

Not a bad GP, I too was wondering about British promoters adopting the track covering. Classic Kelvin quote halfway through- "He's on the pace, but unfortunately trailing at the back" Very interesting logic their Tatum! Nice to hear from Tai and as usual Sam in the studio, good input from both of them. Some okay races with a mixture of boring ones. Nice to see some different riders on the podium

To me the GP's are long enough as they are now. Not only can they get boring, but most years the winner is pretty much odds-on by mid August. I can't see Sky covering 15 Grand Prixs every year, Speedway isn't exactly top of their 'to do' list. Then theres the further disruption it would cause to league meetings- riders missing on a Friday and Saturday, dropping leagues because they've got too many meetings to attend. Why not focus on making the GP's we've already got better, more entertaining, less 'follow the leader' racing? Improvements need to be made to the 11 Grand Prixs we have now before 4 more are added.

Thanks, I normally make my own race cards to use so need the draw for heat details and helmet colours.

Eastbourne ride against Poole Friday I think. Hans Andersen isn' riding because he had to prepare for the Grand Prix, as far as the EL goes I think that's it for this weekend. Does anyone know when the draw is going to be made for this GP?

The track shape and size was good, but as far as racing goes- another borefest. In Greg's words "follow the leader" racing, two adequate gates that provided the only wins of the night, two extremely poor gates. The only reason no rider was dominating (as Tony Millard put it) was because you could only get anything from gates 1 & 4- so it didn't matter who you put into gates 2 and 3 (Crump, Emil, Gollob etc) they weren't going to get much for their efforts. I ended up muting the commentary and then fell asleep halfway through

Like I said on the other thread, seems a classsic case of a 'mountain being made out of a mole hill' on here. It seems by a minor number of people the positives are constantly ignored when an oppurtunity for a good whingeing session arises. What has Tai lost by this experience? Very little. I'm sure the other riders in team GB along with many of the fans aren't too bothered about Tai assiting a a rider he had most likely grew up with, considering GB were out at this stage. Australia being the country who brought him through their system, taught him a trade and helped him progress to his current level. He may feel he owes Australia, his assistance being recognition of how they have helped him in his career. What has he gained? Experience of the kind of set-ups requried for the World cup. What goes on behind the scenes. Riding as an individual yet still focusing on the success of the team. ALL personnel within the pits were to wear a team's shirt, whether that be riders or mechanics. If he wanted to ride for the Aussie's he could, yet he chose to ride for GB. With the 'support' shown for him on this thread, I wouldn't have chosen GB. Yes, Tai can "F-off to Australia" and we can replace him with one of the large extent of young talent coming through our well-organised British system, there's just too many replacements to choose from We can discount the 8 points he scored for us in the race-off, and turn him away from team GB. The cup will be ours in no time!

His tatoo is a sign of recognition for what Australia have done for him (as far as his progression in this sport is concerned), and recognition for a country that was a huge part of his life. It means little when he puts his team GB kevlars on. He is riding for team GB. He is scoring points for team GB. Of course he still loves Australia, he's lived there for half his life. But he's chosen to ride for team GB, that's all that matters.

Aren't Tai's parents both British? Similar situation to Jason Crump, born in England with two Australian parents- I wouldn't necessarily consider Jason British though.

Exactly. He'll be learning with everything he does, this could benefit him.

I to don't like seeing riders in other teams' colours, I know where you're coming from. But I understand that he probably didn't know how it would appear to British fans. He's always been very close with the Aussie riders, he grew up with them and some have most likely been a big influence. Therefore it's not particularly 'terrible' if he is simply helping a fellow rider (most likely a friend) considering GB have been knocked out. We need the young talents such as Tai Woffinden, even if he doesn't think things through completely (I also don't agree with the Holta situation.) Tai has chosen to ride for team GB, whether he helps Australia, has a tatoo or even wears their shirt. Without Tai's input we wouldn't have come anywhere near qualifying Thursday night, that can't be ignored.

Team GB aren't there tonight. If Tai has to wear a team shirt he isn't going to turn up in a GB shirt, is he? Of course, Tai is still going to have links to the Australian team, he's lived there half his life, he was brought through their system. The most important thing is he does ride for Britain, which some may say benefit him but it also benefits us. We're hardly being flooded with new talent are we? Having a future potential star on board benefits us aswell. I don't like to see our riders wearing another teams' colours, but wouldn't go to the extremes of some on here.

He worked his a*se off for team GB the other night, why should he be dis-included because he's helping out the Australian team? He's lived in Australia for a large part of his life, team GB aren't in the final maybe he feels he wants to give something back to the country he grew up in. Maybe he wants to give something back to the Australian system he has progressed through. If you notice every mechanic, assitant and outside riders are wearing team shirts, Tai is no exception. Maybe he shouldn't have worn the shirt, to me it makes little difference as he gave his all for team GB. Seems a 'mountain has been made out of a mole hill' to me.

Isn't hindsight brilliant? After Peterborough the only rider fans would have been happy for Scott to come in for was Tai. If Scott was included, it was to be at the expense of Tai in many poster's opinions. Whereas last night Tai was the third best scorer in the team and more than did the job asked of him. Before last night, no one would have contemplated replacing Bridger or King with Scott. That is where hindsight comes into it... Considering there was no sign of Scott at any of the SWC events, I am not surprised he wasn't included. That gives the message that he wasn't really interested, even if not picked he could have supported his team mates (as Eddie Kennet did last night.) For me, I was proud of that team last night. I think they did a brilliant job considering the inexperience within the team. Three of the riders did a really good job, all were enthusiastic and the team spirit was clear to see. The boys and in particular Bridger looked really disappointed, but they have years and years of SWC events to come. We are currently in the very early stages of developing a solid GB team for the future, yet we still came so close to reaching the final. If these riders improve at the rate they are currently, in a few years time we could do exactly what the Russians have done this year. I was proud to have such a young side representing us, yet still perform as we did. I really wouldn't miss Scott if he were to turn down any future offers for team GB. I like the mix of riders we have atm, and the unity they've shown- Rob made the right decision in my eyes, even if some riders didn't perform as expected.