iwright71

Gleb is Polish at present which effectively rules him out, same reason as Dudek although Speedway Star keep banging on about his Monster Energy contacts ( I didn't think they had any input in the choice of wildcards ) so never say never. Rule of thumb says there will be 2 Swedes and 2 Danes in the series so we are effectively looking for 1 Dane as Welwyn says. Most posters on here are pleading for new blood in the series but still back the return of Nicki Pedersen . Nicki's form has improved this year in Poland but I think most want him back as he is " box office " or as Graeme Souness described himself " I sometime infringe the rules " .Nicki has had a great career in the GP but time to look forward Anders Thomson for me for his performance at Gorzow and being Danish champion.

Heat 2 doesn't really have that much significance if the main contenders all accrue enough points to get to the semi finals. This is one of the weaknesses of the new scoring system. A speedway Grand Prix should evolve like a story, the points gained in the meeting and the World Championship table should evolve side by side as the meeting progresses. Every point scored should count . Last year at Torun the World Championship table evolved after every heat, win for Madsen had to be matched by wins for Bartosz and Emil, every heat had something on it particularly when the main men met each other, beating your main rival was huge. Now realistically we have no idea how many points each rider will score until heat 20. The people that represent speedway at the F.I.M need insist to the top powers that speedway has a unique heat formula unlike other motorsports under their umbrella, we don't have one race per fortnight we have 23 individual heats, they all need to mean something. The GP has searched endlessly for a scoring system over the years, which is the fairest and rewards the best rider over the whole meeting, it found it and then had it ditched by people who do not understand the sport, get last years scoring system reintroduced for next year as a priority. I dare say the F.I.M will know better and carry on as they are as they normally do. Doing the math's, last years scoring system would have Bartosz 111, Freddie 103, Tai 102 , game on , pressure on in Torun tonight !

Before last night Fricke was in 10th place, 20 points adrift of 9th. Didn't hear anyone on here clamoring for him to be a wild card then ! I suppose we can all call it after the event, dito Phil Rising talking up Australia for the SON after wins for Lidsey and Fricke last night !

Not sure how that will work with nearly all Fridays allocated to Polish League fixtures.

Just to add a bit of context to those 2 video clips which I don't think are like for like. Rather than the decline in crowds it showed the failed attempt to run shared events at neutral tracks. Listen to the home crowd at Peterborough when Mick Poole starts rounding riders up. In the 2nd clip I believe Coventry were not involved, so the comparison I believe is slightly misleading .

I know you are ploughing a lone furrow here Stoke Potter but I am inclined to agree with you on most fronts. Unfortunately for the sport the silencer regulation changes imposed on the sport by the F.I.M (2011 season) have rendered many speedway tracks in this country vastly inferior in terms of racing and entertainment to what they served up previously. Small tracks, narrow tracks and tracks with particularly long straights have suffered most. Tracks have remained the same while the machines have altered considerably . Laying off the throttle, riders seem to go backwards, giving it a handful the bike seems to rear up. Forget having plenty of dirt down, bikes can't handle it and forget any inclement weather, meeting off , it also doesn't help the bikes sound like a swarm of bees and don't smell of Castrol R any more, the sport lost some of its soul and most, sorry all of its atmosphere on the terraces. Unfortunately modern speedway is most suited to flat out full throttle speedway on big , banked , slick tracks, a great example being Manchester. Unfortunately the tough bit is it is virtually impossible, practically or financially to adjust or alter many of the tracks left in the league, we are pretty much stuck with what we have. In short the current product is not good enough, often enough. You may get away with it to a degree if you have the Worlds best riders but as we know that's not going to happen. You can forget expensive marketing, plenty of people know about speedway, watch it on TV , but choose not to go. Admittedly unless the TV match is from Manchester or Swindon its hardly exiting, mostly boring. I know nobody wants a bad news story but the sports been on a swift decline for the last 10 years and I cant see that decline being arrested even with all the goodwill in the world. Britain will not go on its own to change machinery and tracks wont change so you have what you have, with a weakening rider standard year on year.

Its probably a good thing then, since it is a team and not an individual event .

Why will it make British chances more limited of winning. Surely they will have 2 riders in the Final heat should they make it that far ?

Agree, This tournament is effectively the World Team Cup and could be won by largely having one outstanding rider. Very similar to the Davis Cup in tennis which was won by Team GB with one outstanding player who contributed to all of the points won. I get that the FIM want a tournament with 6 or 7 possible winners but its not really a World Team cup anymore

It seems Rob Godfrey's idea is to focus on the returning northern bound coaches heading out of Cardiff and ignore any southern fans who would be unlikely to travel after 2 meetings in the south the previous 2 days. Risky, if those coach loads decide to skip it then they could be stuffed although with Leicester being one of the best supported clubs in Britain they have the insurance that the locals will attend in numbers

20 quid for a bobble hat, 25 quid for a truckers hat , must be quality stuff ! Don't they do a rain mac for the SON at Manchester ?

Pretty sure Leon Madsen had last pick at Cardiff after missing the draw and ended up winning the event. Sure Emil didn't practise at Torun and made the semi. On the whole don't think having a pick of the draw has had any effect on the results of the GP's .

Riddiculas to think success is finishing 4th in a 7 team League. To run a top 4 play off system the league needs 10 teams so we get 4 actual good teams in the play offs . You can't take a 4 team play off system with a 7 team league seriously.

I always worry when the incoming chairman of the BSPA states " I believe in the product " " We have a great product " AKA Keith Chapman and now his successor Mr Godfrey . Unless someone realises that the Premiership is not a great product, Belle Vue and now Swindon aside,and that's the reason people are not turning up to watch week in week out then the malaise and general decline will continue. Watch all BT live matches broadcast last year and its not great watching compared to other sports competing for the consumers pound !

If only all the promoters had the cash and the authorisation to do this . Pipe dream

7 home fixtures a year plus a couple in the cup is not enough for promoters, many who rent their stadiums have to give a guarantee on the minimum number of meetings, 8 to 10 a season won't be enough, or for that matter riders riding in only 1 league. Also Cup finals on neutral tracks won't work, they must be at the homes of the contesting teams. The days of large speedway away followings are long gone.

Maybe we could all ask our local council to do it for free !

Spot on, I've known the crowds to be bigger at my local track when we finished bottom of the League in the 90's than win the playoffs in the 2000's. Normally most weeks it was losing last heat deciders. It didn't matter some were good years some were not but you still went every week because the product was great. Great racing, passing aplenty, big names , speed, the noise, the smell, crackling atmosphere ,it was brilliant, and I wouldn't be shy to tell anyone. Not the same today, new bikes ( silencers 2010) have killed it, bikes now not suited to the track shape or material. Poor racing , less big names, less noise, no smell and no atmosphere. I like many have drifted away , 30 years every week has now amounted to maybe once a season. Forget the rules, guests , rider replacements, team changes have always been there, its the product that is not good enough. Watch the live matches on BT this year, unless its Belle Vue or a revamped Swindon there is really nothing to see .How bad we the playoffs this year, awful. Unfortunately Belle Vue and Swindon have shown us that most of the traditional old tracks are now not fit for purpose, but unfortunately these promotions don't have the money or authority to make any changes. Unfortunately that's where we at and why the sport in the UK is on its knees.

Didn't we try something revolutionary like the " golden double " or joker in the World Cup. How was that revolutionary change welcomed by fans ?

How many other clubs have the facility or the money to reshape their track ? probably none.

Never been slow before to come forward with your views on the SGP Phil ! The stage is yours !

Bet Phillip Rising doesn't agree with you ?

Winning the regular League will never mean anything while the play offs are in place.

If Poole decide to drop down a division then the Premiership is finished. Lets be honest ,this year how credible is a top division with 7 teams, with 4 of those teams making a play off. You need a 10 team league if you are to have a play off system. No Poole ? 6 teams ? . Maybe Buster can buy a couple more teams up to make it do-able . With the loss of Stoke and maybe Cradley Heath from the National League Surely a 2 League structure beckons in Britain .

In reality can't see how the quality of the racing can be improved ? Most clubs don't own their stadium, cant reshape their track, shale will stay the same, bikes will stay the same .Unfortunately We have what we have and its probably here to stay, that doesn't bode well for the future and the slow decline / death will probably continue as it is.