iris123

It is to some extent a chicken and egg thing.I did talk some years ago now to a continental team manager and asked why there were no Brits over a period of years in the team.The answer was that they have no experience of riding those type of tracks.Without getting the chance in European competitions etc then how do they get much experience to then get picked?Quite possibly though it is the comfort zone thing,because Aussie riders do tend to get picked without any European competitions to gain experience.Robert Lambert has of curse gone a different route and gained a bit of continental experience at an early stage.Then again it didn't do him much good yesterday

Swedish averages,click on 'visa' by each team http://www.svemo.se/sv/Grenar/Speedway/Elitserien2017/Aktuellasnitt/

Isn't it around this stage that some old boy pops up to tell us in the 1940s it was so much better and we could have used riders from the Southern League division 4 and still beat Poland and Russia.......

Pretty much what i wrote a few days ago.Poland way ahead of the rest.I say that because i think Sweden rode to their very best and Poland probably still had a bit more to give if needed,which it wasn't.Antonio rode great,but by this time next year it could be a very different Antonio again.We sadly know how up and down his career has been.I for one wish he rode like that all the time.But i don't think Sweden have much more to give.AJ has seen his best days and Freddie isn't going to get any better either.The Poles on the other hand have their best years still ahead of them unless one or two go the wrong way Two meetings in one and the rest of the world have a lot to do to get near Poland and we nly got near Russia because of the Laguta problem.Unforseen and he and Dudek before are probably not the only ones who could get caught out if tested on the wrong day.We took advantage,but we saw a young Russian come in and take his chance and wonder why we don't seem to have young riders who can do the same or why we don't give our youngsters those kind of chances........

Australians do have the option of riding in Denmark as soon as they step off a plane.One or two have done just that.Brady Kutz for one rode a season in Denmark before moving to the UK

Relationships between Latvia and Russia are no way as close as some are suggesting.Lot of suspicion and even fear of Russia/Russians in Latvia.Riga has an ethnic Russian mayor and he has said he has to watch very carefully what he say's...

Think those ratings are obviously skewed as the US riders scores are mostly from US tracks.Poland is totally different.Think they will be lucky to reach 10,so it is a question of who picks up those points.The other teams will have few last places apart from ef's etc.What is amazing really is Latvia with just the one proper track and very few riders,probably a lot less than the US and most other countries have quality over quantity.Impressive Will be surprised for instance if 4 US riders are really better than Kostigovs

The thing is will our lack of experience on Polish tracks put us at a disadvantage?Poland will for obvious reasons be a big favourite.Sweden have riders who have very good experience abroad and in Poland in particular,then whoever comes through tonight will have the extra advantage of having raced on the track.But you just have to look at the Danes who have good experience of racing in Sweden and one of the all time greats of the sport starting to blame their set-up and it makes you wonder.Can we just go out with a desire to do well,good team spirit and turn that to our advantage?Of course Harris in the GPs at least was one of the main culprits of blaming anything and everything for his failures.Maybe with some self belief we can put the cat amongst the pigeons and cause a surprise

Yes,it is a mistake that often crops up.Even had a discussion with a webmaster about their "English Final" meeting which included one Scottish rider and has always been called the British Final.But hey ho.....

Seen a few comments from Danish fans and obviously pretty p'd off and negative.One saying this all started when Hans Nielsen took the job,get Secher or Olsen back.One even had the temerity to bring us into it by saying what a desaster it was for Danish speedway and if this development wasn't stopped Denmark would end up like 'England'!!!!!

No.It was a leg trailing thread in years gone by.My photos although modern in the sense that they weren't from the 30s or 40s were also from 'years gone by' with riders that have now retired like Mark Loram etc

Pointed this out to the old boy gustix on his "leg trailing" thread a few months ago.He was posting photos from the 30s and 40s and i posted modern photos of riders doing pretty much the same thing around the bends over the last 10 years or so.........

We are always being told by those 'in the know' that the speedway heirachy doesn't take the BSF seriously,doesn't even bother with the BSF.So it isn't really important what is said on here,so don't take it that seriously.After all we don't take your posts that seriously.

Not sure about Michelsen.He is a bit upset atm having been dropped by his polish team for the weekend.......

No,it was definitely a woman interviewing Hans.Think Morgan had more important things to do

World feed was amusing.Don't remember the name of the woman doing the interviews in between Kelv and Shouty,but she was a bit off putting.The question of the night must have been after the first 4 heats talking to Hans and at the end she asked him what the plan was for the rest of the meeting.Even Hans couldn't stop himself from laughing and said "win every heat!!!"

Think Ronnie had two breaks from the sport.He swapped to car racing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Moore_(speedway_rider)

But even that argument is nonsense.Look at the 2013 team and look at the 2015 team.Who was missing from 2013???? I agree it could happen that those riders do better.Not convinced that it is very likely they will all do better in one r more meetings.For sure if those riders last night all had their top form they could have gone through easily.The trouble when you get passed your best is the great nights get fewer and fewer

In 2013 they finished just a point off the title i think

Ronnie did actually ride for Australia.Think it might have been the first country he rode for,then went on to choose NZ Indeed.In his first season in the UK Ronnie rode for Australia against England at Wimbledon.Not sure if this was his international debut though http://www.internationalspeedway.co.uk/engvaus2.htm 1951,52 and 53 he was also in the Australian team

Not only talking about yesterday.This is an ongoing problem.Two years in a row now they haven't made the final.Long time ago when that has happened.Add to that though the terrible performances in the GPs where it looks like no Danish rider will get into the top 8.Haven't looked,but has that ever happened before?I would say all the riders on show last night plus Kildemand etc have all hit or have passed their peak.Then the lack of great new talent,and i think they need at least two to come in over the next 2 years to replace some of the others,it just doesn't look good.Not for Denmark or speedway as a whole having lost the US as one of the main teams,we can hardly lose one or two more main challengers in Denmark and Sweden I was wondering whether it was worth going back to the old 3 rider teams to try and make up for the lack of strength in depth....

Big problems for the future really.With the inevitable decline of Denmark and Sweden i fear the SWC will turn into a one horse race and then there will be only the minor places of interest.Similar to what happens in Ice Speedway,where the Russians have too much strength in depth for anyone else. Plus i certainly imagine a knock on effect at the Danish GP next year where yet another 1,000 or so could be lost on this years attendance

If anyone is interested,i hear there is a 'lucky' Oxford programme board now lying in a bin at the track

Ok,he possibly should do.Denmark should beat Latvia normally.But Denmark are on the downturn in a way they haven't seen for a long time.Secher got out at the right time and Hans took the job at the wrong time.Future isn't looking good for Danish speedway.But good managers motivate and get riders properly set-up.Talking about having the wrong set up etc from a rider of his experience is bad!!!!

But surely it doesn't matter when comparing figures from meeting to meeting and/or figures for another sport?They are all worked out the same way