waiheke1

ah, didnt know that rule, fair enough - worth a shot then to see if someone like Nicki, EMil or Greg are interrested -would be expensive but possibly worth it? otherwise AJ as guest. Presumably if he was unable to ride EL for rest of the season that would be ok? If he was riding in Sweden or Polan obviously not, but surely GPS shouldnt rule out possibility of this facility.

If zagar is missing a couple of fixtures aj as guest is way to go.If in doubt for the season Doyle or nki would seem the best options as replacements

Tbf he is in the hunt for a medal in the GPS I could understand him being fit for GPS but not el.

What would the cost be? It would save at least 15 minutes most meetings if they introduced transponders and green light starts. That has to improve the product which should be a 90 minute entertainment package

If there are three poles qualified is hampel stitches on? Possibly he still is, but the point was I'm not sure he would have been if Darcy and Emil were available and three poles were already in. Lindback will be, and deserves to be, the first swede picked. If aj just misses out he will get one too, though not convinced it would be deserved.

Cunnilingus?

No, even if Emil and Darcy were available lindback would have been virtually guaranteed a wildcard. The other one likely going to hampel unless magic made top 8 in which case possibly 9th place getting it instead.

It wouldn't be a hard rule to change. "After the green light goes on Riders must remain stationery until the tapes rise. A rider who moves without touching the tapes will be warned by the referee. A second offence will result in an exclusion." Tidy that up a bit. Makes more sense than enforcing a rule which is not in the rule book.

Certainly one example. Hardly "settling for second"

Not sure you are right about tai, he's produced some incredible rides this season that I suspect no other rider in the world except perhaps Emil and Darcy could have produced. The gp points system is perfect imo.

Why do all the clubs not have a standardised website and pay a few grand each a year to have someone administer them. That website is truly awful! Certainly can't help attract sponsors.

Tbh I don't think Harris is one of the top 20 riders in the world. But there is not a huge difference in quality between someone who is 21st in the world or 41st. Harris qualified, and deserved to do so.

Agree with the point you are making, but Mort/PC were also superb at team riders in their own right, regularly guiding home with more junior Aces riders as well. The Moran brothers were also superb to watch as a pairing , and you could add Siggy/Schwartz as another excellent pairing - but I think it's also fair to say the Americans were generally pretty good team riders full stop (Ermolenko possibly the best of them). Darcy I agree by some margin the best team rider in recent times

Wow, someone's obviously not getting any! Very strange post, especially given the way the vast majority have put aside differences recently (Blaze and Jacques agreeing with Sid!) to express unified support for Darcy. Not to worry, hasn't put me off getting Simmo's book on Kindle from the kids for father's day. My memories of Louis: I started attending Belle Vue in the 80s. So I recall him as an ok Heat Leader for Halifax, normally good for half a dozen points around Hyde Rd, 7 or 8 at the Shay - certainly not a rider to be feared, unlike Kenny Carter. When he moved to KL I recall one devastating maximum at Hyde Rd in 83, but some other mediocre displays, including 1 point in the BLRC in 84. Basically, I only saw him when he was past his peak, and thus saw only brief glimpses of the rider regarded as something of a track specialist in the 70s. The same could be said of the likes of Olsen, Simmons, Jessup, Kennett who at the time I under rated as I never saw them in their prime (and certainly the latter two never rode Hyde Rd particularly well anyway). TBH TMC, I wasn't sure that was the kind of memory you were after!

Harris like Andy can't get gate, and that's always going to be an issue at the very top level. Add that neither could probably justify the expense of having machinery as good as the very top riders, both were always going to struggle in GPs (you could add someone like Morton to that list, a rider who achieved everything else but found on world final night you just couldnt give so much ground away from the start and had a best place of eighth from around 8 finals). Harris is a 5 point rider in GPS, meaning on average he is beaten by two riders and beats one - hardly an embarrassing record. His issue is that he never pulls out the really big meetings, but consistently picks up 4-7 points. But on form across all comps this season i think he rates ahead of Batch, THJ and KK. What is more embarrassing is if Sweden get given two WC spots again. Exactly. By pretty much any measure the likes of Killer, Lindback, Prem Pawlicki, Lindgren, MJJ who failed in the qualifiers have been better this season, and would be likely to do better in the GPs next season. But Harris has qualified on merit. I note that noone is complaining about Zmarzlick qualifying after being giften a spot in the Challenge, wheras plenty did when Harris got the same treatment. The thinking Sid is that Emil is being paid more than just the standard SEC prizemoney to be the "poster child." - a rider who competes only in SEC and not GPS (unlike Nicki) Agree even without EMil the field is pretty good, but hardly comparable to GP line up if you remove him. I think it's a bad result surely for Hampel - had only one Pole qualified he would have been virtually guaranteed a spot. As it is, hopefully common sense prevails and we do see 4 Poles (and 4 Danes too if Emil turns down a spot, as Killer is worthy of a place even if MJJ finishes top 3 - certainly in both cases more deservicing than a second Swede)

Sid: of the riders who are not qualified for next year's series ( assume current top 8 stays as is) then my current rankings (1/9) have them: Emil Hampel Lindback Magic Pepe Kildermand Vaculik Prem pawlicki G laguta Lindgren I think that supports the view that Emil hampel lindback and magic would be the fair choices. If Emil declined then killer to get a spot. Of course that assumes the organisers allow 4 poles, hopefully common sense prevails. I agree g laguta would be a strong contender for top 8, but his form this year is well down on previous seasons and doesn't warrant a wc on this year's form. The last few seasons it did. All imho. Would add that I have no issue with Sweden being guaranteed one wc spot. Be very disappointed if they got 2. And add also that the rankings above are as at end of august so don't take into account the gp challenge. Edit: To add that if I adjust the rankings for the GP Challenge (not updated for any league meetings in Sept), then Lindback falls below Vaculik, and Lindgren moves ahead of G Laguta. Jonsson is the 3rd ranked Swede in 24th.

Or have it once the playoffs are finished? Very surprised at the criticism of King on here.

Look forward to seeing the two young poles in GPS 2016

Harris again shows that in aa field just below the very top level he is as good as anyone. Not likely to be a top 10 gp rider, but can mix it with the rest. Lambert can take the 2nd Brit spot from him in 2017? Good result for next years series.

Not the riders fault surely?

Congrats Harris. Lindback has been one of the top 10 riders in the world this year imho and deserves a spot. Wild cards should be Emil hampel lindback and whoever finishes 9th. If Emil doesn't take it then g laguta killer or vaculik, in reality guessing will be jonsson Bsi need to allow 4 poles next year, would be a travesty for hampel or magic to miss our

Lindback is nailed on for a wildcard surely so prob doesn't matter. 3 poles to qualify? Could make it a nervous couple of months for hampel and magic. Surely 4 poles wouldn't be an issue

But a 26 year old whose best finish in a gp series was as a 19 year old. And Darcy's injury shows how precarious a rider's career can be.Would be a real shame if neither of the two most gifted riders of their generation became world champ. Even greater shame if neither were to even race in GPS again.

Updated rankings as at 1/9/ 1 TAI WOFFINDEN 11.05 2 Emil Sajfutdinow 10.52 3 Jarosław Hampel 9.61 4 NICKI PEDERSEN 9.61 5 GREG HANCOCK 9.13 6 PIOTR PAWLICKI 9.12 7 Darcy Ward 8.91 8 BARTOSZ ZMARZLIK 8.87 9 ANTONIO LINDBACK 8.62 10 MATEJ ZAGAR 8.35 11 MACIEJ JANOWSKI 8.34 12 Piotr Protasiewicz 8.29 13 PETER KILDEMAND 8.29 14 NIELS KRISTIAN IVERSEN 8.26 15 Martin Vaculik 8.21 16 Przemyslaw Pawlicki 7.91 17 JASON DOYLE 7.77 18 CHRIS HOLDER 7.76 19 Grigoriy Laguta 7.65 20 Fredrik Lindgren 7.58 Dudek excluded due to having ridden less than 10 meetings, otherwise would slot in at 16th. Nicholls, Cook and Harris are the next best brits, slotting in at 41-43rd place.respectively the much maligned Hans Andersen and Kenny Bjerre slot in at 38th and 40th places. Arnie G - Leon Madsen is now at 21st.

If two poles qualify here and magic makes top 8, will hampel still get a wildcard? Similarly, if killer qualifies here and mjj finishes 9th do we reckon he will get a wc?