waiheke1

does bill buckley pick up the tab for that?

top eight are picked? there i was thinking their qualification was based on performance over 12 meetings, more meetings than any rider going through the old qualifying route had to ride in.

all expenses for theriders - flights, accommodation, shipping of equipment - are paid for for the nz gp . i presume they still have to pay for their support team but not certain.

I'm confused... So just to confirm, hot, dry summer weather doesn't impact upon track preparation, but hot summer sun does?

???

Ok, the GP was another excellent afternoon/evening’s entertainment, can’t wait for next year, a few thoughts on the day. Whereas last year I was absolutely buzzing after the event, this year I was a little disappointed. The crowd was clearly a few thousand down on last year, which makes me concerned that next year could be the last, and I would be gutted if it was. There were some mitigating factors – another motorcycle event which Buckley reckons drew away a couple of thousand fans, the test match and a beer festival would also have drawn away some of the casusal sports fans who may have othersise turned up. We really need a bumper crowd next year – aliied with some council backing – to make sure Bill is willing to keep going with the series. The racing was not as good as last year – in fact it was probably about in line with what I expected last year, which overdelivered. It may have been the track, but perhaps it was just a result of The gate positions were unbelievably unequal. The fact that red had such an advantage, and yellow such a disadvantage I think must have contributed to the lack of passing – try catching Hancock or Gollob when they have a 10m head start by the first corner. Red picked up 54 points out of a possible 60 in the heats (including a zero from Bunyan), while yellow delivered jsu 11 (3 of which came from Jonssons win, 2 from beating Bunyan, and two from beating excluded riders). While gate advantage is not unheard of in world finals (Odsal 85 saw red score 32 out of a possible 36 points by the interbal, while Gothenburg in 80 saw gate three score only 18 points all meeting)- to have two gates with such a massive difference had a definite bearing on things. And a couple of things that made me smile: I know the grid girls aren’t selected (entirely) for their brains, but seeing them line up in the wrong order (red on the outside, yellow the inside) for the first heat was pretty special. Hearing the explanation for the 4pm start time as being “because of the global television viewing audience.” Yes, that was it, nothing to do with the NIMBY’s forcing restriction on racing after dark, everythijng to do with how much better it was for you guys in the UK and Europe to get up at 3 or 4 am to watch it rather than having it start at 6 or 7 am your time!

We were pretty close to both incidents, and both in real time, and after seeing the replays, I thought the ref had made the right call with both. I seem to be in the minority though, and as you say, they weren’t clear cut. Mr Buckley was interviewed for the Herlad on the Saturday of the event, and in it he was complaining about the job the guy who had been flown over by IMG to do the track prep was doing – Bill of course though he could do it better himself - so I’m not sure the fault is entirely his. Ward isn’t the world’s best gater, but he’s far from poor. I think he’s perhaps like a young Mike Lee, to Emil’s Peter Collins. On Saturday Ward made great gates in his first two rides – off the favoured inside gates, and then had gate 4 for his next two, and no one gated off those allnight. In his fith heat he was outgated by the two riders inside him, and in the senmi he gated second , but Pedersen clamped down on him, allowing Hampel to blast by round the outside. So, I think its harsh to say he gated poorly. Agree, he was bloody exciting though. It is a real shame SCB, but it’s used for car speedway for most of the summer, so can’t see it ever being a full time “proper” speedway track. Of course Auckland Council in its infinite wisdom (backed by the NIMBYs) want to get rid of motor racing at the springs and move it to industrial south Auckland, and move the Auckland warriors from the south to western springs (city fringe). If they do that, both sports will instantly lose I’d guess 50% of their regular fan base – madness. Speedway in some form has been at the Springs since the 20s I believe, it would be a sad,sad day if t has to move – it’s a lovely stadium, good location and with a lot of heritage. A pretty good synopsis. Though I’d add that heat 20 was much better than good, it was bloody brilliant. Tbh, I think the Herald review was pretty much on the money. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10873281

not true that they were un beaten darcy was on 7 and aj on 8 before that race. but still very impressive that he left them trailing not once but twice

Where did I stand on Tai prior to the GP: I was definitely a supportive of Tai getting the wildcard slot, but my prediction for where he would finish was 14th – basically expecting him to ride better than Harris, but score a similar number of points (due to the harder line up this year) And this: I think I would now amend that last part to “pleasantly surprised.” I certainly don’t expect him to finish top8 over the series, but would no longer consider it unthinkable. To do well in the GPs you need to be able to gate, and have good equipment – Tai showed in Nz that he has both, not something that could be said about Harris last year. Overall, I was very very impressed by my first live viewing of Tai, in particular the way he chased Gollob hard first up, the way he kept his cool to gate twice from the favoured inside gate after the race was stopped first time out, and the way he headed home Hoklder in his final ride to ensure the semi final spot. Let’s not get too carried away though - he had a decent draw, and this meeting along with Cardiff probably represented one of his two best opportunities to make the semis. But he has shown he deserved to be in the series, that he will not be outclassed, and I would absolutely love to be proved wrong and see him finish top 10 this year.

its a possible 21 per gp not 18. dont worry, the anniuncer at the gp last night didnt know either, kept banging on about the double points until someone must have had a word

justifiably favourite imho, though if i was putting money down think likes of hsmpel and emil offer better value. heading off to the gp now , enjoy the meeting lads

sidney had previously posted that the old qualification system was far more fair, despite examples like olsen and collins failing to qualify due to bad luck/one bad meeting, in years they would have been real contenders. yet here he is citing mjjs elimination- due to a meeting he failed to score in - as evidence that having qualification is a joke?

GP DAY! nice enough morning in auckland, possibility of some morning showers, but nothing which should affect the gp (or the cricket). roll on 4pm!

sid - are you denying that you have repeatedly complained about the inferiority of the current system vs the old, that you have labelled it a closed shop, that a rider like mike lee might not get a chance like he did as a teenager? and the argument presented against that has been that the current system is fairer as it means a top rider will not neccesarily miss out just because of one bad meeeting? yet now you are labelling the knock out quification system a joke because mjj was eliminated after scoring 0 points? noone is denying mjj is a good rider. however, you seem to define world class as being able to beat the worlds best. others believe it also requires being able to do so consistently, which mjj does not yet do, as evidenced by his averages. by the same token i also would not yet call tai world class

looks to me like the monster girls did!

what do people reckon - 6 points in the nz gp tomorrow?

ok my prediction for the season holder emil pedersen ward hampel hancock gollob lindback jonsson nki vaculik lindgren kk tai zagar

my view: world class talents yes, able to produce world class performances yes, but world class - not yet in my view. I'd say they are some way behind Ward, Emil, Hancock, Gollob, Hampel, Holder , Pedersen (cearly world class), and also a (smaller)drop back from the likes of Lindback, Vaculik, NKI, who are probably "borderine" world class. But obviously it depends what cut off you use for world class, whethe it means being capable of beating the world's best, or if it means being capable of doing so consistently tbh, I thought GR has made only one person look a mug, but it apppears he has actually managed to make two peole look like one... as an example, just to highlight a couple of FACTUAL inaccuracies Actually, the “classic” 13 heat format that most know was in effect in the BL for 20 years (1969-87), and was by no means a world standard. A 13 heat format was used prior to that time, but with quite a different racing order. But the nominated heat was actually introduced in 1988, and era when all the top riders still raced in Britain, and all sides had what I am sure you would consider “proper heat leaders.” The bookmakers seem to disagree Sid, given that they have made him second favourite. Let's be honest, he is some way ahead of MJJ and Jaowski - 4 points better in the EL, quite a chu nk better in the other leagues also. You'd have t think he will finish top 6 -likely better- in the GP this year, I'd say MJJ would have done well to make top 10 , and Janowski I don't believe would out perform any of the riders in the series.

and more characters. riders who liked a bit of biffo and more than the odd drink - under no circumstances however tsking drugs, which have no place in a famiy sport like speedway.

how old was emil when he finished on the podium?

Go back to 13 heat meetings and a proper second half, get rid of the play offs, get rid of the joker and golden double rules, a proper world championship with qualification, that should solve everything i expect

25 quid each on hancock holder gollob and lindback for the nz gp many thanks

you really havent understood a single one of the points that have been made have you? i agree with you that simmons was better than nicholls though. Edit. this was addressed to grw not yhe oldace post that has popped up while i was typing of course the nominated riders heat reduces the top riders averages without increading the lesser riders averages

Robbie b- r u putting up odds today for nz gp?