TheReturn

Holder should have been excluded.

I am slightly shocked by this, I thought Crumpie was still good for another season in the GP, but you cant blame him for wanting to calling it a day whilst he was still at the top. Not everyone's favourite over the years, but he was one of the best speedway riders ever, and he will be a loss to the GP series. AJ is a suitable replacement though. As for suggesting Harris could take his place, sorry but no. I am a huge Chris Harris fan, on his day he is a fab racer, that can battle with anyone, but he as simply not done it this season and not really last season either. I would love to see Christ take a year out and then earn his way back to Cardiff and back through the GP challenge into the 2014 series all fresh and ready to try again.

Well still don't see the point of showing the replay of something that was watched live two days prior! Much better to have a pool of several of the best ever league meetings from previous seasons ready to be shown as replays during rain off's. To be honest I am so bored with the 2012 Elite League I would rather watch replays from 5 or 6 seasons ago! As for the 'live' announcement for the 2013 Cardiff date, hardly a big deal worth tuning in for.

But it was not a BSPA event, it was a SGP event. I personally think the British Final would have been the most fitting place for a tribute for Lee.

I was going to say, they should have at least dedicated a page in the programme, so if three pages were dedicated to Lee then I am not sure what more people could expect. The whole of the speedway community have already grieved for Lee, and collections have taken place around the world from what I have read, and most of those at the GP would have already donated. So yes, it was right to make some tribute, which the programme did, but that is about as far as it could have gone really.

Not at all, I quite like the idea that riders have to 'earn' the right to race at Cardiff. Lets be honest, if it was not Scott, who could we realistically choose? The only other rider of note that could trouble the GP riders is Woffy, but he had his chance in the GPs and did not set it alight either, this is a much fairer way of doing it I believe. I quite like the way we do it, it adds meaning to winning the British Final, without it, the British Final would be dead. Eer, then the other 15 riders being there are tiresome too, they are in the GPs every other week!

Perhaps you are only defending his actions because he is British? A fair few people have been critical of Holder for his tantrum in the SWC, and rightly so, and again here, what Woffinden did was pretty pathetic, regardless of him being British.

Not sure I watched the same things as you. Woffy was sticking his thumb down and being a tad disrespectful to the trophy. Not sure if I like this or not, on one hand I am pleased he is unhappy at third, but then on the other hand it was a little disrespectful. I do agree though that not sure why Pearson needed to say sorry, not like he swore or stuck two fingers up. Harris was fairly gracious and had a point, his bike was clobbered and the ref called them back farily quickly. Blamed his machinery, which we can only assume was true, but was gracious to Scott, so not sure what you are are moaning about JT.

Bomber did well tonight, but I fear his GP future is looking bleak, I like him as a racer, but the problem is, we know he can do it and mix it when things are working in his favour, but he is so inconsistent.

That is sad that they joker is to stay. If you personally don't like it, which you stated in a later post, maybe the Speedway Star could lead a campaign to ditch the joker. Most fans don't seem to like it, so most fans would support such a campaign. Lets remind BSI that the fans matter, not just the TV. I don't think it is to do with just us British not liking it, the riders did not seem too keen when interviewed. The joker in its current guise is totally unfair, it penalises the successful team, when a team simply not good enough in earlier races can regain the points in one swoop another team as worked hard to take, therefore it is not a level playing field. If the joker can be used, it should be tactical in that if one team chooses to use the joker when X points behind, all other teams can use the joker as well in the following heats, regardless of the points. That way it becomes a tactical gamble and would add some excitement, and should stop teams trying to avoid the joker like on Saturday, because they would be allowed the chance to recapture the points themselves, making it a level playing field.

Are you suggesting at Kings Lynn Harris came off too easily? I do agree it was a racing incident, not deliberate at all, but Holder clearly swiped his wheel away and for Holder to them accuse Harris of coming off too easily is rather pathetic.

What do you deem slagging them off? They did come across as sore losers, the TV clearly showed that by the way some of them behaved.

Interesting, I noticed on Holder's Twitter feed someone suggested the Aussies lost for picking 'mates' rather than the best riders. Not an overly rude comment, but Holder replied by calling the person a rude name. Classy boy that Holder.

It appeared to me that NP spat to the ground, just as the camera panned to him, nothing deliberate, just natural, Chris Holder deliberately spat at the camera. Two completely different scenarios, and yes, what Chris Holder did was disgusting and made him appear a sore loser.

A bit like his moaning about the referee in the first few heats for not bringing all four back quicker at the start, then after the break when Keith handed back to him he was backtracking pointing out it was the Clerk of the Course that decided when to send the riders back.

All this criticism of NP and the Danes, people are forgetting one thing. The stupid joke ruling was penalising the Danes for winning races, and benefiting those teams not good enough to win races. So if the Danes ensured this unsporting rule could not easily be applied, then fair play to them, and as someone else already pointed out, the Aussies would have done the same, and did in the following race, and I seem to recall the Aussies, although not quite so blatantly, did do the same last season in the SWC and ensured a rider finished last to enforce the joker if memory serves me correctly. Well done NP for outsmarting Crump. Now, on to Holder. I was a big fan of Holder, but over the last month Holder as shown the fact he is a sore loser. The last GP he accused two other riders of bailing out too easily, in the Kings Lynn event he accused Harris of bailing out too easily when it was clear for all to see he had swiped his wheel away, a trend developing here with Noddy and accusing other riders of bailing. Then last night he deliberately spat out his water directly at the camera after they lost. All very childish and pathetic stuff, which is disappointing because I had started to respect Holder as a racer and how he came across as being professional. Mr Shovlar on here defended him, but I guarantee if he rode for any other club than Poole, Mr Shovlar would have hanged, drawn and quartered him. As for Sweden direct to the final, ridiculous, in what other sport are the hosts directly given a free pass to the final? Although, I suspect Sweden might have qualified on merit anyway. But with the speedway WC only hosted amongst a select few nations, you can't give a free golden ticket to those same few nations every year, unfair on the Americans and Aussies who are never given a chance to host the SWC. But overall, a fascinating SWC, I thought Team GB did better than most of us expected them too, the Danes looked superb in the Semi and the Final.