E I Addio

I think it's fair to say all the Poles got away with some terrible rolling starts in most of their races in the meeting, mostly because the start Marshall was useless, and so many other starts were ragged, not fit for a novice meeting, let alone a World Final. With 140,000 Poles getting restless in the crowd there was a lot of pressure on the organisers for a home rider to win, hence Dave Lannings comment that they were making the rules up as they went along to try to get a Pole to win. The run off is on you tube for all to see. If you watch closely you can see the Pole sits about three feet back from tp the tapes, starts rolling and the ref. let's the tapes go, so the Pole is away. The race is not even stopped when Mauger is lying unconscious on the track with the doctor attending him. Then we see the sheer arrogance of the Pole. As he comes down the straight he can see Mauger lying on the track with the track doctor leaning over him and he deliberately let his bike run wide missing the doctor and Mauger literally by inches, showering them both with shale. As to your comment about Mauger, Sid , I agree with you that he was a bit lucky in 79, and I think in his previous win, but I can't really fault his win in 72 although I think things might have been different if Briggo hadn't been mown down by Bernt Persson.

Not what Dave Lanning said.

Exactly so. You might as well post that in Chinese for all the sense it will make to Starman

What I said was that he was mostly rubbish away from his home turf . He won the World Title and The World Pairs title in his home country. The previous occasion that he qualified for the World Final it was held in Sweden and he scored a big fat zero, same as he failed to score when he came to Wembly shortly after being awarded the World Title. I don't think he won anything worth winning outside of Poland. My point was can a rider be regarded as a genuine world champion when he generally performs so badly away from his home territory. It is unprecedented that a World champion should have such a poor record away from home. When you look at the record of the other top stars of the era , Briggs, Mauger, Collins, Michanek etc they almost always bagged big points wherever they rode, Szczakiel had a poor record outside of Poland. Even Dave Lanning was scathing about him when he came to Wembly and scored 0.

Can someone be regarded as a true world champion when he can only win on his home turf? To give Penhall his due he was a pretty decent rider and a formidable opponent wherever he went. Szczakiel on the other hand was rubbish most of the time away from Poland. A month after was awarded ( I won't say "won ") the world title became rode at Wembly in an international against GB and was totally humiliated, being bottom scorer and I think scored either 0 or 1 and that was pretty much the level of most of most of his matches away from Poland.

He also had the worst crash that I can remember a rider walking away from . He clipped the safety fence and went over the handlebars head first into the ground, then bounced up as his crash helmet came off (at the time I thought his head had come off) , went up into the air, somersaulted twice ,hit the ground and bounced again, back into the air and sprawled out onto the ground. In probably less than 5 minutes he was back on his feet walking to the pits, and as far as I remember he took his remaining rides. Tough cookie was Bryan.Sadly another piece of Speedwáy history gone.

.....but the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

We already have one. No reason why a club shouldn't release a No1(or any other rider) replace him with someone else as long as the averages fit. Not unlike what Poole did with Miedzinski / KK a couple of years ago. The problems arise with averages, I suppose, even if they job share. Let's say for example that Liindgren who underperformed last year was due to be replaced by high scoring No 1 it makes a bit of a mockery of team building averages. It will probably be the usual thing, someone suggests it at the AGM and presents it as a half baked plan, the rest say "Ooooh that sounds like a good idea" without thinking it through and if comes in under some cobbled together rule that creates a bigger mess

I have thought that all along, and I am surprised people can't see it. It stands to reason that a riders fixed overheads ie setting up a British base with bikes engines mechanic etc will be remain pretty constant irrespective of whether he does 20 meetings or 40 so the less meetings he does the less net profit he makes, which in turn makes it a less attractive destination. Whatever area of life you look at there are always plenty of people that say they will do something then find some excuse not to. Of course some will come for a bit of practice before the continental season starts or for some extra money if their Polish/ Swedish teams get knocked out of the play offs in those countries but what commitment will there be ? You only have to look at the way Nicki P couldn't be bothered when he was brought over to Peterborough a few years ago, just here for some easy money. I can't believe people see this as some kind of panacea to put the EL back on its feet. I can't see KL fans being very happy for example if they got a high scoring No 1 like Neils for half a season then he was replaced with someone averaging a point less.

That was an agreement between Jon Cook and Len Silver. Ed was a Coventry asset when Lakeside signed him which would have given Lakeside priority but then became a Rye House asset which technically gave Rye House priority. Reading between the lines it seems Ed was not happy about that because fixture clashes would be costing him money. According to Jon Cooks programme notes it was agreed between promotions that Lakeside would have priority for their home matches and Rye House would have priority when Lakeside were riding away. I think there was also some kind of arrangement whereby he formally became a Rye asset after some sort of cut off date . This is always a problem when a rider signs for an EL club and another PL club buys him before the season starts. A similar situation arose with Richard Lawson. When there are fixture clashes not only to fans miss their rider but the rider himself looses money because he misses a meeting for one or other club. From what I have heard I think the fixtures are being arranged differently next year to keep fixture clashes to a minimum but I don't know the details. Whether it works out in practice remains to be seen.

The point you have overlooked is that PK doesn't come cheap. That was apparently the whole issue with Lakeside, he still wanted a number 1's money for a second strings points in his last season as a Hammer. He does have a great pedigree, and is entitled to earn whatever he can at this stage of his career but one of the issues might very well be that CVA might not be prepared to pay the sort of money he wants for a second string role, and at this stage of his career he might not want to come over for what Wolves can afford. It's not as if he needs the experience.

Aren't the two inextricably linked ?

They have to lodge a £10,000 bond which they can loose if they pull out so that's a big incentive to stay in.

We don't know if Barker is on the EDR list, but whether he is or not none of the EL teams have picked him so far and thst should tell you something. He is coming back from serious injury and until the season starts we won't know how well he is riding. It's all very well saying "someone like" Barker but realistically who is there anywhere near Barker who would realistically be available for Coventry ? Bottom line is that Garrity made it clear early on that he wanted to be out of the EDR and judged on his own merits. He is his own man and we can't knock him for that. The problem with looking too closely at averages is that if you are not careful you can raise it to almost an art form. Garrity is not my favourite rider by any means but he certainly has ambition and self belief , which are fundamental qualities for a Speedwáy rider . has done the right thing for himself and although it's a bit of a gamble if it works out for him in the long term I think it will be to the benefit of his club. The usual Poole response to try to turn the discussion round. Nobody has described Newman as ""having no spirit" so why do you put those words in quotes as if they did? Nobody had said Newman has no ambition. The thread is about Garrity and Coventry. The lad clearly has ambition and riding in Poland or not has nothing to do with it. Lewis Bridger got a regular team place in Poland, Craig Cook didn't, at least not on a regular basis. Who has been the most successful? Garrity has shown the determination to break away from the EDR and stand as a second string on his own merits . Newman hasn't. Those are the facts.

Garrityhas ambition. He hopes to be good enough to stay in the 1-5 all season and in the longer term to progress to heatleader. Fair play to him for showing some spirit. Faint heart never won fair maiden. Newman appears not to have the same determination. They still have to take Garrity's average into account for team building (albeit converted PL)whether he comes in as EDR Tier 1 reserve or as a second string. I think Garrity has done the right thing certainly for himself and probably for his club as well.

Good post. Unfortunately the forum is plagued with people who read something then on the tortuous journey between their eye and their brain it somehow takes on a totally different meaning. All we really have to go on at the moment is the SCB announcement after the AGM. That is from the horses mouth, and nobody in an official capacity has actually said it is wrong. The official SCB statement doesn't say there is a list of 24 riders. It simply says there is "a list" . It doesn't say if a new foreign over 6.5 rides for an EL club he replaces someone else on the list. It simply says he JOINS the list. The statement doesn't say how the list is assessed, nothing about averages, or how often someone has ridden as heatleader. All we really know at the moment is that there is a list and clubs will be limited to 3 heatleaders from it. The rest is speculation

The points limit has got nothing to do with whether riders ride here. A points limit of 40.5 is not keeping Niicki or Emil away. What keeps them away is the fact that they can earn plenty of money without the extra traveling of coming here or the extra expense of setting up a British base with Bikes, workshop mechanics etc.

That is not necessarily the case with all of them . Some feel the need for regular racing other race here because they don't have the sort of pressure they have in Poland to perform and can enjoy their racing. The only common denominator is that very few of them race here because they need the money !

The SCB announcement itself is somewhat contradictory if you compare the opening part with the summary of what was agreed, but taking the the summary of what was agreed it appears they are talking about a tier 1 riders only having averages.For the moment I am presuming they know what they agreed but apart from what is coming out from certain clubs, notably Swindon (Rosco in speaking goobledegook shock! ) some posters are either putting there own spin on it or basing their comments on what they have heard rather than what was said. In answer to side point though it doesn't appear there is any conspiratorial secrecy just the usual time it takes to get the rules published. No other branch of motor cycle sport appears to have published its regulations for 2016 and as far as I know the ACU Handbook for 2016 is not out yet, so it's hardly dilatory . The other thing is that we don't know yet what if any changes have to be made to comply with FIM regulations for example to technical standards to bikes, silencers and tracks, which has to be incorporated in the 2016 Speedwáy Regs. It's all very well for you to get on your high horse Sid but I don't think this sort of delay as it stands so far is unusual for any branch of motor sport, although I would agre that if the regs don't come out until February as I think was the case last season or the season before is pretty poor.

It's not a question of whose fault it is, it's a matter of what are the consequeces. The consequences of a team being cast adrift in March with no hope of building a decent team, are that attendances which are barely sustainable at present will suffer further and the risk of closure arises. That is the point SCB was driving at. My goodness, there are some blinkered thickos on the South Coast but you take the biscuit. No Speedwáy fan with an element of decency about him wants to see fellow fans watching a rubbish team getting beat every week,even if if idiots like you think it's funny.

Sid, the rules have not been published yet. What we have at the moment is the SCB announcement summarising what was agreed. That summary has still to be distilled into specific rules which will be included in the rule book when it is released. The problem is that most people seem to have not bothered to read the SCB announcement and the comment on the Swindon website is at odds with what the SCB announcement says, hence people are getting confused and moaning about it when it's there own fault for not reading the SCB announcement.

Not surprised it caused a falling out. Naughty Rosco, pinching Matts stunts !

I keep telling stevebrum that KK is on his way to Wolves but he doesn't believe me

Kasprzak

It's like Russian roulette, with everyone hoping someone else gets Kasprzak !