Steve_R

The meeting was going well, and the 3 guys who finished on 8 points all rode brilliantly. There is no perfect solution, but surely rain in the UK is not entirely unexpected, so a contingency should have been set and known and published in advance for deciding the title and the GP slot. A 3 way run off at Cardiff before the GP, with the winner crowned champion and the best finisher out of of Brennan and Harris going into the GP would have been fun to see, and dare I say it a better idea than giving the GP place to the guy who scored 1 point on the night. Yes, I understand he won it last year, but that was last year. Anyway, I hope Ellis goes well at Cardiff. Nevermind. As I say, there is no perfect answer, but the lack of foresight makes everyone look like a right bunch of amateurs.

Makings of a good team.

There are plenty of other sports that the BBC don't mention either. This week we have seen 4 brilliant meetings all live on Eurosport which is a channel that is cheap and easy to subscribe to for many people. So, that is about 12 hours of coverage, plus the highlights are available as well. Whether BBC mention for 10 seconds on the breakfast program is not really that important by comparison.

Another great meeting. Brilliant stuff. Plenty of action. Well done to both teams. The Panthers obviously deserved it. Good choice of guest as well. Bewley is obviously brillaint, but too many many times the other Aces made the gate and could not hold on. Nice to see both the Rising Stars getting plenty of points.

I have not posted on here for years, what with my team going under many years ago. But just logged on to say what an absolutely fantastic meeting that was last night. Every heat was action packed, and i don't think that there was a processional one all night. I hope that the second leg is as good.

I have only just heard this news. Sad to hear about this. I am not sure how many newly established premier league (2nd division at the time) speedway teams can boast of have 2 future SGP winning riders in their team. Tremendous job he did down there with Trelawny. Godfrey and his team really did something special.

There have been enough local riders from the Devon and Cornwall area that have started at NL level and gone on to be successful, to think that a drop down would not be the end of the world.

Not good. Successive promoters have been unable to run in the PL on a break even basis. Unless PL costs can be reduced, surely any parties looking to take this over need to look at dropping down a league. Let's hope that someone can step in a make this happen.

The new Skysports mix channel, which is free on Virgin (and maybe other platforms?) is about as close as we are to free to view British league speedway. I think they have a league speedway lined up.

Motorcycle racing of all kinds were given shoddy treatment, in line with expectations. Johnny Rea blitzed the World Superbike championship, and even though SPOTY was being hosted in Northern Ireland where his is from, he only got a passing mention. It will take a MotoGP champion by a British rider to get them to give more than a few seconds to any two-wheel sport in the ceremony. It's not just bike racing that missed out. There was a British Couple who won some badminton world championship recently. First time ever that a British pair had done so. They were not even mentioned in passing.

I would not put it past Hancock winning another championship before he retires. Based on this years showing, he should carry on - he is still much much better than the vast majority out there. Why should he stop? Who of this "young blood" is actually better than him?

I did not see that bit, but do riders used in the qualifying round, but not in the final get a medal? If so Poland woulsd need 5 - cant rememebr the other lineups.

Best meeting I have seen for years. Speedway is not dead afterall.

Of course personal opinions are allowed. Your personal opinion seems to be that we need anoter thread slagging the guy off. He has never been a gater, and rode hard for his points on that dire gaters paradise track - so deserves utmost respect in my opinion.

They may have the rights to make changes, but it's a stretch that to say they have the right to significantly reduce the number of heats over what was advertised without becoming liable to refund those who have paid to get in. There is probably all kinds of legal cases covering this sort of stuff, and I doubt there is a straightforward answer. Perhaps we have a lawyer here who can shed some light on this...

Even without all the problems, a GP meeting is far too slow moving. Why, when there is a simple false start, do the riders not go straight back to the tapes? Why are they allowed to go back to the pits and start fiddling around with their bikes , and then a new 2 minute timer starts? They should be given something like 45 seconds to get back to the tapes, and not allowed back to the pits. Likewise with a 1st bend faller. When they are clear from the track and everything is deemed OK with the air fence etc, the other riders should be ready to go straight away. I lost count exactly, but it took something like 90 minutes for about 7 or 8 heats. Not all of that was down to the starting gate nonsence. Why, given the prolonged nature of Saturdays meeting, was there still a track grading break after the first and second round of heats. Surely the grading could have been done whilst the whole meeting was delayed due tot he other issues? Why would anyone other than a hardcore speedway fan sit thorough that on TV? I always let the meeting run for an hour before watching it on catch up, so I can fast forward through all the pointless delays. Watching the whole thing live on Satuday would have been purgetory.

If the World cup is an important competition, then surely it should be about the performance here and now, and not about planning a team for the future. So to criticise a selection because it does not blood a load of young riders, who may or may not be good enough one day in the future seems a little peculiar to me. Unless of course you are saying the World cup is some kind of secnd rate competition, in which case by all means stick the kids in. Having said all that, I nearly fell of my chair in shock by the end of the 1st turn of heat 1.

Anyone else man enough to admit their slating of 3 out of the 4 riders picked was a little OTT?

At Trelawny. In the Premier League:- Majej Zager and Chris Harris. Zager and Steve Masters also seemed to forever bang in 5-1's too.

Mental scars?

He's actualy pretty good at BSB and WSBK (IMO anyway), but is completely useless at speedway. Speeway has to be one of the most straightforward jobs for a motorsport commentator - 4 bikes all wearing different colours and 4 laps - quite why he struggles is beyond me. Calling races after 3 laps. Getting confused between riders - especially "Nicky Peeeedersen".

People moan when the BSI pick a rider instead of going via the Birtish final, and now the BSI change it back to qualifying thirough the British final, and guess what - the moaners are out again.

Tom Sykes (WSB Champion) would also have been a worthy SPOTY nominee. Still, not need to get worked up over it.

Yes. But on the night of the GP Challenge final Harris was the better rider, by 3 points. Whether he should have been there is obviously open to debate, but the fact of the matter is that he was there. Genuine question: I've never seen Nermark ride, and cannot find his average anywhere - is he better than Harris? Becasue to me, it should be a straight choce between the two of them.

So , going by your criterea, the reserves would be Batchelour, Jensen, plus Daniel Nermark. All of which were outperformed by Harris, who scored the same as Smolinski. So it's a question of Chris Harris or Daniel Nermark.