HenryW

Falubaz have performed well as a team in the play-offs and deserve their place in the Final. However, I suspect that it wont be a joyful occasion for the fans from the Green Mountains. They were hammered both at home and away in the regular season by Leszno, and there doesn't seem to be anything to suggest that it'll be different in the play-offs.

Yep, it's something that I would like to have clarified. It seems that FIM rules don't allow a race to be "awarded" before 4 laps have been completed by at least the race leader. However, from several incidents over the years it seems that it's acceptable to "award" a race result when someone is wiped out late in the race and the leader has crossed the line before the ref puts on the red lights... I don't know if that IS the case, but it certainly seems to be the way that refs over recent years have interpreted it. The suggestion that the race in Vojens should have been declared as Gollob, Zetterstrom and no other finisher is ridiculous. Nicki was clearly wiped out by Freddie while well clear of Zorro, so either the race has to be run again from the start or Nicki gets "awarded" 2nd. The decision of the ref was surely the right one.

Seriously? Is anyone actually paying £40 for Sky Sports? If they are, then they are surely being ripped, cos as far as I am aware, neither Sky or Virgin charge £40 for the Sky Sports package

I disagree entirely. If Ole had been given a chance to work on that track, it could only have been improved...and that says something!

Sorry, a bit off topic, but....At the moment, there are plenty of speedway matches shown illegally on the internet. I wouldn't expect this to continue if the rights owners see a definite decline in subscriptions for their services. They will start to close down these feeds to ensure that people correctly pay to view these events.

Gotta remember that the owner of Torun has already sent out a warning that unless they win against Wroclaw he will be reconsidering the contract of every rider in the team for 2011... So, there is no guarantee that Holder and Ward will be in the Torun team next year

I think I agree here. The Swedish top league has everyone in there as lower leagues are poor. In Poland, the next league down is still pretty good and attracts some of the better riders to race there.

Ghostwalker very kindly provided this link earlier in the thread which suggests that maybe SportoweFakty have a few errors. This one also lets you filter by Nation, which is nice..or maybe not when it lets you see how poor the Brits are http://www.aktuellspeedway.se/1.0.Jostu/index.php?list=leaguestats&id=1&s=2010

Scott has been dreadful in Sweden this year, and has actually dropped to reserve for his team! Lee Richardson is the top Brit in Sweden.

If that thought even crosses his mind, I'm sure he'll dismiss it after thinking back to what happened to Jason last year! A good performance from ZG today, although Gorzow were always going to be up against it with Nicki missing.

Over the past few years Gorican has been used for a round of the GP Qualifiers. As well as the already named Harris and Holder, Kenneth Bjerre raced in a round in 2008. Gorican also gets used quite often for training, I think. For example, the Gorzow club went there for a training camp before the Polish season started this year. Tomek was definitely in attendence, and I guess Nicki probably was too.

As usual, you will be able to get links from here: http://www.soccer-live.pl/transmisje.php?id=motorsport

In all honesty, GB probably hasn't been a genuine force since about the late 70's or very early 80's, but it has got much, much worse in the last 10 years. Let's not forget that in the mid 80's we were pretty hopeless as well...84 and 85 there was only one Brit in the World Final. It got a bit better for a few years after that, but in all honesty the guys involved were not genuine contenders. Tatum and Wigg flirted with the best, but were never quite good enough. The only other one in that period that seriously got into the mix was Cross. The others, despite making World Finals were not in the top bracket...As evidence of that I offer up Thorp, Knight and Evitts to name but three... Having said that, we always had someone who could mix it with the best even if they couldn't deliver consistently over a season. The only year since the late 70's/early 80's that you could genuinely say that we had a consistent winner was 1992, and Havvy just shone for 1 year and then fizzled out. Since the early 2000's we haven't even had a contender. I actually think that I have suggested on here in the past that I would like to see something similar. The current 15 rider field with 1 wildcard is just not big enough. The short period where they used 24 man fields in the GPs was much more interesting as you got to see some different names making an impression. There are probably about 5 or 6 riders are that are truly, consistently, better than the rest. Then there is a group of maybe something like 15 or 20+ that on their day/track can match the best, but can also just as likely be hopeless. Limiting the field to 15 isn't the best. However, I can certainly see issues with the format that you suggest. Just to mention 2 issues... How do you decide who gets to race on the Friday? I can imagine about 20+ Poles wanting to be involved in that match for a Polish GP... Is it sensible to run the pre-qualifier on a different track? For example, before Leszno you hold a round at Zielona Gora and get someone like Walasek or PePe coasting through, who offer very little on the actual GP track but are a specialist on ZG track! Not 100% sure of your point here, so I am just taking a guess that you thought he was criticising this situation...I don't think he actually said that, and he may very well not have meant that...He may just have been expressing some surprise at how well the Aussies were training up their kids to get into the league. The recent success of Australia, Poland and Russia at bringing through young riders is something that British Speedway should really be looking at. Especially in the cases of Australia and Russia where the domestic scene for pros isn't exactly great, but they are finding and training the talent...

I know it's a little off topic, but looking at the current state of Brits in the SGP, how amazing is it that back in 1999, just 1 year before his title, with 22 permanent riders rather than just 15...Mark Loram DIDN'T get a regular place in the series because there were already 3 Brits in there... Oh how times have changed...

I took my figures from a Polish site. They almost agree on the details for Harris with the site you linked to, but credit him with 1 less race and quote averages including bonus points. If he has taken that extra race, his average is 7.90 including bonus points!

Care to explain what format you would like to see that take? Just a shame for Scott that no UK Elite League tracks are used in SGP, eh? However, while comparing their placing in league averages.... In Sweden...Scott 51st (5.64), Chris 17th (8.00)

Nah, surely not. If Kolodziej had scored a point there would have been no need for Antonio to have sat back and waved Zorro on to the front, so Lindback would have probably won heat 20 and the meeting

Last I checked he was 2nd in the Polish league averages, 4th in the Swedish league ones, and reached the final in his only GP this season. It's a bit harsh to say that he isn't ready. A rider from any other nation with those credentials would be an absolute guarantee for a pick.

As soon as they got on the back straight on the first lap it was clear that he had bike trouble. I'm not sure if you watched the rest of the meeting, but he only made the gate once as far as I can recall and did plenty of overtaking. Just because he was 3rd on the first lap is kind of irrelevant when you are talking about a guy who was passing people for fun round that track tonight (not to mention that the 3rd would have been enough to get him through).

I think it's harsh to say that he can't perform under pressure. He missed out in a close run-off which he would never have been in if he hadn't had mechanical troubles in his final race of the 20 heats.

Why? His bike failed in his final race. Hardly him failing under pressure.

Little Artem must be kicking himself for that crazy charge out to the fence in heat 8. 3 wins and a last behind Simon Stead of all people...

Karpov can be pretty entertaining at times from what I have seen of him, but does like to hug the inside. He races for Rybnik in Poland, Hammarby in Sweden, Holstebro in Denmark and Chervonograd in Ukraine.

I'm watching on Sopcast channel 56947 and it's been pretty good so far.

I am kinda torn here...I think that Chris has had his chances and failed far too many times to get given another gift, but I also think that he is the best that GB currently has to offer. So if BSI HAVE to give a gift to a Brit next year, then Chris should probably get one, but it's just getting ridiculous that he has needed them every year. Last year was surely particularly humiliating for him....He gets given the Final on his home UK track (where any complaints about Ole track preps are irrelevant) and still ends up 5th, when only the top 3 get a place! I REALLY hope that he can deliver in Vojens, or it will just look silly if he gets given a place again... Having said that, I think that Chris probably IS one of the top 15 in the World if you exclude Leigh Adams (which probably confirms that I think he is the 16th best rider in the World just now ) but he needs to prove that in Vojens!!! Purely based on entertainment value, I would hope that the top 3 in Vojens are Kolodziej, Harris and Laguta, with Iversen as my backup if any of them fail. Sadly, I don't think that entertainment value will come into the equation at Vojens