SPEEDY69

To all those on here simply focussing upon payment, that wasn't the primary reason for Scott removing himself from possible selection - if it was then he wouldn't have ridden in any of the previous World Cups. As mentioned by me in an earlier post detailed reasons were reported some time ago and they were principally about the lack of support given by the BSPA to British riders - nothing to do with pound notes in his own wallet.

Steve, the reasons for his absence were widely reported/commented upon previously - have you been in hibernation? It was a culmination of things to do with the BSPA i.e. support for riders' development; support for riders when competing for GB; knowing that the Cardiff GP wasn't to be based on the British Final a long long time before the event but not telling the riders; preventing GB riders from competing in the Euro Champs (he could still have done it, as Andersen did, but didn't want his club Coventry to be penalised). The latter point is now even more farcical in that they've gifted a place in the finals to Woffinden.

I think that with a full side including Scott instead of Kennett we could have got closer to the Danes but it was always going to be hard. I don't subscribe to youth is best in any sport - it should be the best ones that get picked irrespective of age. If a youngster wants to be involved then surely that's the motivation to get better! If you're good enough you'll be picked on merit (unless it's up to BSI of course ) The race off looks perfectly winnable for Team GB - who have the Aussies got bar Ward that is not beaten regularly in the EL. Tai cancels out Ward then it's Batchelor or Bridger, both are unpredictable and could win everything or lose everything. Next Harris or Doyle, fairly even and finally Barker vs Woodward/North, again honours even in my view. All to play for and this year is one of our better chances to get to the final of recent years as so many teams are very weak.

It really depends upon what 'floats your boat'. I went to Latvia a few years ago and had a great time - I got a coach from Riga (which is a lovely city) but Latvia itself is very rural and not at all like the UK outside of the capital. Daugavpils was also nice and is very cheap - the stadium offers decent viewing and the racing wasn't too bad.

Tickets are in S10, VII numbers 17 & 18.

Two tickets in an excellent position beside the riders/VIP area and pit entrance. Gutted I can no longer go due to a bereavement for a German friend I was going with. PM me for details if you're interested.

You would! I watched that meeting and it was dire, made the last GP seem like the best meeting ever - it didn't seem to matter who you were if you made the start then that's largely how they finished. Janowski was luck to qualify in my opinion due to a re-run and Dilger & Kroner got lucky with not having to race Smoli and Pawlicki due to falls. DIdn't Woffinden also fail to get through qualifying last season & not just Harris?

Darcy Ward plus 4th-6th in the challenge.

What an awful meeting from a spectators viewpoint - virually no overtaking. Shame that falls and the roll of the dice played against Nicholls who was always going to struggle on a gate and go track. Does he go forward as a reserve for the next rounds? Tobi Kroner through - only in Germany!!!

I don't think the BSI selection devalued the British Championship itself but it did remove one key item of interest for both riders and fans - who will get the wildcard for Cardiff. I wasn't that interested in the meeting simply because Tai was always going to win and I couldn't care less who was 2nd/3rd etc.

Somethign wrong with your stats there. I make it Nicholls qualified 3 times out of 8 seasons, Harris only qualified once out of 6. However the debate between the two is not really at issue, it's the lack of any announcement by the BSPA that the British Final no longer carried any GP incentive, when they knew a long time ago, that sticks in the throat. BSI have nominated Harris in my view as they think he's the best choice to help with their promotion of the event - not because he's the most deserving recipient.

Terrible decision in respect of the worht of the British Final. Woffinden should coast to the title this year and the interest was really around the wild card spot. If I was Kennett I'd be fuming right now as he has a real chance of second place. BSI are interested in the revenue and they probably believe that Harris, a former winner, will increase the attendance. We'll have to wait and see on that one. I wonder which Brit will get the wild card spot for the GP challenge at Poole later this year?????

Just watched the GP - there was very little to get excited about apart from the two very bad refereeing decisions. Iversen clearly laid it down and should have been commended rather than excluded, and if it was anyone else except Bunyan it would have been called differently. Where were all these new faces in the final - oh yeah, they weren't!

You may be in a minority but so am I as I agree with you.

One of Pedersen, Hancock or Holder. Sajfutdinov an outside bet with Ward a bit of an unknown - could make the rostrum. The rest also-rans with Gollob to drop out of top 8.

I too expected the replay to be available much sooner than this afternoon! It was pretty good racing, with Nicholls, Kennett and Lindback showing up well. Gollob was hopeless, this wasn't a full throttle and go type of track. The announcer was pretty interesting although his strangest comment was "we've all dropped our drawers here so it's time for you to drop your at home"!!

Does anyone know if this is being shown on TV or on the web? Presumably it starts around 3.30am so maybe I won't stay up to watch live!

I cancelled a month ago and from december enjoy the rest of sky TV but my bill has gone down by over £20 a month.

Ahh, but not for the same year whilst they're enjoying a purple-patch season

Completely agree about qualifying - sometimes riders have really great years which they never repeat and during that year they should have the chance to be world champion. The biggest example of that was NKI last year, 1st 2nd and 3rd in Poland, Sweden and UK leagues.

I don't actually thinks it's that bad an idea. Let's face it, for the first 20 heats the gate positions are a lottery so will one more race make that much difference? If you are unlucky enough to have the worst gate twice in your five rides, and scored poorly then it's unlikely you'd have gotten first pick in the semi's under the old system. Essentially if you are going to win one of these individual meetings, you need the luck on your side. Plus I seem to remember it taking about half an hour just for the last three races - which is why I always watched a recording if I did watch it.

I don't really feel like we're having a debate here as you continually keep diverting the argument into a one-off versus GP issue, which is not the point both White Knight and I are making. Therefore this is the last I'll say on the subject.Referring to the last two sentences of your post, did I say Iversen was the best in the world? However, let's go with it, the evidence to support that suggestion is that he was way ahead of Holder and other GP 'stars' in both the Polish and Swedish leagues and had an excellent World Cup. What else could he have done to convince you that he had the potential to be World Champ this year if he had had the opportunity - which he didn't due to the system of selecting riders this year for next year, up to 4 of whom are for commercial reasons.

But Iversen, arguably the best rider in the world this season (number 2 in Poland and number 1 in Sweden) wasn't able to compete to be World Champion this year was he. Therefore, if you really need me to repeat what I've said yet again, it's not necessarily the best rider who becomes world champion - I don't mind that, it's this variety and unpredictability which I like. I do think though that all of them should have a chance to qualify and fight for the title in the same year.

So, NP was the top rider in Poland this year and second behind Iversen in Sweden. These are the two toughest leagues and you still think Holder was the 'best rider' last year do you? All I'm saying is that whatever system is in place, it's not necessarily the so called 'best rider' who becomes World Champion.

Disagree - for example last year I think Pedersen was the best rider, in 2004 it was Rickardsson - GP or one-off examples can be found. With your determination for the best reider to become World Champ, why are you not in favour of awarding it based upon a world ranking across the season?