SPEEDY69

Subedei is just upset that his main man has not won the individual world title yet. As this goes to prove, GP wins are totally irrelevant - it's the title that counts.

I hope Scott can retain this prestigious title.

So, just like Andersen in the GP at Cardiff last year then. What goes around comes around!

I have not joined this 'debate' so far but this post sums up some of the complete nonsense being aired. If any of you have raced a speedway bike you will know that one of the most dangerous things a rider can do is change their line rapidly, like Andersen did. Sometimes it happens involuntarily but this was on purpose. Someone less skilled than Scott could well have ended up seriously hurt. There is an unwritten code of conduct amongst racers and Andersen broke it. It is not childish whatsoever to point that out. The comment about popularity at Ipswich is also a complete fantasy. I presume this is based on the 100 or so people that voted for Andersen in an end of season competition between all 7 Ipswich riders? Ipswich has around 130,000 population and the ususla Foxhall crowds are 1500-2000 so it's just a complete lie. So as for Hans behaving impecably, I suppose as they say, love is blind.

Papers today report that Andy Smith has now been given a place due to Lee Richardson's withdrawal. Go get em Andy!

Once again 'selection' of a rider is very contentious. I feel really sorry for Andy Smith being ignored. Why should it be up to Middleditch? He is only the England team manager and not the spokesman for the BSPA - surely they should decide? As I have and others have said countless times before, the only fair way is for riders to battle it out on the track and qualify that way instead of being nominated. The points about Danny King are valid here as well because as it's just down to nominations, whether they were in the British Final or not is immaterial. King is averaging much higher than Kennett and his selection for this, as well as the Cardiff wild card smacks of nepotism.

I can't understand why Daniel King isn't in the GB squad. He is averaging a healthy 6.00 this year and in recent weeks has been riding really well. He was runner up in the bRitish U21 and certainly deserves a place ahead of Kennett. These are the stats for the riders in the squad: 8.75 ~ Mark Loram (Ipswich…GB…35) after 102 rides 8.73 ~ Simon Stead (Belle Vue…GB…24) after 82 rides 8.68 ~ Scott Nicholls (Coventry…GB…28) after 100 rides 7.84 ~ Joe Screen (Belle Vue…GB…33) after 75 rides 7.61 ~ Chris Louis (Ipswich…GB…36) after 93 rides 7.07 ~ David Norris (Eastbourne…GB…33) after 95 rides 6.80 ~ Lee Richardson (Swindon…GB…27) after 90 rides 6.52 ~ Chris Harris (Coventry…GB…23) after 89 rides 5.78 ~ David Howe (Oxford…GB…24) after 90 rides 4.00 ~ Edward Kennett (Eastbourne…GB…19) after 24 rides These are the ones not selected: 7.57 ~ Dean Barker (Eastbourne…GB…35) after 83 rides 7.27 ~ Leigh Lanham (Arena Essex…GB…28) after 77 rides 6.55 ~ Paul Hurry (Arena Essex…GB…31) after 66 rides 6.00 ~ Daniel King (Ipswich…GB…19) after 76 rides 5.86 ~ Oliver Allen (Coventry…GB…24) after 86 rides 5.82 ~ Carl Wilkinson (Ipswich…GB…25) after 22 rides 5.71 ~ William Lawson (Wolverhampton…GB…19) after 28 rides 5.46 ~ Andy Smith (Reading…GB…40) after 82 rides 5.18 ~ Lewis Bridger (Eastbourne…GB…16) after 95 rides 4.92 ~ Shaun Tacey (Poole…GB…31) after 13 rides 4.36 ~ Phil Morris (Belle Vue…GB…30) after 88 rides 4.07 ~ James Wright (Belle Vue…GB…20) after 55 rides 4.06 ~ Andrew Moore (Eastbourne…GB…23) after 62 rides 4.00 ~ Andrew Appleton (Eastbourne…GB…23) after 17 rides

This is getting a bit too high brow for me, I think I'd better make myself scarce in case you get your Dad on me.

I see you are still bitter that Scott finished 3 places above Hans in the GPs last year then! Is there really any need to make childish comments against him all the time? Think you will find the reaction was louder because it affected the British team, which is who most of the fans in Britain support at the World Cup.

There were no rules, that was why the committee, whoever they are, decided upon the seeded places. What I am saying is that if the DMU have an input to that then they couldn't ignore Iversen. Poland is Poland and they will have decided on Pepe for whatever reasons. Kolodziej didn't even make their World Cup squad did he? I don't think Hans is a victim of anything here because he had the chance to qualify and didn't, but I think the system is wrong as I said before and that all places should be available via qualification. Can't wait for the Russians to start on here about their National Champion! They certainly don't deserve it any less! None of them qualified. Nicholls was 9th, Andersen 12th and Richardson 13th. We all know what happened at Cardiff with the 'dive' so anything was possible. I am not defending the selection committee here but pointing out why I think certain riders were or were not nominated. As I said before, no World Championship that I can remember has had the best 16 riders in the world in it.

Seeded places were originally there to allow a rider who had been injured and missed GPs to remian in the series next year. It has now progressed to seeding places according to Nationality. This is nothing new - in the old World Finals qualification places were awarded to different groups of countries and it was impossible to have a field of 16 Brits for example, even if they were the best riders in the world. Last year Poland need another rider and their reps, along with BSI picked Pepe. Britain needed two, Nicholls was 9th and British champion and Richardson was next best, especially remembering his World Cup performance. The Danes needed another rider and as Iversen finished AHEAD of Andersen in the Danish Championship, he was picked and he could rightly feel aggrieved if he wasn't. Therefore FALCACE it has little to do with enemies in high places but more with quotas and consistency. No World Championship has ever featured the best 16 riders in the world and the organisers always have business reasons for decisions. Even the top eight in the series could be filled with less strong riders - it only takes one good round to give the points total a huge lift and they could be mediocre in the other rounds but stilll get through to next year The only fair way to decide the field is a qualification system for all places and I accept this is difficult to organise fairly but at least everyone would have a chance - even if some riders chances were bigger than others!

He was left out because he didn't qualify after a poor year in the GPs (despite being helped by some acting at Cardiff) and finished 13th or 12th, can't remember. He was beaten in the Danish Championship by Nicki Pedersen and Iversen and therefore he had to be lower in the pecking order for a seeded place than Iversen. His league form last was also good, but was poor in the GPs. Qualification was open to him and he didn't make it, so whatever anyone thinks about the relative merits of any of the riders it's for others to decide. Personally, I think all the places should be based on qualification, with no seeded or permanent wild card entries.

People will never agree on who are the best 16 riders in the world - is that for that year or previous years, or in Championship events, or leagues? In my view Iversen was selected ahead of Andersen because he beat Andersen fair and square in the Danish Final. No one can deny that Richardson had a great World Cup, and reached one GP final. The only fair system for the riders is qualification rounds but that would be too unpredictable for the GP organisers e.g. If it wasn't held in Poland then Gollob might not get in, or Rickardsson may suffer a couple of EF's & be eliminated. Still, this was how the old World Champs used to be. I was also quite surprised that Lindback got a place (but that's just based on his very poor performances at Ipswich and some of the GPs this year). We can debate all we like but the GP series is a commercial venture and they have the power to decide some of the competitors for whatever reasons.

Do you ever post anything that doesn't include offensive cheap swipes at the british Champion?

Just what is it you've got against Richardson & Nicholls?? Nicholls is the British Champion and captains the National side. Are you saying we shouldn't have a representative in the GP series? I don't consider being in 9th/10th place to be serial failure. We should be supporting the British riders rather than taking every oportunity to slag them off.