chunky

I thought it was Sweden???

Yes he did...

Agree with all that. Thing is, even though there seems to be 5 or 6 main contenders, it doesn't mean that some of the others aren't worthy of a place; they are generally still the "best of the rest". Again, people want new blood, but by riders like Iversen and Zagar qualifying, it proves that the "new blood" isn't good enough - yet. I think Dudek, Michelsen, and Fricke all deserve another crack.

Television coverage was never meant to "replace" live sport; it provided the opportunity for people to watch who couldn't be there in person - like my situation now. Unfortunately, there were some who did look upon it as a replacement, including those who stayed home rather than "supporting" their team. I can see it in certain situations, such as a long journey in inclement weather, but there is no way I would ever give up a home meeting to watch it on the box, or special events like the biggies at White City or the NL Fours/Grand Slam weekend at Peterborough.

Good win for the Robins! Just a few hundred yards from where we lived, there...

Didn't they actually try a concrete start block at Canterbury in 1969/70?

Tsk, tsk, no loyalty at all, eh?

In nearly 60 years of watching speedway, I have NEVER seen a move like that one. Every time I watch it (which is pretty regularly!) my heart skips a beat - literally...

Riding at No 1 in the KOC match at Brandon, he scored 9 + 1 from four rides. He set a new track record of 65.6 in heat 5 (when he beat Gote Nordin), which was equalled by Nigel Boocock two heats later, and then beat Booey after that. He also scored 14 at Cradley in the Midland Cup, and 10 at Swindon in the BL. It's crazy when someone can do that on odd occasions, and not ever look like scoring on most nights...

He is old enough and intelligent enough to know what he means... You are old enough to know that...

I do remember seeing Conny at Plough Lane (just after my seventh birthday). I can't really say just how good (or bad) he was, but I know he didn't pull up any trees. He had a pretty long career, I think...

Can't argue with any of that...

Well, she's got a deeper voice than Zmarzlik...

EVEN IF IT IS PROVEN OTHERWISE!!!

And unfortunately - particularly when it comes to motorsport - one person will always find a way to make it go quicker...

The whole idea - particularly when items of sporting equipment (motorised or otherwise) - is to be BETTER than your opponents. You should just stay within the rules.

Remember Phil, if it's on the internet, it MUST be true! Doubly so if it's speedway...

So you don't think that the better participants should be rewarded? Do you favour handicap systems?

Don't know what Kelvin was on about; looked good to me too...

More tedious also-rans... Oh, and frauds!

Fair point. I was just focused on the fact that Madsen took a spot he shouldn't have...

That's still totally ignoring the specific question you had and the response I gave - the ONLY response to your question.

To be fair, John, you bring a lot of it upon yourself, certainly the way you contradict yourself. I'm also a little disappointed with you at the moment. You were repeatedly asking the same question on the "Riders who never made it" thread, and seemed increasingly agitated by the fact that nobody could/would respond. As a BSF member who could answer from personal experience, I took the time and effort to provide a response from different perspectives. Not for the first time, you chose to ignore what I had to say - and and the fact that I even responded to you - even though the subject appeared to be a life or death matter to you.

Yep, that's it... It just gets me that everyone picks holes in a system for something that MIGHT happen (but won't) but then hate it when you compare it to an equally flawed system where something COULD have happened (but didn't)! To be honest, I think that's why they changed it - because winning a GP in previous years didn't really mean anything as far as the overall standings. As many on here said, heavier weighting on the semis and final would probably have taken care of a lot of that. Think about it from last year; why should someone who scrapes in to the final, and then wins one race, get the rewards of GP winner, yet a rider who only dropped one point in seven races DOESN'T win? Oh, wait a minute, a similar thing has happened this year - twice! Only difference is, Woffinden and Lindgren picked up extra points. Of course, the main thing as far as the organisers are concerned is that they want the title to go down to the wire - which doesn't actually happen in most major sports! It's just a matter of finding the right balance...

For those who are interested (all you anoraks), here is how a rider COULD have won EVERY GP last year, and not finished in the Top 8. 6 points could get you into the semis, plus 2 from the semi, and 3 for winning the final. Of course, there are variations on this, but I tried to keep it simple. The top section is the final points awarded for each GP, and the bottom section is the season-end totals with final positions. Again, this was just something I did for fun, and to prove that while most of us preferred the old system, it was far from perfect! As has been EVERY system...