chunky

OY! You're not supposed to use facts and common sense on the BSF!

That's exactly what Kelvin just said. Of course it wouldn't. You just introduce the rules, and the riders would have to obey...

I'd often wondered they always come out to refuel after a false start? Absolutely no need for it.

The problem these days - and we know that it applies to everything, not just speedway - is that we have to "rebrand" everything. New titles, abbreviations, descriptions, rules, colours etc, just to make things appear "cool"...

I am not "wrong", and I am taking Szczakiel's win as a prime example. He wasn't the best rider on show. He didn't have to work hard to qualify for the final. He had a couple of second places, and a win - which wouldn't have been totally unexpected. Throw in a couple of other wins (GOOD rides) - against quality opposition - that wouldn't have been expected, and there he has 13 points. Forget the run-off (it was handed to him), and two GOOD rides clinched him the World Championship.

See, you only read what you want to; I have NEVER said it's not flawed. In fact, not only did I state that "most of us" didn't like it, I have also stated elsewhere that I personally am not a fan. However, it is the same system as used in a lot of other sports with the 20 heats now being used as simple qualifiers. The only difference is that speedway does it all in one night. I used the World Cup as an example. Germany could qualify for the World Cup finals with a 100% record in their group. England could lose a few games, and then beat someone in a play-off to join them. None of that matters now - England and Germany are both in the finals, and start with the same number of points (zero). Then we have the group matches at the Finals. Same thing; Germany win their group with 100% record, England drop points, but join Germany in the knockout rounds. Again, both start with the same number of points (zero). Exactly the same. The trouble is that with speedway, we love to look back on the way it used to be. Personally, I thought the system we had last year was fine (of course, the GP winner could still earn fewer points than the guys who didn't win - which is a flaw).

Again, what you did BEFORE the final meant nothing, even if you didn't drop a point. Some unfancied rider (who was only a low-order qualifier during the rounds) could have a couple of unusually good (or just well-timed) rides during the Final, and end up as World Champ. That is the same with an individual GP now. How you qualified for the semis isn't important; what matters is just being there. You are all starting from scratch. I know it seems different now, being done one one night (rather than over the season), but the concept is identical.

Go back and re-read what I said. My point was that QUALIFYING for World finals (and indeed, all rounds) was no different to the system used in a 2020 GP. A rider could scrape through - and often did - from one round to the next, and it didn't make one iota of difference. Whether you won the I-C Final with a 15-point max, or scraped through in 11th place with 5 points, it didn't matter; you both started the World Final on level points. Which is what happens in a GP. My point is that Rider A could qualify from the British S-F in 8th, the British Final in 5th, the Commonwealth Final in 9th, the Overseas Final in 8th, and the Inter-Continental Final in 11th. He never looked like winning a race. Rider B could have won every race in those. Doesn't make the slightest bit of difference though, does it? They start the World Final absolutely level. Rider A could win TWO races, with three seconds. Rider B could win four races, and suffer an E/F. Rider A is World Champ having only won two races all season, and finishes higher than Rider B who only lost one race in the entire season! It doesn't matter whether it happened or not, what matters is that it could. The fact is this : there WERE riders who scraped into meetings, and then made the most of their good fortune next time out. In fact, there WERE riders who became World Champion only having to win a small handful of races compared to others who worked hard all season and just fell at the final hurdle. People really don't realise - or want to accept - that the old World Championship system (with the World Final) was the most flawed system we ever had...

Which was EXACTLY the way it used to be in the days of the World Final qualification - particularly when you had 11 riders advancing from the Inter-Continental Final. Or 8 advancing from the British semis. Or... The fact is, all this negativity - and accusations of riders "not trying to win" is coming from people who I'm sure have never competed in anything. The vast majority of individuals will ALWAYS go out to win and do their best, certainly at the higher levels. It's called "pride". However, there will ALWAYS be situations where a little common sense and playing it safe will be a better option. That is nothing new, particularly in a dangerous sport like speedway...

Most of us agree about the points system, but we can't keep bleating about it every day. We knew what it was beforehand, so it shouldn't have been any surprise when it started throwing up these anomalies. I'm not sure whether speedway is actually unique in the way we allocate actual race points, and then carry them over to the next stage (semis and final) like we used to. The thing to remember is that the new system tends to fall in line with most other sports; the 20 heats are just used as a system to qualify riders for the semi-finals. The same as qualifying heats in athletic events, or qualifying groups for football events such as World Cup or Champions League. Once you have qualified for the next stage, what you did previously - in order to get there - doesn't matter. Oh wait, isn't that what used to happen in the good old days of the World Final? Everybody was okay with riders scraping through the qualifying rounds, and then having a couple of good races and ending up as World Champion! In fact, we apparently loved the "unpredictability" of the system, but not so much now...

Doyle proved he can still do it. That's the thing, while people still think it's all about Zmarzlik, on their day, there are a bunch of riders who are proving that they can ride at that level - and that's only over three meetings so far!

Just check YouTube a few minutes before the start. That's how I watch it now...

He was looking okay tonight, and then he tailed off.

Anyway, the only one in any danger of choking here is Shov - bitterness can be hard to swallow sometimes!

And of course, nobody else in the GP's rides in Poland...

With the amount of Germans listed, I wonder if the other semi-final was held in Germany? The other thing I found strange was that Kjell Carlsson seemingly went through the Continental rounds, rather than the Nordic rounds like the other Swedes.

Don't you mean "fraud"? Anyway, where are Pedants from; Pedantarctica?

And Australasia isn't a country, anyway...

Yeah, I was thinking the exact same thing! Vladimir also represented the USSR, didn't he?

Apparently...

Actually, I think you will find that the opposite is true. New fans will have no pre-conceived notion or prejudice as to what the qualifying system should be, what it used to be, or what people want it to be. All you have to do is say that it is a 16-man round-robin, with race points deciding finishing positions within the round-robin. The Top 8 finishers advance to the semi-finals. At the end, a set number of points are awarded to everyone according to final position.

Darts. Our US National Championship qualifiers are all played over a round-robin format, with each match being three legs (all legs counting). The individual legs totals decide who advance. Even some of those who didn't advance are eligible for ranking points, depending on finishing position. Ranking points reflect finishing position rather than legs one. Everybody seems to understand that... Again, as others have stated, individual heats can be regarded as preliminary events. Like the situation with darts above, GP race points are used to establish position, and not to reflect GP (ranking) points.

Largely because of an inept Ferrari team...

Nah, there are plenty of others - particularly on the BSF! No, it's not what it used to be, but neither is speedway, or any other sport. There are different reasons why people watch/follow speedway (the racing, following a team, watching top riders, the bikes etc), and F1 is the same. What intrigues me is tyre wear, how different teams and drivers get their tyres to react differently, and who can handle them better. This season, it would be a lot better if Ferrari were competitive, but it's fun waiting to see if Vettel does anything stupid!

Exactly...