chunky

You beat me to it, Knowle... I always check the Telegraph obituaries, but it seems that Rex passed away in April. Not sure why it took that long to get on the Telegraph site, but I did notice that there were several obituaries that were posted at the time. What's really sad is that he had been suffering from Alzheimer's for several years. Steve

I know there are still those who long for the "good old days" of the World Finals, but I'm pleased to see so many of you making several trips a year around Europe for the GP's. Of course, a lot of you make the most of it, and take in other meetings while you are there, which is fantastic. I am jealous of you all, and I really wish I'd had those opportunities while I was still in the UK. Of course, Eastern Europe opening up was a great thing - particularly for speedway fans - and travel is so much easier and cheaper now. Just wish I could join you, but maybe someday... Steve

To be honest, it really didn't look that bad, but crashes on the straight can be deceptive. It could actually have been a lot worse, but Laguta did well to control it after clipping Lampart's back wheel. It just proves how things can change in a split-second - and can affect a whole season... Steve

Still a long way to go, and if we have too many more stupid refereeing decisions like we did on Saturday, there is no telling what will happen... Steve

Hey, it wasn't meant as a criticism; as I said, you are 100% correct. Even though I can't go now, if I was still over there, I would. Even if I was just visiting, I would still try to get to different tracks. As you say, speedway isn't "cool" anymore, and even if the entertainment was better, and the facilities better, I'm not convinced that it would make a huge difference. Yes, that is very sad, but the saddest part is that I really don't know why, or what the answers are... Steve

God, I hate you! You are so bloody negative - and so bloody accurate in your assessments... Funny, people would complain how "meaningless" second-halves were - and now everybody wants more than fifteen heats! I've said it before, but one of the things I loved (and I assume others did too) was the variety in speedway. Sure, league was the backbone, but look at the other formats. At Plough Lane we were spoiled, but as far as individual meetings we had the Daily Express Spring Classic, Internationale, NLRC, and Laurels (plus other occasional events). There were 4-Team Tournaments, Best Pairs, and Test Matches. The variety in track shapes and sizes always intrigued us. We had a "choice" of meetings and venues seven days a week. One Saturday I would go to Swindon, and the next I would go to Canterbury. One Sunday I would go to Mildenhall, and the next I would go to Rye. The highlight of away coach trips on a Saturday was meeting up with other supporters' coaches at Watford Gap! Sigh... Steve

It is a clay dirt oval that was built last year for midget cars. The "real" speedway track is at the Marion County Fairgrounds south-east of the city (I-465 and I-74). Steve

You are W-A-Y overestimating the status of speedway in the US! Nothing close to baseball in the UK, because at least everyone knows what baseball is. Take a country this size, stick three or four tracks in California, one in Indiana, and one in upstate New York, and that is it. There are odd tracks that host sporadic events, but outside of the actual speedway community, NOBODY even know it exists - or ever existed. Yes, it is that bad here... Steve

Well, remember that in the US, the term "speedway" applies to most motorsports, in particular to the tracks. I mean, there is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (home of the Indy 500) which every American knows. Then there's is also a REAL speedway track in Indianapolis (Mid-America Speedway), which pretty much nobody knows! So, most of us "speedway" fans in the US have come to accept that as popular a word as "speedway" is, it invariably has bugger all to do with our sport! Steve

You didn't have to check; all you had to do was ask me! They are one of the "budget" stations, and we have one here in town, about 2 miles from the house, and there is another about 3 miles the other way. I don't usually use it for fuel, but I often stop there for a coffee... Steve

We were talking about respect? Now there is somebody for whom I had the greatest respect, as a rider and as a person - dear old Vaclav! Steve

That is very different. In a F1 GP, each driver has ONE race; a an SGP, each rider has 5-7 races. The F1 series is a simple points-accumulating effort, the same as the SGP series; Mark Loram won by gaining the most points without winning a GP. That is fine, and that is just as fine with F1. What people generally are having an issue with is that somebody is declared the winner of an SGP when he achieved a lot less than several riders above him. Madsen not only won fewer races, but scored fewer points than several others. Steve

I saw it yesterday, and I thought, "What tha...???!!!" I couldn't believe the speed he picked up on that last bend, and I'd love to know how he got his back wheel under the air fence without coming off! Emil even put Gollob to shame with that one... Steve

Personally, I would think that it's the mid-table qualifiers (and lower) who have the advantage, as they can choose who their opponents are, and where they are starting from. Being one of the fastest only really gives you the option of choosing the races and gates; you just have to wait and see what happens from there. Steve

But everyone says it was so much better back then!!! Seriously though, that's the thing; it is still great to watch, but the racing generally doesn't seem to be as good as we remember. Also, seeing how the riding style has changed, some of it looks pretty amateurish now. As far as the GP system, it is great to have a whole summer of action, and as I said in regard to last year, the interest and excitement was maintained all season. Throw in some fantastic reason, and it is difficult to see why so many still seem to yearn for the World Finals... Steve

I do hope that wasn't aimed at me??? It is true that I love playing with numbers, but it is in no way a criticism of the system; more a way to annoy people and laugh at them when they dispute FACT! I have constantly stated that the current system is much better than the old system - and why. No system is perfect, and there will always be anomalies. I still think that the way to determine the winner of an individual GP has its flaws, but the main thing is that it doesn't impact the overall standings. People that complain about the "lack of drama" in the GP's obviously didn't watch last year... Steve

I think most of us were there at Wembley in '78; I know I was! It's funny, but even though most of us "prefer" the old World Finals, if we are realistic about it, a GP system HAS to be the fairest way. Winning a GP certainly has been devalued because of the current system, and riders are certainly concentrating on the end results. Having said that, money really doesn't enter into it when you are trying to win a GP in front of your own fans! Steve

11 points has top-scored in a regular 20-heat meeting too, but that's not the point here. We are not talking about a single meeting; we are talking about becoming World Champion. AFCB Wildcat stated that it was possible to become World Champion by going through the GP series without winning a race. That is true, but we all know it won;t happen. I made a direct response to that statement, saying that it was just as possible to become World Champion in the old days, by going through the season without winning a race. Again, that is perfectly true, nut it never happened, and it never looked like happening. That is the way a lot of us feel about the old system; one bad race, a fall, an e/f, or whatever, and you were done. Luck will always play a part, but with one-off meetings like we used to have - even as far as qualifying - luck (good or bad) could have a much bigger impact. The GP is about point accumulation over a whole season, not just having one good or bad meeting or race. Steve

Both are/were possible, but neither did/will occur.

Finals and semis aren't necessarily the most exciting races, and the best races aren't necessarily the result of having the best riders. I still like the traditional 20-heat format alone because the one who scored most points always "won" the meeting. Is that really such a bad concept? Steve

Good point; I hadn't thought about that! Of course, that applied to the old World Final system also... Steve

Nope... What waiheke1 said! Again, I did the maths... Steve

As far as the overall points system, I agree 100%, and I really don't get how so many seem to think that the old system was "far superior"... Steve

My whole point; the overall system is a lot fairer, and minimises the luck aspect. I just feel it is a strange way to determine the winner of an individual GP when you can achieve that by winning just one race! As I have stated before, it would be possible for a rider to win every single GP - and not even finish in the Top 8 at the end of the season! No, it will never happen, but yes, I have done the maths. I see no reason to not adopt the standard 20-heat format, and forget about the semis and finals... if you really want to keep the interest to the very last heat, you could just change the order of heats 17-20 to ensure that the leader (or at least one of the joint leaders) after heat 16 came out in the last race. Steve

I don't agree with the system for determining the winner of an individual GP, but it comes down to the modern desire to have playoffs and finals for everything "in order to maintain interest". However, the overall system for determining the World Champion is far superior to - and much fairer than - the old system. I'm just pleased that winning a GP doesn't count toward the overall championship. Steve