chunky

I don't think he's riding...

Bloody Bewley should have been in the bloody team. So much better than bloody Lambert...

Is this "World Championship Speedway"???

Yes, he won it all by himself...

I wouldn't say that too loudly if I were you...

I agree. Having grown up on some of the great cricket commentators, I quite enjoy the waffling! For me me, they are far superior to Tony Millard "stealing a march" and PC's "Henrik Gustaffersson". Even the great Dave Lanning made mistakes. So? The wonderful thing about Nigel is not only the fact that he is a great guy, but he is a TRUE speedway fan, unlike Alan Weekes. For their critics, you have to realize that like everything else in this world, commentating is totally different to what it was 40 and 50 years ago. Individuals like Kenneth Wolstenholme and Ted Lowe are a thing of the past.

Come on, Norman; why would I do that? I was actually aiming for you! I just wasn't that accurate back then...

Ya think???

Of course (and I was there too...)

Yep! I was on the fourth bend - as a 7-year-old.

Nah... It's all the idiots on here that make you feel that way! I'm only 59 and after an hour on here, I feel I'm going loopy!

I wouldn't say you're spouting rubbish, but your memory is playing tricks on you! Remember, the last few Wembley finals had a contingent of at least four Brits qualifying directly from the British Final. The worst year for English qualifiers was 1969. The "British" contingent consisted of three New Zealanders, a Scot, a Welshman, and Nigel Boocock. Everyone was horrified when Trevor Hedge was the sole Englishman in Poland in 1970.

What I find really sad is that they changed from the SWC to the SoN to make it easier for lesser nations to compete. Unfortunately, a lot of the major nations can lose just one or two riders, and they aren't able to compete. There really is such a gulf between the top few and the rest at the moment...

These days, everyone wants to be more "inclusive", but when you cease to reward ability and achievement, then you have a problem. Personally, I don't think that Kubera gatting a spot would have been a problem, but as I said, it's not like there are that many likely candidates in speedway.

A World Championship SHOULD feature the best competitors in the World. The US Open is just that - an "open event". As with many other sports (like darts, the World Cup, and many others), the speedway World Championship is a much smaller field, supposedly featuring the elite. As long as there are opportunities to qualify for the World Championship, that's fine. If the same names keep qualifying (and qualify on merit) then the others have to work harder and up their game. The World Championship is not - and should not be - a line-up chosen by the fans.

I have some great memories of the place. Just scary to think that it's nearly 50 years ago...

Agree...

4 points in 1963, and 7 (and two E/F's) in 1964.

Unfortunately, upping it to 24 would mean 8 more also-rans... There just isn't the strength in depth these days.

To be honest, I have no idea why they reduced it to top 6, as we knew what would happen. If course, it happened because we have limited suitable choices... The one thing that gets me is that people whine about the top however many getting their spots for the following year. What they forget is not only that it IS qualification, but they are having to qualify against the world's best, which is not the case with the GP Challenge.

That's the info I had - assuming it was 3 points for a win...

It seems that you want riders in "on merit", so I assume you want as close to the Top 15 as is possible? So, how many riders NOT in the GP's would have made five semi-finals this year? Which is what Lambert did...

Absolutely... Absolutely...

You sure he won 5, Bob?

At 59 years of age, I don't consider myself "old". However, having followed speedway for 59 years, I will admit that many of my earliest memories are speedway related. It's really sad that I was not only that young, but all my heroes were that much older than me. I know it's life, but the last few years have been really hard on me as so many of these heroes have departed. Mirac, Ivan, Booey, Olle 'white boots", Pratty etc...