Obviously, some tracks are better than others, but the last few races have been a LOT better than the earlier ones, and at least they have been able to race in the second half.
I'm not sure if it's down to the modern machinery, but I don't recall it being this bad years ago. Yeah, the opening race used to be the best for track records - it was often TOO good - but the tracks seemed to settle down a lot quicker than they do now.
The one thing I've been noticing recently - particularly with his last race just now - is that he doesn't seem to know where on the track he should be. He really is all over the place, and going backwards most of the time.
Never saw a race at Ullevi, but... I was in Gothenburg for darts, so I decided to have a wander. The place was wide open with nobody around, so I managed to walk the entire track!
Plus, the GP's are designed to have the best riders in the world. The World Final was designed to qualify riders based more on nationality, and every year, there was a least one rider who SHOULD have been there that wasn't.