lucifer sam

Oh dear, what was that! Surely it should have been postponed until tomorrow morning. Speedway really does itself no favours at times.

Just had a look on the SON website and I can't find where it says what time it would be re-staged on Sunday. That information appears to be missing.

A consequence of this year's condensed World Championship held over a span of just over five weeks was the doubling up of Grand Prix rounds - with one on a Friday and one on a Saturday. I think it's been a winner - it adds an extra element having two rounds over two days. It's an increased challenge for the riders, it doubles the entertainment provided, and it's fascinating to see how different two meetings on the same track with the same 16 riders can be! Also, it's a major selling point to travelling supporters, both from abroad and further afield in the same country. Now, I realise there are certain venues where it might be impractical. For example, the installed tracks such as Cardiff start to rut up badly towards the end of just 23 races - is 46 races worth the risk? But at stadiums with a permanent speedway track, I can only see positives. Two rounds at the likes of Torun and Wroclaw again? Yes please.

Interesting that the new system stretched out the field, particularly the top three from the rest. Last night, it meant the championship wasn't decided until the first semi-final instead of earlier in the meeting. But it could very easily go the other way. If you look at this year's European Championship, it went down to the last race. Had points been awarded on finishing positions, it would have been over as a contest after three rounds and Madsen would have won easily. I still prefer the old system. Had Bart finished on 8 rather than 9 points last night, then Woffy and Lindgren (both already qualified on 10 and 9 respectively) would have been looking at ways on how they could have eliminated Bart from the semis. Under a system where every point counts, that kind of manipulation was much harder. But we were one point away from it happening last night.

Whoever was the pit lane interviewer in Prague should be brought back for the whole series next year. She's miles ahead of the one we've had for the six Polish rounds.

How about Vaculik, Emil, A Laguta, Fricke and Nicki P? (Assuming the current order stays the same - if not, then Doyle and Madsen get a wildcard). That's not really bringing in any flesh blood, though. So Thomsen instead of Nicki P?

That's a shame - I was going to come down on October 17th. But, nevertheless, well done to Plymouth for getting a couple of meetings on.

I then looked at the previous two paragraphs, and I'm less sure now. I'm waiting to see what the FIM put out tonight

Hold on, let me quote the whole thing, where the third paragraph seems to contradict the first two paragraphs: Reaching the semi-final ensures a rider will go home with at least nine points. The third-placed semi-finalist who scores the most race points in their five heats will earn 12, with the other third finisher awarded 11. The fourth-placed semi-finalist who scored the most points in the heats will receive 10, with the other fourth finisher receiving nine. Should a rider be excluded or fail to finish their semi-final, they will be ranked lower than a third or fourth finisher who does complete their race. If both third or fourth-placed stars fail to finish, they will be ranked according to how many race points they scored in the heats.

Maybe not so simple, because the official website states: Should a rider be excluded or fail to finish their semi-final, they will be ranked lower than a third or fourth finisher who does complete their race. If both third or fourth-placed stars fail to finish, they will be ranked according to how many race points they scored in the heats.

Ah, so a non-finishing 3rd out-ranks a finishing 4th. Thanks for clarifying.

That's a bit bizarre - so they don't take their figures from the official standings? So I am right in thinking tonight it was: Lindgren 12 (3rd in semi 1) Laguta 11 (4th in semi 1) Doyle 10 (excluded in semi 2 - but after Madsen) Madsen 9 (excluded 1st in semi 2)

Were those standings right? Lindgren finished his semi - Doyle didn't. I think Lindgren therefore gets the place. Very poor if it goes up incorrectly on screen. Don't even the FIM know their own scoring system? EDIT: And thinking about it, Laguta's 4th is also better than Doyle's non-finish.

Major improvement in the pit-lane interviewer tonight - she knows what she's talking about.

I thought it was just a good gate. He hadn't moved before the tapes went up. I wonder how many times Todd Wiltshire would have been unfairly excluded under the current starting regulations?

The other two are still unbalanced - but the Oxford win is impressive because it's unbalanced and they still managed to win!

Best winning unbalanced performance: Oxford 47 Newcastle 49 from 1983 Both Rod Hunter and Joe Owen scored 20+1 for Newcastle - two riders scoring 40 out of 49 for a winning side! Also, unless anyone can find evidence to the contrary, the only time two seven-ride paid maximums were scored in the same meeting!

Any chance of BWitcher disappearing back to waffle complete nonsense on his Covid-19 thread, so that we can get on with discussing the Prague rounds. Intriguing couple of rounds ahead. Woffy is traditionally strong around Prague - can he come strong and get himself back into contention? On the other hand, not a track that Zmarzlik seems to like! But Lindgren seems to be the rider who is pulling out all the stops at the sharp end of meetings, which is critical under the new points system.

Yup. Twice rides Madsen hard and cries when it's done back!

Sounds a great night, Bob. Plymouth is quite a trek for me, but considering a Saturday night in October - probably Plymouth v IOW.

Tickets on sale for British Under-19 championship: http://scunthorpe-speedway.com/ticketoffice

Well, we do seem to be entering all the Under-21 and Under-19 comps. It would be nice to see a few Under-21 test matches as well.

I think a lot of our talent is in the younger ages ranges. In four years time, the Danes and Poles might be bemoaning their inability to live with Jordan Palin, the Thompson Twins and Archie Freeman

GB doing so well in running some very good Danish and Polish sides close. I hope the Danes win it now, because it would be a shame if a joker decided the winner. I didn't think they had the joker in the Under-21 World Cup - it wasn't there when I saw a qualifier in Opole in 2012.

OTD September 2, 1973: Jerzy Szczakiel became Poland’s first World Champion, after defeating defending champion Ivan Mauger in a run-off for first place in Katowice. It was a huge shock to most people outside of Poland, although the Opole star was more than a match for anyone on Polish turf. Szczakiel was often unfairly branded the ‘Worst World Champion’ by British fans. He crashed out of the 1973 Daily Mirror International Tournament at Oxford, while he failed to score in the World Team Cup final at Wembley a fortnight after becoming World Champion while riding with an injury sustained practicing for the event. But he wasn’t a one-hit wonder. He scored a paid maximum for the triumphant Poles in the 1971 World Pairs Final in Rybnik, when he and Andrzej Wyglenda took a comprehensive victory and left the New Zealand pairing of Mauger and Barry Briggs trailing in their wake. Szczakiel won his opening three outings at Katowice, including a victory over Mauger in Heat 8 – a race in which the Kiwi only mustered a third. Russian Grigory Khlinovsky bundled the Pole wide in Heat 15, but he came behind to recover second place. He needed to win Heat 18 to clinch the title, but he finished second to Ole Olsen to join Mauger in the run-off for first place on 13 points. Polish ‘boy wonder’ Zenon Plech should have joined them in the run-off, but for some bizarre refereeing from West German Georg Traunspurger in Heat 19. Khlinovsky, also in with a chance of the run-off, knocked off Plech as they battled for the lead on the final lap. The referee stopped have stopped the race and excluded the Russian, but allowed it to finish, before booting out the Russian. Under FIM rules of the time, a re-run was not permitted, while first place had to be given to Peter Collins since he had completed the race and Plech had not. Maybe it’s just as well that Plech wasn’t in the run-off, since he had gained an extra point when Edward Jancarz let him through for victory in Heat 16 in a race stage-managed between four Polish riders. On the other hand, Szczakiel had won all his points fair and square. In the run-off, he took advantage of a typically ragged start from Traunspurger. Mauger closed in, but he misjudged his inside pass of the Pole on the third bend of the second lap and came crashing down. Szczakiel completed the remaining laps alone to thunderous noise from a crowd of over 100,000. Szczakiel become the first rider to defeat Mauger TWICE in the same World Final – a feat only John Louis would repeat. To his credit, Mauger was magnanimous in defeat and often praised Szczakiel. Research showed in the years between ’71 and ’73, the head-to-head between the two riders stood at a very close 7-6 to the Kiwi. Not many riders were able to go toe-to-toe with Mauger over this period. Szczakiel passed away yesterday at the age of 71. RIP Jerzy.