lucifer sam

Greg Hancock: well done to the old fella. Seriously great stuff from Greg - he doesn't look like someone who is nearly finished with the Grand Prix series. Chris Harris: that's more like it. I hope he can carry on in that vain and get a top 8 place. Jason Crump: I reckon he'll end up the year with his fourth world title, as the pressure gets to his rivals. Tomasz Gollob: I wanted him to win this year, but after the last 2 rounds, I've changed my mind. Emil was in no fit state to deck him, but Rune should have done a Boycey. All the best Rob

If King Emil is left out of the GP series, then I won't watch it. I don't think there is a chance that he wouldn't be given a place. Phil Rising, who is high up in FIM circles, more-or-less said in the Speedway Star last week that Emil will be given a seeded spot. All the best Rob

Well, that's the point, isn't it? In Poland, the top riders are spread between two leagues, whereas in Sweden, they're all in one league. Have you seen Dackarna and Elit Vetlanda's teams. They have got to be the best two club sides in the world. All the best Rob

Cheers. So two Brits in the top thirty - Richardson (14th) and Harris (17th). The other British riders are shocking though. All the best Rob

But the Swedish Elite League has most of the good non-Poles as well, whereas a few of them are missing from the Polish scene. I don't think there's much in it, though. Sorry, haven't read every single post in this thread, didn't realise that the peformance of our riders in Sweden had already been brought up. All the best Rob

Henry, do you have the positions for our riders in the Swedish Elite League averages? All the best Rob

Authorised, it wasn't supposed to be a direct comparison, which is why I didn't provide 2010 averages, because they aren't that comparable. It was more to show how far we've fallen down the totem pole since 1977. You have to remember in 1977, that the British League WAS the best league in the world. The vast majority of top riders rode in this country, so if they were 11 Englishmen in the top 20 of the BL averages it also means that there were 11 Englishmen amonsgt the best 30 or so riders in the entire world. These days, it's the Swedish League which is the strongest, closely followed by Poland, with the British Elite League a poor third. Look at the top 30 riders in the Swedish League, and we might have one (Scott Nicholls). All the best Rob

Ali Stevens was one hell of a prospect, he was brilliant at the age of 16/17. Unfortunately he suffered an industrial accident early in 1986 when he fell through a roof (which cost him a place in the 1986 Oxford Cheetahs, with Nigel De'ath taking the place he was earmarked for), and then suffered a nasty injury at Oxford on Good Friday 1987. He showed flashes thereafter, but didn't realise his potential. It didn't help that he was mechaniclly hopeless, I remember him once suffering four engine failures in one night. The following night Oxford went to Swindon, Ali borrowed a bike from Martin Dugard and Ali put in a match-winning performance. But his own bikes were rubbish. All the best Rob

Top Brits in the 1977 British League averages: Michael Lee 10.64 (top of averages) Peter Collins 10.49 Gordon Kennett 10.41 Malcolm Simmons 10.22 Dave Jessup 10.20 John Davis 9.82 Martin Ashby 9.80 Terry Betts 9.70 John Louis 9.64 Doug Wyer 9.21 Chris Morton 9.05 That's 11 Englishmen with a BL average in excess of 9.00 - and all 11 in the top 20 of the averages. And there's a further 9 Brits (I need to say Brits rather than English, since Jimmy McMillan is one of them) with a BL average between 8.00 and 9.00. All the best Rob

Max Dilger was crap. Why do we want crap riders like that taking up valuable team places that could be given to British based riders? All the best Rob

Cox, Wigg & Smith were all British, whatever license they had at the time. And all rode with the British flag on their breastplate in the Grand Prix series. But yes, the record of British riders in the Grand Prix from 2001 onwards is pretty awful. And you've missed out the main rider who came back from GP failure to greater glory: Mark Loram. Not qualifying for the 1999 series really got him to buckle down, and resulted in him being the deserving 2000 World Champion, he was the most consistent rider in the world that year. All the best Rob

WadyWuck, I notice how you're now calling him Laguta. But you've made a good point. Assessed averages are far too low. As far as the PL is concerned, any non-Commonwealth should come in on a 9.00 point average, and in the EL, it should be 6.00. And BFD, I welcome the Aussies riding in our leagues, because the Aussies show commitment to riding in the British Leagues. They treat us as their surrogate home country, and ride in British meetings with passion. The problem isn't the Aussies, it's the Poles, Swedes, Danes, Germans and so forth who treat us as a third-world speedway nation and have British Speedway as thier bottom priority. It's these sort of riders we could do with getting rid of. All the best Rob

I don't think 7th & 8th in the world (Loram & Louis) was that bad at all. And Havelock was looking a possibility for a top three place that year, before the back injury that halted his GP career and left him never looking like quite the same rider ever again. If only we had riders like that these days. No of permanent Brits in the GP between 1995 & 2002: 1995 - five out of 17 - Loram, Louis, Cocker, Havelock, Smith 1996 - six out of 17 - Loram, Louis, Screen, Havelock, Smith, Cocker 1997 - four out of 17 - Loram, Louis, Smith and Wigg 1998 - three out of 21 - Louis, Loram and Smith 1999 - three out of 22 - Screen, Louis and Smith (Loram won GP as wildcard - and indeed finished fifth in world as wildcard) 2000 - five out of 22 - WORLD CHAMPION Mark Loram, Louis, Screen, Stonehewer and Smith (plus Martin Dugard won British GP as wildcard) 2001 - five out of 22 - Loram, Stonehewer, Smith, Louis and Screen (although Screen was injured for entire series) 2002 - four out of 22 - Loram, Nicholls, Stonehwer and Smith. None of the above Brits were seeded. They all qualified. Around 2001 is probably where it all started to go wrong. Loram had a disappointing defence as World Champion and wasn't a contender again, whilst both Louis & Screen suffered from injury. And the next generation, headed by Scott Nicholls, then failed to deliver. All the best Rob

In the early days of the Grand Prix you could hardly move for British riders - in the 1996 series, there were SIX British riders amongst the 17 competitors. And when seeded riders were first brought at the end of the 2001 season ready for the 2002 season, there was no need to seed in any British riders. But three, yes three, Poles were amongst the six seeds. How times have changed. All the best Rob

Fair enough. All the best Rob

Henry, yes I watched the whole meeting. Kolodziej looked the class act for his opening 4 riders, but you could tell the pressure was on in that final programmed ride. He was all over the place even before his started to slow, and he looked more likely to go backwards than forwards. But he's a great prospect and today's tough medicine may prove a blessing for him in the long run. All the best Rob

Well, that's difficult to say, isn't it? He was only in third, with the bloke in fourth not far behind. So it's not certain that he would have held on, had his bike not temporarily slowed. As for the pebble that got jammed, it probably came from one of the riders in front - had Kolodziej been leading the race, he wouldn't have had the problem. In many ways, speedway is a sport where you make your own luck. Kolodziej was the class act of the meeting in his opening four rides - but then all over the shop in his final two. He's not ready for the GP yet - an extra year sharpening his act may actually help him. I certainly wish that there were a few young British riders with his potential. But he needs how to handle the pressure. All the best Rob

What are you talking about? - the British riders in today's meeting were awful. There shouldn't be any Brits in next year's series - but no doubt Harris and AN Other will be seeded in yet again. But you can't deny the fact that Kolodziej choked today. He blew the start in Heat 17, and then wasn't hard enough on Lindgren in the run-off. He had two chances to qualify and didn't take either of them. All the best Rob

Yes, he had an engine failure whilst battling for third place - having completely missed the gate. All the best Rob

HenryW, he went from likely meeting winner to non-qualifier. And GP racing is harsh. Kolodziej rode superbly for 4 races, but then blew it. All the best Rob

Not a chance. Emil is the hottest young property in World Speedway - he'll be first pick when it comes to the four seeded riders for next year's series. IMG/BSI will be relieved that two Swedes have qualified - it makes it much easier for next season now. Seeds will be Emil, Nicki P, maybe Greg, and one but probably two Brits - Harris and, er, Nicholls??? It's not right that two Brits will be seeded, but that's what is likely to happen. All the best Rob

Kolodziej blow a great chance this evening. He was the best rider for most of the meeting, but didn't have the bottle when it came down to the crunch. He may still get in if Lindgren pushes up into the top 8. Otherwise I don't see why Kolodziej should be in the GP next season - he showed tonight that he can't perform under pressure so he's likely to struggle in the GPs. All the best Rob

ML, do I get a prize for correctly predicting who you will be cheering on? All the best Rob

Whatever the rights or wrongs, Harris will be in the 2011 GP series. Even if there's only one Brit, it'll be him. He's the best British rider at the moment, we haven't got anyone else who can, at least, be competitive in the GP series. Harris had a shocker last season, but this year he's proved that he's a 9-12th type rider in the GP series. What's the alternative to Harris? There isn't one. All the best Rob

I guess the nightmare scenario for BSI would be if no Swedes or Brits either qualify tonight, or in the top 8 (could happen if Greg overhauls Andreas & Freddie), and neither does Nicki P. That would leave the following to be seeded: 1. The Mad Ruskie 2. Nicki P 3. Brit No 1 4. Brit No 2 5. Swede No 1 6. Swede No 2 All the best Rob