wjm

Congratulations to the testimonial committee who put all that work into putting on a show. A very entertaining night IMO , when all the riders involved put on a cracking show for the fans and Michal. Sam conducted him self like a World Champion shoudl and still looked top notch on the track. Carl Wilkinsons pass on Branney and Ashworth was as good as any thing I think I will see this year.

Good on ya for doing that. Its not really just him alone racing though is it ? Its the line up for the meeting , Sam coming up and doing some laps is some thing different for the punters new and old to see a World Champion in action , its a bit of novelty to add to the evenings entertainment... some thing to break up the night from just racing , at a testimonial people like to put on a show for the crowd. Surely that would explain the reason for Sam coming up ? Given the style he used to race with it , I think seeing him doing a couple of demonstration laps will be entertaining. Cracking rider. If these things don't bother you much , maybe best to leave the thread alone , time and a place for niggles and winding people up , testimonial thread isn't it.

So don't go along with it , well done you have an opinion , this thread isn't the time or place for it , another riders testimonial and people coming on and posting garbage like you have. Total disrespect.

True ,but just because they aren't shared around doesn't mean there is a need for one track to hold two events in one season , I also remember in recent years Kings Lynn have been lucky enough to hold the E.L.R.C and the PL Championship Chase. Now I don't know what other tracks apply for the events, I would certainly imagine at least one or two more do , so why the need to then hold 2 National events at one track in the same season ?.

More than likely because of issues with Somerset riders , which has nothing to do with this thread. Its a celebration of James career , great guy , fantastic entertainer , this thread isn't the place for people to try and bring up grudges that are about 5 years old.

Poor show if Kings Lynn have a National Semi Final , One of the PLs better competitions and a World Cup Qualifier. Well done to the Chapmans for applying for the events and what they have done with Speedway at Kings Lynn but.... It would do wonders for the reputations of some clubs if they were able to hold events like this it could really help increasing local awareness of the sport.

What a field for Makovskys meeting. Michal Makovsky Pepe Franc Adrian Rymel Ricky Ashworth Tomas Topinka Steve Johnston Ryan Fisher Carl Wilkinson Leigh Adams Chris Harris Tai Woffinden Ben Barker Chris Schramm Richie Hawkins Lee Complin Kauko Niemenen Kevin Doolan Jason Lyons Greg Hancock James Grieves Jason Bunyan Andre Compton Paul Clews Gary Havelock Travis McGowan

Don't know about that fella ...not saying they would be up there with the big guys but right place right time I would see us giving the Finns, Hungary or Croatia or teams like that a go.

Sounds like Armdale in June ....not for much longer though .

Not really plenty of riders have there meeting at a track they haven't been racing at.....

But as I said in my post he is the top averaged Brit that hasn't had numerous GP chances ?. Is he the highest placed Brit in his National Championship with out GP experience.

Yes , he is.

Well if you want to put it a logical way. Highest averaged Brit in his home country and highest placed rider in his National Championship with out GP experience. If you want to try and belittle one of them getting an opportunity it would be Woffinden.

Maybe you cant.

In the same way Lindgren and Andersen are picked because of there nationality and other riders before , you could make a logical argument for or against any rider getting or not getting a Wild Card. I have not missed points if you would read what I am posting I have already spoken of the " closed shop " and " faces that fit " and the " why bother with qualifiers " posts you have made.

But they got one...... Plenty of riders have had them and either made the best of there chance or haven't.

Either way they got there because of a Wild Card.

But they also picked people like Emil , Nicki and AJ as wild cards and it didn't do them any harm did it. Never know unless you try with some riders.

Andersen is a rider that has now on more than one occasion failed to meet the requirements in place for him.

Possibly and more than likely yes. But would you have given it to Nicholls, Harris or Richardson ? How many chances do the three of them get before enough is enough. You could possibly make a logical argument for it going to some one like Joonas Davidson that might have been a bit adventurous but again the guy had a chance to qualify and didn't. I can see as much logic in Kennet getting it as I can Hans Andersen.

No I am not really missing the point to be honest. The real reason Zager missed out is because he didn't qualify and crappy old Zorro did, so if he cant qualify before some one like that , why should he be in it ?. Zorros qualification would also show the reason behind having qualifiers do you think Zetterstorm is the kind of " face that fits " in the Grand Prix ?. As I explained in my post the reason I think Woffy and Kennet have been selected is to learn to be GP riders. Do they have a chance of winning the World Title ? Not really , not next season but lets see what they can learn , I actually think Kennet especially could be dragged along in the GP and could find another level in him self. Would Ulamek , Walasek , Lindback or even Zager ? Win it ? No they wouldn't. In fact all 4 have had there chance in the Grand Prix with a mixed level of success. So why not pick riders with the potential to improve and learn the series and in time make it a more open competition , because at this moment it is between 3 or 4 riders. As I said in my post , if they are going to have Wild Cards, which I can and cant see the point of having , they are as well using them for a logistical reason and I can see the logic behind the selection of the riders they have picked , Andersen being the exception. Not one rider can put forward a logical argument and say Woffy and Kennet have there GP place, because they don't, they all had there chance to qualify and like I said they couldn't even beat Mango to do it.

That's the way I see it and a few years ago , admittedly in a 24 rider series , people like Cegelski, Nicholls and Jonsson were given Wild Card places and the time to learn the series , and at times all of them faced struggles , it even took people like Adams time to adjust to GP life. It takes an exceptional talent like Emil to just arrive in the Gran Prix and be a success. It isn't just about staying competitive on track you need to learn how to compete in a Grand Prix , I might be wrong but Emil has a few guys around him that used to be part of Rickardsons set up ? which would give him a slight advantage before he even got on the bike. As long as riders like Kennet and Woffinden see the first year as being part of an apprenticeship and learn from it then the idea could work. I would doubt that there results will be fantastic in the first season but as long as they are competitive and on the pace , then I don't see a problem with it , I can see the logic in the choice. Truth be told it excites me more to see new faces in it with the idea of them improving than riders like Walasek and Ulamek , they also had there chance to qualify and didn't. We can all sit and name riders who had a chance to qualify but didn't and it was through no fault but there own. If there is going to be a Wild Card system in place then it s better to use it for younger riders IMO and I would have said the same if it had been a nomination from another country. Some would argue that the bigger problem is giving it to some one like Hans who I am a massive fan of but didn't do enough to justify his place in the series this season at all.

I agree I thought Slovenia was one of the better tracks in the series. I would hope they will start to rotate the schedule of the series as well , I don't know if I am to won over by the idea that Bydgoszcz is going to be the last round every year.

I agree with this post. IMO out side the top 5 or 6 riders the rest are just making up the numbers. , rather than having riders Yo Yo in and out of it they are looking for progression and more riders who can compete.

Dennis was having a rare night of last night to help out and get involved with the sponsorship. He has been a regular with the stop watch at Berwick for the last god knows how long and was not amused at missing out on the track record !