Grand Prix

[salty]

Absolutely the correct 5. I thought they might go and do something stupid by putting in Holta, but common sense prevailed in the end.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't think you could say they would have been stupid to put Holta in. The guy finished 8th in 2003 and was hampered by a neck injury a large part of last year before showing his true form in the last 3 GP's. He certainly would have done himself justice at this level in 2005 and hopefully will be back in for 2006.

I am certain that if there were 6 seeded spots available then he would have been in. His league form in Sweden and Poland shows that he is a quality act.

[kaz lovin speedway!!!!!]

I think they have done a good job on the line up, looks good to me!!! .

Glad sulli has a second chance 2 prove himself!!! Im chuffed we got both brit's sure lil Lee and Scotty will do us proud!!! Bjarne proved at ELRC he's capable, and i'm not really keen on andersen but he's proved himself & deserved a place!!! Im sure Chrzanowski will be a little daunted at first but im sure he'll be fine!!

Roll on the 2005 season cant wait!!!!!!!!!

[coma]

Sorry! It'll be Mr Whale from now on then:lol:

Better be careful though, they might start calling you spermy!

 

I guess Rune and Lukas are always in with a shot of winning a GP but not unless they get their 2003 form back again. Think its a year or two too early for Zagar.

[Shalewhale]

spermy!

 

You'll have to ask my girlfriend about that.

 

I think you could be right about Lukas and Rune. I also reckon on reflection that you could never put together a field of riders that are all capable of winning all of the time.

[drakey]

They have got it spot on with those 5.

Like others I was concerned that maybe Ryan hadn't done enough this year to get a place, but we all know that on his day he is World Class and hopefully will have a better season next year.

 

Unlucky Runa who is the probably the only other rider in the current Grand Prix season that has missed out next year that maybe could have done the job next season.

[shirls]

IMO, i think they picked the right 5 ,especially pleased that Lee and Scotty are in the line up.

[HenryW]

Well the fact that there's less riders to start with makes it easier to get to the semi finals. And lets be honest, getting to the Semi is one thing, making the final is another.

 

If you ignore the riders who qualified from outside this years GP series, only 1 of the announced riders in the field didn't make it to a final this year, and that was Scott Nicholls....so maybe his place should have gone to Rune or Pepe who both made finals this year!

 

Good to see that the replacements for injured riders may come from this years GP riders that didn't make it, so there is still a good chance to see Pepe, Rune and Lukas in a few GPs next year.

[seanisnumber1]

The correct 5 have been picked and if you look down the line-up now, it looks amazing!!

[Joanne]

I think I feel sorry for Rune. One of the better GP riders alot better than Lee Richardson

[iany]

I think I feel sorry for Rune. One of the better GP riders alot better than Lee Richardson

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Obviously did get lost and didnt see any of the Gps

[Joanne]

Nope, found myself at 4 GPs this year Just had a look at the riders scores Rune is still the better rider, not that I dislike Lee. I'll be waving my flag for him next year until he gets eliminated

[Guest BilaHora]

All

 

I agree with Ms Joanne. I think Lee Richardson can count himself very fortunate to have been favoured with a "wild card" birth.

It says much about the limited geographical appeal of the sport that, of the fifteen riders in the Grand Prix series, three are from Australia (I also fancy Ryan Sullivan can count himself fortunate), three from Poland, two from the United Kingdom, three from Sweden, three from Denmark and one from the United States (resident in Sweden).

As a personal preference, I would have chosen Rune Holta instead of Ryan Sullivan and either Lukas Dryml or Matej Zagar instead of Lee Richardson.

 

Regards

 

BilaHora

[iany]

BilaHora,The idea of the wildcards is to ensure the best riders are in the GP 2005 series.It is not to even up the Nationalitys.Imo Holta,Dryml and Zagar are not better riders than Sullivan and Richardson plus Holta and Dryml finished lower than Sullivan and Richardson in this years GPs.

[Guest BilaHora]

Jany

 

I take your point about Ryan Sullivan. However, somewhat like Lukas Dryml, Mr Sullivan is living on past glories - Dryml was performing very well in the 2003 series before his horrific crash at Krsko. If Sullivan deserves his chance on past performance then surely Dryml and for that matter Rune Holta also deserve the chance.

However, I would say that the chances of Lee Richardson winning a Grand Prix during 2005 reside somewhere between slim and non-existent.

Let us all not get too chauvinistic about this.

 

Regards

 

BilaHora

Edited October 22, 2004 by BilaHora

[jeffster]

Personally, I think the "seeded riders" issue is a farce....

 

I do not object to any of the 5 riders that have been given seeded places riding in the GP series in 2005, after all they were the next best 5 riders after the top 8, but why go through the seemingly pointless wait / debate about who the seeded riders will be in the first place ?

 

Why dont BSI / FIM just say that the top 13 will automatically qualify for next season ?

[Guest BilaHora]

Mr Jeffster

 

I rather think Benfield Sports International would have preferred Jaroslaw Hampel not to have qualified automatically.

 

Regards

 

BilaHora

[kaz lovin speedway!!!!!]

BilaHora,The idea of the wildcards is to ensure the best riders are in the GP 2005 series.It is not to even up the Nationalitys.Imo Holta,Dryml and Zagar are not better riders than Sullivan and Richardson plus Holta and Dryml finished lower than Sullivan and Richardson in this years GPs.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Couldnt agree more with you there!!! It's clear to see overall that Sullivan and Richardson preformed better in the gp that Holta and certainly Dryml points wise. All 4 are talented and can preform well but at the end of the day Richardson and Sulli got higer points and proved themselves worthy of their places!!!!!!

Im not quite sure why some people have a bit of a downer on lil Lee as he was our top scoring brit at gp level, he needs our supports 2 get there as im sure he can do well with some encouragement!!!!!! Lets hope him and scotty can make the finals (and bring some silver ware home)!!!!

kazxx

[HenryW]

I do not object to any of the 5 riders that have been given seeded places riding in the GP series in 2005, after all they were the next best 5 riders after the top 8, but why go through the seemingly pointless wait / debate about who the seeded riders will be in the first place ?

 

Why dont BSI / FIM just say that the top 13 will automatically qualify for next season ?

 

It's surely just there to make sure that any unforseen circumstances can be accounted for.

If someone like Jason Crump or Tony Rickardsson had been injured early in the season and missed out on a top 13 slot, they could still be given a place in the GP for next year.

Similarly, if there had been someone outside of the GP series who had been absolutely sensational all season, but had bad luck in the qualifiers, they could still be offered a place in the series if BSI felt they would be worthwhile.

 

I rather think Benfield Sports International would have preferred Jaroslaw Hampel not to have qualified automatically.

 

Why do you say that?

If Jarek had finished just outside of the top 8, I would have expected him to be the first man nominated for a wildcard.

 

I do, however, think that BSI may have been happier if Tom Chrzanowski hadn't qualified, as I expect they would probably have liked to include one of the other top Poles in the series, but couldn't justify giving Poland a quarter of the field.

 

You also suggested earlier that Ryan Sullivan is living on past glories, and while I agree that this hasn't been one of his best seasons, he did still make it to a GP final and achieve a very respectable average in all the leagues that he raced in.

I don't think you can even begin to compare Ryan's form with that of Lukas Dryml.

[Guest BilaHora]

Mr HenryW

 

I think you meant to write 8 instead of 13 in your sentence "...If someone like Jason Crump or Tony Rickardsson had been injured early in the season and missed out on a top 13 slot, they could still be given a place in the GP for next year".

However, to turn to your BilaHora specific points. You may well be correct in saying that Jaroslaw Hampel would have gained a seeded slot for next year even had he finished outside the top eight. That said, if he had finished outside the top eight, his place would have been taken by either Andersen, Pedersen or Richardson. This would have given balance to the seeded riders list presented yesterday.

As regards Lukas Dryml, I know it is an unpopular opinion within this forum group, but I have high regard for Lukas Dryml as a rider and I anticipate a return to top form this season. Rune Holta also reached a grand prix final, equalling the achievement of Ryan Sullivan, and also performed well in the leagues he competed in.

As to future participation in the Grand Prix series, I think only the top four, or six, should qualify automatically and greater scope should be allowed for qualification tournaments - perhaps a further six riders.

 

Regards

 

BilaHora

[HenryW]

I think you meant to write 8 instead of 13 in your sentence "...If someone like Jason Crump or Tony Rickardsson had been injured early in the season and missed out on a top 13 slot, they could still be given a place in the GP for next year".

No, I did mean to write 13.

People were questioning why BSI didn't just say that the top 13 were guaranteed a place in the next GP series, and it is obviously to ensure that if a top star has a serious problem and finishes outside of that top 13, they could still be given a place in the next series.

IF they simply guaranteed places to the top 13 riders plus 2 qualifiers, it would mean that this rider has to miss out.

I hope I maybe explained it better this time!

 

As regards Lukas Dryml, I know it is an unpopular opinion within this forum group, but I have high regard for Lukas Dryml as a rider and I anticipate a return to top form this season. Rune Holta also reached a grand prix final, equalling the achievement of Ryan Sullivan, and also performed well in the leagues he competed in.

I too have very high regard for Lukas, but since his injury problems last year he has not been half the rider he was before.

He had a disasterous season in the GP series and his league average has fallen dramatically.

I think it is a sensible decision to leave him out of the series next year to give him a chance to regain his fitness, confidence or whatever has been lacking this year.

I would still expect him to make at least one wildcard appearance, and if he does well there, then more could come later.

 

I also agree that Rune Holta had a similar case to Ryan Sullivan, and there was probably very little to choose between them. The fact that Ryan finished above Rune in the season standings is probably the only reason that he received the place.

 

As to future participation in the Grand Prix series, I think only the top four, or six, should qualify automatically and greater scope should be allowed for qualification tournaments - perhaps a further six riders.

I think that the field for next seasons GP series probably has about the top 13 or 14 riders in the World at the moment.

If you were going to offer more places for the qualifiers, then more current GP riders would race in qualifying rounds, putting an even greater strain on the National Leagues (especially the British one).

As it is, there will be no qualifying rounds next year, and I personally don't think that is necessarily a bad thing.