G P Qualifier

[Dekker]

If we are on a youth policy for the future, prove it and bring the youngsters into the world cup team!

Or even Poole.

[Bagpuss]

What has Danny King got to do with the GP qualifiers pick?

 

The kid couldn't even qualify for the British final so he can't be that good. He is of no relevance in this debate. Usual sulking from Ippo fans.

 

Talking rubbish as well. Ed is at no.2 and King is at reserve for the second year in a row(or is it third now?), which is a massive difference. Oh and and Ed has a higher average in the PL.

 

Agree completely with Middlo's decision to choose the next in line. What would be the point in sending a 40 year old wobbler and Lanham, who can only ride Arena to represent us?

 

Richardson on form can qualify and it will give a youngster like Ed good experience for future years.

 

Well done Middlo.

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1. Maybe the only reason Ed Kennett qualified was that the Semi was on his own track (not arguing about the venue as Rye do more than anyone to produce British talent and therefore deserve to hold such a meeting)

 

2. If there was an agenda as to who would go through anyway then why label the British Final as a 'qualifier' as such? I hope those interested who finished above the riders chosen (ie Lanham et al) kick up a fuss

 

3. Lanham must be able to ride Belle Vue as well as a Arena to have finished where he did you berk

 

4. While King has no relevance to this debate the decision to make EK (or indeed Bridger as originally intended) Cardiff reserve ahead of him stunk to high heaven consdering Danny finished ahead of them both in the U21 Final. I'm all for helping British youngsters more but I wish it was spread out evenly and they were all treated the same

[Laser558]

What would have happened if Smith had finished fourth? Would Middlo have replaced him?

 

This decision just makes speedway a laughing stock. Richardson is a p.ss poor rider at present and should not be given a helping hand. He should do it the hard way otherwise all the other talent further down the scale will need kiss Middlo's a..se to get anywhere. As for Kennett well he is part of that family dynasty and has close links with Middlo. No more need be said.

 

I use to have some respect for Middlo but clearly he has brought the sport in to disrepute and true fans should stand up protest at the highest level in support of Smith who has served the speedway well despite some very difficult times both professionally and personally which is more than can be said for the two mates that Middlo has picked.

[Dekker]

So that 2 asses kids have to kiss now, in Oakes and now Middlo?

[Cliv Clav]

Can someone please post Leigh Lanham's results from the British Final/Championship of GB over the years please? Thanks.

[Jeff.]

What would have happened if Smith had finished fourth? Would Middlo have replaced him?

 

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Of course he wouldnt have replaced him if he qualified, but he didnt did he, he went out at the British Final stage. Of course now certain qualifiers have withdrawn then a selection process is necessary to replace them. One method of doing that could have been to select the next in line at the British Final, another method is pick your mate. I prefer the next in line option myself but at the end of the day Andy went out at Belle Vue. I think this whole thing makes an even bigger mockery of the sport. Cant think of another sport where this would be allowec to happen, if a rider qualifies then he races in the next round, barring injury of course

[willp]

Totally agree with everybody on this subject.

 

smithy and leigh lanham should both be in the qualifers. It just makes the support look a farce and people wonder why crowds at some tracks are down!

 

if the british final was advertised as a qualifier for the gp then it should be a qualifer! ok smithy is 40 but wouldn't it have been nice to see him get in with the big boys and show them what he's made of!

 

leigh lanham definatly deserved his chance, i think he's a very underrated rider. He has a higher average than many other british riders who are in the swc squad and deserves a chance.

 

well, lee and eddie may have been 'SEEDED' but let's just face it, they won't get through to the gp's next season anyway!

[DartfordHammer]

3. Lanham must be able to ride Belle Vue as well as a Arena to have finished where he did you berk

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Was just about to say that! The British Final wasn't at Arena, and Lanham finished ahead of Kennett and Richardson.

 

Kennett will learn his experience over time, at the moment he's being given every opportunity available, whereas someone like Danny King is actually seemingly being ignored. I'm not saying King is a better rider, but the way 'opportunities' are being dealt out doesn't exactly scream of fair play.

[Cliv Clav]

Leigh Lanham finished in the top 6 at Coventry and Eastbourne too when the British Final/Championship of GB was staged there, I believe, as well as Belle Vue this year.

[pcthelegend]

I couldn't beleive it when I read that today, if Andy Smith wants to go to Slovakia or Hungary to do a qualifer then he should be allowed!

 

It's ridiculous that Middleditch has decided on Richardson and Kennett instead.

 

Whats the point of having qualifying from the Championship of Great Britian, might at well just do seedings instead!

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Spot on Rob ,i personally have nothing against Kennett but what is the obsession with him that the powers that be seem to have?

[Hazzman]

Another bad move by FIM in the GP Qualifiers is that the weakest qualifier has got six places for the grand final when a much harder semi at Tarnow only has 5 places, when the line-up there could easily be the grand final.

[Bagpuss]

i personally have nothing against Kennett but what is the obsession with him that the powers that be seem to have?

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I would like to point out the same before I get accused of bias against Rye

[SPEEDY69]

Once again 'selection' of a rider is very contentious. I feel really sorry for Andy Smith being ignored. Why should it be up to Middleditch? He is only the England team manager and not the spokesman for the BSPA - surely they should decide? As I have and others have said countless times before, the only fair way is for riders to battle it out on the track and qualify that way instead of being nominated.

 

The points about Danny King are valid here as well because as it's just down to nominations, whether they were in the British Final or not is immaterial. King is averaging much higher than Kennett and his selection for this, as well as the Cardiff wild card smacks of nepotism.

[Chris]

1. Maybe the only reason Ed Kennett qualified was that the Semi was on his own track (not arguing about the venue as Rye do more than anyone to produce British talent and therefore deserve to hold such a meeting)

 

2. If there was an agenda as to who would go through anyway then why label the British Final as a 'qualifier' as such? I hope those interested who finished above the riders chosen (ie Lanham et al) kick up a fuss

 

3. Lanham must be able to ride Belle Vue as well as a Arena to have finished where he did you berk

 

4. While King has no relevance to this debate the decision to make EK (or indeed Bridger as originally intended) Cardiff reserve ahead of him stunk to high heaven consdering Danny finished ahead of them both in the U21 Final. I'm all for helping British youngsters more but I wish it was spread out evenly and they were all treated the same 

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1. Erm Danny King rode at Rye for a whole season and couldn't qualify. Next.

 

2. Lanham and Smith didn't qualify. They finished 5th and 6th so went out. Understand? Where did it ever say that 5th and 6th would get the qualifier spots? Screen and Nicholls didn't want it and it was left to Middlo to make a choice.

 

3. The level of the British championship is quite frankly awful. Lanham is a poor speedway rider. Doesn't go off the white line, but with his experience should be able to finish fairly high against such a poor field of PL heatleaders and EL second strings. Go look at his away scores this season and then you will see you are the berk old boy.

 

4. Need to get this chip off your shoulder bout Ed's treatment. Ed in the last two years has finished as 5th and 6th best rider in Britain. What other youngsters have done that? Where has King been? Oh didn't qualify for both. Lawson? Not good enough to get a qualifier place. Wright? Oh didn't qualify. Wilson? Ha Ha. Wouldn't qualify anywhere apart from Sheffield. He's averaging higher in the PL than all these riders and is now scoring points at no.2 in the EL. 3 times world under 21 finalist as well. Why take into account a meeting on a track he doesn't like? Is Ben Wilson a better rider cause he won that meeting? No of course he is not.

 

Ed has ridden under Middlo and he rates him highly. Some people can't get over that for some reason.

 

I'll say again well done Middlo. Where did it ever say 5th and 6th would be chosen? Smith and Lanham going would have been a waste of time.

[Old Saint]

Ed has ridden under Middlo and he rates him highly. Some people can't get over that for some reason.

 

I'll say again well done Middlo. Where did it ever say 5th and 6th would be chosen? Smith and Lanham going would have been a waste of time.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

So, on the basis of your argument, any rider who wants to get on should make sure that they ride for Poole at some point. I humbly suggest that that will severely limit the number of British riders who are likely to do well on the International scene.

[crazysue]

Strangely enough, on the day of the British Championship, Danny was riding in the U21 semi final in Lezno......qualifying for the final.

 

Unfortunately, he is not able to be in 2 places at one time.

[Bagpuss]

1. Erm Danny King rode at Rye for a whole season and couldn't qualify. Next.

 

2. Lanham and Smith didn't qualify. They finished 5th and 6th so went out. Understand? Where did it ever say that 5th and 6th would get the qualifier spots? Screen and Nicholls didn't want it and it was left to Middlo to make a choice.

 

3. The level of the British championship is quite frankly awful. Lanham is a poor speedway rider. Doesn't go off the white line, but with his experience should be able to finish fairly high against such a poor field of PL heatleaders and EL second strings. Go look at his away scores this season and then you will see you are the berk old boy.

 

4. Need to get this chip off your shoulder bout Ed's treatment. Ed in the last two years has finished as 5th and 6th best rider in Britain. What other youngsters have done that? Where has King been? Oh didn't qualify for both. Lawson? Not good enough to get a qualifier place. Wright? Oh didn't qualify. Wilson? Ha Ha. Wouldn't qualify anywhere apart from Sheffield. He's averaging higher in the PL than all these riders and is now scoring points at no.2 in the EL. 3 times world under 21 finalist as well. Why take into account a meeting on a track he doesn't like? Is Ben Wilson a better rider cause he won that meeting? No of course he is not.

 

Ed has ridden under Middlo and he rates him highly. Some people can't get over that for some reason.

 

I'll say again well done Middlo. Where did it ever say 5th and 6th would be chosen? Smith and Lanham going would have been a waste of time.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

1. Yes indeed he did! I'm not saying King should have been selected anyway

 

2. It didn't ever say that 5th and 6th would qualify as far as I am aware but the ONLY fair way to do it after Screen and Nicholls declined is surely to select the next two in the scorechart. Was it ever said that qualification may be left to one person's discretion?

 

3. I can't take this point seriously due to your obvious dislike of Lanham or indeed anything Arena Essex. True his away form doesn't pull up too many trees but he still finished ahead of the chosen two in the British Final! No doubt if Lanham was a Rye rider and EK wasn't you would still hold the same opinion

 

4. I have no chip on my shoulder, just observing (as have many others) that Kennett appears to be the favourite. Good luck to him but I personally don't think its fair. The reason I took the U21 final into account for Cardiff reserve selection is that the authorities obviously did when selecting Ben Wilson! If Bridger and Kennett were chosen as the two highest averaging young Englishmen then fair enough, I would have had absolutely no arguments.

 

Good luck to the chosen two in the qualifiers but I would imagine Lanham and Smith feel very miffed. Middlo obviously does rate EK very highly, so do I, but so too do I Danny King and James Wright and Steve B. I have nothing to 'get over' in that respect.

 

Happiness and joy to you old boy

Edited June 30, 2006 by Bagpuss

[rusky]

Agree completely with Middlo's decision to choose the next in line. What would be the point in sending a 40 year old wobbler and Lanham, who can only ride Arena to represent us?

 

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This is at best, laughable Chris, we are comparing Leigh Lanham who apparently only ride one track (at the highest level in the UK, by the way), to Edward Kenett, who apparently can ride more than 1 track ( not at the highest level in the UK).

 

There can be no doubt, that if he wanted it, Leigh Lanham should have been given this chance, as he fully deserved it by finishing in a higher position in the qualifying meeting.

[DartfordHammer]

2. Lanham and Smith didn't qualify. They finished 5th and 6th so went out. Understand? Where did it ever say that 5th and 6th would get the qualifier spots? Screen and Nicholls didn't want it and it was left to Middlo to make a choice.

 

It's common sense, Chris. 2 of the top 4 aren't interested, you take the next two down. You don't pick and choose because they had an 'off' day; a qualifier is a qualifier, and Lanham and Smith finished ahead of Kennett and Richardson. Thus, they should be chosen.

 

3. The level of the British championship is quite frankly awful. Lanham is a poor speedway rider. Doesn't go off the white line, but with his experience should be able to finish fairly high against such a poor field of PL heatleaders and EL second strings. Go look at his away scores this season and then you will see you are the berk old boy.

 

Hmm, take a look at this 'research' I just conducted:

Leigh Lanham

Eastbourne 6 (4)

Poole 5 (5)

Peterborough 4+1 (4)

Ipswich 2 (4)

Belle Vue 11 (6)

Reading 6 (4)

Coventry 6 (5)

Wolves 5+1 (4)

Swindon 4+1 (5)

Eastbourne 8 (6)

Poole 5+1 (5)

Ipswich 3+1 (5)

 

Edward Kennett

Reading: 4+1 (5)

Ipswich 3 (5)

Wolves 5+1 (5)

Arena 5 (4)

Swindon 4 (5)

 

Away scores this season haven't been that bad. Better than Kennett's overall, wouldn't you say? He's ridden more meetings yes, but a poor speedway rider he is not. To even claim such a thing is pretty out of order, to be honest. Does that mean that every rider below his level (established second string in the Elite League) is a poor or worse rider? Man, that's a lot of rubbish riders down there. Rethink your words.

 

I'll say again well done Middlo. Where did it ever say 5th and 6th would be chosen? Smith and Lanham going would have been a waste of time.

 

Oh, and I suppose taking Richardson and Kennett is going to result in both of them reaching the GP's for next season? Yeah right. Smith and Lanham might not have gone beyond the GP qualifying point, but they should be given the opportunity which to be honest, is rightfully theirs. They earned it.

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[newbieoldboy]

Just glad to see Speedway is still all about who you know and not what you know