The Cardiff Grand Prix Discussion Thread

[Fat Tractor Man]

 

 

Everyone can have their own spin on what happened but still turn up next year to go to what is the biggest and best G/P.

Obviously the track comments are the most important to me as I have helped Colin for the last four years and the biggest bee in my bonnet is the fact on Friday afternoon,at 3pm, there is a perfectly solid track properly prepared waiting for the G/P bandwagon on Sat night on the world stage.

5 30pm Fri we have a track totally knackered after 2 and a half hours of, imo.a totally unnecessary practice.

We have all heard riders say time after time the track is never the same on race day as it was on practice these guys are riding the same machines 4 or 5 times a week against the same riders 4 or 5 times a week so why bother.

The track at Parken proved you can have a good indoor meeting if you spend money on proper shale this material has been stored in a warehouse for at least 8 years and used only for G/P meetings.

Cardiff material is not shale it has virtually no clay content but as is normally the case its cheap cos it is from a quarry only 10 miles away.I totally agree we should make sure someone in the upper echelons of the G/P and British speedway promotions provide Colin with a decent material to work with.I know you guys and girls don,t enjoy seeing your favourite riders get hurt but it isn,t always us guys that are in the wrong although we are always the fall guys.

Answering the grading for the two semi,s, on Ole,s instruction after one rider (in the final) complained, we went the opposite way round two move the quite deep loose material out to the fence off the racing line, hope this answers the question. I think the track this year was the best its been as it didn,t cut up really badly until the last third of the meeting but as I said earlier when you got c**p material it aint gonna stay in the cost of transporting proper stuff into Wales now the fuel as gone through the roof is going to be a big problem for all promoters but its got too be done

I am looking forward too next year already ,if I get asked after this long post, as there is no where in the G/P calendar that matches the BRITISH cheers folks Mick

[goosebump]

i think it is safe to say that pinny easily beat paulco in the very highly awaited drinking contest, as expected

[marron]

Posted this on Bears forum, my views on the meeting:

 

Just got back, racing wasn't very good but there was alot of incident.

 

When both Adams and Bjarne were excluded the ref should have excluded Nicki, he tried to cut accross everyone on both occasions and was not quick enough. Both Bjarne and Adams kept their line and were wrongly punished.

 

In one of the heats Nicki appeared to touch the tapes and was let off, wrongly again.

 

Dissapointing to see Scotty go through the tapes in the final but with money on Crump, he was the next best thing to a Brit winning (wont mention the £2.50 e/w we had on Kennett).

[John Leslie]

Or was it just because Scott was excluded first??

Yes.

[Nevs]

Is it right that Pedersen came third on the night but wont get any extra points from the final itself as he was excluded.?

[KrisB]

Is it right that Pedersen came third on the night but wont get any extra points from the final itself as he was excluded.?

Yes

[spin king]

i think it is safe to say that pinny easily beat paulco in the very highly awaited drinking contest, as expected

 

That is a surprise as I would have put my money on the older experienced Paulco, proves that Pinny must be good at something then.

[goosebump]

well paulco was bladdered by 7 and didnt consume one drink between then and midnight, will be interesting to hear both of their opinions

[spook]

Answering the grading for the two semi,s, on Ole,s instruction after one rider (in the final) complained, we went the opposite way round two move the quite deep loose material out to the fence off the racing line, hope this answers the question.

 

good post FTM and it is nice to get some extra info............ it doesnt suprise me at all that the materials are substandard

 

feeling like giving us a hint as to who the rider was? Or can we safely assume he is 'close' to Olsen?

 

[shortoi]

I didn't think Nicki was excluded?

 

Or is 'retiring' / being lapped (technically he was I suppose!) an automatic exclusion?

[spin king]

well paulco was bladdered by 7 and didnt consume one drink between then and midnight, will be interesting to hear both of their opinions

 

Big surprise there as I know Paul likes a sherbet or two, I would have definately put my money on him.

[colincooke]

well paulco was bladdered by 7 and didnt consume one drink between then and midnight, will be interesting to hear both of their opinions

I'd put me well earned's on Paulco anyday.

[Jacques]

I'd put me well earned's on Paulco anyday.

 

So would I....

 

I suspect Pinstripe whoops Goosebump is on a wind up

 

[spin king]

So would I....

 

I suspect Pinstripe whoops Goosebump is on a wind up

 

So Mr Goosebump's identity has been revealed.

[Lioness]

you've been VERY slow on the uptake Spinny - not like you!

 

[Gemini]

cheers but how on earth did it fall off? the size of it could have been very dangerous

It's only a bit of foam rubber!

 

Sorry I've got a bit confused here. Are we still talking about Nicki Pedersen or something else?

 

I was sat next to an absolute idiot of a Polish man who was swearing at all the Brits and booed when Harris got up from that crash, he also swore all the way through Land of Hope and Glory, didn't stand up for the national anthems and smoked all over me.

 

You should have reported him to the stewards Shortoi. It spoils it when you have someone like that sitting next to you. I must admit when in the city centre earlier on I was hoping I didn't end up sitting anywhere near some of the fans I saw.

It was great to meet Seb the Snail, Rob Peasley & Badge for the first time at The Prince of Wales. Also Rico (not for the 1st time apparently) Joanne, KevH, Matt Davis, Nevs, London Witch, Sandie, Nickie, SCB, Reckless Eric, Silver Bee, Shazzybird (loved what she was drinking after she gave me a sip and I might get hooked on that.) Apologies if I've missed anyone.

Thoroughly enjoyed the G.P. It had everything - good racing, controversy, great music, incidents, sadness, strange decisions. I won't expand any further because everything has been covered already. Best man on the night won. WELL DONE JASON.

Edited June 29, 2008 by Gemini

[John Hannibal Thomas]

I thought the meeting was a farce, two riders had more luck than anyone else in Hancock & Crump in the gates they had.

Red & Yellow won almost every race!

 

time for cardiff to be scrapped, wembley beckons?

[Sajenkin]

A cheat no, a winner yes. Leigh was a touch unlucky with both decisions yesterday but thats racing. He had ample opportunity to gain enough points to make the semis but failed as usual when the going got tough.

In the first exc Leigh knew that he had to get across in front of NP. He swept across the field in a desperate attempt to block Nicki but didnt get there. I was sat bang in front of the riders when Leigh took Nickis front wheel away. IMHO Leigh had to go - he was off line and made a move that he wasnt entitled to do if he couldnt get clear of the field. The same thing happened later in the meeting and the ref excluded the lead rider - dont we expect consistency from our refs?

Nicki had a tough night and was dumped on the shale in a variety of incidents that were NOT of his making - and fair play to him for dragging his bike off the track to allow a race that he had no interest in from being stopped (incidentally where were the marshalls?). Nicki has faults but on this occasion the boos and jeers were totally unjustified - and if he was a Brit there would have been a completely different reaction.

I am no fan of NP, although I do enjoy riders who will mix it - unlike Crump who tries to mix it but when it goes wrong is a bigger whinger than any of them - its NEVER his fault! If we are looking for riders that can take speedway to the public then look no further than Nicki, Tomas and Bomber. They are riders of grit - hard men who expect nothing from their opponents, and that is what speedway is about.

The track was poor but it was the same for everyone and there were riders who were able to pass. It seems so obvious to me though - more dirt makes for better racing. Ok - it can make it hard work for the riders, but its not meant to be a walk in the park is it? Surely we WANT races where the poor gater has a chance, and that will never happen when the track is slick and smooth.

The system means that riders are more likely to sit back and settle for a point until later inthe programme when they know what they have to do - think back to the life and death battles of the old "eliminator" system. Now THERE was a format that focussed the riders - its a damn shame it was changed because of a few prima donna's who realised that they could be out after 3 rides and they felt too important to be dumped out.

Olsen did the sport a great service by introducing the GP, but sadly he has reverted to type ever since - preferring to side with a cluster of priveleged riders rather than recognising the importance of serving up a spectacle.

[Steve Shovlar]

In the first exc Leigh knew that he had to get across in front of NP. He swept across the field in a desperate attempt to block Nicki but didnt get there. I was sat bang in front of the riders when Leigh took Nickis front wheel away. IMHO Leigh had to go - he was off line and made a move that he wasnt entitled to do if he couldnt get clear of the field. The same thing happened later in the meeting and the ref excluded the lead rider - dont we expect consistency from our refs?

Nicki had a tough night and was dumped on the shale in a variety of incidents that were NOT of his making - and fair play to him for dragging his bike off the track to allow a race that he had no interest in from being stopped (incidentally where were the marshalls?). Nicki has faults but on this occasion the boos and jeers were totally unjustified - and if he was a Brit there would have been a completely different reaction.

 

What a crock of cr@p. Adams and B Pedersen did absolutely nothing wrong. They were both victim of a ref who wanted to go down in the hall of fame as the most inept referee ever to grace the GP stage.

[tigerblues]

Was my first Cardiff GP and thought, away from the racing tbh, it was awesome. Cut it a bit fine on the way there having got a puncture on the car just coming off the motorway a few miles from the park & ride and being stuck at the side of the road for a good 2 hours, plenty of speedway fans drove past us who I did recognise in Cardiff but got back on our way after a bit of a wait and got there in great timing. Atmosphere before was something else, inside the stadium was just incredible. Will be going back next year for that alone I think.

 

As for the meeting, what can I say that won't have been mentioned. Track was a disgrace, referee controversial as ever. Crump deserved the win, he is well back in it now, and Hancock rode well. Nicki was lucky as it gets. Gollob needed a good round to keep himself in it and didn't deliver one. Bjarne found his GP form. Harris was riding well until a nasty crash which he was probably lucky to get up from. Nicholls rode well but typical Brit to blow the chance. Although ref held tapes for what felt like a lifetime, wasn't impressed.

 

Anyway to sum it up, as a GP it wasn't great, as a day it was absolutely awesome!