German Gp Wild Card Goes To Smolinski

[German Speedway Fan]

16 MARTIN SMOLINSKI

 

17 Tobias Kroner

18 Max Dilger

 

 

[schumi]

No surprise there then. But Max Dilger at reserve and no place for Kevin? As the newly crowned German Champion I'd have thought he'd have got the nod over the junior champ.

[Blazeaway]

What a great wildcard.

 

Just because it's in Germany did they really have to pick a German?

 

Surely Sajfudtinov or Holder would have been a better bet.

[Mr Bee]

What a great wildcard.

 

Just because it's in Germany did they really have to pick a German?

 

Surely Sajfudtinov or Holder would have been a better bet.

 

 

What a stupid post.

 

So when we have no brits in it next year, who do you want as a wild card at Cardiff?

 

An aussie, another Pole, a Dane, perhaps a Russian!!!

 

Granted Martin isnt going to win the event, but maybe, just maybe, the German fans will want to cheer him on.

[schumi]

Granted Martin isnt going to win the event, but maybe, just maybe, the German fans will want to cheer him on.

Thats exactly why they've done it the "usual" way. The Super Prix ( ) is supposed to attract us foreigners, but there would have been nothing to encourage the locals. I don't disagree with them choosing German riders, but I'd query one of their picks.

Edited September 17, 2008 by schumi

[Blazeaway]

What a stupid post.

 

So when we have no brits in it next year, who do you want as a wild card at Cardiff?

 

An aussie, another Pole, a Dane, perhaps a Russian!!!

 

Granted Martin isnt going to win the event, but maybe, just maybe, the German fans will want to cheer him on.

 

Do you have to be so rude?

 

I would want riders that might just ruffle the feathers of the established line up. Not riders picked because it might put a few thousand extra on the gate. Have you seen the wildcard for Italy? A Premier League reserve FFS, hardly represntative of a World Championship.

 

I'm sure Crump was a wildcard at a British GP at some point, but not 100% on that one.

 

Just my opinion of course however "stupid" it may be.

[Paddi]

Not riders picked because it might put a few thousand extra on the gate.

 

Another stupid line.

[Blazeaway]

Another stupid line.

 

 

Why?

[21st century heathen]

I'm sure Crump was a wildcard at a British GP at some point, but not 100% on that one.

 

I disagree entirely with your opinion as putting bums on seats has to be the priority, but you're right about Crump. He was the wild card for the British GP in '95. Aged just 19, perhaps we were trying to convince him to swap his flag?

[f-s-p]

Do you have to be so rude?

 

I would want riders that might just ruffle the feathers of the established line up. Not riders picked because it might put a few thousand extra on the gate. Have you seen the wildcard for Italy? A Premier League reserve FFS, hardly represntative of a World Championship.

Waaayyyyyyyyy out of his depth in the SGP qualifying semi at Terenzano, apparently his home track.

[Blazeaway]

Waaayyyyyyyyy out of his depth in the SGP qualifying semi at Terenzano, apparently his home track.

 

 

Apparently that's not important.

[pugwash]

I would prefer to see a "form" man as wildcard any time over a national second rater.

Hans was a "form" rider last year, came into the GP as danish wildcard and also as a reserve and didn't he do a good job!

Some of the wild cards that we've had from division 2 countries such as Czecho, Italy, Great Britain etc have been totally crap.

[Mr Bee]

Why?

 

Cant believe you even have to ask "why" the line "Not riders picked because it might put a few thousand extra on the gate" is stupid.

 

So you would rather a Stadium be empty then, than have just one rider representing the nation that the GP is held in?

 

You may as well not have a German Speedway GP if you don’t want that extra few thousand on the gate. Speedway is hardly a sport that can turn people away is it?

 

We have had a wild card nomination for years, and I see no problem with a rider from the host nation taking part, no matter what his ability.

 

If it puts bums on seats than that’s a good thing. You never know, there maybe the odd one or two Patriotic German fans cheering him on.

 

Out of interest which part of Denmark are you from?

 

 

 

 

[Subedei]

Hans was a "form" rider last year, came into the GP as danish wildcard and also as a reserve and didn't he do a good job!

 

That was in 2006.

 

[Blazeaway]

Cant believe you even have to ask "why" the line "Not riders picked because it might put a few thousand extra on the gate" is stupid.

 

So you would rather a Stadium be empty then, than have just one rider representing the nation that the GP is held in?

 

You may as well not have a German Speedway GP if you don’t want that extra few thousand on the gate. Speedway is hardly a sport that can turn people away is it?

 

We have had a wild card nomination for years, and I see no problem with a rider from the host nation taking part, no matter what his ability.

If it puts bums on seats than that’s a good thing. You never know, there maybe the odd one or two Patriotic German fans cheering him on.

 

Out of interest which part of Denmark are you from?

 

So you think Franchetti deserves his place in the Italian GP?

 

I fail to believe the inclusion of a rider based on Nationality has that much of an affect on the gate.

 

Not from Denmark but a fan of Nicki P. Although I don't see how that is relevant.

 

[schumi]

I fail to believe the inclusion of a rider based on Nationality has that much of an affect on the gate.

It wouldn't in countries like Poland and Britain, where speedway is relatively well known and a lot of people attend the GPS, but to smaller countries, like Italy and Germany they need to get the sport on the map, so to speak.

[Blazeaway]

It wouldn't in countries like Poland and Britain, where speedway is relatively well known and a lot of people attend the GPS, but to smaller countries, like Italy and Germany they need to get the sport on the map, so to speak.

 

 

Perhaps but I still fail to see that a "local" rider poodling around at the back will achieve that.

[21st century heathen]

Didn't we all say the same about Hefe last season, and he popped out the gate and won heat one to a huge reception from the Germans?

[Mr Bee]

So you think Franchetti deserves his place in the Italian GP?

 

I fail to believe the inclusion of a rider based on Nationality has that much of an affect on the gate.

 

Not from Denmark but a fan of Nicki P. Although I don't see how that is relevant.

 

 

If it gives the Italian Speedway fans a rider they can cheer on, then yes he deserves a go at it. He will never win it, but then Harris had a win last year and has done nothing since so who knows

 

They see more of Franchetti than they do any of the other 15 riders on show, so its a name they recognise and it may put that few extra thousand on the gate that you don’t care about.

 

Britain, Germany and Italy all need a home rider on show. IMO, I think not having a home rider in the GP's that are hosted by smaller Speedway nations would harm the crowd.

 

But who knows.

 

Maybe if they included Holder in the German GP at the expense of Martin, then they would attract a large portion of the 10,000 Poole faithful that attend Poole every week.

 

Personally speaking, I would scrap the qualifying system to get into Speedway GP. At the moment we have six good GP riders, Nicki, Gollob, Adams, Greg, Hans and Crump. AJ occasionally pops his head in to see what’s going on......decides he isn’t interested after all and settles for 8 or 9 points. Then we have position number 8 that the also rans fight over. I would go with the top eight from the previous year and then pick the rest as Wild Cards for the following year. So in short, each GP is made up of the previous years eight, seven permanent Wild Cards and one host nation Wild Card. Most of the seven permanent Wild Cards would logically pick themselves, i.e. Holder who has performed well in all his domestic leagues and was robbed of his place in the Challenge last week because of a fall or engine failure I think in his qualifying round. No doubt he deserves a crack at it next year.

 

If the British GP didn’t have a British rider next year, I would be interested to see what the crowd was like. I don’t think Nicholls or Harris deserve nomination for next years series, as neither have done anything to shout about this year. But Cardiff still needs a Brit to make up the crowd IMO. I have friends who make Cardiff the only Speedway event they attend all year. They are people that are not huge Speedway fans, but have come to recognise what a great day it is and more importantly come to cheer the British rider on at the end of it. If a Brit wasn’t in it they wouldn’t bother going. I bet that there are more people like that and I see no reason why that would be different in Germany or Italy.

 

But then In your world, Speedway doesn’t need that extra few thousand does it?

[pugwash]

That was in 2006.

Was it? Doesn't time fly?