The World's Top Riders? - Gp & Challenge + Potential Wildcard Averages

[JT]

At the end of every Grand Prix season we debate who should line up at the start of the next season. The challenge usually gives us at least one dud and we all know Wild Card's have been given out in the past on the basis of nationality, but who ARE the top riders in the world?

 

Outside of the GP's, arguably the most accurate guide to a riders ability and consistency over a season is his form in league racing.

 

Below is list of the riders currently in the GP's, the Challenge (some are in both) and two riders who I deem most likely to receive a Wild Card in 2012 (Ward and Woffinden) and their averages across the three main leagues (Elite League, Elitserien and Ekstraliga).

 

Points, (Updated 2nd July 2012) thanks to the excellent www.aktuellspeedway.se site;

 

Top Riders in GP, Challenge & Potential Wild Cards (Ward, Woffinden and Laguta)

 

http://postimage.org/image/5qvgqu46r/

 

Apologies for the statistics overload, but if we presume Hampel, Ward, Woffinden and Vaculik will get wild cards (whatever the latter does at the Challenge) then the strongest 2013 line up will be;

 

Pos. Rider Meetings Ave

 

Current Top 8

1 Greg Hancock (USA) 18 8.71

2 Jason Crump (Australia) 19 7.79

3 Chris Holder (Australia) 33 9.52

4 Nicki Pedersen (Denmark) 19 9.93

5 Tomasz Gollob (Poland) 16 7.68

6 Freddie Lindgren (Sweden) 31 7.97

7 Emil Sayfutdinov (Russia) 19 8.47

8 Andreas Jonsson (Sweden) 19 9.45

 

Wild Cards

9 Jarek Hampel (Poland) 13 8.43

10 Darcy Ward (Australia) 22 10.25

11 Tai Woffinden (Great Britain) 12 7.80

12 Martin Vaculik (Slovakia) 19 7.78

 

GP Challenge top 3 based on current form

13 Niels Kristian Iversen (Denmark) 34 9.96

14 Hans Andersen (Denmark) 20 8.69

15 Davey Watt (Australia) 22 8.65

 

JT.

Edited July 2, 2012 by JT

[Arson fire]

At the end of every Grand Prix season we debate who should line up at the start of the next season. The challenge usually gives us at least one dud and we all know Wild Card's have been given out in the past on the basis of nationality, but who ARE the top riders in the world?

 

Outside of the GP's, arguably the most accurate guide to a riders ability and consistency over a season is his form in league racing.

 

Below is list of the riders currently in the GP's, the Challenge (some are in both) and two riders who I deem most likely to receive a Wild Card in 2012, Ward and Woffinden and their averages across the three main leagues (Elite League, Elitserien and Ekstraliga)

 

Statistics (Updated 2nd July 2012) thanks to the excellent www.aktuellspeedway.se site;

Pos. Rider Meetings Ave Top 8? GP or CH? 1 Darcy Ward (Australia) 22 10.25 2 Niels Kristian Iversen (Denmark) 34 9.96 CH 3 Nicki Pedersen (Denmark) 19 9.93 4 GP 4 Chris Holder (Australia) 33 9.52 3 GP 5 Andreas Jonsson (Sweden) 19 9.45 8 GP 6 Greg Hancock (USA) 18 8.71 1 GP 7 Hans Andersen (Denmark) 20 8.69 GP+CH 8 Davey Watt (Australia) 22 8.65 CH 9 Leon Madsen (Denmark) 19 8.57 CH 10 Emil Sayfutdinov (Russia) 19 8.47 7 CH 11 Jarek Hampel (Poland) 13 8.43 GP 12 Grzegorz Walasek (Poland) 19 8.29 CH 13 Matej Zagar (Slovenia) 11 8.09 CH 14 Freddie Lindgren (Sweden) 31 7.97 6 GP+CH 15 Michael Jepsen Jensen (Denmark) 30 7.97 CH 16 Tai Woffinden (Great Britain) 12 7.80 17 Jason Crump (Australia) 19 7.79 2 GP 18 Chris Harris (Great Britain) 26 7.78 GP 19 Martin Vaculik (Slovakia) 19 7.78 CH 20 Tomasz Gollob (Poland) 16 7.68 5 GP 21 Krzystof Kasprzak (Poland) 18 7.41 CH 22 Adrian Miedzinski (Poland) 28 7.32 CH 23 Bjarne Pedersen (Denmark) 15 7.12 GP 24 Jurica Pavlic (Croatia) 18 6.98 CH 25 Kenneth Bjerre (Denmark) 25 6.89 GP 26 Peter Ljung (Sweden) 8 6.82 GP+CH 27 Troy Batchelor (Australia) 24 6.65 CH 28 Martin Smolinski (Germany) 11 6.43 CH 29 Ales Dryml (Czech Republic) 8 6.38 CH 30 Antonio Lindback (Sweden) 8 4.88 GP+CH

 

On current form (i.e those currently in the top 8 and, the next 7 top league riders), those who 'deserve' a place are;

 

Pos. Rider Meetings Ave 1 Greg Hancock (USA) 18 8.71 2 Jason Crump (Australia) 19 7.79 3 Chris Holder (Australia) 33 9.52 4 Nicki Pedersen (Denmark) 19 9.93 5 Tomasz Gollob (Poland) 16 7.68 6 Freddie Lindgren (Sweden) 31 7.97 7 Emil Sayfutdinov (Russia) 19 8.47 8 Andreas Jonsson (Sweden) 19 9.45 9 Darcy Ward (Australia) 22 10.25 10 Niels Kristian Iversen (Denmark) 34 9.96 11 Hans Andersen (Denmark) 20 8.69 12 Davey Watt (Australia) 22 8.65 13 Leon Madsen (Denmark) 19 8.57 14 Jarek Hampel (Poland) 13 8.43 15 Grzegorz Walasek (Poland) 19 8.29 16 Matej Zagar (Slovenia) 11 8.09 17 Michael Jepsen Jensen (Denmark) 30 7.97 18 Tai Woffinden (Great Britain) 12 7.80 19 Chris Harris (Great Britain) 26 7.78 20 Martin Vaculik (Slovakia) 19 7.78 21 Krzystof Kasprzak (Poland) 18 7.41 22 Adrian Miedzinski (Poland) 28 7.32 23 Bjarne Pedersen (Denmark) 15 7.12 24 Jurica Pavlic (Croatia) 18 6.98 25 Kenneth Bjerre (Denmark) 25 6.89 26 Peter Ljung (Sweden) 8 6.82 27 Troy Batchelor (Australia) 24 6.65 28 Martin Smolinski (Germany) 11 6.43 29 Ales Dryml (Czech Republic) 8 6.38 30 Antonio Lindback (Sweden) 8 4.88

 

 

Apologies for the statistics overload, but if we presume Hampel, Ward, Woffinden and Vaculik will get wild cards (whatever latter does at the Challenge) then the strongest 2013 line up will be;

 

Pos. Rider Meetings Ave 1 Greg Hancock (USA) 18 8.71 2 Jason Crump (Australia) 19 7.79 3 Chris Holder (Australia) 33 9.52 4 Nicki Pedersen (Denmark) 19 9.93 5 Tomasz Gollob (Poland) 16 7.68 6 Freddie Lindgren (Sweden) 31 7.97 7 Emil Sayfutdinov (Russia) 19 8.47 8 Andreas Jonsson (Sweden) 19 9.45 Wild Cards 9 Jarek Hampel (Poland) 13 8.43 10 Darcy Ward (Australia) 22 10.25 11 Tai Woffinden (Great Britain) 12 7.80 12 Martin Vaculik (Slovakia) 19 7.78 GP Challenge 13 Niels Kristian Iversen (Denmark) 34 9.96 14 Hans Andersen (Denmark) 20 8.69 15 Davey Watt (Australia) 22 8.65

 

JT.

I gave up after Ekstraliga....

[LagutaRacingFan]

My Preferred Top 16 but it's doubtful

 

1. Greg Hancock

2. Nicki Pedersen

3. Jarek Hampel

4. Tomas Gollob

5. Andreas Jonasson

6. Emil Sayfutdinov

7. Chris Holder

8. Jason Crump

9. Grigory Laguta

10. Janusz Kolodziej

11. Michael Jepsen Jensen

12. Niels Kristian Iversen

13. Martin Vaculik

14. Macej Janowski

15. Darcy Ward

 

Now, THAT Would be a SGP series.

[JCookie]

1 #1 Greg Hancock 87 2 #4 Jason Crump 78 3 #8 Chris Holder 78 4 #10 Nicki Pedersen 72 5 #5 Tomasz Gollob

64 7 #6 Emil Sayfutdinov 58 8 #2 Andreas Jonsson 47 9 #3 Jaroslaw Hampel 46

 

 

Copied from the SpeedwayGP site. They are, IMO, the world's best. All the rest like Bjerre, Lindgren and Lindback are decent on their day and can win GPs but not regularly. The likes of Vaculik, Ward and G Laguta are also there or thereabouts.

[JT]

I gave up after Ekstraliga....

 

Yeah, sorry about that, copied it from a Spreadsheet. I've re-formatted it above!

 

JT.

Edited July 2, 2012 by JT

[SCB]

No Greg Laguta in your list?

[JT]

No Greg Laguta in your list?

 

Good point, totally forgot about him! Laguta is averaging 9.01 from 14 meetings, putting him at No.6 in the top 30.

 

Begs the question (again) whether a British rider should get a wild card? The organisers will surely hope Vaculik qualifies from the Challenge, allowing them to give Laguta and Woffinden the final two wild card slots.

 

JT.

Edited July 2, 2012 by JT

[HenryW]

For a comparison like this I am not sure that including the UK Elite League serves much purpose these days.

There are so few of the really top riders racing here and so many more meetings raced here that all it serves to do is skew the averages of the few that do race here.

[JT]

For a comparison like this I am not sure that including the UK Elite League serves much purpose these days.

There are so few of the really top riders racing here and so many more meetings raced here that all it serves to do is skew the averages of the few that do race here.

 

The top riders when you include Sweden and Poland only (Smolinski and Dryml don't ride in the top Polish and Swedish Leagues);

 

http://postimage.org/image/gzk64uz6j/

Edited July 2, 2012 by JT

[Kitch87]

So Walasek, Jepsen Jensen, Kasprzak, Madsen, Zagar should all be ahead of Hans and Watt on that list.

[manchesterpaul]

Below is list of the riders currently in the GP's, the Challenge (some are in both) and two riders who I deem most likely to receive a Wild Card in 2012 (Ward and Woffinden) and their averages across the three main leagues (Elite League, Elitserien and Ekstraliga).

 

For a comparison like this I am not sure that including the UK Elite League serves much purpose these days.

There are so few of the really top riders racing here and so many more meetings raced here that all it serves to do is skew the averages of the few that do race here.

 

A nice interesting thread, however i had presumed the author had done what i used too do years ago and provided weighting for the three leagues. Most sport ratings do so be it FIFA, ELO etc.

 

The flaw is clearly illustrated in that if a rider only does the British Elite League and averages 8.00, i can assure you he won't average 8.00 in the other leagues and would have a lower figure than the blanket average used above.

 

You don't necessarily have to rely on a personal judgement of the three leagues either. You can simply number crunch a fair sized sample and average out the differences etc.

 

One little side shot to come come out this could be if a rider is doing very well in the GP's and performing less than his rivals in the leagues. Then we can have a 'selfish rider of the year' category lol.

 

If you think about it, using ONLY the league averages in reality produces a ranking of the best LEAGUE riders. The GP series produces the best GP rider rankings. To get a best rider in the World ranking you'd either accept the GP results or combine GP and League results.

Edited July 3, 2012 by manchesterpaul

[Gavan]

No guarantee that Hampel wont make the top 8 he has time, however whoever drops down to 9th will be in again. The organisers are hoping Vaculik will get through the challenge then we can have the token british rider in lol

[richiej95]

My Preferred Top 16 but it's doubtful

 

1. Greg Hancock

2. Nicki Pedersen

3. Jarek Hampel

4. Tomas Gollob

5. Andreas Jonasson

6. Emil Sayfutdinov

7. Chris Holder

8. Jason Crump

9. Grigory Laguta

10. Janusz Kolodziej

11. Michael Jepsen Jensen

12. Niels Kristian Iversen

13. Martin Vaculik

14. Macej Janowski

15. Darcy Ward

 

Now, THAT Would be a SGP series.

 

That is pretty close to what I would like to see. However, would swap Janowski for Lindgren (don't think Janowski is quite ready yet).

[manchesterpaul]

That is pretty close to what I would like to see. However, would swap Janowski for Lindgren (don't think Janowski is quite ready yet).

 

Agree with your agreement of JJR's list with the swapping of Lindgren for Janowski - a massive no-brainer. I would also add the amendment that every round of the series is staged in the UK so that we have a British rider taking part in every round courtesy of the Wild Card nomination lol. Possibly have Tai Woffinden as the Wild Card in every round too.

Edited July 3, 2012 by manchesterpaul

[racers and royals]

My Preferred Top 16 but it's doubtful

 

1. Greg Hancock

2. Nicki Pedersen

3. Jarek Hampel

4. Tomas Gollob

5. Andreas Jonasson

6. Emil Sayfutdinov

7. Chris Holder

8. Jason Crump

9. Grigory Laguta

10. Janusz Kolodziej

11. Michael Jepsen Jensen

12. Niels Kristian Iversen

13. Martin Vaculik

14. Macej Janowski

15. Darcy Ward

 

Now, THAT Would be a SGP series.

 

Did you include no.5 because you couldn`t decide between AJ or THJ

[BigRackBandit]

Hopefully G Laguta gets an FIM pick for 2013

[T.N.T.]

This years top 8 should be (in any order)

 

01 - Greg Hancock

02 - Chris Holder

03 - Jason Crump

04 - Nicki Pedersen

05 - Tomasz Gollob

06 - Fredrik Lindgren

07 - Emil Sayfutdinov

08 - Andreas Jonsson

 

Wild Cards (almost certain)

 

09 - Jarek Hampel ........ due to injuries in 2012

10 - Darcy Ward ............ no brainer

11 - Tai Woffinden ........ The only Brit that can be selected

 

GP Challenge Qualifiers

12 -

13 -

14 -

 

Final Wild Card Nomination

15 - Martin Vaculik .............. If he fails to qualify

 

 

For me its pretty obvious who is going to fill 12 of the 15 places, its now sit back and see who qualifies ...... should Vaculik qualify from the GP Challenge then it would be a suprise to see the rider finishing 4th from the GPC going through also

 

 

Wouldn't mind Madsen, MJJ or Watt qualifying, but can see Kasprzak, Iversen and Lindback being spoilers

 

 

Either way, this wouldn't be too far off the top 15 riders

[JCookie]

Woffinden is not in the top 15 riders in the world.

[LagutaRacingFan]

What' this obsession with Vaculik? 1 good GP round and now he deserves a fulltime GP place.

 

http://postimage.org/image/gzk64uz6j/

[manchesterpaul]

Woffinden is not in the top 15 riders in the world.

 

Methinks neither is Chris Harris!

 

Although, eternal thanks for one of the greatest British sporting moments ever with his Cardiff win, thank you. What an eternal shame that the BBC on their Sportsman (or is is persons now?) Of The Year Award could not spare just over 60 seconds of footage that would have sent chills down the spine of any sports competitor in the audience and viewers at home. I still watch that race and think he won't win, total goosepimple stuff.