24th August 2013 Gp Challenge @ Poole

[Crazy robin]

gate 4 looked impossible all night. shame that happened on such a big night as some riders would have had 2 gate 4's so chances of a good score were reduced

 

Gate 4 is always a graveyard at Poole even on a good night.

[david2905]

Absolutely chuffed for Smolinski having the season of his life, the simple fact is he was good enough to qualify and others were not, he deserves to be and indeed is there on merit, give the guy credit, yes the GP's is a huge step up, but did you think he'd be mixing it with and beating the best in the EL back in March ?.

[Dave_minall]

One hopes that Kasprzak doesn't make the top 8, and that nobody is ruled out of next year through injuries.

 

Really can't be doing with seeing Bomber saying 'bad one for me tonight, will try to sort it out for next one' every 2 weeks.

 

In other news, congrats to Smolinski, he deserves the qualification.

[a4poster]

Hi couldn't make it last night. Regardless of the winners etc, what was the standard of the racing like? Usually this meeting is quite cut-throat.

[Brummie Boy]

I like what I've seen of Smolinski in the Elite League, I like his character to, always interviews well, but this is a massive step up, equipment will be a factor and from what I gather he's not known for having the best kept machinery.

 

Not sure where you have gathered that, as from what I have heard and seen his bikes and equipment appear to be first class. Provided Martin gets into next year's GP; BSI may yet decide to use Iversen's spot to get someone like Gollob back in, I think Smoli will do justice to his inclusion. Maybe not a top eight, but probably there or there abouts. He can ride both big and small tracks (except those odd ones like Eastbourne and Lakeside) and should regularly score points. Given the right backing from his German sponsors he should definitely be competitive equipment wise.

[Gavan]

Well 2 members of my family went to this meeting and have never been so disappointed.

I have to work on Saturdays so no chance of me going.

 

How do Poole get such a big meeting the track is bordering on farcical. It was apparantly a dustbowl and if in Gate 4 no chance. lets have a meeting like this on tracks in the u.k that are fit to stage it Peterborough or Kings Lynn.

 

Janowski rode theres a shock!! Disgusting that he pulls out on friday and lets his club down but happens all the time now with Poles (Skornicki the exception)

 

Kasprzak and Bjerre showing that yet again they are the best of the rest and hopefully puts an end to the argument that the like of Jepsen Jensen or Dudek should get in.

 

Jonasson on his home track was disappointing and proved that as an elite league reserve/second string that it would be a huge error to put him in ahead of the likes of Lindgren or Jonsson.

 

Janowski went missing in a big meeting and if he was in the gp's he would get outclassed pure and simple perhaps needa nother year to show he could be consistent.

 

2 Poles maybe 3 with Gollob means that there wont be anymore.

3 Danes also means no more

 

Holder Gollob Lindgren and Laguta for me

[Gavan]

Funny old meetinhg to be honest. Got there early expecting a huge crowd but in the end it was only slightly bigger than a usual Poole league meeting. Not that many travelling fans and some Poole fans are saving their money for the meeting tomorrow.

 

Iversen a cut above and the other 2 qualifiers desperately dull. KK rode well, make no mistake and was the second best rider on display. Bjerre got very lucky to get the final place. Harris had done all the hard work in 2 heats only for it to be called back. In the rerun he missed out. the dropped points would have put him into a run off with Bjerre.

 

The meeting ended in a complete damp squib. After 20 heats the tractor came out to prepare the track for a runoff and no one left, only for 5 minutes later the announcer to tell us the top three are sealed and there wouldn't be a runoff!

 

Certainly Harris deserved a run off as the most entertaining rider at the meeting. Guess he will miss out to the German ( who like Bjerre will bring nothing at all to the GP series IMO) on countback.

 

I am certabinly not a Harris fan both he and King got my full support last night and if either had qualified it would only be good for GB speedway. I don't give a hoot if he had qualified over Lars Edbergssonsenski or whoever. If he had finished top 3, good for him!

If you had asked before the meeting who the best 3 riders in the line up where most would said NKI KK and Bjerre and so it proved. Bjerre deserves his place end of discussion.

 

Why wont Smolinski do anything? I thought the same about Tai and look what he has done.

Sour grapes from a Poole fan about Smolinski qualifying when Janowski and Jonasson proved they not good enough ans basically Smolinski is better than both.

Janowski may 1 day make it but to much of a gating tart at the moment.

Jonasson is a second string at best in a sub standard Elite League and should be nowhere near a GP line up.

 

Poole track shouldnt hold these events its not up to standard.

[SteveLyric2]

Having sat through the meeting yesterday, I thought there were some very good races and some pretty poor ones!! The track wasn't at its best - in fact very similar to when Peterborough visited a fortnight or so ago - so no surprise that Bjerre qualified!! NKI was a class apart and a deserving winner and with KK bringing 2 new specially prepared engines, plus his full Polish pit crew - it was no surprise that he also qualified.

 

As far as supporting the riders was concerned, in a crowd with a fair number of Poole fans, the loudest cheers were certainly whenever King and Harris were on track. Other than that the German fans were the most vociferous followed by the Poles, all of whom found their own sections within the stadium - and there were no attempted invasions!!

 

Crowd size was 'reasonable' I would say although bigger than usual on bends 1/2. Grandstand was packed as was the restaurant stand (except for some of the places reserved for FIM!!) Was £25 too much for 20 heats, plus £4 for a programme - not if you think £17 is ok for EL meetings!!! (NB. Parking prices were increased, but that's not down to the Speedway bosses, that's the Grayhound owners!!)

[racers and royals]

 

 

Not sure where you have gathered that, as from what I have heard and seen his bikes and equipment appear to be first class. Provided Martin gets into next year's GP; BSI may yet decide to use Iversen's spot to get someone like Gollob back in, I think Smoli will do justice to his inclusion. Maybe not a top eight, but probably there or there abouts. He can ride both big and small tracks (except those odd ones like Eastbourne and Lakeside) and should regularly score points. Given the right backing from his German sponsors he should definitely be competitive equipment wise.

Bsi cannot use Iversen`s spot as you have suggested-If Iversen finishes in the top8 Smolinski will be full time GP rider in 2014.

[G the Bee]

It must be gutting to the riders that genuinely qualified for the meeting to find Harris now above them in the pecking order,but that's the Reason that speedway cannot be taken seriously sad times for the sport IMO

 

Why? Whether they qualified by the meeting by right or were handed a wildcard, it is how they performed in the meeting that counts and whether they like it or not, Bomber finished above them.

 

Anyway, surely it would be no more galling than it would be for a hypothetical rider who genuinely qualified for this seasons GP seeing a rider who was handed a wildcard for the series becoming World Champion.

 

And I bet not a single person on here will begrudge Tai a World Championship win (if it happens - fingers crossed) because he was gifted a position in this year's GP series.

[Ghostwalker]

Why? Whether they qualified by the meeting by right or were handed a wildcard, it is how they performed in the meeting that counts and whether they like it or not, Bomber finished above them.

 

 

Actually its not because the gifted riders shouldn't be there in the first place. A rider like Pavlic was denied his go because the "need" of a local wild card.

Other riders were also denied their right to have a go because Chris Harris was given a place ahead of them when Zagar pulled out.

 

The whole point of a knock-out tournament is that when a competitor is knocked out he/she is knocked out from further participation of that tournament.

Harris was knocked out by scoring only 4p in the quarterfinal but still "miraculously" found his way into the Grand Prix challenge.

 

I also think that the wild cards for the Grand Prix series is slightly different because there is no list in which order the wild cards should be handed out (unlike the qualification process)

and Tai have ridden very well over the entire season and he have not achieved his results in an one off meeting but rather in a series of meetings.

[P T Preece]

Enjoyed the meeting. but feel let down as we still dont know apart from Bjerre who will be in the SGP next season.

I think the blokes in the GP shouldent be able to go through the qualifiers.

After all they have 12 rounds of the GP season to prove they are good enough to be in it in the first place.

[Gavan]

Enjoyed the meeting. but feel let down as we still dont know apart from Bjerre who will be in the SGP next season.

I think the blokes in the GP shouldent be able to go through the qualifiers.

After all they have 12 rounds of the GP season to prove they are good enough to be in it in the first place.

Dont agree with this but all entitled to an opinion.

 

I think if a rider finishes 9th or 10th and dont get a wildcard why shouldnt they have the opportunity to try and qualify? Don think those who finish 9th-15th should automatically be excluded from trying to qualify.

 

Personally i wou;d almost go the other way and say people on the cusp like a Lindgren or a Jonsson should do the qualifiers even Tai at the start of the season.

 

As much as i despise KK's blatant disregard for British Speedway and the fans he had 2 new engines for last night and his full Polish pit crew so fair play to him and Iversen in doing the qualifiers making certain of a place. More fool someone like Lindgren whose place could be in jeopardy

[flagrag]

With Chris Holder guaranteed a wild card selection for 2014 I wonder whether Chris Harris will accept the chance to ride in the NZ GP with all the expense and travel involved ? As Chris Holder has openly said he expects to miss this and possibly 1 or 2 more

[pandorum]

Actually its not because the gifted riders shouldn't be there in the first place. A rider like Pavlic was denied his go because the "need" of a local wild card.

 

 

The whole point of a knock-out tournament is that when a competitor is knocked out he/she is knocked out from further participation of that tournament.

Harris was knocked out by scoring only 4p in the quarterfinal but still "miraculously" found his way into the Grand Prix challenge.

 

But did not Jurica once get exactly the same wild card as Chris by virtue of the fact his Dad owned the track?

Of course it's unfair and of course it's stupid but don't blame Harris for the silly rules.

He has benefitted the same as others before him and been given a 2nd bite of the cherry he did not deserve.

Someone was going to take that spot and when it came to Harris he grabbed it.

Blame the rule not the rider

[Mixy230]

Its just another silly Speedway rule!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Harris was given the chance and took it (Who wouldnt?) I do not blame him at all.

And on his day he can mix it with the best! (Its just he does not have enough of the good days)

[mrlincolncity]

Thats rubbish!!! British people allways hammer there own sportsmen/women. Look at football, rugby, tennis. Simple fact is Harris has been afforded more charity! Why does this keep happening?? How often will it keep happening?? Its embarassing

 

Disagree mate. Yes we have a moan, and the tabloids hammer our sportsmen/women. But tell me how many englishmen go to the pub on a world cup match and support the opposition? Hpw many do at wimbledon when henman used to play? Ryder cup? Ashes? Rugby?? Not many! Speedway? Happens all the time. Look at cardiff. Brits cheering and wavin danish flags! Australian flags! Sorry mate your the one talking rubbish

 

Edited August 25, 2013 by mrlincolncity

[Ghostwalker]

But did not Jurica once get exactly the same wild card as Chris by virtue of the fact his Dad owned the track?

Of course it's unfair and of course it's stupid but don't blame Harris for the silly rules.

He has benefitted the same as others before him and been given a 2nd bite of the cherry he did not deserve.

Someone was going to take that spot and when it came to Harris he grabbed it.

Blame the rule not the rider

 

Yes he did and I didn't like it then either. This year though there are also allot of other riders who finished ahead of Harris in the qualification who got overlooked/wasn't asked.

I am of the same opinion when it comes to Freddie Lindgren, who 5 out of 6 times have failed to make the top 8.

Yet doesn't bother with doing the qualifications and for that one can only blame him for not doing it.

You could claim that Freddie have a busy schedule with his three leagues, but Iversen is doing four leagues and still have managed to win the Grand Prix.

[Starman2006]

Funny old meetinhg to be honest. Got there early expecting a huge crowd but in the end it was only slightly bigger than a usual Poole league meeting. Not that many travelling fans and some Poole fans are saving their money for the meeting tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Majority of the regular poole fans wern't there Steve. But im sure they will be back tomorrow.

[spook]

Definitely not, You should remember that Harris actually was knocked out in the QF and he was given a pick for this meeting,

Besides from finishing 5th yesterday he haven't really shown anything that could warrant a pick. The same goes for Lindgren and Jonsson.

 

Harris (and Lindgren) have had enough wild cards and there are several other riders that would deserve a pick well ahead of him.

 

Riders like,Patryk Dudek, Pz Pawlicki, Michael Jepsen Jensen, Grigorij Laguta.

 

Both MJJ and Pz Pawlicki qualified by merit for the Gp.Ch. however Pz (not Piotr) Pawlicki was injured and could not participate.

 

Regarding late pull outs, surely it would be possible to have a rule that said that they could not ride anywhere else for a week.

If the riders is injured it won't make difference since they won't be able to ride anyway while a non-injured riders will be affected.

 

Then like J.T and Philiprising said, those who are given a charity pick for the final should not be allowed to qualify.

It should only be those who have qualified that should be allowed to be eligible to get into the Grand Prix.

 

but we arent blind to the quota system that has clearly been in place for the last decade are we Ghostwalker? In the end we are just banging on about nothing if we refuse to see it. We know that there are no red tinted spectacles here involving a true path to world championship glory. Instead we have organisers, sponsors, big stadiums to fill, tv companies to satisfy etc etc

 

There are guys on here who will swear blind that the old world finals were better despite what amounted to about 6 no hopers in any given year because of a lop sided qualification system that served quota.

 

It is unlikely that any of the riders that you have mentioned as above Bomber, Lindgren or Jonsson will be chosen, purely because of quota. There are now likely to be 3 Danes, 3 Poles, & a huge question mark as to how a Russian suits IMG and the SGP when the same Russian has had visa issues and pulled out of IMG & FIM meetings before. I get the feeling that IMG's russian quota value is currently zero (edit: oops one!). History dictates that IMG live and breathe their national quota system no matter how some of us see the speedway world as one rainbow nation, or despise the corporate values. In fact I suspect they are probably quite proud of it this year of all years considering Tai's wildcard was so universally jarring when it was announced.

 

I dont think it is ideal, but we do generally get the best riders in the world riding in the competition. I am more than happy when GB once again has the best riders in the world, that Poland, Sweden & Denmark get the odd wildcard handout

 

unless something changes like a retirement I think it is odds on that Bomber or THJ get the final wildcard (along with Holder, Gollob & Lindgren)................... and mostly because of quota

Edited August 25, 2013 by spook