Wackie Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 Actually the GP's are more of a world championship than the 1 off world finals ever were. I went to quite a number of world finals between '78 and '94 and saw some right duffers riding in them who literally really were just making up the numbers. Rather than a world title being decided on chance or an act of fate we really do get a genuine deserved world champion. I'm not saying none of the riders who won world titles prior to 95 weren't deserving, but there were more than a few that were 'flukes'. Speedway Grand Prix still has an element of qualification, which is more than F1, MotoGP, WSB etc.have, but you wouldn't say that the likes of Alonson, Vettel, Rossi, Lorenzo, Fogarty or Bayliss weren't worthy world champions because they didn't qualify for their respective sports championship rounds, Each of them fought tooth & nail to lift their world title trophy, just as the speedway world champions since 1995 have. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 Actually the GP's are more of a world championship than the 1 off world finals ever were. I went to quite a number of world finals between '78 and '94 and saw some right duffers riding in them who literally really were just making up the numbers. Rather than a world title being decided on chance or an act of fate we really do get a genuine deserved world champion. I'm not saying none of the riders who won world titles prior to 95 weren't deserving, but there were more than a few that were 'flukes'. Speedway Grand Prix still has an element of qualification, which is more than F1, MotoGP, WSB etc.have, but you wouldn't say that the likes of Alonson, Vettel, Rossi, Lorenzo, Fogarty or Bayliss weren't worthy world champions because they didn't qualify for their respective sports championship rounds, Each of them fought tooth & nail to lift their world title trophy, just as the speedway world champions since 1995 have. I prefer the word 'surprise'. That is the beauty of Sport - you get surprises. Unless, of course, people are trying to 'fix' it so you don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted June 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 THE old chestnut rises from the ashes yet again ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wackie Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 I guess it's all down to personal taste, but I prefer to see a world champion who has earned that title riding against the best there is. The qualifying system for the old 1 off's with a certain amount of riders coming from the continental & intercontinental finals never provided finals which showcased all the best riders in the world at that time. In the past 40 years the continental final has provided 2 world champions - you may call them surprise winners, but both were flukes in my eyes, and what maybe 1 or 2 at most other medalists? People look back at the 1 off world finals (and I have some fantastic memories from some of them) with their rose tinted glasses, but the qualification for them was flawed in respect of quite a few duffers qualifying through the continental final who really didn't deserve to be there. I think this was addressed slightly in the last couple of years of the 1 offs with 2 semi finals being introduced to determine the world finalists, and I can only think of Thomas Gollob and maybe Armando Castagna from the continental rounds who qualified from these. THE old chestnut rises from the ashes yet again ... It's been a while, doesn't do any harm to throw the dinosaurs the odd bone now & then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manchesterpaul Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 THE old chestnut rises from the ashes yet again ... Dear God noooooo.....and if so....get it out of this thread and into it's own please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undercover Elephant Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 Nailed on, Darcy Ward Then MJJ and Vaculik, should he fail to make the 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 (edited) THE old chestnut rises from the ashes yet again ... "Tall oaks from little acorns grow." Edited June 7, 2013 by The White Knight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_martin Posted June 9, 2013 Report Share Posted June 9, 2013 Who gets the British Cardiff wildcard is down to one thing and one thing only...who gets most bums on seats. Forget romantic notions about who is on form, and who deserves it. And forget any fanciful ideas about it ever being linked in to the British final again. BSI are a business and they will care only about who will draw the crowd in and generate the most cash for them. As for the rest of the SGP series, my guess is that there won't be any more "token Brits" just for the sake of it. Any British rider who wants to get into the SGP series will have to be there on merit, either in Tai's case by being in the top 8, or in any other case by making it through the qualifiers. Relationships between BSI and BSPA are such that British Speedway is owed NO favours any more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted June 9, 2013 Report Share Posted June 9, 2013 But how BSI owes all our leagues! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattK Posted June 9, 2013 Report Share Posted June 9, 2013 But how BSI owes all our leagues! In the same way F1 "owes" karting or even the driving test? If the leagues cannot exploit the SGP, then they only have themselves to blame. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted June 9, 2013 Report Share Posted June 9, 2013 Speedway's soul sold. :sad: S**T!!! :mad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted June 9, 2013 Report Share Posted June 9, 2013 In the same way F1 "owes" karting or even the driving test? If the leagues cannot exploit the SGP, then they only have themselves to blame. Cannot compare! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullbore Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 my guess is that there won't be any more "token Brits" just for the sake of it. Any British rider who wants to get into the SGP series will have to be there on merit, either in Tai's case by being in the top 8, or in any other case by making it through the qualifiers. Wasn't there a large body of opinion that Tai was picked as a "token Brit" this year? Niamh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABS Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 MJJ announced as wild card for Parken http://t.co/UlKoDizzzW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostwalker Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 MJJ announced as wild card for Parken http://t.co/UlKoDizzzW No surprise, especially not after Kenni Larsens statement to the local newspaper here where he said that Ole Olsen only gives wild card to "his friends". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 No surprise, especially not after Kenni Larsens statement to the local newspaper here where he said that Ole Olsen only gives wild card to "his friends". Ask Hans Neilsen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldace Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 No surprise, especially not after Kenni Larsens statement to the local newspaper here where he said that Ole Olsen only gives wild card to "his friends". It couldn't be because Jepsen Jensen is far better than Larsen could it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostwalker Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 It couldn't be because Jepsen Jensen is far better than Larsen could it He wasn't referring to himself but rather in general terms of Ole Olsen methods of picking Wild Cards. It doesn't matter how good a rider is, if he's not on Ole's "good list" that rider will never receive a wild card. Who got the WC last year? MJJ why not NKI who was much better then MJJ (still is). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldace Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 He wasn't referring to himself but rather in general terms of Ole Olsen methods of picking Wild Cards. It doesn't matter how good a rider is, if he's not on Ole's "good list" that rider will never receive a wild card. Who got the WC last year? MJJ why not NKI who was much better then MJJ (still is). What jurisdiction would Olsen have anyway, OK its a BSI event but they want who they think puts a few on the gate, no way would Olsen over rule that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostwalker Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 What jurisdiction would Olsen have anyway, OK its a BSI event but they want who they think puts a few on the gate, no way would Olsen over rule that That is what I thought as well but apparently Ole have allot of influence over wild cards, especially at Parken. It was an interview with Kenni after his with Smederna vs. Hammarby last week. The journalist asked Kenni about his season so far (Kenni have been very good in Sweden so far this season), and his chances of a wild card for Parken. Kenni replied that he would not have a chance for the wild card since to be considered for a wild card, a rider (no matter how good he is) have to be on Ole's "good list". This was because Ole (according to Kenni) had allot of influence/saying about the wild cards in general and the wild card to Parken in particular. Also I didn't get the impression that Kenni thought the MJJ wasn't a good choice or anything. Unfortunately the article is not available online. I agree with MJJ as a wild card while there are other good Danish riders that could also have been potential wild cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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