Wild Cards 2014

[BluPanther]

What about last year's wildcard who just so happened to become world champion?

 

Niamh

Tai is the sort of rider that should get the wild cards, along with the likes of MJJ and Dudek. AJ and Lindgren are not going to offer the 2014 series anything imo.

[Haza]

So Harris is back in just hope he isn't an embarsesment he was in 2012 as others have said he was eliminated in the semi final 25 others ahead of him he shouldn't even have been in the GP challenge the WC should have gone to Kennet . All I can add is you can't keep living of the back of past glory for ever yes he won Cardiff can't take that away from him but the GP series needs young blood not keep going with tried and failed riders .

Edited December 11, 2013 by Haza

[racers and royals]

So Harris is back in just hope he isn't an embarsesment he was in 2012 as others have said he was eliminated in the semi final 25 others ahead of him he shouldn't even have been in the GP challenge the WC should have gone to Kennet . All I can add is you can't keep living of the back of past glory for ever yes he won Cardiff can't take that away from him but the GP series needs young blood not keep going with tried and failed riders .

Just to correct one point Haza-it wasn`t the semi-final it was one of the three 1st round qualifiers in St Johann where he scored 4.

[f-s-p]

Tai is the sort of rider that should get the wild cards, along with the likes of MJJ and Dudek. AJ and Lindgren are not going to offer the 2014 series anything imo.

tai wasnt "the sort of rider" 12 months ago though...

[Haza]

Just to correct one point Haza-it wasn`t the semi-final it was one of the three 1st round qualifiers in St Johann where he scored 4.

that's makes it even worse that's he's in I suppose you have to grab opportunities in life and Bomber has certainly done that and I guess a year ago we was saying hope Tai doesn't struggle like Harris did and look at Tai world champion so who knows Bomber 2014 world champion some how I think not

[screm]

Harris is indeed the next rider in line from last years GP Challenge meeting to qualify for next years series,should the chance ever arise.Well it has arose,so Harris has taken his chance,and no one can blame him for that.But come on people there is nothing to suggest that Harris will be anything other than an emmbrassment next year,and dont give me this whooey about we said the same about Woffinden last year.Anybody that thinks that Harris could be 2014 World Champ needs serious help.

[BluPanther]

tai wasnt "the sort of rider" 12 months ago though...

He was a young improver already riding at a high level, he fitted the wildcard perfectly..

[phillipsr]

I like having a villain at Cardiff who i can boo. At least Harris will have one use this year

[f-s-p]

He was a young improver already riding at a high level, he fitted the wildcard perfectly..

i know many young improvers on a high level, none of them ready for gp though. But what ever, you thought then that he was a good pick, thats whats important.

[Barry The Cat]

Last point, but when you say the 'others' couldn't be arsed, do you mean the dozens of riders who finished ahead of Harris in the first round and went to the considerable expense and effort of going through the following rounds to qualify for the Poole meeting by right? The same riders who probably weren't even asked to ride at Poole (as it appears, I can't believe they all turned it down) or even if they were, were given next to no time to get there because of Zagar's very late withdrawal.

We were told Zagar withdrew because he wanted to qualify by right, but apparently the guy couldn't come to this conclusion until the 11th hour, by which point only a rider based in Britain could realistically reach Poole in time.

 

Sufficient notice for withdrawing is the first rule that needs changing next season and a heavy fine for a rider who pulls out late without a medical note.

 

Water under the bridge now, and not Harris' fault by any means, but the whole saga has only served to weaken the series next season in my opinion. He should finish ahead of Smolinski, and maybe Kasprzak, but anywhere near the top 10 would be a massive achievement. Good luck to him.PS. My bugbear here isn't with Harris, but with the organisers and the system that has seen a track reserve qualify for a full time place in the series after a solitary meeting.

Believe it or not, I quite like Harris as a league rider, but at this level I think his time has passed, and although the plethora of wild cards have obviously lifted his profile in World Speedway, overall, I don't think they've helped him improve as a rider.

I hope he can prove me wrong this time.

 

JT.

When the Ukranian lad failed to secure permission to ride in the challenge. BSPA were asked to nominate a rider for number 18 jacket Kennett and 1 other Brit both declined. Harris accepted. Pavlic the number 17 then produced a sick note so Barker accepted second reserve spot and Harris moved to 17. When Zagar withdrew Harris was promoted to meeting proper even though pavlic tried the I am much better now trick.

So yes massive stroke of luck for Bomber to get into field in first place but at the end if the day he did the business on the track on the night and earnt his right to be there by the rules of the competition.

So why don't we accept this bit of luck and back the guy, it's great to have two Brits in the field. Love for him to prove knockers wrong and get in top 8. He's working with a new team behind scenes which just could help him back to more consistent performances that we know he is capable of.

Edited December 11, 2013 by Barry The Cat

[DutchGrasstrack]

Interesting, but your post doesn't make any sense when looking at the press releases. Przemyslaw was never number 17. He was number 5 and got replaced by Timo Lathi (on 16.08) due to his injury. Jurica Pavlic was number 17 and stayed there until the 3rd revision (20.08) of the lineup. In the 4th and final revision (23.08) Pavlic disappeared from the lineup and Harris was replacing Zagar ???

 

 

This is how it went: http://crazy-jessie.nl/poole.PNG (click)

Edited December 11, 2013 by DutchGrasstrack

[Barry The Cat]

Interesting, but your pos doesn't make any sense when looking at the press releases. Przemyslaw was never number 17. He was number 5 and got replaced by Timo Lathi (on 16.08) due to his injury. Jurica Pavlic was number 17 and stayed there until the 3rd revision (20.08) of the lineup. In the 4th and final revision (23.08) Pavlic disappeared from the lineup and Harris was replacing Zagar ???

 

 

This is how it went: http://crazy-jessie.nl/poole.PNG (click)

My apologies I meant Pavlic. Old age does terrible things with the mind. Have amended post.

[DutchGrasstrack]

Haha no worries - thanks for the update :-)

[JT]

Usually I’d use this forum to vent my opinion and after a while let things go. By and large, speedway seems to be run in a smoke and mirrors fashion, which we begrudgingly accept, because we love the sport. However, the news that Harris would replace Gollob, on account of his fifth at the Grand Prix Challenge, was the last straw for me. I would love it if we had more British riders in the Grand Prix, but not at the expense of fairness.

Before I continue, let me make this clear, this isn’t an attack on Harris, who may have benefitted from his invite to the Grand Prix Challenge, but isn’t responsible for the way the sport is run.

 

If Harris was next in line from the qualifiers prior to the challenge, there wouldn’t be a problem here. However, after a lacklustre display in the first round, he was 25^th in line when Zagar pulled out at the last minute. We were told that everything was done to invite the next riders in the pecking order, but these riders refused their invite in the weeks and days leading up to the event, and that was that. To quote one poster, “Harris was the only one who could be arsed to turn up”.

We’ve been told Jurica Pavlic couldn’t get his bikes over in time and thus refused his place. I have no reason to doubt this, he doesn’t ride here and Croatia is a fair distance away.

Next in line was Krzysztof Buczkowski who didn’t have the same problem; he was riding in Britain the night before, but apparently he declined a place on the reserve list. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any contact details for Krzysztof so I have no idea whether he really did turn down his place.

The next rider was a young German called Max Dilger.

I’d read just after the Challenge the German’s were angry they hadn’t been invited or even contacted by the FIM, but this was swept under the carpet and I haven’t heard anything since. Anyway it transpires Max has an official website where people can contact him. I fired an e-mail off out of curiosity, asking Max whether he'd been invited to the Challenge, and if so, why he turned down his place. The following is the reply I received, make of it what you will.

 

 

 

From: Max Dilger (max@dilger-racing.de)
Sent: 11 December 2013 19:15:45
To: 'JT'

 

Hello James,

Well ist nice that someone noticed what happend.

It is a shame, but I got never asked if I want to ride in poole. No contavt from the fim the acu or anyone from poole.

I would have been ready to ride in Poole. I had bikes in the uk ready to go. I send a email to the fim but never got answer to it.

Best regards max

 

I have absolutely no affiliation with German Speedway, but even the biggest Bomber fan has got to admit this situation is unfair. A rider who put in the time, effort and expense to reach the Grand Prix Challenge and just fell short in the Semi-Final, found himself shut out, in favour of a rider who not only faltered in the first round, but also has a long history of receiving wild cards.

 

JT.

Edited December 12, 2013 by JT

[Ghostwalker]

JT, you can contact buczek via twitter: https://twitter.com/buczekspeed

[DutchGrasstrack]

Correct me if I'm wrong but what about the other side of the qualifiers? This Zagar -> Buczkowski -> Dilger is one side (Lonigo) of the story (replacement for Pavlic). The sudden display of Harris as reserve is the other side (Holsted). When Kildemand was asked to ride instead of Loktaev they had to find a new 2nd reserve. This rider has to come from the Holsted race-off. These are the riders in question:

11. Lebedevs (not available, riding in the UEM U21 final in Gustrow)
12. Dryml (not available, injured)

13. Kroner

14. Kennett

15. North

16. Gublowsky

 

Kroner was next in line for a second reserve spot, but apperently the German federation was never contacted.

[jimmy jimmy]

On twitter everyone is pleased for Bomber and wishes him well, on here they just whinge about it. Me, I am happy he's back in the GP series

[chris4gillian]

Bomber is in. There is nothing that can be done to change it. Whining and moaning about it here changes nothing, so for Gawds sake just move on.

 

Best of luck Bomber, I'll be cheering for you throught 2014 and see you at Cardiff

[DutchGrasstrack]

We are just trying to understand was has gone 'wrong', and indeed nothing can be changed. Bomber is in and I have nothing against him, it can only be good for British speedway to have two riders in the GP's.

[Humphrey Appleby]

I have absolutely no affiliation with German Speedway, but even the biggest Bomber fan has got to admit this situation is unfair. A rider who put in the time, effort and expense to reach the Grand Prix Challenge and just fell short in the Semi-Final, found himself shut out, in favour of a rider who, not only faltered in the first round, but also has a long history of receiving wild cards.JT.

Well yes, but how fair is it to seed riders directly into the SGP at the expense of riders who've done the qualifiers?

 

I don't know who's responsible for calling up replacement riders, whether the FIM or host FMN. If the FIM, then it's possible they needed to fill a name on the start list fairly quickly, and just assumed someone wouldn't be interested in travelling from Germany at short notice. If it's the ACU (as host FMN), then they're just generally pretty clueless about speedway, and might have just wanted an easy life and not go around the houses.