2014 European Speedway Championships

[iris123]

In the end i only see the fans and riders losing out in this civil war

[Ghostwalker]

WHILE in an ideal world BSI would probably be happy with no SGP riders also in the SEC I know for a fact that they did not instigate this and would much prefer the SGP and the SEC to operate on a level playing field as far as fees are concerned.

 

They, like you and me, see speedway as being very different to other forms of motorcycle racing where riders are self-employed individuals rather than representatives of factory teams. But, to repeat myself, this is more about the FIM as a whole trying to bring FIM Europe into line and to stop them, as those in Geneva see it, over-stepping their lines of authority.

 

No offence Phil but I don't believe that for a second. Of course BSI is the ones behind it.

[f-s-p]

WHAT I am hearing is that the FIM have decided the SEC should become a feeder series for the SGP and that a rider in the SEC will not be "invited" to compete in the SGP.

This talk has been going on for maybe a year already, least six months. No way did I see it become a reality with all the talk around SEC and BSI during the season. I think you should put your ear on the ground again and hear for us who is the FIM Europe person that is stirring the pot.

 

EDIT: The CCP has actually had quite a revamp recently. Many faces are now out and the most interesting newcomer for me was Stekkers as a DMU rep!

Edited November 4, 2013 by f-s-p

[The Know]

plenty of room for both partys. i would not be happy if i was a rider and us fans are losing out.

[PHILIPRISING]

 

No offence Phil but I don't believe that for a second. Of course BSI is the ones behind it.

NO offence but you are wrong. But, hey, believe want you want...

This talk has been going on for maybe a year already, least six months. No way did I see it become a reality with all the talk around SEC and BSI during the season. I think you should put your ear on the ground again and hear for us who is the FIM Europe person that is stirring the pot.

 

VERY much doubt that it is one person but there is undoubtedly a conflict of interest and a power struggle taking place

 

EDIT: The CCP has actually had quite a revamp recently. Many faces are now out and the most interesting newcomer for me was Stekkers as a DMU rep!

[Humphrey Appleby]

I know for a fact that they did not instigate this and would much prefer the SGP and the SEC to operate on a level playing field as far as fees are concerned.

Well maybe, but perhaps BSI could also reduce the asking price of promoters who want to hold a GP.

 

The FIM stance on the SEC is borne out by the fact that other disciplines keep World and European Championships apart and riders (and/or teams) do not compete in both and many in Geneva believe that should also apply to speedway.

In fact, I think it's a nonsense that speedway has World and European Championships when the sport is hardly ridden anywhere outside of Europe. European Championships are effectively only ever going to be parallel competitions, competing for hosts and sponsors, unless they're pitched as some sort of feeder competition.

 

However, it's high time that the relationship between the FIM and BSI was brought under scrutiny, and the irony is that it's all of their own making. It was the FIM who advocated Continental Unions like the UEM (which is now FIM Europe) and it was clear that within speedway in particular, they were setting themselves up with competition.

It could be the FIM's way of getting round the possible restraint of trade repercussions. One of the conditions of "accepting the invitation" would presumably be an agreement not to ride in the SEC.

I think it's not entirely unreasonable, nor probably illegal to insist that an employee/contractor also does not work for a rival organisation. Much harder to argue though, if the rival organisation is effectively another department of the same organisation...

[PHILIPRISING]

JUST about everything I have been told over the past 24 hours is, unfortunately, off the record but it would seem the core of the matter is that FIM Europe entered into a contract with OneSport that they were not empowered to do.

 

To answer a couple of Humphrey's points: one, why would BSI reduce their asking price of promoters, which are variable anyway, when there is no apparent shortage of organisers wishing to stage rounds of the series? And would the FIM accept lower rights and inscription fees if they did so? I imagine that one of the things that grates in Geneva is that the SEC produces little revenue for the FIM.

 

There are is no shortage of top rate lawyers at IMG (Rob Armstrong, Head of Motorsport there which includes BSI, falls into that category) and they have warned the FIM that any ban on GP riders competing in the SEC could be hard to implement.

 

And, of course, riders still have a choice. Who out of the 2014 line-up might decide to forsake the SGP and opt for the SGP instead? Prize or appearance money isn't the only factor. TV exposure, which forms the basis of some much of the sponsorship acquired by the top riders these days, is a major factor and 12 rounds of the SGP adds up to a lot more than four of the SEC.

 

I understand that GP riders will be allowed to compete in one round of the SEC as a wild card ... Sayfutdinov in Russia for example. And that the top three would indeed go through to the GP Challenge as a stepping stone to the SGP.

[Humphrey Appleby]

To answer a couple of Humphrey's points: one, why would BSI reduce their asking price of promoters, which are variable anyway, when there is no apparent shortage of organisers wishing to stage rounds of the series? And would the FIM accept lower rights and inscription fees if they did so?

That's something BSI would have to discuss with the FIM, especially if another organisation is able to undercut them.

[PHILIPRISING]

WHICH is exactly what the FIM are trying to prevent

[jimmy jimmy]

If I was the FIM, I would have a Europan Championshups which formed the European qualifiers for the GP Challenge. The American champion should get a GP Challenge slot and the top 3 from the Australian Championship. That makes those national championships mean something and the top guys would enter them.

[Humphrey Appleby]

The American champion should get a GP Challenge slot and the top 3 from the Australian Championship.

What about the New Zealand, Canadian, Argentinian and South African championships? How would their riders get a look-in?

[PolskiZuzel]

How do they get a look-in now ?

[Humphrey Appleby]

How do they get a look-in now ?

Their federations can in principle apply for places in the GP qualifiers, and this has happened in past years. I doubt getting places in GP Challenge could be justified though.

[PolskiZuzel]

NO doubt there will be some anti-BSI/SGP feeling whipped up in Poland by those with a vested interest in the SEC but judging by the number of Polish tracks vying for a GP there it cannot be that bad.

 

Not bad ? Anti BSI/SGP feelings of Polish fans have been known for some years . It's nothing new, and the last move of BSI/FIM looks like a last straw.

There are already voices calling for 'twit for tat'. If BSI/FIM wants to play dirty, let them, but they will be paid back by the same tactics. Sundays matches in the Polish Ekstra Liga are likely to be switched to Saturdays. Which means that unless BSI will pay more than Polish League, SGP riders will ride on Saturdays in Poland. That's one option already mentioned. There are many more to be considered.

[PHILIPRISING]

THEN it would be up to the FIM to sort it out

[Humphrey Appleby]

If BSI/FIM wants to play dirty, let them, but they will be paid back by the same tactics. Sundays matches in the Polish Ekstra Liga are likely to be switched to Saturdays.

I hold no particular candle for BSI, but what exactly would be achieved by this? The traditional race day in Poland is Sunday, so why deliberately move to an off-day just out of spite.

 

Questioning in whose benefit the top flight of the sport is run is long overdue, but are Onesport planning to put a more benevolent structure in place, or just looking to usurp BSI? Otherwise it just comes over as overtly nationalist rhetoric rather than meaningful change.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Humphrey Appleby

[The Know]

THEN it would be up to the FIM to sort it out

[f-s-p]

THEN it would be up to the FIM to sort it out

A battle once already lost, when Ward, Vaculik and Prota all declined a place in the GP in favour of the polish league.

[iris123]

JUST about everything I have been told over the past 24 hours is, unfortunately, off the record but it would seem the core of the matter is that FIM Europe entered into a contract with OneSport that they were not empowered to do.

The thing is then Phil,it should have been sorted out before last season started.You get the feeling that probably no-one was really that bothered about a competition that had just drifted along more or less for years.I have been to a few meetings in Germany in the past and they were fairly low key meetings in places like Stralsund.Now all of a sudden someone has come along with an idea and got money and media attention.It got some people sitting up and paying attention and of course some don't like what has happened.BSI could have done the same thing with it.

 

You have to be honest and say the asking price for the competition going on past history had to realisticaly be low.Hardly anyone in their right mind would have thought the competition would have taken off.Now a lot of people get the feeling BSI and some within the FIM are surprised and p'd off.They would have been laughing in their coffee had the new adventure fallen flat.

[f-s-p]

You have to be honest and say the asking price for the competition going on past history had to realisticaly be low.Hardly anyone in their right mind would have thought the competition would have taken off.Now a lot of people get the feeling BSI and some within the FIM are surprised and p'd off.They would have been laughing in their coffee had the new adventure fallen flat.

The organizer paid the points money to riders as listed in the rulebook. For a euro quali it was something like 10 k for the lot. It's all in the rules... The same applied this year for the quali's, SEC/OneSport came to play after the ECC when it turned to a championship series.