2014 European Speedway Championships

[BWitcher]

 

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.

The more I read, the more I come to the conclusion the problem doesn't lie with BSI who go about their business in a professional manner.

 

The problem lies with Polish speedway. We know many of the owners are, shall we say, not entirely reputable with links to certain organisations. They are used to bullying to get what they want. Indeed we only have to look at the recent Polish Playoffs to see an example of that.

 

Haven't they already tried to throw a spanner in the GP works with their "1 GP rider per team" rule, which they were soon forced to back down from.

[PHILIPRISING]

The way i understood the statement Phil was that over the period of Red Bull sponsorship, Emil has earnt a lot more than Tai has out of Monster.Not that the current yearly deal is much better.Might be wrong though.....

WELL, as Tai has only just started his Monster deal that much is true. But from what I hear, and it is no more than that, Red Bull don't pour much money into speedway although there are fringe benefits as Jason Crump experienced when he was injured although that may have had more to do with his friendship with Mark Webber.

[severnsider]

Could the threatened court case cause issues for Polish & Swedish league racing also with the restrictions on teams using certain numbers of home grown riders as surely this also restricts rider options

[Humphrey Appleby]

The thing about this bickering between the SEC and the SGP is that the riders only seem to be after one thing. Where as I can see where the SGP are coming from with the riders riding in another series they run the risk of injury.

It's purely a matter of money. GP riders can be injured in league matches or open meetings, but unless BSI are prepared to stump up a living wage so they can be exclusively contracted to the SGP, then that's just an occupational hazard of their business.

 

Of course there's nowhere near enough money in the SGP to compete with the Polish leagues, and frankly I doubt BSI cares that much either. They still get the pick of dates and the best riders for relatively modest sums of money and make a reasonable profit on the back of it.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Humphrey Appleby

[PHILIPRISING]

AND, as Jason Crump and Tony Rickardsson pointed out, produce a World Championship series worthy of the name. Some riders might just be in it for the money but those two, and many more, now look back on their careers which included racing at places like Cardiff and Copenhagen. It was something Rickardsson spoke about at the Stockholm event this year ... it's has come a long way since GPs were held at Linkoping.

[Humphrey Appleby]

AND, as Jason Crump and Tony Rickardsson pointed out, produce a World Championship series worthy of the name.

It would be amazing how loyalty would ebb away if the European Championship (or whatever) started paying big money. Other sports have seen breakaways or threatened breakaways when the top competitions are seen not to be leveraging enough income for the players.

 

There's been no other shop window in speedway up until now, but now there might be an alternative. I don't consider it to be good for the sport, but questioning why the riders take home a relative pittance whilst BSI and the FIM trouser 3 million or so is long overdue.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Humphrey Appleby

[racers and royals]

Offical statement from one sport copied from the SEC website

 

November 17 officially comes into force provision introduced by the FIM - Europe prohibits competing in the European Championships competitors who are regular participants at Grand Prix. Therefore, the company One Sport has released an official statement which clearly underlines the inconsistency of this record with European law.

"As a result of the decisions that can be made this weekend, about banning the riders of FIM Speedway Grand Prix from start in Speedway European Championships, we want to once again openly protest and point out the illegality of this idea. The adoption of the challenged decision could be particularly incompatible with EU competition law.

Lawyers of One Sport are ready to take immediate action, both in terms of investigation regarding the repair damages made to our company, including lost profits, as well as to inhibit the monopolistic practices, the violation of which FIM-Europe and the FIM members are dangerously approaching. Explicit and obvious violation of applicable competition law in Europe will meet with very onerous consequences for the authors.
At the present stage of development of the European Union, the competition law is a fundamental tool to work against abuses in the sports associations in Europe. With no controversy, it is common today to say that sports associations are considered as the undertakings or associations of undertakings, which are provided for in article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (ban on abuse of a dominant position).

The interference of EU competition law in the activities of sports associations is no novelty - there have been many high-profile cases in recent years, and the subjects which have committed violations, suffered severe consequences. Major interest was especially so called 'Bosman case', which led to a total redesign of the operation of football clubs in Europe. The European Commission also intervened on the anti-competitive practices by the FIA - the International Automobile Federation. FIA was forced to remove the requirement for the owners of racetracks, which required from them to skip organizing different than Formula 1 competitions on the same tracks.

Planned FIM-Europe decision regarding the European Championship series, will mean a serious breach of EU competition law. There is already a well-established case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, according to which the attempt to push out of the market a new, highly efficient product (Speedway European Championships) by the dominant subject (FIM-Europe and FIM) in a manner different than the so-called competition on the merits, is contrary to competition law. As an example, one can identify at least for a line of reasoning that went to settlement in cases of Microsoft.

EU competition law has an efficient and effective system of enforcement. Ultimately, the Commission should not have any problems with ordering his FIM Europe to remove illegal provisions and regulations. It may also impose giant and sever financial fines. What is more important, is the fact that if the FIM-Europe would not be able to pay the fines, those liabilities will lay on the commited members of the organization, which means – the national federations associated in FIM-Europe.

We will not hesitate to use all available means, to oppose the illegal and harmful practices against the interests of the riders and our company. We deeply believe, that such decisions are contrary to the law and it is only an attempt to suppress the development of a competitor of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix series.

We believe that the right is on our side. All kinds of artificial and unreconciled decisions not agreed with the promoters and limiting the product we are building, are open and obvious violation of competition law. Once again, we would like to underline that competition law has an efficient system of law enforcement and confirmed judgement standards in similar cases. It is obvious, that due to such practices, FIM-Europe can only lose in a longterm perspective.

Nevertheless, we declare the willingness and openness to talk about the FIM & FIM-Europe vision of Speedway European Championships in the coming years, starting from season 2015. We hope that together we can come to an agreement and find a compromise satisfying all, however, opennes and sincerity in the talks, are required for such dialogue.

We categorically do not agree with the public and open violation of our rights, as the holders of a valid contract to organise the competition for the title of Individual European Champion. We also do not agree to limit the riders' rights to their performed profession on the are of EU. We disagree with such unfair 'game', which will effect mostly with the loss of speedway as a sport and the fans who follow it.
We call for a common sense, good will and decision-making in accordance with the compulsory law, to avoid any unnecessary disputes and conflicts."

Jan Konikiewicz
Karol Lejman
ONE SPORT

[PHILIPRISING]

ABOUT time the FIM issued a statement

[New Science]

The way i understood the statement Phil was that over the period of Red Bull sponsorship, Emil has earnt a lot more than Tai has out of Monster.Not that the current yearly deal is much better.Might be wrong though.....

Thanks iris123 that is exactly what I meant.

VERY much doubt that Red Bull sponsorship of Sayfutdinov dwarfs that of Woffinden and Monster.

 

The FIM have got themselves into a right pickle over this. However, presumably they didn't just charge straight in and consulted their own lawyers first to establish whether or not they were on sound ground. As usual it will only be the legal guys making money out of this sorry saga.

 

Sooner or later there will have to be a compromise ... let's hope it is the former.

If Woffinden is so heavily sponsored by Monster its strange that he does not wear the Monster logo cap on GP duty as per Hancock,Holder,Ward and Gollob do

[LagutaRacingFan]

Thanks iris123 that is exactly what I meant.

If Woffinden is so heavily sponsored by Monster its strange that he does not wear the Monster logo cap on GP duty as per Hancock,Holder,Ward and Gollob do

 

He's only just been sponsored.

 

Red Bull have no interest in a small sport like Speedway, They are busy with Formula 1 and allow Monster Energy to spend money on smaller sports that the majority don't care about.

[Trees]

Thanks iris123 that is exactly what I meant.

If Woffinden is so heavily sponsored by Monster its strange that he does not wear the Monster logo cap on GP duty as per Hancock,Holder,Ward and Gollob do

Did u not see the recent Woffy pic with him wearing his Monster cap in the hospital lol. I have my doubts that he has taken his cap off since being given the sponsorship! I reckon the 3 green stripes will be very obvious in Woffy's 2014 attire!

[SteveLyric2]

 

He's only just been sponsored.

 

Red Bull have no interest in a small sport like Speedway,

Hampel, Sayfudtinov and Janowski - amongst others - may say differently!!

[Phil The Ace]

Hampel, Sayfudtinov and Janowski - amongst others - may say differently!!

Yep. MBJ to

[iris123]

Could be another possible headache for the FIM on the not so distant horizon.It seems Wroclaw is to host the 2017 World Games.Now if you,like me witnessed the previous WG when speedway played a part you might think it not something of note.But there is a poll being held by the city as to which sport could be included as an invitational sport.Obviously the main sports are already included and so it really does i think only leave speedway as a major-ish sport in Poland that isn't already in.Of course just because speedway might win the poll i don't know if that would mean it would automatically be included.But if it is,it would seem another ideal opportunity for Onesport.Doubt speedway would have to be just the one dodgy pairs meeting like the one at Plough Lane.It could well be a small tournament and if the money is right include all the worlds top riders..........just me jumping to conclusions at the moment though

[iris123]

SEC race in Güstrow?

 

 

Writer: John Wahlberg November 18, 2013 @ 14:00 0 comments.

 

Rumors have placed an SEC-race in Güstrow 2014 Speedwaynyheter.se approached Torsten Jürn who is chairman of Güstrow speedway club, we got us a long chat about how the business is in Germany and also how much a race would mean for the resort and club in its entirety.

 

Many rumours permits the SEC to discuss with you. Can you confirm that for us?

- Yes, we have discussed with One Sport for a while now. We have had discussions already for the 2013 season but it did not work for the time of the preparation was for a short time. There is much to do in the arena and many details that need to be resolved. We are steps away from each other for everything to be completely clear, but it looks very positive for 2014.

 

How much would the SEC mean for Speedway in Güstrow and city?

- We are a small club and Güstrow is a small town. One Sports has EM to a level that matches the World Series. This means that if we get a race in our city, it would mean incredible marketing for our city in the world. For us as a club, it would be a huge challenge, and of course it would be the biggest event we have ever staged. We all work full time at our jobs and working with Speedway at leisure because we love the sport.

 

Güstrow is a nice town with a really good track. One of the world's best courses. Why is the path so well?

- I'm not so sure about that. The shape of the track is almost like an egg with very short straights and wide turns. The track is just 298 yards short. So I think a lot depends on the rider and not so much about who has the fastest engine. Even so, the material is pretty special, it is coal ash.Riders have several lines that go on to find momentum in the four lap and it's not all about the first turn. We also have a very experienced track staff who know how the track should be prepared in a variety of weather conditions.

 

- The problem is that the stadium was built in the 1960s, until 1990 when Güstrow was part of East Germany and the club had a lot of money, but the situation was such that you could not get the material as easily as it is today. After the reunification of Germany the money was gone soon and you could acquire all. It took a few years to recover, but step by step we are there. We jumped off the Bundesliga three years ago after we become champion twice and runner-up three times to put every single euro we earn at the stadium. We invested in new floodlights, new security fencing and even a new fence around the entire arena. We even bought air fence and made many other improvements to the stadium with very little sponsorship help. We are currently working with a couple of hundred new standing on the far side. The next target is the new stand on the start and also a new pits, but it will take a few years.

 

2013 did you organize U21 European Championships. Something you can take with you to a possible SEC race?

- You can not compare these events with each other. Being live on television will mean a lot more pressure. I know I had a good and motivated "team" behind me and I know that we can do big events with lots of audience.

 

What would be a possible Attendance in an SEC race in Güstrow?

- The goal is of course to sell out all tickets so we do not sell on the day of competition. But seriously, it's hard to say that we will have to take about double the price compared to a normal race. Plus you will be sent the race on TV and I do not know how many people stay at home for that reason. On the other hand, fans will get to see some of the world's best riders on our track so all over 6-7000 people would be disappointing and I am quite optimistic that there will be more than that.

 

- I hope that the FIM will not take away from our fans good speedway, but that is what they are trying to do now. What is being done now is preposterous and should you need a little common sense on their part. They are simply afraid of the SEC, the victims of this are the drivers that will be banned from having to go and earn a living, even those fans who want to see the best drivers compete. Therefore, I really hope One Sport has good lawyers and I'm sure they will have a plan b too!

 

Tell us about your activities in Gustrow, how many races do you have a year?

- Then we chose to drop out of the league, we have about eight to ten events per year plus some races where we did not take admission to junior competitions, veteran competitions and 80 cc except we offer training sessions each week. For next year we have nine scheduled races so far. In addition to the SEC, we have our traditional season opener "Oster Pokal" (Easter Cup) on April 19. June 6, we will arrange Güstrow second junior competition which was a huge success this year. It runs in the old GP system with 24 drivers, and I am pleased to welcome even a few guys from Sweden too!

 

- On May 8, we will have our traditional open competition "Pingstcup" and we hope for crowded as last year. These are the international open competitions. Then we come to stage the semi-finals of U21 European Championship, the German U21 championship and hopefully the German individual championship. We also have "demonstration competitions" with all kinds of Speedway Racing plus "carts", sidecars and so on. Kids can compete with their bikes on the track, then we have rides and lots of other attractions going on all day. It's absolutely free because we hope to attract more children and families to our competitions. It is also something we notice more and more on our competitions in recent years after we made this effort.

 

http://www.speedwaynyheter.se/sec/sec-deltavling-i-gustrow/

Edited November 19, 2013 by iris123

[PolskiZuzel]

Maybe the Elite league,Polish and Swedish league should sue the F.I.M for compensation if their contracted riders get injured in F.I.M events.Just a thought

 

That's a very good idea....and a better one still would be that BSI/FIM should raise and train their own riders.

[New Science]

Did u not see the recent Woffy pic with him wearing his Monster cap in the hospital lol. I have my doubts that he has taken his cap off since being given the sponsorship! I reckon the 3 green stripes will be very obvious in Woffy's 2014 attire!

All I know is that when Tai picked up the world title he was not wearing the Monster logo cap.I think Monster thought they had covered all bases with non Red Bull sponsored riders then up pops Tai.Whatever next "Monster decide to sponsor the new world champion" Oh they have !

[racers and royals]

All I know is that when Tai picked up the world title he was not wearing the Monster logo cap.I think Monster thought they had covered all bases with non Red Bull sponsored riders then up pops Tai.Whatever next "Monster decide to sponsor the new world champion" Oh they have !

Tai always used to wear his Polish sponsors hat "Betard " who also sponsor his Polish team Wroclaw.

[PHILIPRISING]

 

That's a very good idea....and a better one still would be that BSI/FIM should raise and train their own riders.

 

And maybe the FA and FIFA should raise and train all their own players and not use ones from Manchester United, Arsenal, Barcelona, Real Madrid, etc...

[Trees]

No comparison between speedway and football!