Finnish Gp

[Fromafar]

Have to agree with you looks a fascinating series.

 

In my eyes Holder and Hampel look like they are lacking something this year.

Ward will consistently score around 10 but will that be good enough? His inability to gate will stop him from being world champion in my view. Think he will struggle like crazy at Prague and Cardiff.

Nicki will be inconsistent i feel.

 

I can see the champ being KK or Tai. With Greg there or thereabouts.

 

KK as misssed a gp and still leads. He is bound to go well at Prague and has a great record at Cardiff.

Tai as well has tracks coming up to suit him and he did look the fastest rider on Saturday.

I think Holder is getting near back to his best and will be thereabouts at the end. Think he just threw the towel in on Sat like a few others,why bust a gut and risk injury when clearly passing was nearly impossible. Edited May 19, 2014 by Fromafar

[JT]

Harris flying as normal and amassed is it 6 points from 3 gp ? Morris seems to of done the trick watching all those videos

 

Whatever went on behind the scenes last year in ensuring he got into the GP Challenge by hook or by crook is spectacularly backfiring now. At an average of two points a meeting so far, he's on course to be the worst performing full time rider since the GP's changed to their current five ride format. Judging by his league scores, his GP nightmare is having a negative impact on his form everywhere else as well.

 

BUT obviously none of this is his fault. It's not poor Bombers fault that after six seasons of GP racing (five of which were spent as a result of BSI charity) he still doesn't know how to set up his bike or gate on a consistent basis...

 

Before his fans lynch me, I understand he's a lovely bloke, and you will never forget Cardiff 2007, but he's also supposed to be a professional sportsman riding at the highest level. Scapegoating at every opportunity may work in your first season, but when you're still racking off the same tired excuses in your seventh season, then as Scott Nicholls remarked on Saturday, you need to take a long hard look in the mirror.

 

For what it's worth, I think he will improve (although not by quite the extent his bikes and form improved at the end of 2010; just what did he do then, that he can't replicate now?), but the best advice Phil Morris could offer Harris would be to focus on his league racing after this season. Harris still has a lot to offer at that level.

 

JT.

[theknow 2]

THAT will be the same Ole Olsen who built the track at Western Springs (praised by all the riders) last month ... not saying he always get's it right but he doesn't always get it wrong either.

First time tracks as most like this do take a bit of time to get right but this by far the worst. I would say about 50/50 for ole with these tracks.

[Humphrey Appleby]

THAT will be the same Ole Olsen who built the track at Western Springs (praised by all the riders) last month ... not saying he always get's it right but he doesn't always get it wrong either.

Wouldn't normally associate Olsen and good racing tracks in the same sentence, but I'd accept there may be local constraints and difficulties that make it difficult to achieve consistency with temporary tracks. However, as others have pointed out, the track for the Finnish GP was laid for some time, and it must have been apparent there would have been concerns with the shape.

 

More to the point though, BSI seem very happy to claim credit for a good GP, but are quick to blame the locals for a bad one. BSI are responsible for the series, the buck should stop with them, and you as a journalist should be querying what the problems were that lead to such rubbish being served up.

 

Finland was a golden opportunity to promote the sport in a country that actually has a reasonably developed speedway scene. Sadly, as with New Zealand, it looks like it might have been a missed opportunity.

[theknow 2]

 

Whatever went on behind the scenes last year in ensuring he got into the GP Challenge by hook or by crook is spectacularly backfiring now. At an average of two points a meeting so far, he's on course to be the worst performing full time rider since the GP's changed to their current five ride format. Judging by his league scores, his GP nightmare is having a negative impact on his form everywhere else as well.

 

BUT obviously none of this is his fault. It's not poor Bombers fault that after six seasons of GP racing (five of which were spent as a result of BSI charity) he still doesn't know how to set up his bike or gate on a consistent basis...

 

Before his fans lynch me, I understand he's a lovely bloke, and you will never forget Cardiff 2007, but he's also supposed to be a professional sportsman riding at the highest level. Scapegoating at every opportunity may work in your first season, but when you're still racking off the same tired excuses in your seventh season, then as Scott Nicholls remarked on Saturday, you need to take a long hard look in the mirror.

 

For what it's worth, I think he will improve (although not by quite the extent his bikes and form improved at the end of 2010; just what did he do then, that he can't replicate now?), but the best advice Phil Morris could offer Harris would be to focus on his league racing after this season. Harris still has a lot to offer at that level.

 

JT.

His biggest fault has been his back up team and has been for a while now. He also does not listen to the right advise and people who can help him.

 

Lastly he still belives he can be world champion which is not the case. He should stop wasting his money on trying to be world champion and be a good elite rider which he can.

[Trees]

THAT will be the same Ole Olsen who built the track at Western Springs (praised by all the riders) last month ... not saying he always get's it right but he doesn't always get it wrong either.

But Western Springs is a permanent track!

[PHILIPRISING]

Wouldn't normally associate Olsen and good racing tracks in the same sentence, but I'd accept there may be local constraints and difficulties that make it difficult to achieve consistency with temporary tracks. However, as others have pointed out, the track for the Finnish GP was laid for some time, and it must have been apparent there would have been concerns with the shape.

 

More to the point though, BSI seem very happy to claim credit for a good GP, but are quick to blame the locals for a bad one. BSI are responsible for the series, the buck should stop with them, and you as a journalist should be querying what the problems were that lead to such rubbish being served up.

 

Finland was a golden opportunity to promote the sport in a country that actually has a reasonably developed speedway scene. Sadly, as with New Zealand, it looks like it might have been a missed opportunity.

YOUR usual dig at me ... I come on here as a speedway fan just like anyone else.

 

If I wish to write something in my now limited capacity as a journalist I will do so in SS ... which I have in the issue out this week.

 

If building a speedway track was as easy as some seem to suggest then there would be no such thing as a bad one. But how many tracks, permanent or otherwise, are perfect day in, day out? That, for me, is probably the most frustrating thing about the sport.

 

Darren Baldwin, the head groundsman for Tottenham Hotspur, and his family are huge speeds fans ... even travelled to New Zealand last month. Look at soccer pitches in old books or mags and compare them with today. Darren has often joked that if speedway tracks could be perfected as have soccer pitches then speedway would out-strip any motor sport in terms of popularity.

 

That doesn't mean to say that things could not be better.

But Western Springs is a permanent track!

NO it isn't ...

[waiheke1]

But Western Springs is a permanent track!

Not true. Track totally relaid for speedway gp as the surface used for cars is totally unsuitable.

That was one of the major costs contributing to bill b s big losses.

They got the surface right for two of the three gps in nz.

[Ghostwalker]

NO it isn't ...

 

Prague and Vojens is. And they're just as or almost as bad as Tammerfors.

 

However I do hope that they can get the track in Tammerfors sorted because that would be a good boost for speedway in Finland which would be a benefit for the speedway sport as a whole.

[OGT]

Didn't watch this meeting until last night and I must admit I wasn't impressed at all. What an awful track for a GP. I know first time/temporary tracks are always a risk but that one was just a mess. I'm surprised nobody was badly hurt.

Perhaps they should consider stadium cross or Nitro Circus there next time.

 

Good to see Tai back to his best though and Smoli did his thing. Congrats to MZ.

[bruno]

I'm not suggesting that tracks are easy to prepare or not but surely that's not the issue here.we don't really know if the surface was good or not,it was to narrow.how will anyone learn from this for next year.it should have been spotted straight away.wouldn't it be nice for someone who was involved in the track prep explain why they thought the shape would be ok

[PHILIPRISING]

THE question was asked and the answer was basically "we obviously thought it would be okay otherwise we wouldn't have done it."

[iris123]

Weak answer Phil.Someone of Ole's experience should know at a glance what problems there would be with the shape even before the track is layed down.But certainly since the track has been there since November then Ole job should be to come up with solutions or what has all those decades of experience taught him?I am a fan of the GPs,but some of the things that are going on are really making me wonder if the fans are just being taken for a ride over and over again.Continual use of poor tracks and moving into places like Tampere and have big doubts about Riga as well.........it is no wonder fans lose enthusiasm

[PHILIPRISING]

Weak answer Phil.Someone of Ole's experience should know at a glance what problems there would be with the shape even before the track is layed down.But certainly since the track has been there since November then Ole job should be to come up with solutions or what has all those decades of experience taught him?I am a fan of the GPs,but some of the things that are going on are really making me wonder if the fans are just being taken for a ride over and over again.Continual use of poor tracks and moving into places like Tampere and have big doubts about Riga as well.........it is no wonder fans lose enthusiasm

I UNDERSTAND what you are saying but on the one hand it is nice to go to new, fresh places. Personally thought everything about Tampere was great until the tapes went up.

 

The answer was weak and yet when I said to Jarek Hampel, as he walked into the hotel after the meeting, "that was a crap track," he replied: "Was okay, it was me."

 

I cannot argue that even at first glance the track looked too narrow but from what I can gather they worked with the space they had available and thought it would be okay. Now they are looking to try and take the bends out ... cannot come in because of drainage for the athletics circuit. Why didn't they do that in the first place? There is no answer readily available.

 

The stadium scheduled to be used later in the season has staged speedway before so, hopefully, there will not be similar problems. A new track has been laid (nothing to do with Ole by the way) and work on renovating the actual stadium and its facilities is progressing. I hear that the Latvians are very keen to stage a Speedway World Cup Final, which is one reason why the government have got behind it.

Edited May 19, 2014 by PHILIPRISING

[RPNY]

Watched the GP last night. It was pretty bad but as far back as Amsterdam 1987 World Final, any meeting Ive seen where the track has been over an Athletics track has been rubbish!
I would imagine live there were enough close finishes and crashes (by the way Im not a fan of riders crashing!) to keep the crowd entertained but it didnt translate well to TV.
Not sure why people are so upset on here. You get bad Speedway meetings, you also get bad Football matches, Rugy Matches, Cricket, boxing, F1 and so on and so on, it's sport, happens that sometimes is not so good. That last GP was a belter.

[theknow 2]

Watched the GP last night. It was pretty bad but as far back as Amsterdam 1987 World Final, any meeting Ive seen where the track has been over an Athletics track has been rubbish!

I would imagine live there were enough close finishes and crashes (by the way Im not a fan of riders crashing!) to keep the crowd entertained but it didnt translate well to TV.

Not sure why people are so upset on here. You get bad Speedway meetings, you also get bad Football matches, Rugy Matches, Cricket, boxing, F1 and so on and so on, it's sport, happens that sometimes is not so good. That last GP was a belter.

How can you compare speedway with such rubbish sports ? Apart from F1 that is

[RPNY]

Hahaha like it

[bruno]

It's not so much bad meetings that bother me.I agree that happens in most sports but with speedway the bad meetings tend to be caused by incompetence!

[MattR]

Firstly the city is an excellent location, although expensive, but then so is most of Scandanavia. The stadium is excellent, and in a great location. The crowd was decent enough 75% full, maybe less but a good enough turn out. Prices in the stadium were a joke, but I've always said you have a choice on whether to pay them, I chose not to. Everything ticked the right boxes apart the most important factor...The racing!

Hi Ian.

Had a day now to think about it all after riding home on a Royal Enfield Sunday afternoon (brain has just about stopped vibrating).

All your post was spot on, but just thought I'd quote the first bit.

As an (dis)honourary Finn living here for 21 years, we take our reputation very seriously and any time anything that starts with World-... we're always keen to put on the best show we can.

A lot of lessons will have been learnt but it will be hard attracting the brilliant international support again. The organisers should have liaised with the Poles and the Swedes more closely to know what it is to put down a quality track surface down. We all have a real winter here from November to April.

The venue there in Tampere can't change its width, but they should have made it wider and shorter.

So, back to your post. Tampere is a brilliant location. I'm really glad to hear you liked the town. I live in Helsinki, but Tampere is 10 x more fun. There would be nothing better in Helsinki facility-wise apart from the Olympic Stadium, which would be less than half empty, plus they hold too many athletic events to consider digging up the running track.

Autopsy over.

Let's hope for some cracking racing in the next events.

[bluejam]

 

You'd think he'd be able to count to four!

 

Depends how long you've been in the sauna with only a fig leaf to cover your knackers!