Humphrey Appleby Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 I think the GPs clashed with a basketball game he wanted to watch on telly, so I heard anyway A women's basketball game, I think... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Yes, but why did Gollob withdraw, and relatively late in the day at that? BEEN over this many times ... have no idea whether he was under any pressure or even induced by people in Poland to withdraw but there is no doubt that the loss of the Monster sponsorship (in excess of $100,000 I believe) was a major factor. He is also hardly a youngster any more and perhaps all the travelling and time involved in a 12 round series was becoming too much for him. However, I can say with absolute certainty that at the Stockholm GP (where he got hurt) last year Gollob's manager was pleading for him to get a wild card slot after it became apparent that he wouldn't finish in the top eight. You can belittle the basketball game all you like but at least I have spoken to some people who actually live in Bydgoszcz who have said that they and others they know went to the basketball (indoors, out of the weather, cheaper) whereas in previous years they would have gone to the speedway. Maybe not that many, but as the Tesco mantra goes, every little helps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theknow 2 Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 BSI/IMG failed to bring a fresh face, that's a young Polish pretender, into the 2014 SGP series as a direct replacement for Gollob. Now there are only two Polish riders in it, Hampel and Kasprzak. A third Polish rider would have been desireable, with three GPs being staged in Poland. Harris replacing Gollob wasn't greeted with applause over there. Or greeted in the UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Or greeted in the UK BEEN over this before. The inclusion of Harris in the series was nothing to do with BSI. When Gollob withdrew the FIM's own rules came into play and Harris, like it or not, was next in line from the Challenge. Sadly, the reality is that there are a number of riders along with Harris in the series this year who, so far, have looked well below the desired standard which only goes to amplify the loss of Gollob and Sayfutdinov in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 BEEN over this before. The inclusion of Harris in the series was nothing to do with BSI. When Gollob withdrew the FIM's own rules came into play and Harris, like it or not, was next in line from the Challenge. Sadly, the reality is that there are a number of riders along with Harris in the series this year who, so far, have looked well below the desired standard which only goes to amplify the loss of Gollob and Sayfutdinov in my opinion. Apart from Chris Harris who else do you feel is below the desired standard ? Maybe Batchelor but above him is Zagar who was up the top last season.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 (edited) RIGHT now wouldn't say that Jonsson, Lindgren and Bjerre are lighting any fires even if they are not actually at the bottom of the pile. Does watching them ride send a chill down your spine? Speedway in general and the SGP in particular needs some of those up-and-coming youngsters we keep reading and hearing about to actually step up to the highest plate but it is tough to visualise any that have the charisma as well as the ability to occupy the void left by Rickardsson, Gollob and, before too long, Hancock. The Pawlicki brothers, for example, unquestionably have talent and it is good to see them prepared fro spread their wings in the UK but rattling up good scores in the Elite League here can be misleading. Only Australia, Denmark and Poland can lay claim to having a well-stocked well of talent but how many will actually fulfil all that potential? There is no easy answer but it is a problem that will undoubtedly get far worse before it gets better ... if it ever does. Edited May 8, 2014 by PHILIPRISING Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 The three you name are world class, but never going to be world champ. Think most on here wanted one of the lagutas rather than a second swede as wildcard. And would rather have had say dudek and mjj rather than harris and batch. Its still a much stronger line up than you would have got pretty much any year in the old world finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCB Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 RIGHT now wouldn't say that Jonsson, Lindgren and Bjerre are lighting any fires even if they are not actually at the bottom of the pile. Does watching them ride send a chill down your spine? AJ has looked more up for it than for a long time and Lindgren has made 50% of the finals! Bjerre is doing what Bjerre does. He'll thrown in a great round somewhere, maybe 2 or 3 of them. He's a Gp styandard rider tbf. And someone has to come last. If you have the top 16 riders in the World in a meeting, someone is gong to be last. It doesn't mean they "fall below the desired standard" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyler42 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 The Pawlicki brothers, for example, unquestionably have talent and it is good to see them prepared fro spread their wings in the UK but rattling up good scores in the Elite League here can be misleading. Both Pawlicki brothers ride in The Extraleague in Poland and as you well know is a much harder league than our own Elite League. Chris Harris was riding in Poland's first division which is equivalent to our Premier League. Unfortunately for Harris after a string of poor performances he has been rested in Poland. I think where the FIM got it wrong was, even though Harris had a good meeting at Poole. His scores should never had counted towards qualification for the GP as he was knocked out at an earlier stage. It surely should have gone to a rider who went much further in the qualifying than Harris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humphrey Appleby Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 I think where the FIM got it wrong was, even though Harris had a good meeting at Poole. His scores should never had counted towards qualification for the GP as he was knocked out at an earlier stage. It surely should have gone to a rider who went much further in the qualifying than Harris. What would be the point of having a wildcard rider in a qualifying meeting who couldn't qualify? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyler42 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 What would be the point of having a wildcard rider in a qualifying meeting who couldn't qualify? Was he not a reserve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DutchGrasstrack Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Oh please don't start this again lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Science Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 RIGHT now wouldn't say that Jonsson, Lindgren and Bjerre are lighting any fires even if they are not actually at the bottom of the pile. Does watching them ride send a chill down your spine? Speedway in general and the SGP in particular needs some of those up-and-coming youngsters we keep reading and hearing about to actually step up to the highest plate but it is tough to visualise any that have the charisma as well as the ability to occupy the void left by Rickardsson, Gollob and, before too long, Hancock. The Pawlicki brothers, for example, unquestionably have talent and it is good to see them prepared fro spread their wings in the UK but rattling up good scores in the Elite League here can be misleading. Only Australia, Denmark and Poland can lay claim to having a well-stocked well of talent but how many will actually fulfil all that potential? There is no easy answer but it is a problem that will undoubtedly get far worse before it gets better ... if it ever does. Were Lindgren and Jonsson not the widcard picks of BSI. If they wanted those up and coming hard charging youngsters in the series why didn't they pick them ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 BUT who are they? That remains the 64,000 dollar question... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falcon Hammer Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 BUT who are they? That remains the 64,000 dollar question... Could choose from Kildermand, both Pawlicki bros, Jepsen Jensen & Laguta - do need at least one Swede tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 MY actual point was who will be the next Rickardsson, Gollob or Hancock, genuine crowd-pullers with great charisma as well as talent.. not sure any of the above fit that bill even if they do go on to become successful GP riders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falcon Hammer Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 MY actual point was who will be the next Rickardsson, Gollob or Hancock, genuine crowd-pullers with great charisma as well as talent.. not sure any of the above fit that bill even if they do go on to become successful GP riders. Fair point, I guess legends don't come along so often. At the moment we have Darcy and Emil as the stand-out entertainers. I guess all these guys are still young, and Rickardsson, Gollob and Hancock all took time to develop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCB Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 Hancock and crowd puller in the same sentence?! Yikkes! Nice guy yeah but doesn't mean people want to pay to see him ride. I'd pick both Pawlickis, MJJ and both Lagutas over him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bavarian Posted May 11, 2014 Report Share Posted May 11, 2014 Martin Smolinski is a crowd puller here in Germany. He certainly polarizies, some love him, some hate him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostwalker Posted May 11, 2014 Report Share Posted May 11, 2014 Fair point, I guess legends don't come along so often. At the moment we have Darcy and Emil as the stand-out entertainers. I guess all these guys are still young, and Rickardsson, Gollob and Hancock all took time to develop. I am pretty sure that many of today's legends weren't legends when they did their first GP-season because a legend isn't something that they become over night but rather after riding for 15-20 years in the Grand Prix series. So imo it is just a poor excuse for overlooking the likes of MJJ, Pawlicki, Dudek... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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