Top 20 Riders In The World 2014

[waiheke1]

had a little bit of spare time on my hands, so similar to last year I've done some statistical analysis to see who the top riders in the world are in 2014 so far. Rankings take into account league matches (Swedish and Polish top and second divisions plus British and Danish top flight), GPs, SWC, SEC, GP qualifiers and the Eurosport best pairs, each event assigned different weighitngs.

 

Top 20 riders in the world for meetings up to start of this week:

 

 

1 Greg Hancock 12.47

2 Tai Woffinden 12.43

3 Niels-Kristian Iversen 10.97

4 Darcy Ward 10.72

5 Nicki Pedersen 10.62

6 Chris Holder 10.13

7 Piotr Protasiewicz 10.12

8 Jaroslaw Hampel 10.07

9 Peter Kildemand 9.59

10 Emil Sajfutdinov 9.46

11 Martin Vaculik 9.34

12 Jason Doyle 9.34

13 Thomas Hjelm Jonasson 9.28

14 Krzysztof Kasprzak 9.26

15 Matej Zagar 9.18

16 Janusz Kolodziej 9.15

17 Hans Andersen 8.67 1

8 Aleksandr Loktayev 8.50

19 Bartosz Zmarzlik 8.46

20 Maciej Janowsk 8.31

 

No major surprises. Scott Nicholls the second best Brit in 40th place.

Edited August 8, 2014 by waihekeaces1

[arnieg]

For comparison Dolgin's current (@ 5 August) top 22 is:

 

1 Greg Hancock USA 4524

2 Niels K Iversen Denmark 4424

3 Tai Woffinden Great Britain 4322

4 Darcy Ward Australia 4293

5 Piotr Protasewicz Poland 4275

6 Grigorij Laguta Russia 4267

7 Nicki Pedersen Denmark 4242

8 Janusz Kolodziej Poland 4199

9 Jaroslaw Hampel Poland 4176

10 Emil Sajfutdinov Russia 4154

11 Matej Zagar Slovenia 4050

12 Martin Vaculik Slovakia 4007

13 Jason Doyle Australia 3984

14 Krzysztof Kasprzak Poland 3951

15 Artem Laguta Russia 3947

16 Piotr Pawlicki jr. Poland 3907

17 Billy Hamill USA 3891

18 Peter Kildemand Denmark 3874

19 Patryk Dudek Poland 3838

20 Thomas H. Jonasson Sweden 3830

21 Tomasz Gollob Poland 3829

22 Chris Holder Australia 3815

 

Of the missing riders: Andersen (35), Loktaev (51), Zmarzlik (25), Janowski (27)

 

and Scott Nicholls is the next Brit in his rankings too...at no 40!

[racers and royals]

For comparison Dolgin's current (@ 5 August) top 22 is:

 

1 Greg Hancock USA 4524

2 Niels K Iversen Denmark 4424

3 Tai Woffinden Great Britain 4322

4 Darcy Ward Australia 4293

5 Piotr Protasewicz Poland 4275

6 Grigorij Laguta Russia 4267

7 Nicki Pedersen Denmark 4242

8 Janusz Kolodziej Poland 4199

9 Jaroslaw Hampel Poland 4176

10 Emil Sajfutdinov Russia 4154

11 Matej Zagar Slovenia 4050

12 Martin Vaculik Slovakia 4007

13 Jason Doyle Australia 3984

14 Krzysztof Kasprzak Poland 3951

15 Artem Laguta Russia 3947

16 Piotr Pawlicki jr. Poland 3907

17 Billy Hamill USA 3891

18 Peter Kildemand Denmark 3874

19 Patryk Dudek Poland 3838

20 Thomas H. Jonasson Sweden 3830

21 Tomasz Gollob Poland 3829

22 Chris Holder Australia 3815

 

Of the missing riders: Andersen (35), Loktaev (51), Zmarzlik (25), Janowski (27)

 

and Scott Nicholls is the next Brit in his rankings too...at no 40!

What`s Billy Hamill`s score for team managing skill !!!!!

[LagutaRacingFan]

You shoudn't take into account 2nd divisions.

[Triple.H.]

You shoudn't take into account 2nd divisions.

Go and stick a daffodil up your a☆☆e

[waiheke1]

Arnie g - where can I find Dolgin's rankings?

[arnieg]

Arnie g - where can I find Dolgin's rankings?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtxUIDmPdhcXcENIU3hWUHZ3QjhSV2NoZzV1TGpfT3c&hl=ru#gid=0

 

There used to be a thread on a Ukranian(?) speedway forum with all the underlying detail, but that seems to have vanished.

 

There are weaknesses, for example the over-rating of Americans who don't race in Europe, and a few odd mistakes (Daniel Gappmaier is Austrian not Australian and Jesper Soegaard appears twice [at 235 and 433]). Personally I wouldn't leave retired riders in for as long as he does, and nor would I include 80cc riders, but that is his choice.

 

It is a great work of love and I always find it interesting to look at.

[waiheke1]

thanks Arnie G.

Clearly Dolgin's work involves far more effort than mine, and key differences are that his is skewed more heavily towards league performances (I assign much higher weightings to other events), cover a much more comprehensive range of leagues, and incorporate performances over a longer period of time. Despite that, our rankings, at the top end at least, are remarkably similar.

The other interesting thing is seeing a rider like NKI has a higher "all time best" than riders who have won the world title, such as Hancock, Pedersen and Holder, which makes me wonder if perhaps riders are riding an increasing number of meetings, and hence able to obtain higher scores?

[T.N.T.]

Suprised to see Tai at second place considering some of the scores he has had this season in Britain but also suprised not to see Piot Pawlicki up there as he has been far the top rider at Wolves this season home and away and had some good meetings abroad too and likely to be World U21 Champion this season.

[waiheke1]

My rankings are quite skewed towards gp performances hence tai's high ranking (on performances across the domestic leagues he was ranked 9th).

Piotr was ranked 19th based on league performances, but ranking was drsgged down by bombing out of the sgp qualifiers to 37th (dolgin's rankings have him 17th). Havent updated yet for under21 champs, but if he does win that it will move him I'd expect into the early 20s.

[waiheke1]

Revised list taking into account August meetings, and adding in The World U21 champs, national champs for Britain/Denmark/Poland, and the Polish Ekstraliga champ meeting.

 

1 Greg Hancock 12.71

2 Tai Woffinden 11.57

3 Darcy Ward 10.75

4 Nicki Pedersen 10.58

5 Krzysztof Kasprzak 10.51

6 Emil Sajfutdinov 10.41

7 Niels-Kristian Iversen 10.37

8 Martin Vaculik 9.85

9 Peter Kildemand 9.63

10 Chris Holder 9.56

11 Matej Zagar 9.54

12 Piotr Protasiewicz 9.39

13 Jason Doyle 9.34

14 Bartosz Zmarzlik 9.30

15 Janusz Kolodziej 9.24

16 Michael Jepsen Jensen 9.04

17 Jaroslaw Hampel 8.95

18 Thomas Hjelm Jonasson 8.82

19 Hans Andersen 8.49

20 Piotr Pawlicki 8.49

Edited September 4, 2014 by waihekeaces1

[waiheke1]

updated to the end of September

 

 

1 Greg Hancock 12.82

2 Tai Woffinden 10.93

3 Darcy Ward 10.75

4 Emil Sajfutdinov 10.72

5 Krzysztof Kasprzak 10.70

6 Niels-Kristian Iversen 10.37

7 Nicki Pedersen 10.22

8 Peter Kildemand 9.99

9 Chris Holder 9.84

10 Bartosz Zmarzlik 9.64

11 Jason Doyle 9.57

12 Martin Vaculik 9.57

13 Matej Zagar 9.46

14 Jaroslaw Hampel 9.37

15 Janusz Kolodziej 9.02

16 Piotr Protasiewicz 9.01

17 Thomas Hjelm Jonasson 8.88

18 Grigoriy Laguta 8.58

19 Andreas Jonsson 8.45

20 Piotr Pawlicki 8.43

And as a comparison link to the latest Dolgin rankings

 

https://docs.google....T3c&hl=ru#gid=0

• Table seems to be a reasonable reflection on what I’d expect, though both G Laguta and Piotr Pawlicki perhaps a little low.
• KK would be second in my list if not for his aborted efforts in the GP qualifiers.
• Chris Harris would be 38^th in the list if you excluded his “performances” in the GPs (actually ranked 72^nd, which is clearly lower than he should be and an anomaly of my system).
• Comparing with Dolgin’s rankings, only two differences in riders included in top 20: I have Holder and Kildermand (23 and24th in his rankings), while he has A Laguta and Janowski (26^th and 21^st in my rankings)
• Main other variances are that he has Tai only 10^th, while G Laguta as high as 3^rd and Piotr Pawlicki 8^th. He has Harris at 35^th in the rankings.

Edited October 4, 2014 by waihekeaces1

[INCOGNITO]

 

updated to the end of September

 

1 Greg Hancock 12.82 = SWE / POL / GP

2 Tai Woffinden 10.93 = SWE / POL / GP / SEC ?

3 Darcy Ward 10.75 = SWE / POL / GP (if allowed)

4 Emil Sajfutdinov 10.72 = SWE / POL / SEC

5 Krzysztof Kasprzak 10.70 = SWE / POL / GP / SEC ?

6 Niels-Kristian Iversen 10.37 = SWE / POL / GP / SEC ?

7 Nicki Pedersen 10.22 = SWE / POL / GP / SEC

8 Peter Kildemand 9.99 = SWE / POL / GP ? / SEC

9 Chris Holder 9.84 = SWE / POL / GP

10 Bartosz Zmarzlik 9.64 = SWE / POL / GP ? / SEC ?

11 Jason Doyle 9.57 = SWE / POL / GP

12 Martin Vaculik 9.57 = SWE / POL / SEC

13 Matej Zagar 9.46 = SWE / POL / GP / SEC ?

14 Jaroslaw Hampel 9.37 = SWE / POL / GP / SEC ?

15 Janusz Kolodziej 9.02 = SWE / POL / SEC ?

16 Piotr Protasiewicz 9.01 = SWE / POL / SEC ?

17 Thomas Hjelm Jonasson 8.88 = SWE / POL / GP ? / SEC ?

18 Grigoriy Laguta 8.58 = SWE / POL / SEC

19 Andreas Jonsson 8.45 = SWE / POL / GP / SEC

20 Piotr Pawlicki 8.43 = SWE / POL / GP ? / SEC ?

 

 

All 20 of these riders could be missing from the 2015 Elite League if they secure GP and or SEC places which makes you realise how far this country has gone downhill in terms of power.

 

20 years ago riders fought hard to get in a team but now they are turning their backs on it due to the amount of travelling, race nights and costs needed to compete here rather than in leagues or events that have fixed race nights.

 

British Speedway can't afford to get these riders back and has to be looking at a more stable and financially secure future featuring the likes of Troy Batchelor, Hans Andersen, Scott Nicholls, Chris Harris, Kenneth Bjerre, Davey Watt and Jacob Thorssell who want to race here and on a regular basis.