Warsaw Gp Saturday 18th April

[rob tatum]

Woke up this morning thinking did last nights toe curling shambles really happen. The worst night for our sport ever & those poor fans what a way to be treated.

[nw42]

I take you were it attendance last night or are you one of many with opinions about everything sat in your armchair

How is that relevant? The poster who complained about the flag was clearly in attendance, you rubbished his comment because it didn't make your personal radar. Give it a rest pal, you are just making yourself look stupid with your comments.

[LagutaRacingFan]

What we need is One Sport to take over the GP's, they are a professional outfit.

[5 FURROW]

Clearly you only have the capacity to focus on one thing, for most other people we can focus on more than one thing at a time, like watching and enjoying racing whilst showing our support for favourite riders, be that a Union jack or a favourite rider flag.

I have no favourite riders since the great Rickardsson retired I just want to see good racing with the lack of it last night so what's wrong with that

How is that relevant? The poster who complained about the flag was clearly in attendance, you rubbished his comment because it didn't make your personal radar. Give it a rest pal, you are just making yourself look stupid with your comments.

It wasn't a matter of being on my radar but as usual with a lot of subjects on this forum we seem to get away form the main thing that there was no racing I didn't mean to rubbish his comments if that's what people think so be it I and most people wanted a full 23 heats and not the 12 that we were served up

[sommelier]

So did I pay hard cash but I'm there for the racing not whether I'm gonna get my poxy flag in if your gonna criticise at least criticise about the main thing the lack of racing when lets face It that's what I was there for not flag waving if that's what they want over racing I suggest they join the majorette club

You are digging yourself a BIG hole, get & lern some manners you plebeian

[Red Panda]

The track had a few ruts, no more and no less than places like Cardiff, yet we all bang on how Cardiff is the 'jewel in the gp crown' when in reality the track isnt good.

 

This track wasnt good yet some were prepared to give it a go Harris, Zagar, MJJ for example.

 

I fully understand Holder being apprehensive as he had a bad crash last year, but then again he cant expect every track he rides to be as smoth as a billiard table.

Pedersen had a knee brace on so he may have found it hard but thats just tough luck.

 

Sorry but yes the track wasnt great but the prima donnas who were struggling (Hancock , Pedersen and Holder ) were moaning and the organisers bowed down to it.

 

The fact is the track wasnt good and i agree with gp's not being on temporary tracks.

The start gate was only an issue because at this level you would expect a back up plan. However the green light starts did stop the usual suspects rolling so again perhaps they didnt like that.

 

People who were new to speedway probably enjoyed the fact the track was difficult, to then find out the riders didnt want to ride.

 

Sorry but the riders who didnt want to ride have a lot to answer for.

Try saying that to the riders who fell during the meeting..............I am sure they would love to know that they are prima donna's for putting their own safety and that of the other riders first......................

 

RP

Edited April 19, 2015 by Red Panda

[5 FURROW]

You are digging yourself a BIG hole, get & lern some manners you plebeian

I suggest you learn some grammar before posting

[arnieg]

Nicki Pedersen has broken cover:

 

Nicki Pedersen does not hide that he is embarrassed by what has happened in Warsaw. The Grand Prix of Polish fans saw only twelve runs. Participants were afraid for their health, because from the beginning the track at the National Stadium was dangerous. In addition, the band broke up page, so they went straight speedway riders from the green light goes out. The last time this was the case 20 years ago. It is not surprising, therefore, that the participants are embarrassed Saturday night.

- It was a tragedy. I do not understand how such a thing could happen in 2015. It was a circus, not a Grand Prix - comments in the Danish media Nicki Pedersen.

The famous rider recognizes, however positive the Polish GP at the National Stadium. Three-time individual world champion admitted that he had long since players were not so united in one case. -Finally, we all stood on one side. However, the situation was very dangerous. We have done everything for the fans to continue to compete, but it was too dangerous - admits Pedersen.

Sportowefakty + google translate

Sportowefakty appears to scapegoating Olsen (does nobody in Poland share some of the blame?). There are clearly a lot of unhappy Polish fans.

I suspect Onesport will shortly be announcing more money and/or rounds for the European Championship and some of the leading GP riders will start making noises about not riding in the GPs. Hancock, Holder, Batchelor and Doyle will take out Swedish licences.

And what a sad way for Tomasz Gollob to bow out of the world stage - truly a great of his generation.

[Agrotron]

Well I slept very well last night but woke up still in shock at what I had to witness last night, and to think all those poor people won't get a refund on something that was a complete joke boils my pee, lack of answers all around at the moment heads need to definitely roll.

 

Think the Poles were to peed to know the meeting had been cancelled.

[rob tatum]

Can't seem to find any apology from the organisers of last nights shambles grand prix (see what I did there). Why would any of the 50000 plus crowd ever want to attend another gp & as for people tuning in for the 1st time well god only knows what they must of thought. It was like watching an episode of its a knockout let's just be thankful stewart hall wasn't commentating.

[TonyE]

A couple of GPs held in front of empty terraces and the organisers might just begin to start thinking of the fans who keep the whole fiasco going!

[TheReturn]

Can't seem to find any apology from the organisers of last nights shambles grand prix (see what I did there).

Apology? never gonna happen, they are too busy laughing all the way to the bank!

[KARLMAIER]

A couple of GPs held in front of empty terraces and the organisers might just begin to start thinking of the fans who keep the whole fiasco going!

And we won't have long to wait for that......

[Gavan]

Try saying that to the riders who fell during the meeting..............I am sure they would love to know that they are prima donna's for putting their own safety and that of the other riders first......................

 

RP

I have seen meetings completed on far far worse tracks then that.

 

This sort of thing never would have happened 10 or even 5 years ago they would have got on with it.

 

And shall we look at the fallers last night.

 

Heat One: Batchelor knocks off Nicki Pedersen so nothing to do with the track

Heat Eight: Batchelor falls off trying to overtake. Nothing to do with the track just got the pas wrong

Heat Ten: Holder comes off. Hit a rut.

Heat Twelve: Batchelor (again) comes off. Hit a rut.

 

So 4 falls and the same unfit rider who had a bad wrist so would have struggled on a bumpy track, is involved in 3 of them by not having the strength to hold on.

The track was to blame for 2 falls.

 

So yes as much as i admire all the riders for riding for our entertainment, they were prima donnas for not carrying on

[speedibee]

I wonder if the riders who were complaining . were hoping for a restage today at an outdoor venue ?

[Undercover Elephant]

I do suspect that tonight will be a very significant turning-point for the sport at international level. To me, the sport's been trying to over-reach itself for many years, based on the ability to pull off meetings at Cardiff, although that's been a very close-run thing on a few occasions.

 

Trying to take the sport to a new stature and level of public awareness are of course noble ambitions but I do wonder if the sport simply has the resources to pull off these grandiose schemes often enough?

 

Is this a brown ale sport pretending it drinks champagne? (No Darcy Ward jokes please - there's a separate thread for that).

 

Just how far can speedway reach? Is it wiser to play it safe, run meetings on tracks that can allow a decent product to be offered to the world or do we keep aiming too high and falling on our noses? Yes, it does work sometimes but you cannot build a sport on just atmosphere and hype. You can fool some of the people etc. etc.

 

What we saw tonight was simply deplorable. It was like seeing a former love in the gutter, begging for fags or another drink. Jim Lawrence was not in control. The failure to exclude Troy Batchelor was questionable but the inability to either see the problem with the starting gate or why riders were pulling-up, or simply to choose to plough on regardless was simply unacceptable.

 

The Grand Prix tries to provide us with the best riders, the best stadia and best racing. Is Jim Lawrence one of the best referees? If so, we need an urgent training programme! His on-screen body language during the early problems was worrying. It did not look like someone in control, and I've been in the company of enough referees over the years to have a clue about this.

 

Regarding the role of the Race Director, Phil Morris faced three crises in his first meeting - practice, starting gate and then the track break-up. The fact that the meeting failed after 12 heats shows that it was not a happy start. But his predecessor in the role Tony Olsson was clearly there, as seen on TV and I presume that his predecessor Ole Olsen was also present, given that he was in charge of the track installation. Surely either or both were on hand to advise?

 

Just how many times will we suffer these fiascos and just how many more times will we hear that lessons have been learnt and that the problem can't happen again?

 

It has. It has many times. It's been happening for years, even back at Wembley, such as 1975. Speedway cocks up, eventually. Gelsenkirchen, Riga, Ullevi. The list goes on.

 

I am certain that BSI's rivals One Sport will be delighted to see them fail so spectacularly in the most prominent stadium in Poland. Is this a turning-point in speedway politics that sees Poland trying to take control of the sport it already financially owns? (Ask any rider fined by a Polish club for getting injured riding for a team outside the country, or at least threatened regarding that latter point)

 

It's time for the sport at ALL levels to live within its means, to stop thinking that a few flashy risks will bring riches. They won't. Solid development will, putting good value for money meetings on at sustainable venues. Let people grow to love an all-action sport rather than use smoke and mirrors to convince people that crap is gold-plated.

 

It's time to focus on the product, the racing, not the wrapping. Then, once the product is strong enough, organisationally and financially then take it to those higher levels. We can see some great racing at GPs. Not enough though.

 

Any fool can reach for the stars and fall. To get there you have to do more than reach, you have to build on solid foundations.

 

In Britain, in a week of generally fine spring weather we have staged how many meetings at out highest level? Two. Just two. This is to accommodate tonight's hubris in Poland.

 

That's a high price to pay and once again the British public have been mugged as much as those fools who think that flying to Poland's going to automatically give them great speedway.

 

Still, the atmosphere was great I suppose and the beer was cheap., Who needs more?

 

So far this year for various reasons, notably health I've no been able to get to any live speedway. Fortunately that's changing and I can hopefully start getting to some league matches, ideally in the PL or NL. I'll leave the rest of you to be dazzled by the shiny shiny.......

 

Speedway cannot afford to self-destruct like this yet again. Sadly it will. It mustn't.

 

(P.S. - "So, this time in English please Tomasz.....")

You my friend pretty much sum up everything about the organisation that I am questioning. So many errors and lack of responsibility towards the riders is just disrespectful no matter how they want to smoke and mirror this episode, yet these wallies who run the show are not as competent as they think they bloody are. The FIM are just as bad. It's like a side business for Sepp Blatter to subsidise without giving a toss.

[speedy17]

Try saying that to the riders who fell during the meeting..............I am sure they would love to know that they are prima donna's for putting their own safety and that of the other riders first......................

 

RP

I'm fed up with all this rider safety nonsense. Yes i appreciate the entertainment they provide and hope none get injured. But it's becoming more and more that if a track isn't like a snooker table the toys come out of the pram. It's their Job to perform! Last night it wasn't a snooker table, and some kicked off about it.

 

If Morris is no longer the director after this week I'd love to know what the riders said.

[orion]

Sky + the meeting and avoided the result ....Was looking forward to watching it this morning only to see a complete joke of a meeting from start to finish .

 

The track was poor and the tapes and green light starts were a joke . As others have said I have seen far worst one off tracks with ruts in them and the riders have just got on with it . Harris etc were not only able to ride it but race on it so not sure why they called it off . Also Jim Lawrence to me is the worst Ref out there so not sure why he getting gigs like this .

Edited April 19, 2015 by orion

[KARLMAIER]

I could not believe what I was witnessing last night..........albeit from the comfort of my sofa.

 

I have followed Speedway since 1981/82 and I truly believe that we have already witnessed the "Golden Era" of the Grand Prix series. I haven't watched league racing for a few years......and now the top flight of Speedway is clearly dying on its feet. For me, last night was a turning point where I suddenly lost interest in anything Speedway.......but just about curious enough to search out others opinions on the embarrassment that was last night......

 

There was, however, one redeeming aspect and that was the use of the 'Green' light...... Why not adopt a traffic light system full time like F1, WSB, BSB etc.? They all appear to manage.....sadly I don't care enough to worry about it now.

 

I'm done.....out, I will not be watching the rest of the series and will take no further interest in the sport.

 

Sad day indeed.

[Woz01]

I get the feeling had this GP been on later in the season it wouldn't have got called off.