Warsaw Gp Saturday 18th April

[SteveLyric2]

Nearly a fortnight gone by now, have we come any nearer to sorting Warsaw-gate out yet or can we assume that it as been brushed under the carpet.

The silence is rather deafing at the moment a bit like that Saturday night!!!.

According to the SS, the FIM President (no less) who was at the stadium, is taking personal control of the investigation. They've told all concerned to expect a decision by the 'end of the month' - they just haven't decided which month!!!!!!!!

[Humphrey Appleby]

According to the SS, the FIM President (no less) who was at the stadium, is taking personal control of the investigation. They've told all concerned to expect a decision by the 'end of the month' - they just haven't decided which month!!!!!!!!

Darcy Ward all over again...?

[iris123]

The trouble is,if they find Olsen guilty as charged who do they get in to replace him?Has anyone else much or any experience of building temp speedway track in the time given?And I don't mean dodgy indoor tracks like Neustadt/Dosse or Brighton........

[Ghostwalker]

That list has probably not been updated for at least 10 years - I know because I compiled the original version back in the 90s.

 

There probably are still sufficient permanent speedway venues around to host GPs, most of which wouldn't need stadia more than 15-20K.

The problem of course, is that BSI want to extract licence fees from the venues, and most tourist boards are not interested in supporting events held in the middle of fields and forests.

 

I mentioned those track names for a reason.

 

However I disagree that there are enough permanent tracks with a 15-20K capacity to replace all temporary tracks because I don't know of any at all except a few in Poland.

So can you name at least one track/arena per GP host country that have 15-20K capacity.

[iris123]

 

I mentioned those track names for a reason.

 

However I disagree that there are enough permanent tracks with a 15-20K capacity to replace all temporary tracks because I don't know of any at all except a few in Poland.

So can you name at least one track/arena per GP host country that have 15-20K capacity.

A list is useless anyway without knowing if a track has the finances and will to host a GP.Norden is possibly the only one in Germany,but it is as we all know well off the beaten track and was near to financial ruin some years ago and is slowly climbing out of its problems and I doubt is thinking of anything so risky as a GP.Parchim made a big mistake in hosting a Longtrack GP which almost caused their collapse and are also slowly coming back from that period of hosting a LTGP and a Bundesliga winning speedway team.....

[PHILIPRISING]

FOR as long as I have known Tommy Rander he has always had an axe to grind with Ole Olsen (Swedes and Danes may be Scandinavian cousins but do not always make good bedfellows) and more recently Paul Bellamy and his comments in SS this week are his opinions rather than, for the most part, facts.

 

For the record: no one from BSI or anyone else for that matter threatened the riders with fines. It is not within their jurisdiction to do so anyway.

 

Tommy fails to mention that in 2003 when the GP in Gothenburg was called after three heats Ole had nothing to do with the track preparation but was called in to rebuild it for the following week when it was fine.

 

Anyone who thinks that there isn't a massive investigation going into what went wrong in Warsaw is living in cloud cuckoo land. I believe there will be a meeting with the FIM, BSI and the PZM in Geneva next week.

 

Also, there are a number of riders, including those at the top of the tree, who are privately admitting that had the starting gate worked the meeting would probably have reached its conclusion. It was the straw that broke the camel's back

 

No one, least of all Olsen, BSI or the FIM will deny that the track wasn't perfect but, as Jason Crump points out in SS this week, indoor temporary tracks seldom are. It is and always will be a compromise and one, like Crump and Tony Rickardsson always said, is a price worth paying. Do you not think Holder, Doyle, Batchelor are excited about an Australian GP at the Etihad rather than Mildura?

 

None of which exonerates those responsible for the problems in Warsaw, not least the lack of a second starting gate which, had it been available, might have saved the day.

 

But don't expect any individuals being hung out to dry. The desire and determination is to continue at these big venues but to yet again work as hard as possible to build tracks that provide decent racing and a suitable stage for the world's best riders, which they have a right to expect.

 

Okay, let the flak begin ...

[oldace]

FOR as long as I have known Tommy Rander he has always had an axe to grind with Ole Olsen (Swedes and Danes may be Scandinavian cousins but do not always make good bedfellows) and more recently Paul Bellamy and his comments in SS this week are his opinions rather than, for the most part, facts.

 

For the record: no one from BSI or anyone else for that matter threatened the riders with fines. It is not within their jurisdiction to do so anyway.

 

Tommy fails to mention that in 2003 when the GP in Gothenburg was called after three heats Ole had nothing to do with the track preparation but was called in to rebuild it for the following week when it was fine.

 

Anyone who thinks that there isn't a massive investigation going into what went wrong in Warsaw is living in cloud cuckoo land. I believe there will be a meeting with the FIM, BSI and the PZM in Geneva next week.

 

Also, there are a number of riders, including those at the top of the tree, who are privately admitting that had the starting gate worked the meeting would probably have reached its conclusion. It was the straw that broke the camel's back

 

No one, least of all Olsen, BSI or the FIM will deny that the track wasn't perfect but, as Jason Crump points out in SS this week, indoor temporary tracks seldom are. It is and always will be a compromise and one, like Crump and Tony Rickardsson always said, is a price worth paying. Do you not think Holder, Doyle, Batchelor are excited about an Australian GP at the Etihad rather than Mildura?

 

None of which exonerates those responsible for the problems in Warsaw, not least the lack of a second starting gate which, had it been available, might have saved the day.

 

But don't expect any individuals being hung out to dry. The desire and determination is to continue at these big venues but to yet again work as hard as possible to build tracks that provide decent racing and a suitable stage for the world's best riders, which they have a right to expect.

 

Okay, let the flak begin ...

So its exactly like a few of us said right from the off.

 

It was entirely a dummy spitting exercise from the riders over the failure of the starting gate.

 

I don't need to have been there, to have ridden a bike with no brakes etc etc, to see that the track was perfectly race able, not just rideable.

 

Sure lessons need to be learned but the biggest lesson to learn is that the riders dont control the show, we are in a tail wagging the dog situation and it needs sorting. As it seem to have been every rider not a lot in the way of points deduction or suspension can be done but the very least a big financial punishment should come their way

[Humphrey Appleby]

FOR as long as I have known Tommy Rander he has always had an axe to grind with Ole Olsen (Swedes and Danes may be Scandinavian cousins but do not always make good bedfellows) and more recently Paul Bellamy and his comments in SS this week are his opinions rather than, for the most part,

Yet you chose to print the comments.

 

I think many of us know about Tommy Rander, but much of the speculation and innuendo could be dispelled with some straightforward investigation and publication of what actually happened. Instead all we get is rehashing of press releases (e.g.. Peter Oakes managed to make a whole article out of a press release we could perfectly well read for ourselves), and various 'opinions' from the likes of Jason Crump and Tommy Rander.

 

The one thing that Tommy Rander did get right though, is that BSI are inept and Bellamy should carry the can for it.

[The White Knight]

Yet you chose to print the comments.

 

I think many of us know about Tommy Rander, but much of the speculation and innuendo could be dispelled with some straightforward investigation and publication of what actually happened. Instead all we get is rehashing of press releases (e.g.. Peter Oakes managed to make a whole article out of a press release we could perfectly well read for ourselves), and various 'opinions' from the likes of Jason Crump and Tommy Rander.

 

The one thing that Tommy Rander did get right though, is that BSI are inept and Bellamy should carry the can for it.

At least we can agree on something Humphrey. :)

[Humphrey Appleby]

But don't expect any individuals being hung out to dry. The desire and determination is to continue at these big venues but to yet again work as hard as possible to build tracks that provide decent racing and a suitable stage for the world's best riders, which they have a right to expect.

Yawn. You're trotting out the same old nonsense, but no-one other than the shills and sycophants are convinced anymore. Warsaw was an utter disaster for the sport, even by the standards of the previous incompetence that's gone before.

 

For goodness sake try to salvage some journalistic credibility by distancing yourself from this fiasco. By which I mean a hard hitting editorial from the senior management of a (formerly) respected industry journal pointing the finger of blame at where the blame lies.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Humphrey Appleby

[PHILIPRISING]

Yawn. You're trotting out the same old nonsense, but no-one other than the shills and sycophants are convinced anymore. Warsaw was an utter disaster for the sport, even by the standards of the previous incompetence that's gone before.

 

For goodness sake try to salvage some journalistic credibility by distancing yourself from this fiasco. By which I mean a hard hitting editorial from the senior management of a (formerly) respected industry journal pointing the finger of blame at where the blame lies.

YAWN, yawn ...

[oldace]

Yawn. You're trotting out the same old nonsense, but no-one other than the shills and sycophants are convinced anymore. Warsaw was an utter disaster for the sport, even by the standards of the previous incompetence that's gone before.

 

For goodness sake try to salvage some journalistic credibility by distancing yourself from this fiasco. By which I mean a hard hitting editorial from the senior management of a (formerly) respected industry journal pointing the finger of blame at where the blame lies.

 

 

The starting gate failed, thats it. Yes it was a major cock up no doubt at all about that.

 

What else was there that was a fiasco?

 

Phil has highlighted other problems that would otherwise have gone on behind the scenes and no one even been aware of.

 

So just what is it that made this event a so called disaster/fiasco other than a bunch of childish cry baby riders that no one could legislate for

Edited May 1, 2015 by Oldace

[The White Knight]

Yawn. You're trotting out the same old nonsense, but no-one other than the shills and sycophants are convinced anymore. Warsaw was an utter disaster for the sport, even by the standards of the previous incompetence that's gone before.

 

For goodness sake try to salvage some journalistic credibility by distancing yourself from this fiasco. By which I mean a hard hitting editorial from the senior management of a (formerly) respected industry journal pointing the finger of blame at where the blame lies.

I hope Phil reads this. You are dead right.

 

Some investigative journalism would be a positive advantage to Supporters finding out what exactly went wrong in Warsaw.

 

Regarding this Meeting of top people from BSI, FIM and PZM - will their findings be made public? They bloody well ought to be - all of those Supporters who paid a lot of money to get to Warsaw deserve no less.

[Grand Central]

FOR as long as I have known Tommy Rander he has always had an axe to grind with Ole Olsen.....

 

Okay, let the flak begin ...

Just to summarise.

 

The riders (the top ones) got the meeting cancelled because of the lack of tapes.

The track was not bad enough to cancel the meeting.

 

The 'men' of the Jury said that it was cancelled 'for safety reasons'.

It was not.

 

Enquiry over.

No action against anyone to be taken.

 

Ole can get back to work.

Providing he borrows a second starting gate ahead of Cardiff.

 

(Until Nicki and Greg want a GP called off, of course)

[iris123]

Just to summarise.

 

The riders (the top ones) got the meeting cancelled because of the lack of tapes.

The track was not bad enough to cancel the meeting.

 

The 'men' of the Jury said that it was cancelled 'for safety reasons'.

It was not.

 

Enquiry over.

No action against anyone to be taken.

 

Ole can get back to work.

Providing he borrows a second starting gate ahead of Cardiff.

 

(Until Nicki and Greg want a GP called off, of course)

You forgot the bit about a jolly to Geneva where at the end they will all pat each other on the back and promise that lessons have been learnt............

[PHILIPRISING]

Just to summarise.

 

The riders (the top ones) got the meeting cancelled because of the lack of tapes.

The track was not bad enough to cancel the meeting.

 

The 'men' of the Jury said that it was cancelled 'for safety reasons'.

It was not.

 

Enquiry over.

No action against anyone to be taken.

 

Ole can get back to work.

Providing he borrows a second starting gate ahead of Cardiff.

 

(Until Nicki and Greg want a GP called off, of course)

YOU are being disingenuous here and I suspect you know it. FIM rules quite clearly state that if a starting gate malfunctions races should be started on the green light.

Not a cause to call a meeting off. However, as soon as the riders said the track was unsafe it was a different ball game. The FIM cannot force riders to compete on a track they claim is unsafe even if, in their (FIM) opinion it is not so.

[Grand Central]

YOU are being disingenuous here and I suspect you know it. FIM rules quite clearly state that if a starting gate malfunctions races should be started on the green light.

Not a cause to call a meeting off. However, as soon as the riders said the track was unsafe it was a different ball game. The FIM cannot force riders to compete on a track they claim is unsafe even if, in their (FIM) opinion it is not so.

 

I think you may be being a little disingenuous as well, and you know it too!

 

Intelligent riders know what they have to say to get the result they want.

And then keep silent about the real reason.

[Humphrey Appleby]

The starting gate failed, thats it. Yes it was a major cock up no doubt at all about that.

What else was there that was a fiasco?

I'd have said not having a working starting gate (or replacement) in a GP is a bit like forgetting to put up the goalposts in a World Cup Final.

 

Regardless though, the riders have put up with one crap track after the next over the years, and yet in what should be the crowning glory of a GP in the capital of the world's most important speedway country, they apparently all decide to throw their toys out the pram over an allegedly 'not as crap as some' track. I think you seriously have to ask why they felt the need to take that action, but rather than ask or attempt to answer that question, the Spar instead reports anecdotal observations from ex-riders who admit they didn't actually see the meeting, quotes from known how-shall-we-say speedway eccentrics, and alleged investigations of the FIM President who probably doesn't even know or care what speedway is.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Humphrey Appleby

[The White Knight]

I'd have said not having a working starting gate (or replacement) in a GP is a bit like forgetting to put up the goalposts in a World Cup Final.

 

Regardless though, the riders have put up with one crap track after the next over the years, and yet in what should be the crowning glory of a GP in the capital of the world's most important speedway country, they apparently all decide to throw their toys out the pram over an allegedly 'not as crap as some' track. I think you seriously have to ask why they felt the need to take that action, but rather than ask or attempt to answer that question, the Spar instead reports anecdotal observations from ex-riders who admit they didn't actually see the meeting, quotes from known how-shall-we-say speedway eccentrics, and alleged investigations of the FIM President who probably doesn't even know or care what speedway is.

Hey Humphrey - I 'Liked' a couple of your Posts today. :approve:

 

Cut it out............................... :D

[Gavan]

So basically after god knows how many pages of waffle it seems that the majority of us were right all along.

 

The riders got the meeting called off because of the situation of the starting gate.

 

The fact that the track was tricky then was used as a very convenient smokescreen to get the meeting called off.