Cardiff 2018 21st July

[jenga]

its hard to tell a rich person from a poor person . some rich people smell and poor people dont . go on ask me how i know !

[Tactical Joker]

1 hour ago, Steve Shovlar said:

How did the event come over on TV?  Being there we all thought it was brilliant but that might not have come across on The box. 

Always prefer to be there live, and of course during the track grading you can catch up on opinion (with a pinch of salt) on here . Bit of a desperate dash for the last train back to London, some had to miss the final to be sure, but given the circumstances that’s the least of the worries. Hope news of Jason is as positive as possible.

Best rider on the night won, fair result all round. Tough baptism for Lambert but he will be stronger for it. Good to see Cookie happy. For those asking for referees to be consistent you got your wish  

Edited July 21, 2018 by Tactical Joker

[Steve Shovlar]

1 hour ago, WalterPlinge said:

So you were lying about being in the £19 seats?  

That's a photo from the home straight.   The £19 seats were at the back of the top tier, 3rd and 4th bend.    See here  (bits coloured yellow on map).  http://www.speedwaygp.com/event/2018-cardiff

Or are you claiming you bought a £19 seat, but then went and sat in someone else's dearer seat?

I purchased a £19 seat. I didn’t necassarily actually sit in it though. And no, I didn’t go and sit in someone elses seat either.

Edited July 21, 2018 by Steve Shovlar

[speedwaysliders]

2 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

I purchased a £19 seat. I didn’t necassarily actually sit in it though. And no, I didn’t go and sit in someone elses seat either.

Steve who was the ref  as he or she still hasnt been named?!! With the amount of mistakes hes made tonight he done very well to keep his name a mystery?!! Name and shame please.

[severnsider]

Ref was Christian Froschauer

 

[mike1944]

6 minutes ago, severnsider said:

Ref was Christian Froschauer

 

That referee needs to go to Specsavers.

I do fear for Jason though, looking at the footage of the accident, head injuries apart, the way he fell I would be very surprised if he had not got more damage to his already patched up leg. It certainly did not look good.

[Col]

5 hours ago, BWitcher said:

Idiots are folk who decide how others should look.

Nope. Idiots spend time stating facts that prove an ignoramus from Birmingham who supports Wolves wrong. When he fails to accept facts.

I think Rossiter looks an idiot. His haircut is inappropriate for his years. As he is the team manager of my country, and I care about the perception other nations have of those who represent us. I am allowed to think he looks idiot for sporting such a haircut at his age.

Were he team manager of Poland, Poole, Sweden or Australia I'd probably find it hilarious.

[BWitcher]

57 minutes ago, Col said:

Nope. Idiots spend time stating facts that prove an ignoramus from Birmingham who supports Wolves wrong. When he fails to accept facts.

I think Rossiter looks an idiot. His haircut is inappropriate for his years. As he is the team manager of my country, and I care about the perception other nations have of those who represent us. I am allowed to think he looks idiot for sporting such a haircut at his age.

Were he team manager of Poland, Poole, Sweden or Australia I'd probably find it hilarious.

Thanks for re-enforcing what I said. It is you who has the problem, not Rossiter. 

[daz9100]

Update on Jason from his Facebook page

Quote

Jason has now been realised from hospital. Just a couple of small minor fractures. Thank you for all your kind messages of concern

Wow, given how nasty that crash looked he seems to be a very lucky man. Fingers crossed for a quick full recovery.

[racers and royals]

Heats 1 to 12  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjU0yF_wi68    if anyone is desperate to view- hopefully full meeting available later.

 

[Steve Shovlar]

Article in Sunday Times.

Tai Woffinden extends title lead after Jason Doyle suffers crash in Cardiff showdown

Australian rider in hospital but Briton thrives at home grand prix

In the end, it was all about Tai Woffinden. Almost. Britain’s most naturally gifted and naturally maverick speedway rider since the ill-fated Michael Lee.

A thrilling evening before a 40,000 crowd ended with him finishing second in Cardiff for the third time, last night to the imperious Pole Bartosz Zmarzlik. All the same, Woffinden’s lead in the world championship was extended to 20 points at the season’s halfway stage.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said afterwards. “Winning the Grand Prix is just a platform. The important thing is that I’ve extended the lead.”

There were sub-plots. Unheralded British rider Craig Cook won three successive heats. Troublingly, the reigning world champion Jason Doyle took a terrible fall in heat 20 on a track that posed difficulties all night.

“It was hard out there,” said Woffinden. “The man-made tracks are so gnarly. You need a big set of balls and to know how to ride and when you see the other three best riders in the world next to you, it’s the ultimate trial.”

 

As Doyle lay prostrate, his bike careered into him. An ambulance came onto the track. Doyle was briefly unconscious, but after a lengthy delay, he was alert as he was stretchered off to hospital. Once again, the dangers of this remarkable sport were laid bare, but Doyle will be back.

“I didn’t want to look,” said Woffinden of Doyle’s tumble. “I had to keep my head in the right place. He’s had his x-rays and I just hope he’s OK, but when you get on that bike, there are things we all know…”

Woffinden is seemingly on course for his third world title. But for all that the British Grand Prix is the ultimate showcase for Britain’s best rider, Woffinden and Cardiff have never been easy bedfellows. A runner-up in 2014 and 2016, Woffinden hitherto played the occasion rather than the four-lap races. This time, Woffinden and his 500cc bike went close, but again not quite close enough.

As ever, the organisers went for spectacle in the faintly ludicrous shape of a 50ft inflatable trophy; a sex-appeal-free band knocking out a version of Sex on Fire; indoor fireworks; the Welsh and British national anthems; WWF-style cheerleading (“ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, are you ready to go racing?”) and the usual eardrum-challenging cacophony. It all smacked of a self-conscious lack of a confidence in a sport that again proved to be as thrilling and as dangerous as it was when Barry Briggs, Ivan Mauger and Anders Michanek were staples of terrestrial television.

Woffinden and second-place Fredrik Lindgren met in the first heat and, with the swagger of one who knows no other way to conduct himself, Woffinden led from first to last, so far ahead that he could finish with a wheelie. Lindgren finished third.

Pantomime villain Nicki Pedersen and Woffinden clashed in heat 5. Woffinden was last into the gate. After a restart when fellow Brit Robert Lambert took a painful tumble onto the cinders and was excluded, Woffinden was last out of it and, bike stuttering and spluttering, he finished third out of three when his ignition failed. There was still a territory-marking wheelie.

If British speedway looks like a one-man show, Craig Cook won heat 6, holding off Przemyslaw Pawlicki at the end for only his second victory in 36 heats. He would win his third in heat 11 and then his fourth two heats later, before his luck ran out when he fell in heat 20 and failed to finish his semi-final, but it remains the finest night of a journeyman career.

Bike restored, Woffinden won heat 9 with a bravura display of chance-taking, no-holds-barred riding. With Patryk Dudek shadowing his every manoeuvre, Woffinden took the long way round and although the margin of victory and the wheelie at the end were small, the ability and bravery were superlative.

Woffinden began heat 13 on the outside, but a sluggish start meant he could not squeeze past Greg Hancock. This time, there was no Woffinden wheelie, but there was a clasp of hands with Cook who was second only to Zmarzlik, who, surprisingly, began the evening eighth in the championship.

Yet when Woffinden and Zmarzlik finally met in heat 17, the Brit’s 52.5sec was the fastest of the evening and the Pole trailed all the way.

Zmarzlik and Maciej Janowski qualified from the all-Polish first semi-final. Woffinden won the second ahead of Hancock.

The final was a Zmarzlik masterclass. “I was waiting for him to make a mistake,” said Woffinden, “but it never came.” His wheelie at the end was barely noticeable, but the bigger picture remains a joy for him to behold.

 

 

 

[tellboy]

First of all I wish Jason Doyle a speedy recovery.

Unfortunately I can't get too excited anymore about going.I did come here on this occasion as a friend of mine got married down here on the Thursday.

Referee was a total shambles.

Take away the atmosphere and the racing isn't any better than normal league racing.Very overpriced now it's just a money spinner for the men in charge. 

Maybe a trip to a Gp in Europe beckons for me next year.

[Pinny]

Gutted i didnt make it back for this but hoping to make next years one. 

Woffy set for world title number 3, must admit i am not a huge fan and used to borderline despise him but he is maturing, he is a class act on a bike and he is trying to raise the profile of the sport in the UK.

since he has come back to Team GB Look at the differences - its a shame the bspa wont budge and let him try and introduce some of his plans to uk league speedway. 

This event proves the fanbase is still there in the uk year on year, just a pity the majority of promoters couldnt organise a lash up in a brewery. 

[Midland Red]

"Cinders" says the Times reporter!

[Pinny]

Gutted i didnt make it back for this but hoping to make next years one. 

Woffy set for world title number 3, must admit i am not a huge fan and used to borderline despise him but he is maturing, he is a class act on a bike and he is trying to raise the profile of the sport in the UK.

since he has come back to Team GB Look at the differences - its a shame the bspa wont budge and let him try and introduce some of his plans to uk league speedway. 

This event proves the fanbase is still there in the uk year on year, just a pity the majority of promoters couldnt organise a lash up in a brewery. 

[PHILIPRISING]

On 7/20/2018 at 2:18 AM, waiheke1 said:

 

FIRST time in 17 years at Cardiff that I have sat in the grandstand. Fantastic night. Cannot beat live sport and the whole package this year was in my opinion exceptional. Being amongst a crowd like that, enjoying chatting with people you have never met before, getting caught umping the whole atmosphere. Just brilliant and on the on-track action was just the icing on the cake. Only minus was the referee who, frankly, I will be surprised to see officiate at another SGP.

[Vince]

38 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Pantomime villain Nicki Pedersen and Woffinden clashed in heat 5. Woffinden was last into the gate. After a restart when fellow Brit Robert Lambert took a painful tumble onto the cinders and was excluded, Woffinden was last out of it and, bike stuttering and spluttering, he finished third out of three when his ignition failed. There was still a territory-marking wheelie.

 

 

 

 

Learn something new every day, I had no idea the ignition controlled the fuel tap!

Good GP, despite a completely incompetent ref doing his best to ruin it.

[phillipsr]

Just now, Vince said:

Learn something new every day, I had no idea the ignition controlled the fuel tap!

Good GP, despite a completely incompetent ref doing his best to ruin it.

It doesnt does it?? Tai said he checked the fuel and it was on-so his issues were due to the ignition 

[Steve Shovlar]

18 minutes ago, Vince said:

Learn something new every day, I had no idea the ignition controlled the fuel tap!

Good GP, despite a completely incompetent ref doing his best to ruin it.

As I said last night, Woffindens pit crew failed to turn on his fuel tap. He had to go fishing for it on the first bend and was fine in the heat after that, albeit half a lap behind. The stadium cameras then picked him up giving a bollocking to the tall mechanic who had his arms raised in apologies. Every heat after that he checked his fuel tap as he approached the tape.

I haven’t seen it but on BT he said it was an ignition problem. Clearly wanting to keep any issues “in house” rather than blame his pit crew in public.

[phillipsr]

1 minute ago, Steve Shovlar said:

As I said last night, Woffindens pit crew failed to turn on his fuel tap. He had to go fishing for it on the first bend and was fine in the heat after that, albeit half a lap behind. The stadium cameras then picked him up giving a bollocking to the tall mechanic who had his arms raised in apologies. Every heat after that he checked his fuel tap as he approached the tape.

I haven’t seen it but on BT he said it was an ignition problem. Clearly wanting to keep any issues “in house” rather than blame his pit crew in public.

He said it in-his interview after that race... may well be a lie but its what he said