World Championship Pairs

[Sir Jasper]

That's the first Speedway I've watched in a long long time, very entertaining, and liked the format, and how it promotes team riding. I must admit, I was surprised that Tai went after the win, as after all, we quite rightly lauded the previous rides where he team rode in an absolutely superb fashion. Having said that, I'm also surprised that Lambert tried the inside pass. However, it's only opinion, and not really a criticism of either rider, had we got the 2nd and 3rd none of this would have been discussed. Of course it's disappointing we didn't win Gold, and nobody looked more distraught than Lambert, but we've gone to Poland, not looked like novices, and on the whole put up a very good showing. 

[waytogo28]

1 hour ago, T.N.T. said:

BEST TEAM WON in my.opinion and that takes nothing away from the gallant efforts of Team GB who gave it everything but as a team Russia were stronger. 

That was very much the case. IF they do tweak the scoring system in the future,  so be it . But Russia were worthy champions under the existing system - and a stronger pair,

[waytogo28]

8 hours ago, Dave the Mic said:

Never mind what has been done behind the scenes, he has also contributed massively on track. Team GB wouldn’t have got through the race off without Woffenden, much less topped the scores and managed a silver medal. What he has done for the national team is immense this week, an inspiration. And he was as gutted as anyone with silver and not gold. 

Woffy could not have given more to his country and his sport. I salute him and his efforts at team riding with his "right up there" partner Robert Lambert, the best young rider on show by a long way. Craig Cook proved what a True Brit and a Team Man he is with his comments on the podium,

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

At least the Poles didnt win. I dont mean that because it was the Poles but only due to the position they were in

A pair a full 10 points behind in the qualifiers still having a chance to win with two 3-3 drawn heats is just plain wrong!

 

[DSC67]

Overall it was a decent competition with some great racing in the final stages . But the format needs to be changed. You can't have a final that encourages riders not to win a " final " , after two days of racing and 40 + heats the team with the most points should win  IMHO , maybe it's all about building excitement and ensuring that the meeting does fizzle out like a damp squib . Well done to Great Britain an excellent performance and one in the eye for the doom and gloom merchants, many there is some light at the end of the tunnel . I'd like to think that the competition won't be an annual thing maybe alternative years with the WTC also it needs to be moved around the nations and not based in Poland all the time ,  personally I'd like to see a return to some proper 7 man test matches on a home and away basis but I don't see it happening any time soon . 

Edited June 10, 2018 by DSC67

[OveFundinFan]

16 hours ago, OveFundinFan said:

Whichever team tonight wins the final race will be the official Speedway of Nations champions.

Whichever team ends up tonight with the highest number of points (over the 2 meetings ie 42 races) will be world champions IN MY MIND.

Totally against the final 2 races, just a nonsense, especially if a team finishes 2nd and 3rd in the final race being declared winners. That's complete nonsense.

 

I stick by what I said in the above post.  In my mind, and sadly that's all its is, Tai and Rob were the Best Pair. They were the ones that consistently tried their best to team ride, and to a great extent it worked. Well done.

All the other teams seemed as if they were individuals and rode as such. Some not even looking behind at any time (except in the run up to the checkured flag) at all, which was silly because there many the time they could have helped their team mate.  True Russia did a little bit of team riding, not a lot.

An amazing 2 day final. So many world class quality riders yet there were only 3 or 4 that really shone.  Lindback we know can beat anyone when hes firing on all cylinders, but sadly not in this competition. Freddie was a bit below what we used to this last 18 months.  Emil is a shadow of his former form, but Artum hit the heights. The rest all failed consistency. Germany rode very well, Smolinski on Friday was a shock, and Hukenberg on Sat did really well and kept the opposition on their toes.

In the end, the gold didn't go to GB. Sad, because they deserved it, but good to see Russia has now won a world speedway gold - first time ever.

Edited June 10, 2018 by OveFundinFan

[screm]

Maybe in future SON meetings when there is a race off or a final should there be a 3-3 the team that finished with the most points during the qualifying races should go through, though had Team GB won in the way Russia did I doubt there would be many on here complaining though having read through some of the posts I`m not so sure as its beyond me how anyone can criticize Tai Woffinden with the way he rode in the final. He was the best rider, showed excellent team riding skills and lead the team superbly, Team GB did far better than anyone could have expected and like Tai said this year is the first year in a five year plan.

[marko]

After this event I am left wondering how Manchester City were able to win the 38 game league season by so many points and not have to face either Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur in a winner takes all final at Wembley? Oh hang, Football still has some credibility about it when it comes to winning a marathon event.

[Noodles]

4 minutes ago, OveFundinFan said:

I stick by what I said in the above post.  In my mind, and sadly that's all its is, Tai and Rob were the Best Pair. They were the ones that consistently tried their best to team ride, and to a great extent it worked. Well done.

All the other teams seemed as if they were individuals and rode as such. Some not even looking behind at any time (except in the run up to the checkured flag) at all, which was silly because there many the time they could have helped their team mate.  True Russia did a little bit of team riding, not a lot.

An amazing 2 day final. So many world class quality riders yet there were only 3 or 4 that really shone.  Lindback we know can beat anyone when hes firing on all cylinders, but sadly not in this competition. Freddie was a bit below what we used to this last 18 months.  Emil is a shadow of his former form, but Artum hit the heights. The rest all failed consistency. Germany rode very well, Smolinski on Friday was a shock, and Hukenberg on Sat did really well and kept the opposition on their toes.

In the end, the gold didn't go to GB. Sad, because they deserved it, but good to see Russia has now won a world speedway gold - first time ever.



'Tai and Rob were the Best Pair. They were the ones that consistently tried their best to team ride'

Pity they didn't bother in the one race it really mattered.

[britmet]

Just now, DSC67 said:

. . .. .after two days of racing and 40 + heats the team with the most points should win .

If you can have a league where the team that tops the league table after 6 months isn't the league champions, then why expect the top points scoring pair not to have do something similar after completing the schedule ?
I'm not defending the format, just pointing out the analogues.  

[r8gdp]

9 hours ago, Triple.H. said:

As he's a Legend I'm the sport 

Why not spell his name correctly 

Dikc 

Not questioning his status in the sport as a rider just think he d have been better leaving bjerre in more chance of him making a start at this level and holding on for a point at least   Asking a bit too much of the young reserve at this level  sorry about the mistake with his name combination of a few beers and always struggling with spelling lol

[screm]

20 minutes ago, Noodles said:

'Tai and Rob were the Best Pair. They were the ones that consistently tried their best to team ride'

Pity they didn't bother in the one race it really mattered.

 

Bit difficult to team ride when you are second and fourth then first and fourth, both Woffinden and Lambert rode out of their skin and deserve huge credit.

[Grachan]

27 minutes ago, marko said:

After this event I am left wondering how Manchester City were able to win the 38 game league season by so many points and not have to face either Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur in a winner takes all final at Wembley? Oh hang, Football still has some credibility about it when it comes to winning a marathon event.

Football World Cup coming up, where a team can finish top of it's league and lose the final to a team that finished below it.

[britmet]

10 minutes ago, britmet said:

If you can have a league where the team that tops the league table after 6 months isn't the league champions, then why expect the top points scoring pair not to have do something similar after completing the schedule ?
I'm not defending the format, just pointing out the analogues.  

Just double-checked with the FIM website, - its not the 'World Championship Pairs'. ., its called the 'Speedway of Nations' competition.
But one man can't be a nation, and neither can 2 men. 
If you're trying to identify the top nation, then just like the football world cup, it has to be a team, ..  of the usual size that predominates in that sport: in football its 11, in speedway its 7, - (okay, I'll consider 6 or 8 . )
Football wouldn't have a World Cup  that put up Ronaldo v. Kane v. Bales v. X  v.Y, etc. in a shoot-out.
Lets get back to proper internationals - we already have a Championship that determines the best rider, ( and we used to have a Pairs competition.)

[YerRopes]

Enjoyable meeting, well done Russia, hard luck GB, no need for semi-final and final though..

[The Cheese]

Good to have 2 days of superb racing, maybe in future the top 6 sides should be seeded to the final with one qualifier for the 7th place.

Great effort by GB, surprised by Woffinden's decision to not try and help Lambert in the final but apart from that he was sensational. Well done to Russia.

[iris123]

19 minutes ago, screm said:

Bit difficult to team ride when you are second and fourth then first and fourth, both Woffinden and Lambert rode out of their skin and deserve huge credit.

Guess it may be a generational thing,and us older fans can remember riders helping their team mates in such positions.More frustrating even when Tai had made great efforts in previous heats.It can be done,it has been done and it was really the best if not only sensible option.

Just riding off on front was maybe Tai’s way of showing his rivals he is the best at the moment?Even the night after,I still find the decision strange in a team event with the rule as it stood

[IainB]

Now that it's all over, I can take a balanced look at what happened over the last week.

RO1 Germany: Total Rubbish.

RO2 BV: Rubbish, had some interest for me as GB were in it, but GB qualification was never really in doubt.

Finals: Great Speedway, makes you wonder why we had to sit through the rubbish of the first 2 days, which I thought weren't really worthy of being televised.

Format: It's the TV world we live in these days, just about every televised sport, with the exception of PL Football, has buckled to TV demands for play offs/winner take all finals. Right or wrong at least you know the rules of the competition before you enter. I did enjoy the finals, maybe they should look at early season qualifiers and a 3 or 4 day knockout final? What I also found strange was looking at the scores, more or less every team seemed to be massively imbalanced with one rider scoring a massive haul of points and his partner barely scoring any, maybe this is to do with the U21 reserve, which I do think needs looking at.

GB: Tai was pure world class, his scoring obviously speaks for itself, his team riding a joy to watch, he was generally the only rider on display that was busting a gut to help his team partner... which makes his actions in the final all the more puzzling! There was a World Championship at stake after all. It's a shame that the pit reporter wasn't able to ask some more searching questions during the interviews/press conferences afterwards as it was the one questions all of the fans were asking, why did you not even try to slow Emil down? Robert Lambert looked under powered but did a great job supporting Tai and hopefully will only get better. Craig Cook, last year you would have picked him, on his form so far this year you probably wouldn't have, it's a shame Steve Worrall got injured so early as he would have possibly offered an alternative.

Others: Poland: Dudek is not the rider he was last year and their pairing did surprise me, personally I would have gone Zmarzlik and Piotr Pawlicki. Sweden: Could easily have won it if Lindback was in the right mood. Aus: Why no Holder? Was this due to unavailability in UK due to Visa?

Pearson & Tatum: Brilliant!

Russia: Well Done!

Edited June 10, 2018 by iainb

[Sotonian]

52 minutes ago, marko said:

After this event I am left wondering how Manchester City were able to win the 38 game league season by so many points and not have to face either Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur in a winner takes all final at Wembley? Oh hang, Football still has some credibility about it when it comes to winning a marathon event.

There is no point in comparing speedway to football. Football has huge global appeal and will command TV coverage regardless of its rules. 

Speedway and other minority sports simply have to meet the broadcasters wishes to get screened. I'd rather  last nights coverage live in HD with the contrived finish than a straight 'most points wins' with no media interest at all.

[Arson fire]

Regardless of the result, that was proper speedway!! Tai in a different league and Robert just lacking that bit experience. A silver medal in that field is a fantastic achievment.