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2020 Wildcards


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2 hours ago, iwright71 said:

I'm sure Phil Rising will give us a rigorous defence to the wisdom of BSI picking Antonio Lindback as a wildcard. The asperation might be to pick the best 4 riders but unfortunately they also have to come from the right part of the World. Lindback has been selected because BSI need more than 1 Swede in the field having to sell 2 GP's in far flung Swedish venues  almost devoid of travelling fans. Antonio has had a good run in the GP, and has won GP's but rarely challenges the top 8. There were other , better options, The other Laguta,, Michelsen to name 2. But unfortunately the GP has always been run on a quota system.

FIM keeping the Swedish flag flying.....shame the young talent from  Sweden seems to have dried up

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2 hours ago, KIRKYLANE said:

FIM keeping the Swedish flag flying.....shame the young talent from  Sweden seems to have dried up

They've got some up and coming riders, but not many. Oliver Berntzon and Phillip Hellstrom-Bangs are worth keeping an eye on though I'm not sure how young the former is. With Andreas Jonsson retired there's not much depth. With the exodus of expensive foreign talent seemingly set to grow next year it could give young talent some space to develop. Too many teams over there are crowded out by Poles, many of whom simply don't deliver in Sweden. 

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7 hours ago, RobMcCaffery said:

They've got some up and coming riders, but not many. Oliver Berntzon and Phillip Hellstrom-Bangs are worth keeping an eye on though I'm not sure how young the former is. With Andreas Jonsson retired there's not much depth. With the exodus of expensive foreign talent seemingly set to grow next year it could give young talent some space to develop. Too many teams over there are crowded out by Poles, many of whom simply don't deliver in Sweden. 

Berntzon is 26. Not a single Swede under 25 averaged even a point a ride in this year's Elitserien. Hellstrom-Bangs (who is still 16) is definitely the hot prospect, only Hjelmland and Anton Karlsson of the other young riders look like Elitserien material at the moment.

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As i said check Lindbacks record this season it isnt that bad

5 semi finals in 9 gp's

Granted he isnt likely to challenge the rostrum but then again would the riders people have put up to replace him do that

Im all for young blood but not if they arent going to be any better than the rider they are replacing

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My immediate reaction to the news about next year's wildcards was that the choices seem to lack imagination. The substitutes do, however, seem to redress the balance, a little, at least.

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19 hours ago, TheReturn said:

Have a word with yourself.  It's not disgusting at all to question the decision.   Yes he finished 5th in 2018, and is a former world champion, so what?  By the start of the first 2020 GP that will be what, 18ish months later?  Which brings me back to the point I have been making, somebody has decided that Hancock is still amongst the best 15 riders in the world, but based on what?  It's not based on speed, averages, 2019 results, it's based on marketing and/or nostalgia and that's a dangerous precedent to set for what is meant to be the best of the best. 

Based on him comfortably qualifying for this year's GP and exceptional circumstances ruling him out. How many more ruddy times does that need pointing out to you?! 

Again, for the 117th time, let's see your 15 better riders. Let's see your alternatives, then we can truly contrast and compare. (he says...knowing there's no bleeding chance of this guy ever willing to list them as it will expose the futility of his argument).

Edited by falcace
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18 minutes ago, Fullmax said:

Seems a number on here want to get the S.E.C.  champion a guaranteed spot in the GP.  How is that fair ? 5 points in the GP Qualifier for Michelsen when  he had chance to qualify and why should he get 2 bites at the cherry.

By entering two routes to qualification - an option open to all European riders. 

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49 minutes ago, Fullmax said:

So only European riders get 2 chances ? Thats hardly fair.

Not sure how the recent posts have got in such a mess.

1 The  SEC stands for speedway European championships and has nothing to do with the GP. It has it`s own qualification(for Europeans !!) has it`s own seeded riders(Europeans !!) from the final results and has it`s own wildcards(Europeans !!)

2 The GP qualification is open to all federations and every year the top 3 from the challenge final get into the following season`s GP`s.The GP`s   also has it`s own seeded riders and Wildcards.

Both competitions are separate and have nothing to do with each other apart from the SEC cannot pick GP riders(European ones !!) as their wildcards.

Edited by racers and royals
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3 hours ago, Fullmax said:

Seems a number on here want to get the S.E.C.  champion a guaranteed spot in the GP.  How is that fair ? 5 points in the GP Qualifier for Michelsen when  he had chance to qualify and why should he get 2 bites at the cherry.

He had his chance to qualify and didnt make it.

I know there isnt an easy answer but the GP challenge is a one off meeting where a top rider can have one bad ride or engine failure. It could also be on a track that riders dont like and others do....lets face it this season we were close to having Aspgren and Pavlic in the gp's....and people moan about Lindback

I remember back in 1999 Mark Loram had an amazing gp season as a reserve and almost got a rostrum after missing a round............he went to the gp challenge on the ultra slick Lonigo circuit at a time where the format was 2 rides in 3rd and 4th and you were out.

Mark was in an elimination race and for 2 and a half laps was stuck in 3rd (behind Stoney and Jacek Gollob i believe), before finding a way past and staying in.............he made it by the skin of his teeth into the 2000 GP series......taking 7 rides to qualify..............and as i recall he didnt do to bad that following season!

Funnily enough the 2000 one and two came from the previous seasons challenge!

Edited by Gavan
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10 hours ago, racers and royals said:

Not sure how the recent posts have got in such a mess.

1 The  SEC stands for speedway European championships and has nothing to do with the GP. It has it`s own qualification(for Europeans !!) has it`s own seeded riders(Europeans !!) from the final results and has it`s own wildcards(Europeans !!)

2 The GP qualification is open to all federations and every year the top 3 from the challenge final get into the following season`s GP`s.The GP`s   also has it`s own seeded riders and Wildcards.

Both competitions are separate and have nothing to do with each other apart from the SEC cannot pick GP riders(European ones !!) as their wildcards.

My comment was only appropriate if an SEC win WAS to become a route to SGP qualification. Until that happens, if ever, European riders have one route, like anybody else. 

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On ‎10‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 11:59 PM, chunky said:

So was the old world final system, so your point is?

The point is that one of the reasons we moved away from One Off World Finals was to try to assemble the best 15 riders in the world to contest the World  Championship. Unfortunately there still has to be riders nominated primarily by their nationality to ensure key markets that host GP's have ample riders from that nation to aid selling tickets. I get this but lets not dress it up that if Antonio Lindback was not Swedish but say Danish he would not have received a wildcard for next years GP Series. 

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2 minutes ago, iwright71 said:

The point is that one of the reasons we moved away from One Off World Finals was to try to assemble the best 15 riders in the world to contest the World  Championship. Unfortunately there still has to be riders nominated primarily by their nationality to ensure key markets that host GP's have ample riders from that nation to aid selling tickets. I get this but lets not dress it up that if Antonio Lindback was not Swedish but say Danish he would not have received a wildcard for next years GP Series. 

I have repeatedly stated that one of the GP's biggest selling points is that it is designed to find the top 15 riders (or close to the top 15) in the world, whereas the world final certainly wasn't. The problem is that a lot of people still think the old system was best.

As dad as Lindback, of course, part of it was because of his nationality, but it is still not obvious - despite what some people think - that there were other candidates clearly better than him. So, you have one "debatable" inclusion out of 15? Helluva lot better than the old days!

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