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Grand Prix changes


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12 minutes ago, Terry said:

They finally get the scoring system right after years of tinkering and then go and balls it up again.

You are 100% right. The GP series, when it was introduced, had one feature which countered the "how can a rider who has one good meeting, be considered WC?" effect. Well, what better way to prove that the WC is the most consistent rider across the season that to make every race and every point count? A 3rd in your opening ride should not be considered a bit of a slip, to be caught up later. It's 2 lost points, lost for good. And what about "I've qualified for the semis, so why try hard to win further races" under the new system? We want riders making every race meaningful don't we? Pushing for every point, not making judgements about their likelihood about their qualification for the later stages of the meeting.

This is a fundamental mistake and ignores simple psychology. Think on. At Torun this year, we were following the destiny of the championship from race 1 and throughout the meeting race by race. 

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2 hours ago, MattK said:

Who says it isn't broken though? Maybe the organisers have looked at some of the lacklustre attendances and figure this is one way things can be freshened up a bit?

The scoring system we had last SGP season gave us the closest title chase in years that went virtually down to the last race, so as I say it wasn't broken so no need to fix it. Yes it has brought speedway in line with other motor sports but copying others isn't always the best thing to do. If they wanted to do something to the scoring system then award points for qualifying, five points to the quickest, three to the second quickest and a point to the third quickest.

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16 minutes ago, hagonshocker said:

Wonder how Mikkel M feels? Wins SEC gets overlooked through politics and logistics then gets informed in future SEC winner gets a spot......

Yes. If the numpties that came up with the scheme for next year think it is such an improvement ... Then why not put it into practice when they had the chance by giving the SEC winner a wildcard for next year.

I think it's a poor change but at least my picking Mikkel M it would have shown their integrity by being committed to the idea. Right now.

As it is they look pretty shabby.

Edited by Grand Central
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There is an inverse correlation between the number of wildcards and the integrity of the WC system.

The more wildcards, the less credible the system.

And am I the only one that thinks it's a bit odd that one rider can qualify three ways, all at the same time, before the end of the current GP series? And they say being the top scorer in a GP and not winning the meeting is an anomaly.

Edited by False dawn
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12 hours ago, Gambo said:

Using the 2020 format in the 2019 series sees Leon Madsen as World Champion with 154 points (130 2019) and Zmarzlik in 2nd place with 147 (132 2019).

Madsen would have had a 1 point lead prior to Torun.

Zmarzlik would have had to finish ahead of Madsen in the Final, to win by 1 point.

No other changes in positions down to 18th place in the final standings.

Janowski, Doyle and Dudek miss out on automatic qualification.

King Stats

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16 hours ago, False dawn said:

You are 100% right. The GP series, when it was introduced, had one feature which countered the "how can a rider who has one good meeting, be considered WC?" effect. Well, what better way to prove that the WC is the most consistent rider across the season that to make every race and every point count? A 3rd in your opening ride should not be considered a bit of a slip, to be caught up later. It's 2 lost points, lost for good. And what about "I've qualified for the semis, so why try hard to win further races" under the new system? We want riders making every race meaningful don't we? Pushing for every point, not making judgements about their likelihood about their qualification for the later stages of the meeting.

This is a fundamental mistake and ignores simple psychology. Think on. At Torun this year, we were following the destiny of the championship from race 1 and throughout the meeting race by race. 

Exactly. It's like when they had those eliminator races, which were fine for an end-of-season individual meeting such as the Champions Chase we had at Hackney in the 70's, but not for a world championship when we had riders settling for a 'safe second' just to progress through to the next round..Dear old Andy Smith was on his way home by the end of heat 5. His mechanic used to keep the van engine running!

 

 

 

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Castanga says

“The main thinking for us is to harmonise our championship scoring system with other big sports events so that the winner always comes away with the most points, which will help attract and retain a wider audience for our sport.”

I can't think of any other World Championship series that has 2 semis and a final, although no doubt somebody will correct me. So if you want to harmonise with "other big sports" (and that's a whole different argument as to whether Speedway is a "big sport") then award the points after 20 heats... other wise leave well alone

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Every rider wants to win a GP as the joy they show after winning the final shows. It is after all the object of it all. Always said that the winner of a GP should get the most points for doing so. I am therefore in total agreement with the change but I would have preferred those riders who do not qualify for the semis to simply keep the points which they have scored.

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On 10/10/2019 at 8:30 AM, iris123 said:

It isn’t only in speedway, that is how sport works. Think you can win at tennis, snooker or darts for instance  without winning the majority of points?

 

On 10/10/2019 at 8:57 AM, Mark said:

And a General Election.

 

You can win at tennis and a general election without getting the majority of the points.

It seems wrong that someone who scrapes into the final after scoring 8 in his five rides and a second in his semi will come away with 10 more points than someone who scored a 15 point maximum but missed the gate in his semi.

21 for the winner and merely points scored for the rest would have been right.

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31 minutes ago, iainb said:

Castanga says

“The main thinking for us is to harmonise our championship scoring system with other big sports events so that the winner always comes away with the most points, which will help attract and retain a wider audience for our sport.”

I can't think of any other World Championship series that has 2 semis and a final, although no doubt somebody will correct me. So if you want to harmonise with "other big sports" (and that's a whole different argument as to whether Speedway is a "big sport") then award the points after 20 heats... other wise leave well alone

Castagna comes out with a load of rubbish. And a lot of poor developments for the sport under his watch

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