Latvian GP Riga Saturday 7th September

[szkocjasid]

47 minutes ago, arnieg said:

But he got more zeros 🫢. But how did they separate Gusts and Anvesulius - shoe size?

They can't be split, so must've been GP ranking, number 17 is better than 18.

This situation where 0,0 is better than 0,0 which is better than X is another example of why the current scoring system is the worst ever!

[szkocjasid]

Just now, Fromafar said:

I agree regarding gate choices,take tonight Bartosz never even got a pick in Semi or Final and won the meeting.

Once Fricke had 3rd choice for the final, I was surprised he left Bartosz grid 2, after Zmarzlik had done well off 2 in the semi final.

[Hackett]

5 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

Any word on MM injuries.

Not seen anything but looked a bad one. Shame for MM because he was starting to get it together in the SGP series. Feel for Lebedevs he was excellent tonight and deserved a Final spot.

[szkocjasid]

2 hours ago, TheWellBehavedWorrall said:

From that horrific crash in his first heat to top of the podium. I suppose that’s why he’s world champion, isn’t it?

The way Kelvin Tatum was going on, you’d have thought he was rock bottom of the standings. His frequent references to difficulties and testing times had me wondering.

Yeah I don't get where all the talk of Zmarzlik struggling came from. It's like every round the question is, will Zmarzlik win or not, rather than "which of the 16 riders will win".

He's a great rider, but it shouldn't be regarded as Zmarzlik vs everyone else.

[Fromafar]

1 minute ago, szkocjasid said:

Once Fricke had 3rd choice for the final, I was surprised he left Bartosz grid 2, after Zmarzlik had done well off 2 in the semi final.

Think it is easy sitting in Studio or at home to criticise gate choices but really it does not mean a lot.IMO.Its 4 laps to win a  race.

[IainB]

2 minutes ago, szkocjasid said:

Yeah I don't get where all the talk of Zmarzlik struggling came from. It's like every round the question is, will Zmarzlik win or not, rather than "which of the 16 riders will win".

He's a great rider, but it shouldn't be regarded as Zmarzlik vs everyone else.

I think, by his standards, he had been struggling a bit recently, it's just that the opposition can't put a consistent enough challenge up against him. At the moment it is Zmarzlik vs everyone else, there's just no clear challenger

[IainB]

2 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

Think it is easy sitting in Studio or at home to criticise gate choices but really it does not mean a lot.IMO.Its 4 laps to win a  race.

As someone who sat there for years watching TRick win from gate 1 all night long, I think there is a clear advantage to it, especially when the cream rises to the top in the latter stages of a meeting. Some people don't like them but Tatum and Louis know what they're talking about regarding gate choices

[DJC]

Jesus it's tedious

I honestly cannot see how Michelson was excluded in heat 4, he was in front and lifted then got clattered. Other way around Michelson goes every time.

Not sure I can stand Tatum and Louis fawning any longer, you'd think Zmarzlik was some underdog story

As usual best 2 riders on the night miss out - although Lambert only has himself to blame...again! 

[racers and royals]

8 hours ago, szkocjasid said:

They can't be split, so must've been GP ranking, number 17 is better than 18.

This situation where 0,0 is better than 0,0 which is better than X is another example of why the current scoring system is the worst ever!

It seems totally wrong that even though a reserve fails to score he is awarded a higher place than someone who starts the GP ! I could understand it if the reserve scores points.

[Fromafar]

10 hours ago, DJC said:

Jesus it's tedious

I honestly cannot see how Michelson was excluded in heat 4, he was in front and lifted then got clattered. Other way around Michelson goes every time.

Not sure I can stand Tatum and Louis fawning any longer, you'd think Zmarzlik was some underdog story

As usual best 2 riders on the night miss out - although Lambert only has himself to blame...again! 

He couldn’t have been in front if he hit Zmarzlik arm and lifted it up .

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

While driving the other day I was thinking about the GPs and how much speedway is a psychology game,a good head on your shoulders is as important as a good head on the engine and it got me thinking about gate picks etc, first we have the timed practice to pick a number, in reality you are just picking for 1 race as every number goes off all 4 gates, so you pick a number and it gives you gate 1 twice, then come the meeting despite the feeling in practice the races before you gate 1 runs 3 lasts so your mindset is I’ve made the wrong choice and with the small measures at play psychologically you’re already on the back foot, then on to the semi final and final gate picks, you get first pick and pick gate 1 in the semi and miss the start but scrape into final with a second, what do you pick in final ? You’re head is not sure and you’re 100% focus is divided 4 ways, on the other hand the last pick has no choice to make, his 100% focus is going to be on what he is left just like last night for zmarzlik, doesn’t get a choice and gets left the least favourable gate but 100% knows he has the right choice because he didn’t get one and on he goes to be the winner,as the difference in speedway from winning and losing is so small maybe there is something in this 

[Fromafar]

13 hours ago, iainb said:

As someone who sat there for years watching TRick win from gate 1 all night long, I think there is a clear advantage to it, especially when the cream rises to the top in the latter stages of a meeting. Some people don't like them but Tatum and Louis know what they're talking about regarding gate choices

Can see the logic in gate1,if you are great gater otherwise you can get blocked out.Some riders obviously don’t trust their gating skills. Dan trusted himself made the gate but messed up 1st bend.Thats Speedway.

[IainB]

12 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

Can see the logic in gate1,if you are great gater otherwise you can get blocked out.Some riders obviously don’t trust their gating skills. Dan trusted himself made the gate but messed up 1st bend.Thats Speedway.

It's certainly no guarantee but you've got to give yourself every chance especially when it comes to sudden death semis and finals, Lambert had first choice in the semi, chose gate 3 and made almost as bad a start as he did in heat 18! The chances of him catching and passing semi finalists like he did with an injured Madsen and Huckenbeck especially just after a track grade were almost non existent. If he'd had an ex rider in his corner saying to him gate 1 over and over again in his ear things could have been very different

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

5 minutes ago, iainb said:

It's certainly no guarantee but you've got to give yourself every chance especially when it comes to sudden death semis and finals, Lambert had first choice in the semi, chose gate 3 and made almost as bad a start as he did in heat 18! The chances of him catching and passing semi finalists like he did with an injured Madsen and Huckenbeck especially just after a track grade were almost non existent. If he'd had an ex rider in his corner saying to him gate 1 over and over again in his ear things could have been very different

Employing that logic, you have Greg Hancock in Wozniak’s corner, advising his every move and yet, too many riders have too many distractions,yes it’s good to have an ex rider in your corner but the final say has to be you, if you ship that decision out you’re not in control of you’re own destiny and it won’t work, I’ve never been at that level obviously but I’ve seen high level mechanics(some ex riders) who are good at the job and are head strong but are try to impose what worked for them on someone else and it won’t work, self belief is everything and the less distractions the better, what is going on in madsen’s world at the moment is tragic and he is not helping himself either, you get with the zmarzlik’s that when Bartoz wins the family wins and he has no ex riders helping him 

[IainB]

5 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Employing that logic, you have Greg Hancock in Wozniak’s corner, advising his every move and yet, too many riders have too many distractions,yes it’s good to have an ex rider in your corner but the final say has to be you, if you ship that decision out you’re not in control of you’re own destiny and it won’t work, I’ve never been at that level obviously but I’ve seen high level mechanics(some ex riders) who are good at the job and are head strong but are try to impose what worked for them on someone else and it won’t work, self belief is everything and the less distractions the better, what is going on in madsen’s world at the moment is tragic and he is not helping himself either, you get with the zmarzlik’s that when Bartoz wins the family wins and he has no ex riders helping him 

Hey, what do I know? It's only an opinion, I've never ridden a bike but I have watched an awful lot of bikes being ridden, Greg Hancock hasn't got a great track record as rider coach, first Magic, now Wozniak, I kind of worry for wee Willy Cairns a bit, he maybe good for equipment and riding technique advice but when I've heard him speak on TV he doesn't strike me as someone to give great strategic advice. But Wozniak is not at the level of Lambert, Lambert has shown he's at the top table of GP riders, he's made the "mistake" of picking the wrong gate twice now, is he learning from his mistakes? Maybe he will on his own, time will tell I suppose. 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

5 minutes ago, iainb said:

Hey, what do I know? It's only an opinion, I've never ridden a bike but I have watched an awful lot of bikes being ridden, Greg Hancock hasn't got a great track record as rider coach, first Magic, now Wozniak, I kind of worry for wee Willy Cairns a bit, he maybe good for equipment and riding technique advice but when I've heard him speak on TV he doesn't strike me as someone to give great strategic advice. But Wozniak is not at the level of Lambert, Lambert has shown he's at the top table of GP riders, he's made the "mistake" of picking the wrong gate twice now, is he learning from his mistakes? Maybe he will on his own, time will tell I suppose. 

I think lambert will be a better rider once he has his first GP win but you can’t say he has picked the wrong gate, nobody would of or wanted gate 2 in the final and yet it won,if lambert would of picked gate 2 the internet would of exploded,  gate picks are a lottery and as I was alluding to in an earlier post without having to make a choice can be an advantage, imo too much emphasis is placed on gate picks in qualifying and semi and final races 

[IainB]

12 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

I think lambert will be a better rider once he has his first GP win but you can’t say he has picked the wrong gate, nobody would of or wanted gate 2 in the final and yet it won,if lambert would of picked gate 2 the internet would of exploded,  gate picks are a lottery and as I was alluding to in an earlier post without having to make a choice can be an advantage, imo too much emphasis is placed on gate picks in qualifying and semi and final races 

I'm just going by what Tatum and Louis have said, both world class riders in their time as I mentioned in a previous post it was no coincidence TRick went off gate 1 all night during his glory years. Every GP winner this year, with the exception of Michelsen has come from the inside gates. You're right though he does need to win one and soon

Edited September 8 by iainb

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

5 minutes ago, iainb said:

I'm just going by what Tatum and Louis have said, both world class riders in their time as I mentioned in a previous post it was no coincidence TRick went off gate 1 all night during his glory years. Every GP winner this year, with the exception of Michelsen has come from the inside gates. You're right though he does need to win one and soon

I believe there is a similarity between some ex riders helping and dads helping sons, the rider was successful as was the dad and they both want the best for the rider but they are trying to impose their personality and success on the rider but the rider is a different person and it creates differences  between the two

[Fromafar]

40 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Employing that logic, you have Greg Hancock in Wozniak’s corner, advising his every move and yet, too many riders have too many distractions,yes it’s good to have an ex rider in your corner but the final say has to be you, if you ship that decision out you’re not in control of you’re own destiny and it won’t work, I’ve never been at that level obviously but I’ve seen high level mechanics(some ex riders) who are good at the job and are head strong but are try to impose what worked for them on someone else and it won’t work, self belief is everything and the less distractions the better, what is going on in madsen’s world at the moment is tragic and he is not helping himself either, you get with the zmarzlik’s that when Bartoz wins the family wins and he has no ex riders helping him 

I agree .It can just cause more confusion in the riders head.

[SaddlebowRoad]

28 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

I think lambert will be a better rider once he has his first GP win but you can’t say he has picked the wrong gate, nobody would of or wanted gate 2 in the final and yet it won,if lambert would of picked gate 2 the internet would of exploded,  gate picks are a lottery and as I was alluding to in an earlier post without having to make a choice can be an advantage, imo too much emphasis is placed on gate picks in qualifying and semi and final races 

I think you are spot on, the riders are the ones who know the state of the gates and have made starts off them all, and in terms of gate one I always think it's a risk as if you get pinned/ boxed in then it's almost race over on the first bend.

As I've said you just have to get the first half a lap right whichever gate you select. I think that's a bigger issue than the helmet colour personally.