Kelvin Tatum - Sky Sports Expert

Eight or bust

Getting into the top eight has to be a priority

Posted: 28th August 2008 16:27

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Scott Nicholls: Needs to earn some points

The referees have been under the spotlight as some of their decisions have been odd to say the least. There certainly has been criticism about them this season particularly at Cardiff where there was quite a furore over the referee's decisions.

Kelvin Tatum
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Leigh Adams had a bit of a quiet time after winning the Poland Grand Prix when there was talk of him being a strong contender for the world championship.

But he slipped away after that and had some poor performances. He bounced back well in Sweden though, and as he won last year in Latvia, I am sure he will be full of confidence going into the weekend.

Nicki Pedersen still considers Jason Crump to be his main rival though and takes him more seriously than anybody else. He does respect everybody, but obviously Crump, having been a two-time world champion, he takes him very seriously.

Perfect Pedersen

All credit to Nicki Pedersen, he came out after the summer break and won his first Grand Prix of the season in Prague and then although he did not have an easy night in Malilla, he still put together a result that enabled him to go 17 points ahead in the championship race. He has not missed a final and is on top of his game.

Jason Crump needs to win. He needs to get a really big haul of points if he wants to make a go of challenging Pedersen. There are four GP's left and plenty of points available, if Pedersen had a meet where he was way below par and Crump was successful then the Championship would become very exciting going into the last three meetings.

I am sure Crump will be doing his very best to keep as much pressure as possible on Pedersen for as long as possible. Crump has admitted that he has not started well enough and he needs to get off to a really strong start in Latvia so he can get a big haul of points from his first five rides.

That way he can get some good picks for the semi-final and then we may see him picking up a win.

Reffing the refs

I also want to mention Scott Nicholls and his ridiculous exclusion in Malilla. Sometimes I wonder if referees know what is going on out there.

That decision in Nicholls' last race in Malilla was extraordinary as he did absolutely nothing wrong. At the very least it should have been all four riders back to the start for a re-run. The referees have been under the spotlight as some of their decisions have been odd to say the least. There certainly has been criticism about them this season particularly at Cardiff where there was quite a furore over the referee's decisions.

Referees are under even more pressure but they have a lot of information at their disposal. They have a monitor in the box that they can use to look at incidents from various different angles so they are being helped a lot in their decision making process. They certainly have the facilities to make their decisions.

Best of British

As regards to the two British riders, they have struggled this year in particular Chris Harris, who has not been able to reproduce his form from last year.

Both him and Nicholls are under big pressure because they are outside the top eight and if they don't pull their fingers out in the next Grand Prix then they are going to be relying on the pick.

The problem with that is that sooner or later their luck is going to run out. They need to perform to get back into the top eight.

Comments

Martin Bennett says...

Exactly some of the points Malcom has stated i dont really know why we have the BSPA as too me they dont do a great deal to promote the sport in this country. How many proposed tracks or defunct teams that want to form have they actually helped. They dont seem to do anything to promote the sport ie liase with councils/government about noise issues etc.Perhaps with a bit of input and education from them could make a difference also reduce the amount of foriegn riders that race in teams and perhaps our clubs can nurture them.Also many people i speak to about speedway think its about the motorbikes that go round the roads in britain why not go to schools and promote the sport.

Posted 20:54 30th August 2008

Keith Clayton says...

The problem here is the same as in football. Our leagues are full of second rate foreign riders, there is so little incentive for young British riders to move up the ladder. In my day as a speedway fan, foreign riders were simply not allowed in the second tier, and every club had a juniors in the second half racing against senior riders, and making progress towards the team. Maybe with EU rules it is too late to do anything about this. I Have never had any faith in Lee Richardson and Scott Nicholls doing anything in the GP. Bad conditions....they just don't want to know. Now Chris Harris has replaced Lee in the mediocre catagory. If they don't finish top eight, I don't think they deserve to be there next year. The GP has to have a British rider, hopefully two. But who ? Tai Woffinden - much too early. Simon Stead - probably too late. The Premier League heat leaders do not move up, they grow old taking the easy route. Some way must be found to bring on junior riders.

Posted 08:58 30th August 2008

Patrick Bevan says...

Kelvin, good commentary. Perhaps we should look at what has happened in cycling and the olympics. Investment and concentrated team training. Surely the money from Sky will help here and we certainly have quality in depth of experienced riders. we need to identify the future talent and focus investment on that. Having said that we have to accept that Speedway, much loved by it's English fans, is nowhere near as popular here as it is in other countries, particularly scandinavian countries. Is there a body in Speedway looking at the sports' profile. I'm too young to have seen Barry Briggs but I know in his day the sport was king. Is there a way back to that? P.S. Joe Owen was a king

Posted 21:26 29th August 2008

Malcolm Tyrie says...

Re the G P s and our international standing. We seem to be at a low point compared to the rest of the speedway nations. All we hear is the lack of the correct set up or our riders not getting out of the gate. Is it time to have a national team of coaches? Perhaps the likes of Mark Loram, Chris Louis, Kelvin and Peter Collins to help and coach our existing top 10. Let's help them get the bike from the tapes get better drive from the bends or get the correct set up or engine for the track. This years Danish team had lots of help and encouragement in and out of the pits and it paid off. We should do the same, now, in preparation for next years World Cup. It should be funded by the B.S.P.A. who will reap rewards if we have a strong National Team and individual success. Our riders all have inspirations to be world champion. Lets help them prepare.

Posted 16:23 29th August 2008

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