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Post by admin on May 14, 2013 7:08:57 GMT
The one bright spark in British speedway shows that it's talent, equipment, attitude and application that win the prizes; not a big van with your name on it, some spotty herbert or herbetess wanting your autograph or to liaise with you on Twitter or bookface  TAI Woffinden realised a dream by winning his first-ever British title on home shale.Wolverhampton star Woffinden romped to a 15-point maximum in the hugely successful British Final at Monmore Green and then made no mistake in the Grand Final by edging out reigning champion Scott Nicholls, Chris Harris and surprise packet Craig Cook. It was the perfect display by Woffinden in a meeting which was held on the first anniversary of the death of former Great Britain international Lee Richardson. And he was keen to dedicate the title to Richardson’s memory – along with his father, Rob Woffinden, the man responsible for starting Tai’s speedway career. He said: “I really don’t know what to say, I’m speechless I really am. “This means so much to me. I said before the meeting I wanted the title so badly, I won the Under 18, I won the Under 21 and now I’ve won the British title itself. “I just want to thank everyone who has helped me achieve this, my sponsors, the Wolves fans and management, everyone. “And I want to dedicate this title to Lee Richardson and my father. That’s really all I can say.” The meeting had plenty of exciting racing in front of a crowd which was up on the corresponding fixture last season. BRITISH FINAL, WolverhamptonQUALIFYING SCORERS: Tai Woffinden 15, Chris Harris 13, Craig Cook 12, Edward Kennett 12, Scott Nicholls 11, Danny King 10, Josh Auty 8, Jason Garrity 8, Chris Schramm 6, Oliver Allen 5, Richie Worrall 5, Kyle Howarth 5, Ben Barker 4, Ashley Birks 2, Kyle Newman (res) 2, James Wright 1, Joe Haines 1.. SEMI-FINAL: Cook, Nicholls, Kennett, King. FINAL: Woffinden, Nicholls, Harris, Cook. bspa
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 7:21:21 GMT
Who was representing Panthers then?  Well done to Tai but this used to be a prestigious final and highlights the poor level of home grown talent (wasnt Tai raised in Oz?) that we have in this country. |
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Post by admin on May 14, 2013 7:27:26 GMT
Who was representing Panthers then? Well done to Tai but this used to be a prestigious final and highlights the poor level of home grown talent (wasnt Tai raised in Oz?) that we have in this country. So which Brit who's good enough should be riding for Panthers  Wasn't Jason Crump born in Bristol. |
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 7:49:42 GMT
Woffinden's incredible improvement this season seems a bit Kennett-esque to me.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 8:10:08 GMT
Who was representing Panthers then? Well done to Tai but this used to be a prestigious final and highlights the poor level of home grown talent (wasnt Tai raised in Oz?) that we have in this country. So which Brit who's good enough should be riding for Panthers Wasn't Jason Crump born in Bristol. When Craig Cook rode for us you could see he had a lot of potential - EL clubs have no time to wait for young riders to develop (unless farmed out or D/U in PL teams) in their quest for success. It does seem the Brit boys need longer than many foreigners to achieve a similar level of success imo. |
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Post by admin on May 14, 2013 9:08:04 GMT
Woffinden's incredible improvement this season seems a bit Kennett-esque to me. I'm sure that we could pick holes in that argument or get Eddie to get the drill out if we needed more. |
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Post by Hodgy on May 14, 2013 13:52:24 GMT
Who was representing Panthers then? Well done to Tai but this used to be a prestigious final and highlights the poor level of home grown talent (wasnt Tai raised in Oz?) that we have in this country. Wasn't Jason Crump born in Bristol. Oh no! Not Keith Millard. |
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Post by Hodgy on May 14, 2013 14:07:04 GMT
For sure you need skill and guts to ride a 500cc bike without gears or breaks but at the top it's all about money and machinery. Reading the SS a few weeks ago I was surprised to learn that the last time EL track record was broken was Sept 2010. Ironically KK at EOES. This was around the time of the new silencers.
I recall a conversation with Carl Baldwin at Peterborough many moons ago. We were discussing the sudden rise to fame of Carl Blackbird. Of course you need the diet, fitness, sharpness and hunger but without the best bikes and mechanics money can buy, you will always be ordinary. There are very few like Loram and Darcy Ward that have that ability and track craft by finding a racing lines on the slick tracks we have adopted.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 16:07:34 GMT
Who was representing Panthers then? Well done to Tai but this used to be a prestigious final and highlights the poor level of home grown talent (wasnt Tai raised in Oz?) that we have in this country. So which Brit who's good enough should be riding for Panthers Wasn't Jason Crump born in Bristol. I think you are missing the point and playing devil's advocate. When a British Final has riders from the 3rd level of the domestic sport it says it all. We are never going to improve our domestic talent if we pussy foot to foreign riders. Perhaps the question should be why are they not to the same level as Poles, Danes, Ozzies etc. |
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Post by rodders on May 14, 2013 21:04:04 GMT
So which Brit who's good enough should be riding for Panthers Wasn't Jason Crump born in Bristol. I think you are missing the point and playing devil's advocate. When a British Final has riders from the 3rd level of the domestic sport it says it all. We are never going to improve our domestic talent if we pussy foot to foreign riders. Perhaps the question should be why are they not to the same level as Poles, Danes, Ozzies etc. Shows you the levels we have fallen to. A lot of these riders would not so long ago struggled to get 2nd half rides at most tracks. |
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Post by Hodgy on May 15, 2013 7:15:40 GMT
I think you are missing the point and playing devil's advocate. When a British Final has riders from the 3rd level of the domestic sport it says it all. We are never going to improve our domestic talent if we pussy foot to foreign riders. Perhaps the question should be why are they not to the same level as Poles, Danes, Ozzies etc. Shows you the levels we have fallen to. A lot of these riders would not so long ago struggled to get 2nd half rides at most tracks. Depends how long ago you mean but I don't believe that is true bees. The sad point is that the PL makes up most of the numbers. Only 4 full time EL riders on show. It used to be a surprise for a rider from the lower league to make the British Final. This to me highlights the shift in British Speedway. The blame lays firmly with the BSPA. There has been no emphasis on youth development or support, unlike Poland and Denmark - they are now reaping the reward. |
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Post by admin on May 15, 2013 7:24:49 GMT
So which Brit who's good enough should be riding for Panthers Wasn't Jason Crump born in Bristol. I think you are missing the point and playing devil's advocate. When a British Final has riders from the 3rd level of the domestic sport it says it all. We are never going to improve our domestic talent if we pussy foot to foreign riders. Perhaps the question should be why are they not to the same level as Poles, Danes, Ozzies etc. Didn't miss the poiint, it just wasn't put like that in the first place. The question is: What's the answer? Speedway, like football, is about instant return so why invest time and money when you can bring in the finished article, or at least someone further up the ladder. Brits are a waste of space. Norris, Barker,Howe, King, Stead, Kennett, Bridger etc to name but a few, all never progessed passed just making up the numbers. I'd agree that British speedway needs to help it's own but it's a big world now and everyone else puts their own country first whereas we're just careful not to upset anyone. |
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2013 8:25:12 GMT
Shows you the levels we have fallen to. A lot of these riders would not so long ago struggled to get 2nd half rides at most tracks. Depends how long ago you mean but I don't believe that is true bees. The sad point is that the PL makes up most of the numbers. Only 4 full time EL riders on show. It used to be a surprise for a rider from the lower league to make the British Final. This to me highlights the shift in British Speedway. The blame lays firmly with the BSPA. There has been no emphasis on youth development or support, unlike Poland and Denmark - they are now reaping the reward. They don't have a pot to piss in, how can they be blamed? |
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Post by Bigcatdiary on May 15, 2013 8:50:47 GMT
I think you are missing the point and playing devil's advocate. When a British Final has riders from the 3rd level of the domestic sport it says it all. We are never going to improve our domestic talent if we pussy foot to foreign riders. Perhaps the question should be why are they not to the same level as Poles, Danes, Ozzies etc. Didn't miss the poiint, it just wasn't put like that in the first place. The question is: What's the answer? Speedway, like football, is about instant return so why invest time and money when you can bring in the finished article, or at least someone further up the ladder. Brits are a waste of space. Norris, Barker,Howe, King, Stead, Kennett, Bridger etc to name but a few, all never progessed passed just making up the numbers. I'd agree that British speedway needs to help it's own but it's a big world now and everyone else puts their own country first whereas we're just careful not to upset anyone. It's probably changed a little bit because the usual loophole for bringing in a 7 point rider on a 4 point assessed average (otherwise known as the Poole academy) has been axed, which is probably why Poole are currently propping up the EL. |
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Post by Hodgy on May 15, 2013 8:56:00 GMT
Depends how long ago you mean but I don't believe that is true bees. The sad point is that the PL makes up most of the numbers. Only 4 full time EL riders on show. It used to be a surprise for a rider from the lower league to make the British Final. This to me highlights the shift in British Speedway. The blame lays firmly with the BSPA. There has been no emphasis on youth development or support, unlike Poland and Denmark - they are now reaping the reward. They don't have a pot to piss in, how can they be blamed? Who created that pissless pot? They did. |
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Post by admin on May 15, 2013 9:08:13 GMT
Depends how long ago you mean but I don't believe that is true bees. The sad point is that the PL makes up most of the numbers. Only 4 full time EL riders on show. It used to be a surprise for a rider from the lower league to make the British Final. This to me highlights the shift in British Speedway. The blame lays firmly with the BSPA. There has been no emphasis on youth development or support, unlike Poland and Denmark - they are now reaping the reward. They don't have a pot to piss in, how can they be blamed? We're not talking about something that happened overnight though are we? When did Rasmussen sign for Rye House (can't remember who first Johnny Foreigner was)? When the GP series started a decade and a half a go they saw other countries grow on the back of it while we continued with short term self interest which consequently & significantly helped to deliver the current situation. If the BSPA was stronger and more visionary it might just have a better product which people want to invest in and watch. On the back of a strong domestic product the home grown talent would come to the fore, unless they get up themselves which seems to be the general route |
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Post by Bigcatdiary on May 15, 2013 15:01:27 GMT
They don't have a pot to piss in, how can they be blamed? We're not talking about something that happened overnight though are we? When did Rasmussen sign for Rye House (can't remember who first Johnny Foreigner was)? When the GP series started a decade and a half a go they saw other countries grow on the back of it while we continued with short term self interest which consequently & significantly helped to deliver the current situation. If the BSPA was stronger and more visionary it might just have a better product which people want to invest in and watch. On the back of a strong domestic product the home grown talent would come to the fore, unless they get up themselves which seems to be the general route The problem is the BSPA have never sat down at an AGM and sorted the sport out with a well thought out plan, it's all done on the cheap, papering over cracks and everyone out for themselves. The whole sport in this country is falling around its ears and the chief concern is stopping riders appearing in the European Championship and the fact that BSI now won't let the winner of the British Final get the wildcard in the British GP. |
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Well done to Tai but this used to be a prestigious final and highlights the poor level of home grown talent (wasnt Tai raised in Oz?) that we have in this country.
