Pirates: Pawlicki won't be back due to rule change (From Bournemouth Echo)

Pirates: Pawlicki won't be back due to rule change

7:00am Tuesday 27th November 2012 in Sport By Ian Wadley

POLISH STAR: Piotr Pawlicki

BEMUSED Matt Ford last night slammed the “totally ridiculous” new system for grading overseas riders and blamed it for ruining his hopes of re-signing Piotr Pawlicki.

The Pirates chief revealed to the Daily Echo that he had shelved plans to bring the Polish sensation back to Wimborne Road due to his inflated assessed average for 2013.

The Poole promoter confirmed that, under regulations introduced at the sport’s AGM earlier this month, Pawlicki would be given a SEVEN-point average as opposed to last year’s seeding of four.

Ford had begun negotiations with the teenager over the possibility of him riding a full Elite League season with the Dorset club.

But that has now been scuppered and Ford launched a blistering verbal attack on the way foreign riders who have yet to gain an official average will now be assessed.

He told the Daily Echo: “We had opened negotiations with Piotr Pawlicki but, unfortunately, under no circumstances can we, nor will anybody else, use him on a seven-point average.

“I think the new grading system for riders is an absolute farce and totally ridiculous.

“But, again, you are going to have to let a lack of new movement coming into the sport now go to prove just how crazy the whole situation will be.

“The figures being put upon some of the riders are just quite simply unbelievable.

“There are riders there that have been assessed on higher grading averages than Dennis Andersson, who has had two years in British speedway and is in the main team in both Poland and Sweden. Yet there are riders who have never once been out of a reserve berth in Sweden that have been assessed with a higher average than Dennis.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, my opinion is that this rule will be changed within its first 12 months in British speedway.”

While the official press release from the British Speedway Promoters’ Association AGM failed to include details of the ruling, Elite League representative Chris Van Straaten confirmed it in last week’s Speedway Star.

Riders will be assessed by taking into account their performances in other European leagues and in world championship competitions.

Clubs are understood to have seen a list of proposed averages, with Bartosz Zmarzlik also believed to be rated as a seven-point rider, while Swindon’s reported interest in Tobiasz Musielak could be affected by his new assessment.

Ford’s comments came after Wolves chief Van Straaten had insisted the “much fairer system” would ensure a more “level playing field”.