GeneralMelchett

Intersting and sensible posts on this topic at last. You will notice that Han's finished last in the race so in effect he went from 1st and the first bend to last by about the end of the second lap. Considering Gollob had such a mare I would NOT have predicted him (Hans) coming last at all! Particulalry as he had been the Danes top rider on the night, therefore was something genuinely up with him or his bike / or was he just doing that for effect? Know one will ever truely know. From what I know of Andersen (which i admit isn't that much) he would never normally throw a race so why the accusations now. You only have to look at his efforts in the Grand Prix series to realise he is a tough bugga on the track. Before the race started I would have thought he could have been a definate spoiler possibly winning it or coming second, hence his last place did surprise me. BTW as one final comment when he looked round going down the back straight Karlsson was catching him up at a rapid rate of knots, and was drawing up alongside him, any racer blessed with any sense might sense someone approaching and look round. anyway its all over now, please feel free to disagree with me but lets remain cordial about it.

Yawn Give a rest, its getting VERY boring now! So how many meetings did Pedersen miss as injured after the Hancock incident? I seem to remember he was ahem injured in the immeadiate aftermath of the Hancock incident.

The sad thing is they probably are proud of it

Danish riders have always fallen into two categories, those that are universally liked i.e Gundersen, Nielsen, Jan O Pedersen and then therte are others who have always shall we say courted contoversy. Once well placed English rider i know says that certain current riders display arrogance are merely following a trend!

No indeed but people in England whilst probably agreeing with those sentiments would have secretly thought something like typical Italians can't take defeat etc etc and enjoyed a laugh at how petty they were, beginning to get the picture now? To the Italians it was deadly serious, to others a joke and a laugh need i continue? I'm afraid our collective response isn't really any different regardless of how the event happened.

No i agree It's not quite the same but you miss the point, yet again The point WAS The Italians SACKED a player, and we all laughed at them for going over the top

The tragedy or is it banality of your quest is that over half those sponsors are NON British therefore they probably won't give a monkies, still if it makes you feel better.........personally a few pints and a day in the sun, followed by reading some of the drivel on here today I feel better already. World Cup? what was that?

I really enjoyed the action tonight, i think the track wasn't that good, it was just rider determination that produced such good racing. and I can think of loads of tracks that would have! Still it WAS good to watch and i'm sure even better to have been there live.

As a cynic I clearly remember Havelock calling for the youngsters to be given a chance in the recent British GP, yet I notice he failed to champion their cause for the World Cup Having said that I don't envy Middlo's position. IMO in a world cup event he only has three established names to pick the fith spot from. I would go for either Screen, Havelock or Louis as they have the experience, just look at Lindback, Sweden are in the final but in 10 rides he has only finished 5 and was lucky to stay in his third ride tonight. If current form were the criteria he should pick Louis who is actually averaging 10.22 on current form (last 6) however i agree that Havelock is probably just just about the right choice BUT HE MUST ABANDON the inside line, otherwise racers will just steam by him. The sad thing is Middlo's reputationwith many will be on the line regarding this. If we win everyone will say "oh well bowled sir you played it well by putting in Havelock" but if we lose or don't come in the top 2 then i suspect they'll be saying "you should have gone with Screen, burn him etc etc" Regardless I'm looking forward to it! C'mom Team GB or should i say England like Screeny did

I think you'll find that in most sports commentry is studio based and unless the meeting is a premiership match or based locally. The British GP is obviosuly live in house but the others are in the studio. All you have to do is watch football highlights to appreciate that the BBC or Sky or ITV wouldn't and couldn't afford to send commentry teams to 46 football matches EVERY week! yet they all have commentry on the highlights the Italia football prgramme ex channel 4 and now on Europsort was ALWAYS studio based commentry with the lucky James Richardson swanning it around Italian Cities for the programme I remember a few years ago on the BBC FA Cup highlights somebody doing the commentry fluffed their lines and a "oh ######" was clearly heard

At the time of the accident I was cursing becasue i felt Jonsson had the drive on the outside to pass Scott. Obviously we'll never know now but i suspect it would have been a photo finish regardless! It was refreshing in the interview when Scott said "I'm a racer and only come off if i have to." IMO if he had baled out Hancock would have gone meaning 2/3 chance of qualification instead of 2/4 however he obviously thoughti i'm in second lets keep going.

There is no jealousy! just frustration that on a forum based in England not one English fan deems his efforts worthy of mention. Bjerre and Iversen were VERY good tonight but i still fail to see, when they are going to REDUCE the number of riders in the GP, why they should be given a place in the 2005 series. If they earn it on merit i.e via qualification fair do's, as Iversen might well do, and if he does good luck to him. But i'm never in favour of saying oh yeah give X a go cos he did well in a one off GP, does that amplify enough for you. Whats the point of being jealous about Scandanavian speedway as a follower since the 80's we are well used to being in your shadow sadly not helped ambivulence of British fans. Oh and i still think your a dweeb ah so you are awake then dekker

I really struggle to understand some of you lot on this forum, you all puport to be British or English (and in SCB's case Welsh fans) and yet over 2 hours after the GP and NO-ONE has seen fit to deem Scott Nicholls efforts tonight worthy of a mention. In case you weren't watching he was 40 yards from a final slot No wonder your all to busy drooling over a couple of Danish wildcards or explaining your position the latest in the Pedersen V whoever clash and some dweeb seems to think that just because Iversen and Bjerre can pull one out of the hat in their home country's GP they should be given a place in WHOLE of the 2005 series!

That was in 87 after he'd just won the NLRC, cheeky but probably not wrong!

Goodness me how you have brought back happy memories. Silver was my all time hero, as when i first went to speedway in 1987 he was in his heyday at Arena. The following year he moved up to Swindon and in Aug 1988 we were on holiday in the West Country and my Dad and I took a trip to Blunsdon. I remember the meeting well, Andy scored 14 from 5 and was involved in one of the best races i've ever seen, i'm downloading the clip now but i expect its the one where he feigns to go outsdie donkey and then cuts back to the inside? Classic stuff from a racer. I'm a bit of a expert on Andy's career as i followed it with such interest. he was never to reach the heights he could and maybe should have but i suspect speedway was more of a hobby for him. He did retire and then make a comeback with Eastbourne which for me was a real kick in the teeth as i wanted him back at Arena. he was quite successful for a couple of seasons if I remember correctly but then called it a day. I think Sir kelvin tatum summed it up well on sky this week when he said Lee Richardson had a more polished approach but SCott Nicholls had more natural ability Well for my money Silver was blessed with so much ability, more than any other rider but to a certain extent he wasted it. he was a VERY good snowboarder and often entered championships etc and he always used to work in the Chalets with his fathers business over the winter and i think the piste lifestlye suited him!