salty

West Ham are bidding to get in there, but far from certain. I think the site is pledged to remain an Athletics facility (that was part of the bid), which doesn't fit with West Ham's plans. Lot of lobbying going on. There are other stadium/facilities on site which would be more suited to Speedway.

Really enjoyed last night's meeting, which built and built. Swedes first set of races knocked them out of the running and they did well to come back as they did. Lindgren was unlucky in Heat 1, his arm was clearly knocked, but of course Tatum was just looking at the leg and missed it. Well done to King's Lynn, hope they get more meetings at that level. They deserve it for the work they have put in to improve the stadium.

Should be a cracker. According to Sam last night, Pedersen is definitely a non-starter, but I still favour the Danes on own "shale". Swedes will bring in someone to replace Nermark, hopefully THJ, and will go close. The Aussies I guess will look at replacing Ward and Schlien who were their weaker links last night, but will probably find Vojens will suit them more. Russians without Emil look like the outsiders, but don't forget they did beat the Danes at Vojens last year, and the other guys showed they were capable of getting round there. Personally, they are the ones I'll be rooting for. edited: Just read on the other thread that THJ is no go, maybe one of their other young riders?

Scunthorpe - which is in the UK.

How was that a track tailor made for the Russians? If anything the slick conditions should favour the Danes. You mention a "weakened" Danish team, but their loss of Nicki probably has less effect than the loss of Emil for the Russians. Cast your mind back 12 months and the Russians won the Vojens round. With a fully fit Emil I would give them a good chance of beating the Brits around Vojens.

Pity about that. I was hoping to see Katajisto ride. Hope the Finns put up a decent show.

Then you would have a closed shop of the same 6 teams. Keep it as it is. Was only 2 years ago that the Russians qualified to get in the last 8 and then made it through to the race-off.

I think it's obvious that the weather played a part in the track prep. Even so the Poles rode brilliantly whether from the gate or from the back. Holta's ride from last to first in the second round of heats was pretty special and it's always good watching Gollob, especially when he tries to team ride! Fair play to the Russians as well. Without Emil they were obviously weaker than last year, but they all got stuck in.

Not far away then. Have lived here for 10 years, on Lisburn/Belfast border. Glad your Backtrack itch has been scratched!

Obviously in a perfect world then all clubs would be striving to perform in the top section. But the world that modern day Speedway finds itself is far from perfect. The demands of the GP's and leagues overseas means that the Elite is a midweek league and as our clubs are run as independent businesses you can't blame them staying in a League which more suits their needs. Much higher costs in the Elite, but certainly no guarantee of much bigger crowds.

What a load of cobblers. As long as the track holding such a meeting has the requisite facilities then it doesn't matter whether its Elite or Premier. King's Lynn have spent money on improving their stadium in recent years and deserve to hold events like this. Similar story to Rye House who have done likewise and applied for the Under 21 events. As for Rob Lyon, give the guy a break. He might have a background in the PL but at least he is used to success. Can't really argue with his choices for Mondays meeting.

Issue 39 plopped on the mat this morning. Nice one!

Great to see Sarj back in for tonight (though obviously would have preferred it in circumstances other than an injury), hope he goes well.

The fact Woffinden is in the GP's means nothing in terms of him being a better rider. It's not as if he qualified. Can't see any need to compare the two of them really, they are both very promising and Ward's feat of winning the Under 21 title last year was exceptional.

2nd round in Latvia, 3rd in Czech Republic. Think you'll find that it is the governing body who decides where the meetings will be, but obviously tracks have to be willing to promote them. In England, Rye House is holding the Under 21 team final this year and has held individual under 21 qualifiers. Language just isn't an issue.

Nice post - it gladdens the heart to see the Dudley project being such a success. Counting off the hours until I get over to Monmore on the 27th - can't wait. Regarding the air fence, presumably there will be one in place for the SWC round next week?

As Latvia was part of the old USSR its fair to say that they have a bit of history in the sport to say the least. Plenty of World Finalists in the the 60's and 70's. In recent years Latvia has been a GP circuit and Gorican in Croatia gets its first GP this year. Therefore both countries with a growing interest in Speedway so only right they should be encoursged. Unfortunately, logistics and finance dictate that the main meetings are held in Europe, can't see an Aussie promoter getting involved after the guy got his fingers burnt holding the GP in Sydney a few years back. As for your idea of re-running the whole Gdansk meeting again - sorry mate, but a daft idea.

What are you on about? The fracas is sorted - meeting stands as per the 12 heats. If anything Bogdanovs might be the one hard done by - he might have carried on winning and thus be denied a better advantage. Earlier you mentioned the meeting should have been rescheduled for Sunday, to finish off the remaining heats or start over?

Not saying it's right that Mroczka gets in as a wild card. But I would rather he got a slot than someone who hadn't bothered with the qualifiers. If it wasn't for the fact there were 2 wild card slots then Mroczka would have qualified as the 8th placed rider anyway. As for Ward and his ability to score points at will - then Bavarian's post answers that pretty well. Note to "Bavarian" - the way the Speedway Star reads this week suggests Mroczka is only confirmed for Gdansk. I quote "If Pirates, second string can produce a storming performance in Poland he may yet get to ride in Latvia on August 7 and at Pardubice in the third round on October 2."

To be fair I think they have taken into account the incident in the semi when Mroczka shut the throttle off after 3 laps of his final race. Given that there was a slot put aside for a nominated rider (as well as a local wild card) I suppose it makes sense to give him a go. Even Neil Street had called for his inclusion. Ironically if Mroczka had kept it on for four laps then Ward would have missed out, though I guess he would have then recieved a Final spot.

I'm not knocking their sponsorship, just questioning it. If there have been enquiries about joining the Navy as a result of their input (Out of interest, how do you know there has?) then all well and good.

Can't see how having "Royal Navy" across the fork covers of the bikes at a GP is going to persuade anybody to enlist - seems a really strange link up to me.

Nothing against the Royal Navy, but why are they sponsoring Speedway? It's not as if they are a commercial organisation like most sponsors. No idea of the costs involved, but it just seems a strange thing for them to do.

Can't believe it's 40 years ago. In those days knew nothing about it until the evening paper thudded on the mat and I can still picture the headlines. An awful tragedy.

Apologies - that means 3 Russians then. Guess BSI/IMG will be hoping that the Swedes and Brits do well at Vojens as at the moment neither of these countries has anyone in the top 8. With Emil surely to be given a pick if he can't get back into the top 8, it would leave them with very little flexibility.