salty

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.

Everyone kept telling us on Sky that it was the best Cardiff ever. Not so sure myself, but at least the track was smooth and there were no ruts and holes like in the earlier years. Unlucky for Gollob that his bike packed up in the semi. If he'd gone on to win that then he and Hampel would have got red and blue in the final leaving Holder with white, which would have been difficult. Having said that Holder deserved his win, he rode his backside off all night. Disappointing from all 3 Brits, Woffinden the only race winner, helped by two Danes throwing their bikes at each other. Already starting to look like we will be relying on nominations again for next year.

Only ordered this book yesterday morning, so amazed to have it land on the doormat in Belfast this morning. That's what I call excellent service - nice one!

Ok. I'll have another go then. 1. P.Collins 2. J.Louis 3. M.Simmons 4. Ray Wilson 5. D.Jessup 6. M.Lee 7. C.Morton 8. T.Betts 9. G.Kennett 10.E.Boocock 11. M.Ashby 12. J.Davis 13. N.Boocock 14. D.Wyer 15. J.McMillan 16. T.Davey 17. Reg Wilson 18. C.Pusey 19. B.Kilby 20. T.Hedge

Ok, I'll have a pop at this 1. Peter Collins 2. Michael Lee 3. John Louis 4. Malcolm Simmons 5. Kenny Carter 6. Ray Wilson 7. Dave Jessup 8. Simon Wigg 9. Kelvin Tatum 10.Jeremy Doncaster 11. Chris Morton 12. John Davis 13. Les Collins 14. Terry Betts 15. Gordon Kennett 16. Martin Ashby 17. Eric Boocock 18. Phil Collins 19. Nigel Boocock 20. Simon Cross Though I wouldn't be at all surprised to see JB got Tony Davey in his top 20.

With the results in I make it ... 4 Swedes - Lindgren, Lindback, Zorro, Jonasson 4 Poles - Gapinski, Kolodziej, Walasek, Ulamek 2 Brits - Bomber, Steady 2 Russians - Laguta brothers 1 Ukrainian - Karpov 2 Danes - Puk & Madsen with another Dane to be added as a Wild Card. Of the 15, three are currently in the series and another four have been in the past.

Two wins out of two for both of them!

Why was Madsen after a visa for Russia? He's down for the Lonigo qualifier.

First point - it seemed to me every rider offered a shoe but Zorro quickly moved on when he realised they didn't fit - touch of the Cinderelllas. Holta - an accident waiting to happen? Sure he rode a bit hard last night, but I would argue that to often he has been on the recieving end. His race with Crumpy tonight was a good example of two riders giving everything but still allowing each other enough space. Great GP - looks like everyone has come through it unscathed which is great news. Crap decision by the ref to exclude Miedzinski. Is it time to invest in some decent photo finish equipment?

I might be wrong but it certainly used to be that finishing positions in the British Final determined who got spots in the following years GP qualifiers. If that's the case then Tai and Rico would miss out.

Agree the track is on the patchy side, but don't think the track had anything to do with Bridger's crash - he was simply over riding.

Don't know whether Kenny would have beaten Jarek, but at least he would have had the opportunity. Wouldn't say the rolling was limited to the Poles, everybody seemed to be doing it once they realised the "best ref in the world" was letting them get away with it.

Glad to see Hampel finally win a GP. Pretty good racing in the second half of the meeting.

I can certainly remember Kennett not riding in the World Under 21 Cup because he wanted a Saturday at Rye, not so sure about the individual. Surely riders like Bridger should be trying to widen their experience of international competition if they intend making an impact at a high level in the sport? Shocking that GB have only 1 rider in the semi's.