machinn

I'm glad Freddie got his place for obvious reasons, and I'm not surprised Hans and Fred got nominated at all. I was also not surprised by Tai's inclusion, it's been speculated for a while. I think he is one of the best British prospects and his form this year in Britain and the continent has been superb. I wish him all the best, and hope that my fears that it may be a year too early aren't confirmed. Tai needs to grab the oppurtunity when it comes, hopefully he can make an impression at the very least next year. Harris however left me thinking why? We musn't forget that he's 'won a grand prix', yes 1/33. I think one brit in the series plus a wildcard at Cardiff is more than enough. Harris was never in the top 8, never really looked close to reaching the top 8, so to exclude some much better riders to allow him into the GPs is a joke. I do wish him well, he's a Brit afterall, but I definetly was left a bit deflated after the nominations were revealed. Hopefully he can prove us all wrong and have a good season, and in 2011 he can be included on merit.

I'd expect Nicolai to do well in this one. He scored 11+1 in the Dan Giffard Farewell meeting last night and seems to go well around Stoke. Nicolai always scores quite well when up against the PL riders, so I think it could be between Ben and Nic for this one

I don't think any of the Brits are 100% top 8 material. Scott has pretty much ruled himself out, if he's offered a place I would be surprised if he accepted it. Chris has had one good performance all year, in the last GP- he said it was because there was no pressure on him, if he's picked again surely the pressure's back on? Eddie isn't quite there, Lewis isn't scoring consistently across all continents and IMO Tai needs another year. Tai is riding fantastically in his leagues, but another year could see him 100% ready for that level of racing- throwing him in at the deep end too early could have negative effects. That leaves Lee, I don't know how interested he is in doing the GPs. He doesn't seem that bothered, and as some have said he's 'been there, done that.' I don't see why a Brit has to have a wildcard into the series, why not simply nominate a Brit in Cardiff? It would make no difference to me personally, I support the rider more than the nationality and would rather see Freddie get a wildcard than Bomber.

Not a bad GP, I too was wondering about British promoters adopting the track covering. Classic Kelvin quote halfway through- "He's on the pace, but unfortunately trailing at the back" Very interesting logic their Tatum! Nice to hear from Tai and as usual Sam in the studio, good input from both of them. Some okay races with a mixture of boring ones. Nice to see some different riders on the podium

To me the GP's are long enough as they are now. Not only can they get boring, but most years the winner is pretty much odds-on by mid August. I can't see Sky covering 15 Grand Prixs every year, Speedway isn't exactly top of their 'to do' list. Then theres the further disruption it would cause to league meetings- riders missing on a Friday and Saturday, dropping leagues because they've got too many meetings to attend. Why not focus on making the GP's we've already got better, more entertaining, less 'follow the leader' racing? Improvements need to be made to the 11 Grand Prixs we have now before 4 more are added.

Thanks, I normally make my own race cards to use so need the draw for heat details and helmet colours.

Eastbourne ride against Poole Friday I think. Hans Andersen isn' riding because he had to prepare for the Grand Prix, as far as the EL goes I think that's it for this weekend. Does anyone know when the draw is going to be made for this GP?

Good meeting with a very interesting line-up. I expected Tai to dominate from the off, which he did. Think he didn't bother passing Nicolai in his last race simply because he didn't need to. Nic and William were very impressive, as was Darcy and of course Ty. I was also impressed with Kenni Larsen, he is a definite 'one to watch' Then of course there was the riders that quietly went about scoring consistently like Linus Sundstrom- who I didn't notice had scored so well until after finishing my programme. Some really good racing, and a nice way to remember Gary. Huge shame about Andrew Tully, at the track they said he had simply aggrevated an earlier injury but now it appears it's more serious than that Well done Tai, William and Nicolai And the Wolves management for putting the meeting on.

I wasn't there, not even born. But reading about it on the internet, I too cried. It is a very sad story and brings home just how dangerous the sport is. Being a follower of the sport, it's upsetting just to know this can happen to any rider. Looking forward to this meeting tonight, interested to see who will replace Danny King as it's doubtful he will ride. Ole Olsen will be writing a tribute in the meeting programme and may make an appearance.

The track shape and size was good, but as far as racing goes- another borefest. In Greg's words "follow the leader" racing, two adequate gates that provided the only wins of the night, two extremely poor gates. The only reason no rider was dominating (as Tony Millard put it) was because you could only get anything from gates 1 & 4- so it didn't matter who you put into gates 2 and 3 (Crump, Emil, Gollob etc) they weren't going to get much for their efforts. I ended up muting the commentary and then fell asleep halfway through

I was looking forward to seeing Ludde back at Monmore Oh well... After watching Sweetman's maximum win at Brum a few weeks ago, will be interesting to see how he goes Monday. Will post updates on weather on this thread Monday. Fourentee, Darcy was very impressive. Not much of a match for Tai (at Rye house) who only lost first place when he had a puncture in his last heat whilst leading. But finished on the podium, and always looked fast. Definetly will be good to see how he goes around the 'difficult' Monmore Green.

Thanks for clearing that up for me Darcy is confirmed, so must be coming back soon- may be using the open as extra practice. Always good to watch, enjoyed watching him in the under-21 at Rye House, glad he's agreed to take part

I think it is too soon for Joe to ride as part of the line-up in the meeting, as does Joe most likely. He looked good on Monday but shouldn't rush a return. Having him at reserve means he may be able to have a few rides but isn't pushed into riding too many heats. I think if Joe wasn't injured he would be the first one asked, but it looks like definite steps to full fitness after watching him Monday I was quite surprised to see Darcy in the line-up, thought he to was injured and hasn't rode for Kings Lynn for a while

I am far too young to have seen Gary race, but I have read about it on this website... Gary Peterson I have also heard about that night from my Dad, who was there when this happened. It was extremely sad, and brought the realisation of just how dangerous this sport can be. R.I.P Gary Just wanted to ask about the lineup posted on the Wolves site aswell... It says "Woffinden-Proctor- Klindt- Complin- Lawson- Bridger- Bach- King- Sweetman- Lambert- Tully-Eklof- Larsen- Ward- Lawson- Sundstrom" Lawson is named twice (Richard and William?) But Ludvig is missing from the new list, is this a typo or are the two lawsons invited?

3rd August @ Monmore A young line-up for this meeting including: Darcy Ward, Tai Woffinden, Ty Proctor, Nicolai Klindt, Lee Complin, Kenni Larsen, Lewis Bridger, Andrew Tully, Richard Sweetman, Danny King, Ludvig Lindgren, Rene Bach, Linus Sundstrom... plus an extra 3 yet to be named. Should be an interesting meeting with riders from a number of different clubs. Wouldn't be surprised if Tai won this one, but of course there's alot of PL talent there including Darcy, Richard and Kenni Meeting will be 16 riders, decided over 20 heats. There is also a special offer with adults aged 21 and under getting in for the concession price of £10