pandorum

What a lovely stadium. And that photo shows it's a beautiful spot for a track as well. The new stand looks great and those pits are amazing. Was there a bar above it? Compare it with the rubbish tips we have here and it shows how far we have fallen in world speedway. Nothing great but nice to see people like Crumpy and Hampel riding league racing. Great to see these Polish kids given a chance in top flight racing as they certainly step up to the plate. Wish we had such a system.

That's a surprise. I thought they were heckling Cris H. Hampel may be their darling but he has a long long way to go before he can even be fit to clean the boots of The Master. Maybe this will give someone else a chance at SWC.....but I don't hold out too much hope of that. They will kiss and make up. There is always a nearly man in world championship speedway. Leigh Adams a famous example. Maybe young Hampel will become the new one. Hope it's not Emil as I wanna see him win the damn thing. I would also love to see Chris Harris make the podium at the end of the season but he will be lucky if he makes the top 15.

I wonder if the people who usually whine about how boring GPs are hung around long enough to see the final? Hell of a race to end a pretty entertaining GP. Congrats to Holder for doing something totally unexpected and winning such an awesome final race. The Polish fans can be forgiven as they expected a Polish 1 2 as did, I imagine, everyone watching. I think Emil wants to chuck his experimental engine in the bin. A Chris Harris surely has to have run out of any goodwill GP Pick wise as that is 2 on the trot that he has stunk out. Maybe he should follow Emil about and see where he chucks that engine as he has obviously wasted 20 grand on the ones he has. I would love to see him winning GPs but he is clearly not good enough sadly.

Enjoyed that for what it was. Jakob Jamrog was MOM for me with that pressure victory in ht 7 after Hancock crapped out. And that Alex Loktaev is a very handy rider. Glad Chris Holder was OK he seemed a bit miffed at Pepe! Some really good young Poles in the EL ...Czaja another one .....pity we did not have a few English lads coming along like that.

Sad part is there is no real way to judge Brit riders in terms of WTC. If we had a Young England set up (sorry Scotland and wales) and could pit youngsters like Mear, Cook etc against the likes of Poland/Denmark/Russia etc we might be able to see who was going to be worth giving chances to. But speedway here thinks Team GB or England as it used to be known is a one week pony. Riders doing well in a league is one thing but what if they do well in one league but are abject in another. Barker did himself proud last year but what has he done internationally? Auty seems to be doing well. I like Rob Mear. Do we go with the old guard? If so to what exact purpose? Giving youngsters a chance is one thing but they need more than a week at it. We have so few riders in foreign leagues whilst the Poles, Aussies, Danes, Russians, Swedes etc are everywhere. How do our young riders get the experience of riding internationally. We all know we will not even get into the finals of the SWC. If we manage the semi final we will be doing well. But what do we get out of this? And how does this affect our future performances. Until the BSPA take team GB seriously and try to educate and help the young riders who might one day become candidates for SWC by giving them all season long opportunities we will get nowhere. A position we reached when we lost Mark Loram and have been for years now.

Thanks Yeah that wasn't earth shattering either

Where on Facebook? I would enjoy watching them again. Yes the camera work was not quite Sky and that blokes elbow annoyed me a bit but like the Swedish 2nd tier meetings gives you a sense of being in the stand which I liked. As racers and royals said it was not earth shattering but an interesting enough meeting with some good speedway.

Back on topic again and directed at Iris... a question.... where would one find streams for Polish league one matches on Sundays as I enjoyed that league a lot and would not mind following it as well as Polish Extraleague? And to Alan..... yes indeed that hits a particular nail firmly on the head. Again the simplest of things. Most UK speedway stadiums are a disgrace in terms of facilities. But this has been discussed to death here by fans who show more insight into the sport than the idiots that run it here and still the common sense that comes from fans falls on deaf ears. They seem here to prefer oneupmanship to working together and over-complication of something so simple as four very brave lads (and the odd few lasses) riding in a circle for a minute or so. I have been to Brandon many times and seen a stadium packed to the very rafters. I find it sad when I see the place on TV nowadays looking so forlorn and empty. But of course the leagues back then never had cool names like we do today. I guess in the eyes of the BSPA that is somehow progress. It's a pity they have no idea how to sell a product with such cool names.

Yes agree thanks for that nice link Iris. It's the simple things speedway in UK needs to address. get rid of that idiotic double point crap and go back to the tried and tested tac sub rule that actually works and look at both Polish and Swedish race formats and perhaps start meets with reserves as in Poland. The Swedes give the reserves two rides against the reserves which helps the reserves. More opportunity for Brits as the Poles, Swedes and Latvians do rather than training everybody elses riders. Take a long hard look at the prices as EL and PL racing is not worth 15/16 quid.....they might get more sponsorship if they actively tried to give their sponsors some coverage when on TV instead of threadbare centre greens a tramp would think twice about sleeping in. Forget about giving the leagues impressive names such as Elite and Premier as that fools no one and try to present the product intelligently and professionally in clean stadia. It's infuriating when you see how far UK racing has fallen and the idiots who run the sport have blinkered themselves. I enjoy watching the Polish and Swedish leagues but I am old enough to remember when that was US!

Enjoyed that...was nice to see Scotty do well. Podzhuks was awesome. Makes you think when you see such a good presentation and a nice clean stadium with a very good crowd packing the stands and tons of advertising and compare it to the rubbish tips EL league racing presents on Sky is it any wonder that speedway here is ignored by all but what's left of the fans. If Latvia can do it why can't we. The sport is too expensive here and the stadia pitiful. Swindon showed that £10 speedway works (most of the time) and a bit of a tidy up or in the case of Belle Vue some dynamite and a couple of bulldozers may well improve the sport and entice a few back. And please don't give me that Latvia has nothing else to do so fans will go watch speedway as that's insulting to Latvia. Eastbourne on Sky a couple of weeks back was embarrassing to watch as I have seen more people at a game of cribbage in my local pub. We have some really good racing here when we get the track right but the rest is woeful.

Another change in the composition Falubaz April 15, 13:29 | 3 | 36 Not only does Rune Holt fell from the warehouse Stelmet Falubaz Zielona Gora on Sunday's match against Tarnow swallows. :rofl:Sorry to hear Rune fell from the warehouse . Hope he is not too badly hurt Not bad match considering. Exciting finish. Dudek is the best young Pole prospect and may well end up in their SWC team. Which bodes ill for the rest. Loktaejev did a good job for ZG.

Yes not very exciting but that young Sayfutdinov chap looks a very good prospect. What kind of Mickey Mouse outfit are Zielona.

I enjoyed it for what it was. Worth getting up at 4 am to see. Lovely stadium and a very good crowd that created an atmosphere. Some good racing, some very good racing and some boring racing. Pretty much like most speedway meetings. I don't know what tracks the moaners go to but it must be run by Jesus as the racing is so good there. Us mere mortals have to do with tracks where the racing varies from sublime to p#ss poor depending on a variety of factors. Congrats to Hancock and the old brigade. Tomasz was unlucky but that's how it goes. Bunyan got a deserved point and only the bitter and twisted would begrudge him that. Some unexpected poor performances and some surprise performances. Lindback to name a surprise. I would truly love to see Harris win a GP or two but his performance was lamentable and he really needs to up his game as he has had too much Charity in the GP and deserves no more. Bill Buckley on the other hand deserves a lot of praise for doing this for NZ speedway and the GP series. Be nice to see some Kiwi's coming through in the next decade and maybe next year actually have a representative in the GP. This in no way is disrespectful to Jason Bunyan who from what I have seen and read does a very good job for speedway in his adopted country. Nice to see Nicki and Emil getting along nicely even though they are still magnetically attracted to each other somehow. Sky coverage was good and the commentary team did a good job from their vantage point in the Sky studio. Overall a very good start to the GP year.

but surely that's what all the others are after as well? These people are not charities and do this for the love of sport. They want their name to be given as big a profile as possible. I can't see what is bad about speedway getting it's nose int he trough. Speedway has been crying out for a decent sponsor to get involved who can raise it's profile. maybe Monster is it. Who the hell cares why they are there just hope they stay around a while and maybe a few others realise Speedway is actually a sport and not just an Elvis film. For me they can paint Kel Tatum green and dress Pearson up as a can if it can get the sport noticed.

I don't see how when one of them will be the world champion. They have riders as good as the competition so have as much chance as Germany or Italy.

Be nice to see the Yanks make the SWC proper.

I don't see anything negative about this and just over the last week we have seen how speedways world profile can be expanded with the Polish band video featuring Gollob. It is a pretty big sponsorship in terms of profile. No idea what money is involved. Whether it will rub off on domestic speedway is up to those that run the leagues. It's an opportunity but they have to take it. If potential sponsors see someone like this involved then they may become interested. Brit speedway treats it's sponsors poorly in terms of track profile especially during televised meets. Who knows maybe this is just the spur the sport needs. Who cares what it tastes like.

What benefit would that be? They could benefit more competing for a PO place. Seeding to the final is a benefit but to the PO pointless as it denies them a chance to go straight through to the final. Not in agreement with this change but can see why it has been done.

Whatever speedway riders are paid be it peanuts or not you can be sure they damn well earn it unlike many, many so called sports stars.

Ward is a given. they would be mad NOT to offer it to him. Same with Pedersen a series without Nicki would be one missing his speedway brilliance and whining ability. Both worth watching. The other two are very shaky choices. Another pity pick for the Brits. Will Harris stink out the season in 2012 and have a couple of good meets to big up his case or will he actually show he deserves a place? Time will tell on that. For me he does not deserve it nor does Fast Freddie. There are talented riders out there just as good in the world leagues as both of them and maybe some new blood would have added to the series. Harris in 2011 added very little. Some excitement true but so did Artem Laguta and he was neevr going to do anything either. As long as we have this mentality of relying on charity our riders will never aspire to the heights of Loram, Lee, Collins and Havelock. Just bit part players who know they will get included because they are British. Can't see how this helps either Bomber or Brit speedway. A few years in the wilderness may well wake our leaders up a bit.

Bomber has had ample opportunity to show what he can do and failed a lot more than he succeeded. Time to give someone else a try. Plenty to choose from who are capapble but no real Brit contender. Wuffy maybe next year if he continues his good work. The other Brits not a hope. Nicholls and Harris are our top two at present and both stink out the series more than they contribute to it. Time to accept that the SGP is beyond the Brits and make them qualify and actually get in by acheiving something rather than just a pity-pick based on the assumption that Brit viewers will only watch if there is a Brit.

It's nonsense to say Harris is worthy of a place. Yes he rode superbly yesterday but he has had plenty of chances and squandered them. There are plenty of riders of his calibre who deserve a first chance to show what they can do. Harris has had too many chances. There are no Brits worth putting in the GP. They need to be made to qualify to toughen them up and make sure when they get there they appreciate that fact and have to work to stay there. Charity picks breed those ho expect rather than aspire. Yes Chris deserved his place this year. But he doesn't next year. Let him qualify for 2013 and earn a place. It will do Brit speedway good to realise it has no contender in the GP and it might, just might, wake up and smell the coffee. The Brit GP will have a Brit and that should be as far as it goes for 2012. Start striving for a GP place and we will hopefully produce a rider who can compete. It's no good saying Chris is deserving of a place when he wakes up at the end and was lamentable for most of the rest of the GPs.

Fantastic win for a fantastic speedway rider. seals Greg's place as the greatest American speedway rider ever. Considering he is in there with the likes of Penhall, the Morans, Hammill and Ermalenko it's no mean acheivement.

When you look at the dearth of riders to fill the 15th spot maybe it's time to hand out two wild cards each meeting and base it on local interest and riders who ride that track well. That way we could see a local hero who is good on the track and give opportunities to up and coming guys who are known to do well around that circuit. Obviously for the man made tracks a different criteria would be looked at. It's surely better than picking dross who will stink out the series. And Harris does not deserve a place. The lad is a good rider but he is awful in the GP. Why? God knows but he does not deserve a pick. Maybe the odd wild card, yes, but a permanent place, no way in hell. Until the Brits have to actually fight to be in that company we won't see a Mark Loram again for a long time. Other nations are producing riders who WANT to make it at that level but we just produce charity cases who think they warrant a place 'cos they are British.

The stream is absolutely first class. If our promoters had any brains they would do the same for selected meetings as a way to attract some sponsors and promote the sport here a bit. Only problem is most all of them are idiots.