coma

Spot on, can't believe no one else noticed Hampel attempting to lean on him! The only thing that surprised me was how Trick managed to launch Hampel across the track so easily with such a relatively small nudge of the elbow. It's not like he took his hand off the handlebars and walloped him, he couldn't move his elbow more than a couple of inches without the handlebars or throttle turning and him wobbling / changing direction. Hampel must have been seriously off balance or Trick must have a bionic elbow!

You do realise that photo will be in the Poole v Belle Vue programme next week!? Purely to prove that Poole / BV fan relations isn't as severe as some might believe reading this forum.

No, it was a sneaky move to get him into the leagues as a Pole which also had the second benefit of allowing him to ride in the SWC for Poland too. Opinion in Poland seems to be split although I feel they were more upset when he was allowed to take part in the Polish Championships (and became Polish Champion! ) not long ago, but not so bothered now he is riding with their riders rather than against them! In general I would say I don't like the idea of people changing nationalities just for their personal careers / earning but have to agree with 21CH, judge each case on it's own merits. If Hungary, Germany and Russia can enter teams, why can't Norway? They have a few good riders, certainly enough to enter a reasonable team and it would be the sort of experience the kids need to progress. Of course they won't win the SWC but surely Rune would rather be representing his "real" own country whilst raising the profile of the sport there? BTW when Briggo and the like were riding for us, it was still a British Commonwealth team wasn't it?

Well Middlo always said he would give the young guys a chance ONLY when they made the committment to move up to the Elite league full time and prove themselves. Well they did and he gave them their chance in return. Both Middlo and the boys were superb and I hope they all keep their team places for the final.

Yeah, Great slow motion action!

Excellent pics Nikki, can anyone say bribe! Top night out, great to see everyone again and meet a few new faces. Seemed to be a lot of SKY coverage of our area for some reason!

SHE didn't look like "just a bloke" when I saw HER at Cardiff! Was I really that drunk???

With a good use of a paint package to digitally "remove" Bjarne's bike in that photo, he would be doing a fantastic Crazy Frog impression.

We're supposed to be keeping lists? I just found out I was stood next to you at Eastie the other night Shazzy but no one told me who you were at the time! I'll just go start my list and you'll be first on it! Nice to meet everyone at the POW in Cardiff. Such a great laugh finally putting some (rather drunk!) faces to names. Can't mention everyones name (OK, I was too drunk to remember names) but with all the lovely ladies I spoke to I was kind of distracted!

Power of the engines has nothing to do with it! All the riders have been complaining about the tracks being too hard and slick and they are detuning their engines most nights to get better traction. He's got a great frame and engine combination and is managing to use it more effectively than the others. He has more confidence in himself and the bike under him. That's why he's winning and also explains the "wall of death" move.

Sorry! It'll be Mr Whale from now on then:lol: Better be careful though, they might start calling you spermy! I guess Rune and Lukas are always in with a shot of winning a GP but not unless they get their 2003 form back again. Think its a year or two too early for Zagar.

and you've seen him ride how many times? I'll have a small wager with you that he reaches the semis atleast once!

Come on Shaley, make up your mind. First you say they need more riders who can win a GP, then you want some no hopers put in so everyone is represented. Which is it? You want riders that can win but you don't want Bananananana or Sulli who have both won GP's (wouldn't disagree with Rico but then thats just because I'm not keen on him and would prefer Loram but when it comes down to it he deserves that place)

If thats the case, why didn't they say the top 13 qualify for next years GP rounds <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Because I guess it wasn't certain that they wanted numbers 9-13 in advance. They were left with the option of fitting someone else in if they felt it was needed. (Maybe someone from a country not already represented)

According to "sources" it's numbers 9-13 That means Lee and Scottie in but Mark Loram out. Also puts Bjarne, Hans and Ryan Sullivan in.

Thats not really what I meant but may not be a bad idea either! I was suggesting the 16 riders (chosen on their league preformances) took part before each grand prix to score points throughout the year. The top 6 would then qualify for the following years GP series rather than ride in the main event. Maybe the two ideas could be combined? The 16 "wanna be" riders race before each GP for points with the top 6 at the end of the year going through to the following years GP series full time. They would join the top 8 finishers in the main series from the previous year. The winner of the 16 "wanna be" riders at each GP could also be invited to take part in the GP that night along with one local wild card pre picked by BSI as they do now.

The reason there are 8 "also rans" is due to the qualifying system which takes place on all sorts of strange tracks across europe. Getting rid of the qualifying system will mean far less riders missing league meetings and or getting injured. They will also save the riders wasted trips / money for which they get very little back trying to work their way to the final. They will be picked purely on their league performances in England, Sweden and Poland which will mean more effort and commitment to their teams if they want to be picked by BSI. Only 16 riders in the GP's will also mean less disruption to the leagues and each rider will be able to get paid more money which was always one of the reasons many riders struggled when in the GP series. I suspect the top 8 will remain in the GP's each year with 2 slots left for local wildcards to keep the local crowds interested. The remaining 6 permanent wildcards will be chosen on league performance. How about BSI choose 16 potential permanent wildcards each year and hold one or two race offs in the afternoon of specific GP race days on the GP track with the top 6 getting places in the next years series and the other finishing positions deciding reserve orders. They could charge us punters a small fee to watch the event and everything would already be in place for the event so no extra expenses. The riders that could actually ride the tracks used in the GP series would be the ones to qualify rather than those that can ride a couple of tracks in outer Mongolia.