PHILIPRISING

SPECIAL dispensation ... two words the BSPA know well

WOULD at least give us a chance to see Emil!

THEY don't ... pretty sure BV will be looking to stage a round of the SEC in this country if the BSPA will agree. There is the GP Challenge. Plus domestic events. From what I saw on Friday, and assuming that the track turns out to be as good as Chris Morton believes it will be (wide straights, banked corners, custom made covers, huge drainage already in place) and with the spectator facilities that will be on offer then it must surely be a contender for many, many meetings outside the BSI remit.

ALL of the above IN addition the council have provided an additional £750,000 to ensure that the infrastructure can be put in place now for when and if they require an additional 3,000 seats ... Speedway World Cup for example. Obviously far easier to do this work now rather than later, especially with so much required to comply with modern Heath & Safety regulations.

GREAT. Had dinner with him and Angie tonight. Wonderful memories, we go back a long way. He is fully recovered and in terrific form over a gigantic Chinese meal.

JUST back from a two hour site visit with Chris Morton, David Gordon and Peter Collins. Had no idea of the scale of this project until now. It's huge and nothing like anything else that speedway has seen in this country. The outline of the 350 yards, very wide track is beginning to take shape and, of course, that will be the vital element. But everything about the place is first class, even the sound barrier which cost over £1 million and when you actually see it you know why. The main grandstand which is rapidly coming to fruition will be a spectacular facility both from a viewing point of view but also as a restaurant. And remember this is a stadium being built specifically for speedway and available throughout the week. We will have more and latest pix in SS in a couple of weeks but at a time when there is, understandably, so much negativity around speedway in this country this is a very bright beacon of light. No praise is too high for Chris Morton and David Gordon, both BV through and through, for seeing this mammoth operation come to fruition.

IT will be the ninth one and I don't think BSI are sure which SGP that will be yet. But it will certainly be celebrated.

DOUBT whether they ever felt they would fill it. But, as usual, will bow to your superior knowledge and that the people at the Etihad don't know what they are talking about. PARADES start at 16.48 ... TV companies are provided with pre-show material to use after rider introduction and first race is usually around 17.04

ME too and that we actually get paid!

IN touch with the Etihad guys daily now, doing the programme. They are very happy with ticket sales so far. In excess of 17,000 I believe. They say that many people in Melbourne will come along regardless of whether they know anything about speedway because it is at the Etihad. And that there will be a large walk-up on the day because it is not essential to pre-purchase. Used to say that about Wembley. MELBOURNE is a great place ... tour of the MCG is a must whether or not you are a cricket fan.

WELL put sir ...

NO one suggested all tracks but across the board Polish and Swedish tracks are far better

OLSEN, Mauger and Briggs didn't have the Polish option NO but the Polish and Swedish ones certainly are ... did you watch last night's meeting at Kumla?

MONEY (one rider told me he probably earns three times as much in Sweden than in England)... easier just to commute between Poland and Sweden without having to fly in and out of the UK as well as keeping bikes here ... tracks (so much better to ride than most in England)... permanent race nights... just for starters

AGREE

GOOD point... will enquire

SWC ... race-off and final. Have no idea what deal might be done but presumably BV will only agree to staging if it benefits them which will also have a knock on effect for British speedway.

IVERSEN has been complaining that he has too much power ...

ASSUMING that the stadium is complete (going there this Friday to have a look with Chris Morton and Peter Collins) my belief as that the SWC will be there next year and probably the GP Challenge the year after. Chris was in Krsko and told us that work on laying the actual track will commence very soon. The drainage has already been done.

TAI just loves beating Nicki ...

KILDEMAND was pretty quick too.

NO reason at all really. But are you talking about via the TV commentators or in SS? Trouble is some of them change from one GP to the next! Kelvin Tatum likes to harvest all this information during practice but I don't think he has ever been encouraged to pass it on to viewers. The GTR engines Harris has been using are still being modified as they attempt to find the right set-up but so far have required no basic servicing. Both Maciej Janowski and Matej Zagar tried them last week. Zagar was impressed but said it would require a different basic set-up for his style and Janowski's trial was I believe curtailed through weather.

LAST time I looked Peter Karlsson wasn't in the GPs. Kaspzrak has PJR engines, Jonsson tried them. GMs come in kit form and are assembled by a number of different tuners who attempt to set them up in a way which suits the riders they are working for. Many of the basic GM components are in fact discarded in some cases. So you cannot say that all GMs have to be ridden to the stop or that they are the same. Peter Johns has possibly the most sophisticated testing equipment and manages to produce exactly what Tai and Greg require. But that would not necessarily suit a Harris or Holder. Pedersen likes to have maximum revs. Woffinden's riding ability was never better showcased on Saturday in my view. At some stages he was riding one handed while tearing off his goggle tear offs while entering the corners and passing people. If you could stand on a corner at a GP practice and close your eyes and just listen within a few minutes you would be able to name which group of riders were on the track. The vast majority ride flat out, trying to get as many revs as possible, even from the start. Others, like Hancock and Woffinden, produce a totally different sound.

PROBABLY due to the fact that Tai and Greg actually use the throttle. You can see it even on the TV. The super-fast PJR engines suit them rather than those who screw it on from the start and leave it that way. Also the way they ride, traditional, conventional style, no hanging off the bike, legs trailing, etc, so when they hit a rough bit on the track they remain in control. Andreas Jonsson has had FIVE different tuners (including one twice) this year, one GP rider has spent over 50,000 euros on engines alone. They seem to ignore the possibility that it might actually be the rider rather than his equipment.

MILLENNIUM (or Principality as it will soon be known) stadium is about 100 yards ... POOR attendance in Stockholm has nothing to do with location, etc, but the fact that right now there are no home riders in the series worth crossing the road to see.