PHILIPRISING

EUROSPORT are aware that they got that bit wrong.

HAPPY to report that Eurosport are delighted to have Nigel and Kelvin on board and very impressed with the pair. Their commentary of Heat 22 in Bydgoszcz was brilliant ... "Speedway from the gods" ... "Obscene speedway" ... "I'm going to have a lie down in a dark room." I actually spent some time yesterday watching the highlights show being put together when they both have to redo their commentary from a sound booth, tailoring their words to a specific time frame measured in seconds. And then adding other comments before and after races, again measured in seconds. They are both brilliant at it and work superbly in tandem. In the TV industry their rankings are very high so sorry Andy and the rest of the usual suspects... they ain't going anyway.

IT won't be for the lack of trying I can assure you but the track in Bydgoszcz is almost freakish and it just needed bringing to life. That won't always be the case but it does underline how good speedway can be when the top performers have the perfect stage on which to strut their stuff.

PRACTICE starts at 5pm. I think it is open to ticket holders.

TONY Olsson has always known what is required to produce a good track but it isn't always as easy as some on here think. It is not just the surface at Bydgoszcz, the track has so much else going for it which isn't available elsewhere. Even Paul Daniels doesn't know enough magic to transform Terenzano. If we could take the Bydgoszcz track to every GP speedway's popularity would go through the roof. Some of the Eurosport execs were there watching live speedway for the first time and they were dazzled.

CERTAINLY were ... not easy keeping going for 35 minutes but then both can talk the hind legs off a donkey!

THE club said that on Friday and there weren't that many empty spaces but what there were seemed to be together. Club were very happy...

SLAP on the wrist...

HATS off to Tony Olsson, too. He fought tooth and nail to get the track staff to produce a racetrack to showcase speedway at its very best. NO, he just missed the start and in that company that was enough. But what a performance, so good it almost brought a smile to the face of Peter Adams who was in the pits with him.

DON'T think he would want it slick either.Fingers crossed ... they were working on the track early today and the weather is fine so no excuses.

TONY Olsson very disappointed and annoyed with track at practice yesterday. It was still under heavy snow a few days ago but Tony went ballistic at the track staff yesterday after they packed it so hard (fearing rain) that as one rider said it was more like Terrenzano. Strong words at after after-practice meeting and hopefully they will do as they were told (doesn't always happen in Poland!) and get it right for what is apparently a sell-out crowd today.

CLOUDY and occasional hazy sunshine here in Bydgoszcz today. The draw for tomorrow's SGP will take place in a big new shopping mall here at 2.30, practice starts at 5pm. The PKS Polonia stadium is a little second hand compared to Torun and Gorzow these days but, hopefully, the track will live up to expectations. Gollob still the local hero ... taxi driver couldn't stop talking about him on way in from airport. Mind you he only used two words ... Tomasz Gollob, Tomasz Gollob.

I'M ecstatic ... would be even more so if you actually bought one.

THAT won't happen ...

THERE won't be any studio presence until Cardiff. It was all a bit last minute for Eurosport as well and will take them a little time to fully get their act together.

IT will be a regular feature although possibly not every week.

SUGGEST you read Kelvin Tatum's new column in SS this week and in particular his comments about tyres...

I'M sure that will be the case.

THE last thing I heard was that there has been no follow up to the suggestion of including rugby league and I doubt David Gordon will be courting it.

AS far as I can ascertain there are currently NO plans for rugby league at the stadium.

IT'S not rocket science ... GPs start to the second let alone minute. Okay, that is a TV requirement but could be achieved anyway.

WHAT Kelvin was trying to say (through me) was that tracks can be aesthetically too perfect... two perfectly round corners, two straights of the perfect width and so on. To produce great racing a perfect track needs at least two different racing lines, corners more egg-shaped than round so that riders have to think and use their heads as well as the throttle. He says, for example, that the two corners at the old Belle Vue track (Hyde Road) were very different from each other so a rider had different options at each end.

PRIORITY number one must be the track ... and will be

I HAVE no idea what attendance figure David Gordon has budgeted for in his business plan. Obviously he and Chris Morton will hope for increased crowds with a better stadium and a more favourable race-night. However, no longer will gate income be the only source of revenue and that is what the business plan has been built upon, along with the fact that rent will no longer be payable to the GRA. Throughout the time it has taken this project to get the green light Chris Morton has been charged with designing a track that as near as possible might replicate the old Hyde Road. Starting from scratch also allows them to build proper drainage from the outset. Interestingly, when I was chatting to Kelvin Tatum for his new column in Speedway Star (starts next week) he said it would be wrong to construct the 'perfect' track and that a degree of difficulty needs to be there to test the riders rather than to allow them to race around on cruise control.

READ previous posts about additional revenue. My understanding is that the grandstand will belong to BV Speedway and they will receive the income from bars and restaurants at non-speedway events taking place at the stadium. David Gordon may have his critics as a speedway promoter in the past but he is a sound and successful business who had to present a very detailed business plan to not only Manchester City Council but also a top firm of accountants to prove that the scheme was viable.