PHILIPRISING

NOT sure that is even true any more. Plenty of vacant dates for any track to stage an individual meeting but none do because they know it will lose money.

THE issue with One Sport is, I believe, money. IMG are a multi-national company under the umbrella of an even bigger USA corporation that could be about to go 'public.' Eurosport Events are part of the Discovery group, no money issues there. And one of the other potential bidders seem to have all their eggs in a row, too.

SADLY it does. Some of the stories I heard in Prague about the sums of money being paid to riders in Poland as a result of the various TV deals are staggering. Many are now not bothering to ride elsewhere. Apparently $100,000 Mercedes cars are now commonplace in the paddock at Polish tracks!

RIDERS have a better chance of getting it right on the night rather than the day before. It is only a matter of opinions. Time trials at practice are meaningless for me but readily accept others enjoy them.

BECAUSE it is waste of time? When I was conducting the draw for gate positions at well over 100 SGPs was always amazed how many times the rider who had first pick didn't win either the semi or final.

OR just cancel it...

THAT is true other than it maybe two other companies. No one seems to be taking On e Sport seriously (no money apparently) but a FIM decision is expected in August. IMG's current contract doesn't expire until the end of the 2021 campaign so it is possible that they will be running the SGP for two years knowing that they will be handing it over to another company at the duration. Very odd...

BYDGOSZCZ is history now ... better Polish tracks and stadiums

THERE isn't Gorzow any more...

FIRST visit to a GP for me this year. Prague remains a fabulous city to visit and ensures a great weekend regardless. Good to see a sell-out crowd at the Marketa, the threatening thunderstorms kept away but the racing until the latter stages was disappointing. Agreed with many who felt that the track had been over-watered at times but an exciting climax and another great evening in the city. Understand young Pavel Ondrasik and Tomas Topinka have plans to upgrade the track which would be the icing on the cake.

HOW were you the next morning

GREAT Irish bar on the south west corner of the main square. My forecast is 34c on Saturday!

I CAN assure you that Nigel Pearson doesn't think everything is rosy.

WHAT has happened to UK teams getting priority on Thursdays?

IT was ...

TORUN would probably be top of most people's list

WHERE would the money come from?

THAT is a view probably shared by many but not all ...

PRAGUE has improved drastically since the younger Ondrasik took charge. But, to repeat myself yet again, you cannot always blame the actual track for a lack of passing. Lonigo, thankfully, is but a distant memory but had some great times staying by Lake Garda.

LET'S not forget that in years gone by many riders skipped practice. I have had several private conversations with Armando Castagna regarding Poland staging TV meetings on a Friday and he is strongly opposed to it. But the FIM, like most big corporations (which is what these international sporting governing bodies are these days) are frightened of lengthy, expensive legal disputes and there are lawyers in Geneva who are wary that trying to block these Polish meetings could come back to haunt them. BSI along with the FIM have introduced transponders and time trials in an attempt to make practice more attractive and meaningful for the public and riders. Personally, I don't find any entertainment in watching a single rider do four laps against the clock. And does it actually make any difference on race night? Zagar was fastest in Warsaw and came last in his opening heat and had a poor night. Lagutra was fastest in Krsko and did not win a race. Speedway isn't about the fastest, it is who gets to the chequered flag first.

AS stated earlier, why always blame the track?. It certainly wasn't dangerous and riders like Zmarzlik proved many times that passing was possible. Perhaps other riders simply lacked his ability. Been there many times and am no fan of the venue (in speedway terms, lovely country) but all current GP riders are quite capable of winning races and/or not being passed.

ZMARZKIK won and he didn't practice... but we weren't talking about practice as such but the time trials to allow riders to chose their starting number.

THE SON is in effect the World Team Cup but with a different format.

NOTHING wrong with the track when Zmarzlik and Woffinden were passing and re-passing which begs the question: if they could do it, why couldn't others? Do we too often blame the track when, in fact, it is the riders not making the best use of it?

SOME good races so far, especially from Emil and Bartosz