Papa Bazarou

My highlight so far has been the 'moustache comb' action from the gentleman over Ove Fundins left shoulder just before heat 23 . . quality rewind folks and observe the way he calmly slips into back his shirt pocket.

2. Tomasz GOLLOB £50,000 6. Nicki PEDERSEN £45,000 (captain) 9. Fredrik LINDGREN £35,000 10. Hans ANDERSEN £35,000 13. Jaroslaw HAMPEL £25,000 Total £190K

Pete, Add me to the league please . . I'll play catch up 2. Crump 50k 6. Adams 45k 7. AJ 35k 10. Freddie 'Baby Faced Assasin' Lindgren 30k 15. Emil 25k TOTAL 185k Captain = Crump

A few very nasty incidents tonight (several down to track, some down to racing), so a very speedy recovery to all of those involved. Re: the AJ / Gollob incident Didn't AJ have a very similar type of crash a couple of years ago at Wroclaw in a GP, into turn 3 that time. From memory in that one AJ was having a good run on Nicki up the inside and as Nicki started to peel to the left AJ caught the back (think his handlebar caught Nikkis racejacket) net result AJ went off the high side again entering the turn at high speed. In that one it was before the start of air fence and I think his bike ended up over the fence. Also AJ and Nikki in the SWC traded headbutts along the startline at Reading a couple of years ago, that time again AJ up the inside. My point is not that AJ is at fault in these incidents, but that AJ is a master of diamonding off the corners getting the long straight and increased speed up the inside of his opponent. If he doesn't quite make it he carries his speed to switch back immediately outside of them for the big sweep. He did it so many times for us at Coventry, and it was great to watch, he is in a minority in that he is a true racer. These are IMHO are racing incidents. In tonights case Gollob clearly knew AJ was there with more speed and was trying to defend the inside line, albeit very, very early forcing AJ to have to got the long way round and the slick lifeless outside run. By that time AJ was already half a wheel inside, and probably was comtemplating the option himself to make the move back to the outside (only he will know that), but there was contact, and the rest is history. Also remember Floppy Norris at Eastbourne a few years ago up the inside of Peter Ljung down the back straight, floppy making the move to the outside, with Peter peeling to the left, similar result, Floppy unfortunately ended up over the fence with an ankle injury. Its a dangerous sport with a very fine line and at the speed we are talking of, fractions of a second to react, real heart in your mouth stuff. But if it was 'route one' and all the riders could do was follow each other down the straights into the turns on exactly the same line, it would be very boring indeed. The important thing is that if the early prognosis is as stated, then we can all enjoy AJs efforts on track again at the earliest.

A sample of the Bydgoszcz atmosphere . . http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aFACkzg4in4 I will post racing action as viewed from the crowd later.

I know its 24 hours till the meeting, and tomorrows forecast looks favourable, but here on the north edge of Coventry we've just had a massive downpour - our cat bowl has just floated off the patio ! If it has hit Brandon as well then perhaps it the big man aboves way of dampening the track right through to the base, so hopefully the term slick will not be needed tomorrow night Looking forward to it, and expecting a British victory with the Ruskies out to cause a few upsets.

Not me guvnor - somebody did though ! Also at Bydgoszcz in 2001 (the amazing heat 18) Hancock also went grasstracking to pass Adams. I vote for kerbs and the rule no part of the bike across the line.

In 1990 at the World Pairs in Landshut, Hans Nielsen pulled a similar move to Nick last night. Pulling his front wheel and most of his bike over the kerb to gain an advantage on his opponents, his back wheel caught the kerb collecting more traction then even 'The Professor' could handle resulting in skittling most of his oponents - it was carnage. That was in a 6 man race (Denmark, Australia and Germany), and I think both Germans came off worst Gerd Riss and I think Klaus Lausch. Pretty sure one of the Germans suffered a broken leg. In fact I'm sure that 5 of the 6 men ended up on the floor, and that Mike Patrick caught it on film in his 'Snap' book. It was the same meeting that Simon Cross crushed a couple of vertabrae in a separate incident at a time a tyime in hi9s career when he was flying. This of course all pre air-fence days, and the fence at Landshut was solid wood. The point here is that with tracks that have inside lines made of concrete kerbs, allowing riders to get the front wheel over we will alway carry this risk. As mentioned Peterborough and temporary tracks do not suffer this problem as concrete is not used. Its only going to be a once in a blue moon event, but last nights spill whilst dramatic could have been a whole lot worse. The answer ? kerbs at all tracks and mandate via a rule change that no part of the bike crosses then line ? make the kerbs high enough like at Brandon so that its impossible to use at as an advantage ? Remove all kerbs and run the risk of riders cutting the corners. This would have to be refereed appropriatley. Glad that all are up and about, albeit feeling very second hand.

Correct Steve, recall the Bomber saying it was just Crumpy to beat out of all the GP boys, and what a time to do it. Privileged to be able to film his daring week in week out at Brandon. Massive well done to you Chris.

Mateusz - thanks for shwing those with us - as per usual in Poland it looked a fantastic atmosphere. Just a shame it was not the desired result that all from Bydgoszcz were looking for - better look for next time. In the UK we can only dream of that level of support & passion.

And Tyskie is now available in Tesco's in the UK. Bought 2 large bottles at the big store off the M6 Jct 3 by the Ricoh Arena in Coventry at the weekend. Very nice indeed Mateusz - Have you been to Poznans track yet ? Our schedule this year was to take in a meeting on the Sunday after the GP at Bydgoszcz. Happy to report that we found the stadium, only to find we were 24hrs late The meeting had run on the Saturday afternoon instead at 16:00 You may remember me questioning if it was definitely going ahead on the Sunday as I was aware of conflicting info on the www. For some reason it had changed, maybe because of the GP or possibily the big local football match on the Sunday ? I should have gone with my gut insticts and gone with the Gniezno meeting but at least we found the track and, and still the square in Poznan was very good on Sunday night. Also, plenty of hotels at a good price, the Novotel being 10mins walk from the centre - a good base for the U21 next year ? Anyway will post a few pics on my webshots when I get a mo, its a big / long track around a football pitch set in a very wooded area with athletics and tennis venues alongside. British sport is put to shame when you compare the facilities abroad.

Crikes . . If thats true, Byd & Torun completely booked out, then that may put a lot of people off for 2007, which is a shame as its the last Bydgoszcz GP (I think . . ), I'm sure we'd all like to witness it bow out in style with a feast of super racing. Poznan is an option, we stayed there on the Sunday night this year. If on an organised trip (eg Travel plus) then the coach takes the strain I guess, but a lot of us independant travellers like the direct flights to Byd, or Poznan with PKP trains and taxis taking the strain, then a stroll back to the hotel after the GP followed by a few Piwos. Hiring a car and driving on unfamiliar roads through Poland at night perhaps not everyones cup of tea if located a long way away ! Then again if the PKP timetable is the same as this year, then there is always the 00:07 direct train back to Poznan in the early hours of Sunday.

Setting off in a few hours time. Anyone know if the Poznan - Opole mathc is still on this Sunday ? Really confused as the website (http://www.pszpoznan.pl/) is showing . . PSŻ Milion Team Poznań - Kolejarz Opole Poznań 23.09.2006r. godz. 16.00 Saturday night ?? surely not Please confirm. I will check this thread at sometime tomorrow, if not wait for Mateusz at the Brda, I'm sure he'll help !!

Well I may be alone in saying this, but I didn't mind tonights GP. A win bet of £5 win for Hancock from William Hill at 9-1 might have something to do with that ! £50 notes thankyou kindly ! Well done Greg. Yes the track was slick, and rutty but the brave and the wily (sp. ?) could exploit the conditions and makes some passes as we saw. Correct 4 in the final, Zagar also would have been worthy of a place. AJ most exiting rider as on many occasions, but cannot gate for toffee thankfully, we need his exploits from the back to liven up the racing. Unlucky to be excluded in the final. Super 360 by Scotty, saved by the skid pan watering before the heat no doubt, a grippier track would have spat him out of the saddle and a trip to Brian Simpson. RE: THE SURFACE : East European tracks use a grey powdery shale, which when watered prodcues great dirt and racing. Look at Bydgoszcz you get a beautiful build up around the outside as the meeting goes on. Yesterday was allegedly like a ploughed field following rain. 2 hours of practice scrubs it off, then we have 24 hours of drying conditions. Ole is water averse as we know, so its no wonder it was rock hard. I say ditch the practice sessions, running the equivelant of 2 full meetings in 24 hours is too much for most tracks. When the conditions differ so much day on day, whats the point - whats gained ?

. . and both mine made the semis, with Trick already out I though hear we go 2 into the final maybe and mega points, but alas not to be with Mr Clean dribbling around the white line and Tomek getting squeezed out. . . oh and Mr William Hill is £13 better off today Going to have to be a big gamble in 2 weeks against an outsider - go out with a bang ! Well done f-s-p, nothing rash now