Terry

He has Swedish citizenship obviously.

Why should he? He's a Swede who rides league speedway in his own country, competes in his national championship and more than likely attends all the SWC practice sessions.

Woffy's good enough to not practice at all and still get double figures, but being captain means he should be there giving his less experienced team mates advice and pointers instead of getting another bloody tattoo! I can't imagine Iversen missing any practice sessions for Denmark, official or otherwise.

You think you're angry now? Just wait until he misses the official practice because he has to get his ears re-drilled.

Hmmm, I wonder if he'll make the effort...

Tai has never struck me as a team player, (not team GB anyway.) He always seems more at home with his superstar team mates in Poland and Sweden. He knows he's head and shoulders above any other Brit, so he basically does what he wants and the British fans should just be grateful. He'll just breeze into Manchester with his 'entourage', score a hatful of points and bugger off again!

A 2x world champion attending practice? Surely he's above that sort of thing.

Just a tough first corner. All four back for me.

Justice done after that ridiculous decision to exclude Zmarzlik.

The Czechs need a couple more Miliks!

The obvious selections in my opinion. I'm a massive Bomber fan but he just doesn't deserve a place and I'm glad Scotty wasn't picked after opting out the last few years, plus it means he'll be in the studio with Natalie. (Just think, it could've been Havvy!) Hopefully we'll do ourselves proud and who knows, maybe nick a medal. After all, Sweden were expected to finish 4th last year so miracles do happen.

I guess it was just so much more memorable. Talking of guests, favourite guest riders could be an interesting topic. At Hackney the aforementioned Les Collins was always a popular choice. Also Terry Betts always did well for us, I remember one night he scored a full 15 point max, along with Keith White scoring a full 18 point max. Quite a rare occurrence! Kenny Carter guested a few times even though it was quite a journey for him. I think he got on well with Len Silver and always did well. Our worst guest without a doubt was Bobby Schwartz. He rode for us against Cradley, scored 3 ponts and we lost 38-40. In hindsight it wasn't the smartest decision from Len, considering his Cradley connection and his friendship with Bruce Penhall.

We had the better guest that night in Les Collins (for Plechy) and won 40-38. The Hawks won the battle, but lost the war.

I'd imagine the organisers would be over the moon if Emil decided to return to the gp. They'd more than likely give him a wildcard, rather than risk him not qualifying. It doesn't make it right I know, and personally I don't agree with wildcards, (except possibly the local rider) no matter what the circumstances. Every rider should have to qualify. I recently watched the 1976 Inter-continental final which gustix so kindly put up, and Ole Olsen didn't qualify and that was that. No second chances even though he was the world champion. Is Nicki still going strong? It seems to me he's on a downward spiral, and no longer a championship threat.

Assuming Russia qualify. No Grigory Laguta will make it tougher for them, and the Czechs could nick third-although I hope they don't.

I always look forward to World Cup week, the only thing that spoils it for me is the dreaded J word, and seeing the giant playing card being held up. It always puts me in mind of 'It's A Knockout.' As others have said hopefully Russia make it through and we get to see Emil and the Laguta's at Belle Vue.

Are speedway fans the most moronic of all sports fans? 135 pages of damning evidence would suggest so.

An inauspicious start.

Well she does have dilligaf tattooed across her knuckles.

Exactly. Just a spot of crowd-surfing from the Andrews sisters and Dame Vera biting the head off a chicken..

Surely it's better to field your strongest team on your home track, to give yourself a better chance of going straight through to the final. Alright they'll get track time in the race-off, but they will still be up against Poland or Russia, who will be tough to beat even with their strongest team. It makes more sense to give yourself two decent chances to qualify rather than just one.

Tai doesn't like it when he isn't the focus of attention.

Good to have a full strength Russian Team. I'll be sticking a few quid on them at 18/1 with Boylesports. It definitely looks like the race-off for the Danes now.

I must say I'm certainly enjoying watching Nicki struggle this year. He's not getting close enough to the other riders to cause any trouble! Totally indifferent to Tai, don't like or dislike the guy. He can defecate on the centre green at the World Cup for all I care. I'm just enjoying watching the true ambassador of our sport lead the standings, hopefully on his way to world title number 4.

Yes it would. I'd love to live in a world full of people like me. That would be super.