Steve Shovlar

Considering I was in the front row I doubt it was me, although I was quite vocal on the refs decisions!

Todays Echo. British fans are 'disgrace' says Nicki By Phil Chard NICKI Pedersen has roundly condemned the British crowd's consistent loud frenzied booing of him at Cardiff as "disgraceful". The defending world champion also believes Bjarne Pedersen should not have been excluded from their controversial semi-final. Nicki felt all four riders back for first bend bunching would have been the right decision and he would have had no argument with that. But he also pointed out it was not his decision to exclude Bjarne, or Leigh Adams in heat 17, so the British supporters inside the Millennium Stadium should not have taken their frustration out on him by booing the wrong man. Nicki, who has a 10-point overall lead on British GP winner Jason Crump, said: "I felt very disappointed because of the way the British crowd booed me. "It doesn't affect me when I'm riding, but it just makes me feel even more fed up with British speedway." Pedersen, not riding in the Elite League this year after being dumped by Eastbourne and failing to find another track, added: "I think the fans' booing was disgraceful. "It if was me I would have had all four back in those incidents, but it's the ref's decision. "I'm very disappointed about the British fans and it makes me wonder whether I really want to ride in this country again. "It also makes me even more determined in my fight to win the World Championship this year." Pedersen, shown on Sky's live coverage screened inside the stadium clearly laughing about his semi-final reprieve while he was in the pits, continued: "The British fans are too focused on Chris Harris and Scott Nicholls. "They don't think it's the ref who is making the decisions. "I'm really happy I made the final, but I had four bad knocks and sustained a rib injury and took a heavy bang to my head." Pedersen, who eventually finished third despite falling in the final, added: "This meeting was a big blow to me and I hope it's the only one of the season. "You have to have one sooner or later, but the decisions didn't really go my way all the time in the first turn." PIRATES legend Craig Boyce believes his old adversary Nicki Pedersen was clearly to blame for his fall after tangling with Bjarne Pedersen on the first corner. Boyce, in Cardiff in his Australian team manager role, also feels there is a big question mark over the future of Marek Wojaczek as a Grand Prix referee. The former Poole star said: "As a Pirates supporter watching Bjarne who also helps do his engines, I couldn't believe he was excluded in the semi-final. "His bike was clearly half a length in front of the guy when the collision occurred. "I was standing on the outside of the track on the first corner, one of the best views of the incident in the stadium, and Nicki went into the back of him. "So how did the referee get to that decision? "It was clearly the wrong decision. It should have been at least all four back but really I think Nicki should have been excluded. "I can't understand how the ref could exclude Bjarne when he is clearly in front and had the line. "I think the FIM (speedway's world governing body) should take a seriously look at that ref and his future in the GP." Boyce had an on-track bust up with fellow hard man Nicki at Eastbourne last year.

Thanks. The guy should fall on his sword and jump before he is pushed.

Hi Mateuz, is there any talk on Polish speedway forums about this ref's performance last night, or is it just British fans moaning?

What a crock of cr@p. Adams and B Pedersen did absolutely nothing wrong. They were both victim of a ref who wanted to go down in the hall of fame as the most inept referee ever to grace the GP stage.

Manker.

I thought the music a mixed bag. Thought it was very cheesy at times. The usual Brit themes like Land of hope and glory were OK but I didn't like Copenhagen and Wizard of Aus etc. More thought required here. Just pump up the British boys and to hell with the rest? Just have rousing British classical music. Adds a touch of class. Didn't like that England football song at all with Motson sampled. The less said about the w@nker song the better.

I would like to know what the thoughts are from the POlish members of this forum. Is he rated highly in Poland? Is he normally so bad? Does he seek fame? What is he like in normal Polish league meetings? Just curious.

Of course it wasn't capacity! How can it be with empty seats? The BBC website says 45,000 were there. Guess we will have the official atendance in the next day. I thought it was a bigger crowd than last year. The reason the pubs were not as crowded as last year is simple. It was pi%%ing down last year and everyone stayed inside the pubs to keep dry. this year it was lovely and the streets were very busy. My ears are still rining though. Wished they had opened the roof a bit more to let the noise out!

NP didn't help his cause at all by waving and smirking to the crowd. It incensed them. If had had any sense at the time he woould have kept his head low but baited them by waving after getting through to the final, fully in the knowledge it was strirring them up. The ref made the bad calls, not NP, buut the crowd see NP as the villian as he was the one to gain from the bad calls.

After a nights sleep time to take stock with a clear head. THE REF WAS A COMPLETE TOSSER. He ruined what is the showpiece Speedway GP. When Adams got excluded I was gobsmaked. I couldn't believe the ref could make such a terrible decision, especialy as he had the added bonus of TV angles. It was a clear case of all 4 back. I felt sorry for Adams who had I thought been very hard done by. the fact that it cost him a place in the semis doubly made it a bad call. Yet worse was to come. In the first semi, Bjarne, who had shown at last what he was capable of on the world stage, blasted again from the tape to lead going into the first bend. NP tried to come across, didn't make it and bailed out. Bye bye Nicki. But no. The thoughts of the terrible Adams decision came back to my mind. Surely the ref wouldn't make the same mistake again, would he? He surely didn't beieve that two wrongs don't make a right, does he? Yes he does. Because he excluded Bjarne when he did absolutely nothing wrong. Bjarne was devistated. He was in the form to win the GP, is desperate for points, and this dickhead referee robbed him of his chance of glory. Everyone in the stadium called it. All 4 back, or NP out as the cause of the stoppage. Except the ref. I really hope the referee is removed from the GP roster so he can never ruin what is the jewel in the GP crown.

The crowdf last year was easily the biggest ever seen at cardiff for the GP. They were quoting 40,000 + ;ast year, and this time around are saying 45,000 +. If the prediction they are making becomes reality, it will be the biggest crowd. We'll see soon enough.

Over 45,000 is the estimate of tomorrows crowd in Cardiff. Lets hope it is as every year the crowd seems to have increased. See you all there!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/motors/ar...Prix-title.html

Also he has now moved to the area from Peterbororugh. Shows commitment.

OK now I understand. Sorry Shazzy I get loads of these Facebook things every day and don't have a clue what they are. I just press a button! Must have pressed no instead of yes.

For some reason yesterday the normal entrace in th middle of the main grandstand was closed, meaning everyone had to go through the entrace in the back straight. So that funnelled everyone through there and made one very long queue. Personally a 10 minute delay would have been acceptable, and if those turning up late had missed the first couple of races its wouldn't have been the end of the world. The delay caused by the ambulance having to take someone to hospital was the main reason the meeting fell flat. Unavoidable though. At least over 3000 turned up to say goobye to Boycey, and I am sure we will see him as a regular at Poole every week, watching of course!

Of course I will be there. Never missed one yet and don't aim to. Turned down a £1400 booking to attend on Saturday.

What comments?

Daily Express http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/49713/Need-for-speed Wales http://www.newswales.co.uk/?section=Sport&...=1&id=14471 Cornishman. http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/sport/Bomb...il/article.html If anyone has more to add to the list stick 'em up!

Perhaps not the best of meetings to take first timers to, who were quite frankly bored witless by proceedings. Guess I should have introduced them to a league meeting where the riders were trying more than 70%. A good crowd turned up and the meeting was delayed by 25 mins, which didn't help. and this was folowed by a further very lengthy delay when someone had to be taken to hospital. By then I was getting it in the ear from my wife who wanted to go. It was heat 8 and the little un was screaming as it was too noisy and she wanted to go home! But a reasonably good night with a few good heats. Crump certainly took it seriously and blasted everyone away by about 50 metres. Like Adams it was impressive, but slightly boring to see. Rather he missed the gate and had a race. While it might make him feel good, winning by the proverbial does little to get the crowd going or the pulse racing. Howe rode well, and Frampton and Doyle were very good value. The two races with Sam E and Rosco were clearly a fix, though Rosco won't give up that win easily!

Jump in your car then Shazz, still time to make it. I am bringing 5 more along tonight, and three have never been before. Hope the racing is enjoyable for them.

My hair was cut last Friday Bryn, and its pretty short as it is.

NO she would hate it. She would find it far too noisy, smelly and boring. Now if I paid for Wimbledon centre court tickets or ladies day at Ascot, Derby Day at Epsom, that would be a different story. She has been to a couple of GP's before at Copenhagen and Prague but wanted to leave both at the interval to beat the crowd out.

Bringing along my wife, who hates spedway, and my 4 year old daughter who will be experiencing her first every speedway meeting tomorrow night. Weather is set fair so it should be a good fun evening. Suprised schlein is riding though as Cov are here next week. Nice way to go into the GP on Saturday.