21st century heathen

I wouldn't go that far. Last season was poor, but I think he deserves a second chance based on the two podium positions in his first GP season. Scott is consistantly a top 10 in the world man. I'd rather see him in the GP for the odd occasion that he steps up to the plate than some random other rider that's tailed off all the time. Lee has had a couple of poor SWC's but for the first 4(?) years he was the top points scorer overall. I don't really follow the foreign leagues but I understand Lee is consistantly good in Poland and Sweden and easily the best of the current crop of Brits abroad.

Well he certainly hasn't improved has he?! My Mom was moaning about him on Saturday evening, and she usually moans at me for moaning about him. Even Havvy was taking the p!$$. We shouldn't laugh though because he really hasn't got a chuffing clue what he's talking about half the time. The catchphrases are really annoying but easier to ignore than the terrible mistakes he makes. He misses so much of what is actually happening and continues to get riders mixed up. I don't need a list of random facts repeatedly rammed down my throat just for something to say. It's okay to be quiet for a while.

I fancy Jason to win this one. He's generally got a good record there, and I think he'll be well up for beating Nicki this season. Greg, Nicki and Hans to join him in the final. Tomasz, Emil, Freddie and Scott to make the semi's. (bet that's soooo far off the mark)

Thanks DW. I was hoping you would be doing these again this season.

I hope all those that have missed the rider number off their post find they've scored zero after one round. --------------------------------------------- Thanks for running this Pete, and especially for putting up prizes. --------------------------------------------- 1 Nicki Pedersen - 60k 2 Jason Crump - 50k 7 Andreas Jonsson - 35k 15 Emil Saifutdinov - 25k 16 Wild Card - 20k Total - 190k Crump to be the captain for Prague please.

Search the forum thread titles for old Prague topics. There's loads of information already on here, so you may not get it repeated in time for this weekend.

So that would be the World Pairs then! I guess if you're relatively new to the sport you may have missed it. It was ditched before the World Team Cup was revamped into the World Cup, so I guess it was due to scheduling. Can't see the problem to be honest. Speedway has team and individual racing and this is a combo of both. And it's provided some of the best speedway over the last few years. Maybe we've been watching different meetings?!

I don't recall that ever coming off either. It would have been interesting from an advertising/promotion point of view, but of course he'd have wiped the floor with a lot and it wouldn't have been much of a race against some. It was a nice idea, and good to see a world champion looking at the big picture.

Of course not. But as I said, he was 17 at the time and came from the back to beat them on a track they know inside-out. ------------------------------------------- Hopefully people will keep things in perspective. Just to qualify by right for 2010 would be an achievement for him. I expect ups and downs throughout the 2009 season.

There speaks a modern era fan. Shame you never saw speedway way pre-dirt deflectors. You only had to be in the general region of the corners to have to go home and wash the dirt out of your hair. You would literally have brown water running off your head. I could get my Mom to tell you a story about going to the speedway in a nice new coat if you like. Ahhhhh those were the days.

If others accepted a pay cut of around 25% and Nicki is prepared to accept a cut of around 20%-30% I think few could argue that's fair enough. It also adds weight to the suggestion that he had been expected to take a much bigger, and arguably unfair, cut by Czestochowa.

If you read my posts properly you'll see that I don't entirely disagree. I just said that if it's a 50% cut I would lean towards falling on Nicki's side of the argument.

Emil is without a shadow of doubt one of the brightest prospects in world speedway for quite some time. He's already been in the Russian SWC squad for the last couple of years. Take a look at what he did to career Cov rider Billy Janirro and Simon Stead, who has in the past named Cov as one of his fave tracks. I don't think he'd been to Brandon before this visit in the SWC 2007. I'm pretty sure he was just 17 at the time.

The point I was really trying to make was that Nicki has a signed contract that states he will get 'x'. The club should have had the foresight to negociate a deal it could afford in the first place.

I can see both sides, but if it's a 50% pay-cut then I'm leaning towards Nicki's point of view. He will have a contract in place and will have planned his season around an estimated budget. To suddenly, on the eve of the season, be expected to take a 50% pay-cut is unbelievable. Losing £200k, for example, could blow his title hopes out of the water (just an example to show what it could mean to a rider like Nicki). Guys like Nicki may earn what most of us consider a huge sum, but they will be spending plenty on their set-up for the season and may already be committed to certain contracts for equipment themselves. Those that are on the side of the club should consider how they would cope with their financial commitments if they had to take a 50% pay cut tomorrow. The flip side being that 50% is better than nothing if the club folds.

Sky 413

Deja Vu indeed. It's a ridiculous idea, and I genuinely fear speedway will follow suit. Pointless tinkering is just p!$$ing me off in speedway, and now F1 has done it too. Honestly, why don't Ferrari just have their own series and let everyone else race on an even footing?!

I'm guessing, and it really is a guess, that this is the area that has been reserved for those trading their tickets from Germany last year.

Ex-Heathens Anthony Boyd and Mark Robinson run a limo service, does that count?! http://www.ladypenelopelimoservices.co.uk

Search the forum for previous Prague topics. LOADS of info has been put on here over the last few years. Prague is a fantastic city and a must for anyone that enjoys travel. The speedway is a bonus, or it should be. The last two GPs there have been crap and served only to waste drinking time.

The schedule doesn't go far enoguh yet, but as far as I can tell it just gives people time to head back up to my neck of the woods. Last train just before 9pm.

Firstly, the Czech Republic and Denmark don't use the Euro. Prague is nowhere near expensive. It's just not as ridiculously cheap as it used to be. I'm sure the cost is still creaping up, but as of this past summer you could still get drunk for a fraction of the cost over here. The whole of Scandinavia is relatively expensive. I went to Sweden and Denmark 5 and 4 years ago, respectively. Even back then it was the best part of £2 for a 500ml bottle of Coke/Pepsi etc (and I paid £6 for a single rum (local not international brand) and coke). That's just an everyday example.

But at least the top riders can ride in a league where they don't have to face the same opposition and go to the same tracks all the time...no hang on, that's not quite true is it?!

The average temperature in Prague during the last week of April is low to mid teens. Rainfall is less than half of that in late July/early August. Sounds fine to me.

No, I don't think such a championship would have a place alongside the GPs. I rather doubt GP riders would take part, nor many of the other better riders that already have a hectic schedule. What sort of World Champion would you actually end up with? Might give Havy another chance I guess.