21st century heathen

If you're going to pick bits out then so will I. I also said that... I don't blame Tai fair play to him his obvious talent It's not cheating if you find a loophole and exploit it to your own advantage. It's the rules that are wrong, in my opinion. Where have I said he's not a proper Brit? I know that he was born over here. I also know that he said that he considers himself an Aussie because he spent so much time over there. Although, you'll note I clearly state that was last year. I'll be disappointed if he chooses to represent Australia, because he will be a loss to British Speedway. Also, in hindsight he will have taken the place of another young Brit in meetings such as this. The fact that this could happen bothers me. Once again in case you missed it, I believe the rules are wrong on this. I don't blame Tai for taking the opportunity to ride when and where he can to gain valuable experience.

I thought my comments were quite well balanced. What, exactly, have I said that would push him away?

Well you sneaky little... Yes, he'll have to decide at 18. Just to repeat my previous comments on the subject. I don't blame Tai for getting all the experience he can. He's basically using a loophole to his advantage, so fair play to him. It bothers me that a young Brit could be denied an opportunity though, and I sincerely hope for that reason (and his obvious talent) that he chooses Britain. It's hard on a 16/17 year old to ask him to make these types of decisions, but surely it comes with the territory?! If a rider can turn pro at 16 they should have to nail their colours to the wall at 16. I don't think there's anything wrong in the British fans giving him a nudge in the right direction.

And that's a step forward Shazz. Last season at the U18's he was in no doubt whatsoever that he considered himself an Aussie. Another year and he'll see sense.

Can't believe all the moaning about Lewis. I don't know him off-track so that's not what I'm referring to. But things like doing wheelies on track. What ever next?!! He's arguably the best young Brit the EL has seen. Isn't it time we got behind our young talent and supported them?!! It seems a British trait to slag off our sports stars. Anyway, I got one thing right. If Lewis were to win it he'd have needed a maximum. Congrats to Tai. It sounds as though it could have gone either way, with Tai coming out on top in the vital heat. Fingers crossed that he's changed his mind since last season. C'mon Tai wear the Union Flag with pride.

Egon Muller.

Don't follow their scores abroad. I commented before anyone mentioned how Tobi had been riding elsewhere. My vote would go to Smoli based on recent form. He's got a 6 point average riding at number 4 during Cov's winning run (only a few matches were at reserve). I don't think Tobi can match that, but I could be wrong. Ippo fans? Not a lot to choose between them at a guess.

Sounds as though he's been given the nod based entirely on his appearance in the GP qualifier rather than taking into account the league form over the season.

Just a quick reminder to all speedway fans out there. Both the paper and online petition remain active. The link to the online version is in my signature. The paper version can be found on the Cradley website here. Every signature helps so please take a minute out of your day, and pass it on. As I write we have at least one signature from the following countries/states... European Countries Austria Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Holland Hungary Ireland Italy Malta Norway Poland Portugal Slovenia Spain Sweden 17 US States Alabama Arizona California Florida Kansas Minessota New York North Carolina Pennsylvania 9 Australian States New South Wales Queensland Victoria Western Australia 4 Rest of the World Canada New Zealand 2 Can we add any more to the list? Please note that this list is just for additional information. The total number of signatures is what is really important. If you see your country represented please do not think that we don't want or need your signature. Every single signature we collect will help. Thanks for you time. It's very much appreciated.

Of course. That's precisely why I'm backing Lewis to win it. The smart money will go on Tai, but I think that the EL class/speed may shine through. Like I said, I think he'll need all 15 to win it though.

I would still fancy Lewis to win this. I think he'll need a maximum to do it though. Gutted to be missing it this year.

Here's Mark at his very best. It's the '99 Swedish Final that got a mention. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...videoid=1977934 Cracking ride by Mark, but the race as a whole can't match the one I originally posted. Same goes for Bomber at Cardiff. Sensational ride from him, and the most unbelievable emotion in the stadium. But it was all about one rider. The one I posted owes it's brilliance to all four riders. I know I'm a little biased as 'my' boys came out on top, but that really was an awesome race. 100% commitment from all four. All of them holding every position in the race. You just have to take your hat off to the guys. Four abreast at those speeds takes big ones!!

Had a feeling it was '99, but I could be wrong. *edit* DAMN you're right!! Just looked at it again. Billy is no.2 after being edged out by Mark Loram in 2000.

Stumbled across this cracker... http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...videoid=4430129 Greg should have been excluded, and Tomasz had one of his fake engine failures but apart from that what a race!! Are there any to rival it?

Given the circumstances I hope I can be forgiven bending the boundaries of this section. I'm hoping to reach out to any foreign speedway fans that use this section of BSF, but don't necessarily frequent other areas of the site. As some of you will be aware Cradley Heath Speedway are working hard to secure a return to competitive action. The time has come for us to petition the local Council to consider favourably a planning application that is due to be submitted soon. The petition can be found, and signed, by following the link below. http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/brin...y-speedway.html We already have a number of signatures from speedway fans in Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Slovenia, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Malta, Australia and The U.S. My hope is that some of our members will be able to raise awareness in their country, and perhaps post the link on local forums/websites. If you are able to do so please post here to let me know, and I'll pass on the details to the club representatives. Thanks Chris

I'll take a seat. Someone can always sit on my lap.

Typical of a speedway riders luck. Best wishes to Jarek.

What a fantastic few days away (has it really been a week since we were sleeping off the first night out?!!). A word of advice for anyone that only went for the GP and was disappointed...get some friends together and go for a long weekend. I reckon the 5 nights away cost me less than £400 incl. flight, accom, GP, spending money. It was a laugh a minute and I even managed to add another 2 members to my 'list' (Diesel and his other half). Thanks to SCB's sister for starting to teach me some Welsh. Prague is lush. Anyway, thanks to the 15ish that made my weekend (some members and some not). Oh, and not forgetting the old lady that tried to follow us back to our apartment at about 04:30/05:00. High 5!! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Practice was hot (35 on the stadium thermometer) and dusty but in the end it had produced more dirt than we saw for the GP itself. Caught a couple of nice photos (cool one of Scotty) that I'll link to when I have chance to upload them. There's no getting away from the fact that the GP was crap, but we enjoyed ourselves. At least it's not expensive over there so we just made our own entertainment. Frightening crash for AJ, and thank God for the air fence. That could have been so very much worse. I finally had chance to skip through the Sky footage last night. The analysis of the crash (and comparison with Greg's trip through the ruts) by Billy and Sam was very good. Surely it cleared up one thing. That frame just isn't worth it AJ!! Best wishes to AJ and Antonio who clearly shouldn't have been there. Gollob was taking the wee wee. He rode practice half throttle and was worse if anything on Saturday night. Great to watch on form, but probably the most unprofessional rider at this level. This type of thing is all too common from him. There have been a number of times that he clearly just can't be @r$£d. Nice to see Scotty get some reward for the effort he's putting in. He's now ready for a push into the top 8 IMO. Bomber suddenly (incl the WC) seems to have no speed at this level. I hope it's a blip and nothing more. He's had a really good season and I'd hate to see it slip away from him now. I called Hampel to go well but didn't get around to putting a bet on.

When I looked at the pressure charts last time it suggested rain/showers Fri/Sat. If I get chance I'll look at the lastest later tonight.

Cheers SW. Will check it out if I get chance before tomorrow.

How'd ya guess?!! Sandie - Any chance of getting them all back at a later date? You wouldn't want to delay me now would you?

Just rembered (Or even 'remembered'. It's the excitement!! ) something I was going to post so sorry it's late. Prague map... http://www.pragueexperience.com/maps/map.asp For anyone that hasn't done it I strongly suggest taking a trip, and your camera, up Petrin Tower. The view's great. http://www.pragueexperience.com/places.asp?PlaceID=604

It's not as early as the one I caught when I last went to Prague. That was something like 06:15 out of B'ham. I'm on the 10:15 WW1081 tomorrow. That means taking the 07:05 Virgin Train out of W'ton to B'ham International arriving at 07:40. Stroll over to the airport so I guess I'll be at the terminal by 08:00. Anybody know where the BMI check-in desk is? Could take me an hour to find it. Fly back on the 13:50 WW1082 on Tuesday. IT'S PRAGUE BABY!! How long 'til that gets annoying?!!

Do you , or anyone, know if it's possible to get there by public transport from Prague? Doesn't look too far.