tone deaf

I was looking at the timetable yesterday & thats the one I thought we'd need to get. I'm assuming we can just get tickets at Bydgoszcz station Sunday morning? My last experience of Polish trains (Warsaw to Bydgoscz 2005) was very overcrowded & smokey but they were on time & we got seats, unlike many British trains I've been on the last few years. Hopefully see you there then.

Can't wait to get there. Not taking the easy route direct to Bydgoszcz airport, flying into Gdansk Friday & out of Poznan Sunday. Staying at the Brda, same as 2 years ago, when we had a fantastic time. The Polish fans are out of this world & to see Gollob win was just perfect. Hopefully he can do it again this year, assuming the Brits won't manage it. Hopefully catch a few people in the Brda bar on Friday.

What a load of s#1t! At least everyone can get another beer or 2 before the meeting now.

If its Nicki or Hans its always their fault remember?!!!

Nice to see his extra day off didn't help him get to the final.

Jealous of you all going to this one. At least I've got Bydgoszcz to look forward to & hopefully another victory for the mighty TG.

I'm quite happy with Cardiff thanks. Wembley would be a lot nearer for me but the world doesn't revolve around London. London can't even sustain a speedway team.

Sky are determined to make Hans the bad guy & have been since Scott made him a scapegoat for his failure 2 years ago. Bomber leaned into Hans & laid his bike down when he realised he was being passed. The commentary team & presenters are so biased its crazy & if they don't realise what a stupid time it is to stick a mic & camera in someones face they should know better. They should concentrate on getting their race coverage up to scratch i.e. the camera actually following the action for a change.

On current form Chris Louis should be first choice for Team GB. So what if he's not so young? Neither is Mark & he's been picked, even though Chris is riding much better. Mind you, we have about as much chance as England did in the football WC anyway so it doesn't really matter.

Well done to Hans from me & the Scottish Witch. Had a bet on him earlier in the week when the odds were good too! Shame the Brits don't have what it takes when it really matters.

Hans was obviously made a scapegoat for Team GB's failure & has received undeserved stick ever since. It'll be the same when the football team fail to win the world cup - its never the team's fault, there has to be someone to blame. He's a top rider & obviously better than the majority in the GP. I'd love to see him win in Denmark.

The thing is, Poland would be strong enough without Holta, whereas GB... Don't think Scotty would appreciate losing his British number 1 slot to Hans!

Actually Chris Louis was telling the ref that he felt for the sake of the people watching they should get on with it. I think it was a few of the GP riders that were the main problem.

Hope Pepe can keep it up for the season. He was a bit inconsistent last year but capable of winning meetings for us. He rode for the Witches at Mildenhall last week in a challenge & did very well on one of the smallest tracks around. Maybe you could make it to an Ipswich meeting too, its not that far from Stansted airport where Ryanair fly to from Bydgoszcz.

Good news for you Polonia Byggoszcz fans, Pepe has started the season like a rocket! He has been awesome for Ipswich & was unbeaten by an opponent last night. Shame it looks unlikely we'll make it over for the GP this year but maybe we'll try & make it to a league meeting.

The problem we have is that this year its not in the school hols so cannot take an extended break in Poland. Thats why we're stuck with Friday to Sunday which at present seem to be the worst days for flight times. Oh well...

Unfortunately following Ryanair's change to the Friday & Sunday flights our plans are on hold at the moment & it looks unlikely we will be able to make it this year. Shame as we had a great time last year & seems like half the forum is going! Still hoping to get to one of the Polish GPs or maybe Prague but it might not happen. At least we've still got Cardiff to look forward to.

We were on back straight last year with a 7 year old, bit scary at times but didn't seem to worry her. As long as you're not sitting down the front (where probably no one can see anyway) you should be ok for viewing. The Poles are a lively crowd (some slightly drunk!) but very friendly. I've only been once but my feeling is if you want to experience the REAL Bydgoszcz you have to be on the back straight.

We'll be on Stansted Friday flight too. 2.5 of us as last year! This year we're staying at the Pod but should make it to Brda again Friday night. Hopefully no very large drunken Swedes will fall on us this time!

Ryanair flights booked for Friday 22nd for 2.5 Witches fans to make their return visit to Bydgoszcz! Hope to see Rico, Mateusz & everyone there again. At least this year we don't have to trek all the way from Warsaw. Now trying to get a hotel booked, hoping to get Pod rather than Brda this year. And of top of that, Pepe has signed for another season so there will be at least one Witch to support, although I'll always be cheering for Gollob.

I'd settle for both Gollobs at Ipswich next season! That Tarnow line up would include 3 of the Witches all-conquering 1998 team...those were the days!

Fair enough but Hans was Denmarks best rider in the SWC & also reached a GP final. He has also won a GP the previous year, unlike Richardson (not to mention certain others who received wild cards). Its blatantly unfair that decisions are made for commercial reasons instead of based on riders' ability. As for those sad people who keep bringing up the 2004 SWC...get over it! The fact is the Brits would have won it if they were good enough & as has been mentioned, Scotty would not have passed PK anyway. End of story.

From this years riders I think only Sullivan & Chrzanowski will be dropped. Hampel is safe. If BSI want to keep up the Brit quota, Nicholls & Richardson are still the best by far. Lindback will probably get in & Andersen is in my opinion still a better rider than Bjerre & a previous GP winner. Zagar is likely to get a place together with another Pole - there are several decent Polish riders to choose from. One rider who I think will make a big impact before too long is Freddie Lindgren who has the potential to go all the way, but next year would probably be too soon. Looking ahead, I hope I'm proved wrong but the chances of a British world champion in the forseeable future look pretty slim.

Its nice of you to say we looked respectable, we obviously hadn't had enough to drink! Whoever that 25 stone Swede was he did a good job of breaking the ice so I guess we should thank him, otherwise we'd never have got chatting & would have ended up sitting on the second row at the GP with a view of nothing much apart from the fence. It was great to meet everyone, shame that we didn't really think we'd get away with taking a 7 year old to Chesterfields, even though she might have outlasted a few people there!

Just back today from our first ever experience of a Polish GP. What can I say?!!!!!! Gollob brilliant, Polish fans out of this world. It was nice to meet a few forum members, with special thanks to Rico and Mateusz and the rest of the Bydgoszcz Net Fans for saving us an excellent seat on the back straight. Thanks also to TheStartTart for the birthday cake in the Brda. Tony, Lesley & Lynsey (the 2.5 Ipswich fans)