ChrissySW

Hopefully it was a precautionary thing with the new silencers having their first meeting. I'd be really disappointed if it was a return to Ole Olsen's track preparation methods - which have the propensity to destroy the Grand Prix series. The world's top riders, great sponsors, wonderful tracks - put dirt on the circuits, and you get world-class racing too.

Brilliant news - new subscriber here for sure!

Very broad title to a thread, I know. I've been hearing from various sources about Jason Garrity for a while now, and I wanted a general consensus on the guy. Apaprently he's one of the most entertaining riders Britain's produced in a long time, with a big future. Are reports premature, or os he that good?!

I'm glad we sort of agree, Shawn. You're a man of integrity usually! One thing's for sure though. Over the course of a Season, you'll get far more entertainment from Ryan Fisher, than you will from Kenni Larsen. People can hype Larsen up as they did all last year, but his entertainment value is virtually null.

One swallow doesn't make a summer. I wish Ferjan the best of luck for Newcastle - starting tomorrow!

Well, all except Flyin' Ryan Fisher - the Premier League's number one. Larsen is on great equipment, good when he gated - never seen him make a pass though. I expect Ferjan to do well. Perhaps in the Mark Lemon mould.

If he gates, he's quick If he doesn't, forget it. Kenni Larsen the second, in other words

C'howa haven't announced him in their team, so presumably so. Tai's flattered to deceive over there, he should be averaging more having been riding at reserve a lot!

I hope Bydgoszcz stay in Ekstraliga as well. Let's face it - had Emil not been injured, there's no way they would have been relegated. Plus, as Mateusz says, C'owa were paying riders sums of money well beyond their means!

I'm buzzing for the World Championship party. Tomek Gollob, Tomek!

Seeing a crowd like that everyweek would be unbelievable. Amazing atmosphere, that's fantastic!

His average for the Season is 3.69 from 9 meetings; 1,467 at the MotoArena per ride [equating to 5.86], and 0,583 away per ride [equating to 2.33]. It's hardly earth-shattering stuff, but I still don't think Torun will release Darcy completely from their squad. I think that'd be an un-wise thing to do, as he clearly has potential. He's just struggled this season for consistency, and consequently might find himself out of a regular ride in the Ekstraliga 2011 if Jepsen-Jensen continues his rise to prominence. If Emil Pulczynski continues to ride as he did against Wroclaw as well, then Torun might think that using Jepsen-Jensen is less of a risk - although his average from 8 meetings is well above 5 itself!

The crowds are good in comparison with British equivalent, in fact very good. However I get the feeling that they're not as good as might be hoped taking into account the huge sums of money paid to riders over there.

Funny, because Andy Murray is always British when he's flying the flag at Wimbledon, then suddenly becomes Scottish again when he goes out. England, TeamGB. It makes no real difference. It basically is England. It's also irrespective who wins this round, since Polska have the World Title wrapped up regardless.

I just saw your comment on language barriers. I don't think that's a real issue in speedway. Kevin Wolbert's english isn't fluent, and he gets on very well riding for us in Edinburgh. The U21 series is now a bit better that it's being held over 3 rounds, on different tracks. It will show that whoever wins can adapt to riding different types of track. Where the tracks are georgraphically is neither here nor there, in my opinion. If you're visiting a different country it's usually a great experience - having visited Poland for speedway, it's a great experience. In fairness I thought Ward rode fantasticly at Peterborough tonight. I'm not a huge fan of what I'd seen of Darcy last season, but he impressed me there - and piled up valuable fantasy league points for me too! Having seen both at a similar age, I think Woffinden was better. He had more track craft, and was a clever rider. On his first visit to Armadale, he followed people for 3 laps, and then made his move. Ward on the other hand went gung-ho, and had to withdraw from the meeting! Obviously Woffinden is a better rider than him comparing them right now, but that wouldn't really be fair since Tai's got a couple of years on Ward. His Elite League average says that, all from the main body. I think Ward's good, I just don't think he's as good as you, nor plenty others, think.

No, he's merely stating his opinion. The Eastern European tracks tend to be pretty unique and hence favour those with experience there. Who's to say that won't be the finishing order? We all know how much you rate Ward. I hate to tell you though, he's really not as good as you think he is. He's a good rider, don't get me wrong. You think the sun shines out his backside though, and trust me, it certainly does not. Bogdanovs won fair and square. Track's the same for everyone. If you want to persist with your line about bad luck, why not look back at last year when Woffinden was denied the title courtest of a tapes offence?

Rune Holta each way at 50/1 [betfred] seems a reasonable outside bet to me. It's always tough to predict the first Grand Prix. If I was going to pick someone to win, it'd be either Emil or Tomek. Best prices I can see are 6/1 [William Hill], and 11/2 [betfred] respectively.

Good idea for a competition! Thanks for running this! 2. Tomasz Gollob £50,000 - Captain. 6. Nicki Pedersen £45,000 7. Rune Holta £35,000 8. Kenneth Bjerre £35,000 13. Jaroslaw Hampel £25,000

I think Mama beat me to it, but Polish clubs can afford to pay wages like this, to superstars like Gollob. It's just like football in this country. They get really big crowds, and presumably great sponsorship from the superb press and media coverage they're given in Poland. Therefore they live within their means, and if that means they can pay the likes of Gollob a lot of cash, then so be it. Personally, I think it's superb for speedway. These guys are seriously talented, and in the case of Gollob, thoroughly entertaining. He more than deserves his money. Poland is the speedway nation - to anyone who's never been before, I cannot praise it highly enough for speedway.

It's a squad system. As I understand it he then becomes an asset of Torun, and they can use him should he be better than Ward at a particular track, or for some experience against the weaker teams. He may not feature much this Season, but they probably see it as one for the future.

Hmmm, I've had that quite a lot. Certainly a man's name where I come from. I don't base my analysis of Darcy solely on seeing him at Armadale. I saw him there twice. First time he withdrew after his second heat, second time he was reasonable. It's not the be all and end all of course, but it does show riders who have that little bit added technical brilliance. I've seen him at Somerset, Sheffield, Kings Lynn, and Armadale. I'm just hugely under-whelmed by him. I'm not trying to say he's not talented, that's indisputable. I just don't think he's as good as everyone says. It's not based on the fact he rode for Kings Lynn either, as they won the Trophies collectively since they were a very good 1 to 7. Why do I like Sayfutdinov? He's got everything. He's freakishly quick, and he's exciting too. Not afraid to try inside, outside. Anyway, I suppose only time will tell about Mr Ward. Everyone seems to think he's the best thing since sliced bread, I've just got a different opinion. Oh yeah, it's Snyper1010. When trying to be patronising, at least spell things properly.

Some fantastic teams assembled there. Now I certainly can't wait for my two trips to Polska in 2010. Hopefully I'll get to see Torun

You really do over-hype Ward! If you wanna give someone the big I am, and speak about future world Champions, then you speak about only one rider. Emil Sayfutdinov.

I agree, Woffinden was very unlucky. 4 wins and a tapes offence. What might have been. Still an encouraging display.

Was a good meeting I thought. Bjerre was mightily impressive, even after making a poor gate in 15 he roared under Rico! It was quite an odd track in that everyone rode quite wide, yet there didn't seem to be as much drive out there as there was from riding mid-track and using the cut-backs. Still, a very interesting watch. Thankyou for the links - will there be speedway on that website every Sunday?