HenryW

Congratulations to Poland, a dominant performance and a well deserved victory. Based on the current GP standings they were clear favourites to win but they still had to go out there and deal with the pressure and the expectation of that big crowd... and boy did they deliver. A fabulous performance from all of their team.

It's maybe worth pointing out that it roughly the same amount of time for test results to be released in the cases of Alexandr Loktaev and Patrick Dudek, the last two riders failing tests at Polish league matches. Whilst the timing may seem suspicious/unfortunate, it's consistent with what has happened in the past. I guess this is the normal timescale for whatever laboratory the Polish league use for their testing.

It is used to increase bloodflow, so is useful for some heart conditions. It was added to the banned list a couple of years ago as it increases oxygen delivered to muscles and allows you to train harder and longer. There was a suggestion that the year before it was added to the banned list 17% of Russian athletes tested had it in their system.

He was tested at a meeting on June 11th in Rybnik.

He's not a complete unknown and is already signed in Poland. He's in the Lodz squad this year, although they haven't used him in a league match so far this season. I guess they may give that some further consideration after his performance today. Last season he was signed by Torun as a 16 year old, so they obviously saw something worthwhile in him even at that age.

It's always a joy to see Australia getting humiliated in any sport, and tonight was a wonderful experience There is still a little bit of me that feels the Russians being there at all was wrong given the Laguta situation, but I'll enjoy the result anyway. It was also nice to see young Luke Becker finally getting a race win for the USA at the end there.

Little Max delivers some justice round the first bends...Great stuff.

They should lose the ability to use the joker as well...

Awww, bless. Poor Nigel sounds so devastated that Doyle has been excluded

Poland has no average limits. Teams require at least two Polish riders in the 1-5 and both reserves must be Polish U21 riders. Other than that there are no restrictions. Sweden has a maximum team average, like the UK. Details on the rules can be found in the first post on this thread: http://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=67537 Denmark grades all riders from A to D. There are various combinations of gradings allowed in a meeting, eg 1A 2B 1C and 1D is the most commonly used. Gradings for this season can be found here: http://metalspeedwayleague.dk/koerekategorisering.aspx

There is still time for the likes of Kildemand, Bech, Jensen, Madsen, etc to find a slightly higher level than what they are just now and they aren't far from being top line international riders at the moment. As a squad on paper they still look stronger than most of the others, although a good bit behind Poland at the moment. You really do have to question the management team when they have failed to get anything like the expected results in the SWC in the last couple of years since taking charge.

I missed that one as well. Has he actually made an appearance for his German club so far this season?

But they've got rid of it again, so if they deserve applause for bringing it in, they surely deserve stick for getting rid of it!

I think Leon has only raced in the Polish and Danish leagues so far this year. If he has signed for a Swedish club he hasn't been used so far so still could race here if he wanted.

Neither of the duffers in tonight's meeting were involved in that qualifier though. USA made the race off last year thanks to Greg racing the first meeting and useless without him, as they showed in that meeting. Were the Czechs not last in their round last year as well? How did they get into this meeting? I don't remember them doing a qualifier.

Is Fricke maybe still officially number 5 but taking all Doyles races so Doyle can race in later meetings?

This link has the full race results so you could work it out if others can't provide the riding numbers. https://m.sportowefakty.wp.pl/zuzel/695524/polfinal-imej-dominik-kubera-najlepszy-w-macon-awans-rafala-karczmarza

Oh dear...That's the last thing Klindt needs with his already wrecked knee. Hopefully not too much more damage done in that smash.

Terrible crowd and just heard from a friend that it's not even being shown on Danish Eurosport. A very poor effort from the organisers... and these guys think they could do a better job with the GP than BSI

Always good to get to a meeting with a good crowd and a bit of atmosphere... such a change from what we have over here. I'd have enjoyed it more if the great PePe had a better night...Still, as a long time fan of his, seeing a great win from the back and later a stupid fall is quite a common experience My next trip to a Polish match probably won't have such an impressive atmosphere...I'll be at the Bydgoszcz Pila match in a couple of weeks!

The track's not looking in the best of shape today...hopefully they get some good weather over the next couple of days! https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1483418638369213&id=1053164871394594&set=pcb.1483418811702529&source=48

That happened before from 2004-2007 when the finals rotated between Poland and the UK. Since the modern version of the World Cup started in 2001 the Swedes have only hosted the finals once, suggesting they aren't overly enthusiastic about having it!

They didn't have a very good night there last year, although you suspect they may have been more effective if the track on the Friday was more like the Saturday.

Because I am in Zielona Gora to see the mighty Falubaz

There was a heavy rain shower about an hour ago but it's warm and sunny just now.