HenryW

That's surely heading for a record scoreline. I can't ever remember a team only having 4 points after 8 races before

Yeah, Hans is out injured and will not be racing this weekend... As I mentioned earlier, I missed the fact that Hans had dropped out of the top 3 for Gorzow. When Hans was in the top 3 and injured they were a much stronger team without him than with him, as they could use Nicki and Tomek in the ZZ races as well as Zagar and PUK. Now he is out of the top 3, it makes sense to use Mroczka, so I guess he will be in the team against Falubaz. I'm just hoping that Falubaz can rise to the occasion and deliver a win anyway, but I am not overly confident...It should hopefully be a great match with a close scoreline.

Oh dear...does that mean that Kalle got injured? Hopefully nothing serious as Edinburgh need him to be fit and find some form again....Seems like his scoring in the match today fitted with what he has done for Edinburgh so far this year...If Kalle had done what he should have, Finland would surely have qualified. Wondering if Fish CAN step up to a higher level. I doubted it before despite his good scores in the PL in the UK, but maybe he can do it...Obviously the opposition today wasn't great, but he has done much better today than he did in the SWC qualifier last year. Maybe he IS ready to move on to the next level now...and surely the USA need someone stepping up to take over from Herbie.

Oooh....So Greg has returned to the SWC fold? Not sure if it will be enough to get them through, but it's gotta be better than the 4 man team that they were forced to use last year after his late call-off. Sounds intriguing, but I guess us normal fans wont ever hear the real story... If Germany qualified anyway, do you think Kevin would be invited into the team for the "real competition" or is it something that would keep him out of that too?

And impractical. Was it not investigated previously and deemed impossible inside the only stadium in Monaco viable for speedway?

Not sure if I am just living in a dream world, but I think that riding a speedway bike would still have some appeal to kids today if it was something that was relatively easy to get into and something that their mates were doing... If there were training tracks easily accessible to kids, with a minimal expense to use a bike, I think that it would be a popular thing to do...Which kid doesn't like a bit of competitive sport, and how many kids would enjoy chucking a bike around a track if they had a chance? Given the history of the sport in this country, you really have to ask why we don't have better training facilities for kids...Why do Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Poland and even Russia have better facilities than the UK?

Don't even suggest weather problems in Krsko. Surely the big Gorzow v Zielona Gora derby couldn't be run without the great PePe...

Yeah, the guy currently 2nd in the Lites Eastern division, Dean Wilson, is from Scotland...Or alternatively his hometown is listed as Menifee, California or San Jacinto, California if you look at the official AMA website

Would that be the same Jonasson who was the highest scoring wild card last season with the exception of Kolodziej, and the same Jonasson who has qualified 2nd in line for the SGP this year should there be injuries? Looking at scores so far this season, Grigorij Laguta is the stand out rider who surely deserves a wildcard. I guess he is probably unlikely to receive one due to his Nationality, though.

Ahhh...I had missed the fact that Hans had dropped out of the top 3 in their side. I thought that they had just decided to give Mroczka a run out in their "easy" match at the weekend. Losing the ZZ facility for Hans does weaken them significantly, but will it be enough for Falubaz to take advantage? I certainly hope so

TBH, given the fact that none of the main Poles have stayed away from the Swedish League, it seems that the efforts to retain the old silencers in Poland are doomed to failure. You are certainly correct that the Zielona Gora match at Gorzow should be a cracker. I can't imagine Gorzow using anything other than their strongest team for this derby match, so assume that we can expect to see the return of ZZ for Hans. Extra rides for Gollob, Pedersen, Zagar and Iversen probably makes them stronger than with Hans in the team, never mind Mroczka. Those extra outings for the top men could just be the difference between the two sides...

This weekend sees the final team decided for the SWC rounds. The meeting in Landshut on Saturday will provide the fourth Nation for the round in Vojens. Interestingly, the hosts have left Kevin Wölbert out of their squad, going instead with Smolinski, Hefenbrock, Fächer, Stange and Kroner. I would have thought that Kevin would have been a better option than a couple of the riders in their squad, but maybe it's not a track that he favours... Does anyone know who the USA will be using in the match? I haven't seen anything naming their team yet.

The new silencers don't sound quite as bad as some were making out they would, but when you hear a bike with an old silencer on again there is no doubt it's far louder.

Not sure if any of them would be able to get a work permit for the UK. They certainly wouldn't have been eligible a few years ago, but I'm not sure on the requirements now. They have clearly been relaxed given Ilya Bondarenko's appearance in the Premier League this year. However, all three of the top guys for Ukraine, Loktaev, Cukanow and Kobrin are signed to Polish League teams, and Premier League fixtures don't tend to fit around the Polish Leagues as easily as the Elite League fixtures. That's before considering their involvement in the other European Leagues. They are obviously all in the Ukrainian League and some of them will be making appearances in the Russian League, Swedish League, Danish League, etc.

Yeah. Rico and I are gonna head up there to see the mighty Bydgoszcz in action

lol. Good point, although I obviously wouldn't be cheering if he passes PePe

I'll save that for Zielona Gora on Sunday

Or alternatively no days to go. Sitting in the sun with a beer in Poznan square now

I've heard some commentary from him (or someone very much like him) in the past from Daugavpils...He seems to have modelled his commentary style on the bloke that does Somerset videos Edit - Loved the commentator's effort at the start of heat 6...I couldn't hope to type it the way he screams it, so a direct link to that point in the video is probably required. . * Also wondering if he was given a script for the race, as he seemed quite shouty certain that Lebedev was gonna get to the front as soon as the tapes went up there * Put the link in a little before the start of the race to catch the lovely way he says Lewis Bridger's name as well

I noticed that great piece of news, but also saw the bad news that Jozsef Tabaka was taken to hospital with a shoulder injury during their match today

Not sure what you are suggesting here....IF I was buying a programme at a GP, I'd feel kinda insulted to be handed an A4 sheet of paper that had been run off on a printer the night before. I'd be much happier to just have a nice glossy programme with a grid showing the numbers down the left and a gap to write in who has been selected at that number, then the heats across the top and colored boxes to show who is in each heat....60 seconds max to write in the rider names in the grid and all is sorted... As I implied, I dunno if that IS how it's done at GPs. I don't think I have bought a programme at a GP in the last decade despite doing several each year...

Sorry, I missed this reply until now. My Russian language "teacher" didn't suggest that "Лагутa" should be pronounced "Waguta". However, her suggested pronunciation of the letter "Л" wasn't exactly the same as the British "L", but it also wasn't the same as our "W". It was something that isn't quite in an "English language" pronunciation. I considered it to be closer to "L" than "W", and when I hear "Лагутa" on video from a Russian commentator I hear it more as a British "L" than a "W"... Maybe my complaint about the Poles using Ł for Л is more about my lack of understanding of how Ł should be pronounced in Polish....although, having said that, what I hear for Лагутa on Polish commentary isn't what I expect to hear having heard it on Russian commentary...But, maybe Polish TV just have commentators that pronounce foreign names as badly as the Sky commentators do

Totally agree. If he had wanted to drop down to the PL last time he raced here, he would have had to come in on an 11+ average, but would now already be benefiting from the lenient conversion rate that has been brought in this season. His form on the Continent hasn't changed dramatically during the period he has been absent from the UK, so a reduction to 7 just seems ridiculous. It kinda makes a points limit worthless if you are just going to make up random averages for guys that already have genuine ones.

No great shock there, I don't think. There was always going to be another protest by the Poles before the SGP season got under way....As long as there is some sunshine and beer, I'll make do whatever happens. Actually, I don't suppose it really needs the sunshine either

Still no idea why the Poles do that, but it's not the way it's pronounced in his native language. I reckon the Poles are just plain wrong Should also add that I agree with other comments that Grigory is a great rider. A shame that his machinery is letting him down so far this season, but I'm sure he'll get it sorted soon. I'm sure there will be a few big names in the Extraliga get a shock off him this season before it's done.