HenryW

If you haven't already seen it, get a video of the 1984 World Cup Final from Leszno....The Danes turned tape touching into an art form in that meeting!

Personally, I'm not happy with what the Polish Federation selected at Wroclaw. When I travel to a GP, I expect to see the very best riders on display and, with all due respect, Krzysztof was not anywhere near that category. As a fan, I felt cheated by Kasprzak's appearance in the field. In the 24 man format, I could excuse the locals for throwing in one hapless young piece of cannon-fodder, but not with the "new" 16 heat format. That deserves the very best that is on offer. Last year I was at Wroclaw and I witnessed Greg Walasek and Pepe Protasiewicz ripping apart some of the best in the World. This year I got to witness Kasprzak plodding round at the back.....I know which I'd rather see as a fan! If there is a young rider ready for the step to GP status, then by all means give him a go. Until then, let the fans enjoy the best that is on offer! If Pepe doesn't get the Bydgoszcz wildcard, I'll have to work on my Polish to write my letter of complaint to the PZM As for the comment about the Poles throwing in the youngsters at the WTC last year.....do you really think that was their first choice team????

I might be wrong, but I don't think ballinger was suggesting that AJ actually had suffered whiplash, merely that it's quite likely that he would have suffered some injury in a crash like that. The guy has made it clear the Britain was not his top priority this year and so if he suffers any injury he is likely to take the cautious option of taking a few days rest to ensure his fitness for the GP series. As I said in my post earlier, AJ is the one doing Coventry a favour at the moment. I'm sure if they could have found a replacement at the start of the season they wouldn't have pressured him in to returning. Given AJs relunctance to race here this season, do you not think that maybe Coventry could have worked their fixture list a little better than asking him to do Poland-Britain-Sweden-Britain-Sweden during a GP week?

I'm glad to see someone finally add some perspective to this ridiculous slagging of AJ. Personally, I have never jumped off of a motorcyle quite as fast as I'm sure AJ was going in Sweden, but I'm pretty damn sure that it hurts! I'm also pretty sure that the last thing I'd want to do for the next couple of days is sit around an airport and get a couple of flights, not to mention jumping on a bike and racing the next day. So the guy wasn't fit to go to work on Wendesday, but was fit enough for Friday! So what? Can everyone who has slated AJ honestly say that they have never had a day off sick and been back at work a few days later? Let's also not forget that AJ made it clear that he didn't want to commit to the British League this year, but only came back to bail out the Bees because they couldn't find a replacement. Some of the Coventry fans who have been taking a pop at him might want to consider how bad their season would have been without him!!

I have to agree with SCB. BSI are running a business and want the best riders in the series. It has been proved over many years that the qualification system will always throw up some crazy qualifier who had a good day or was a track specialist....Just go back and try and find a single year where the best 16 or 24 riders took part in the World Championships. I honestly believe that you wouldn't be able to find that year! Of course, with this system there are risks that top riders will be left out because their face doesn't fit, but apart from leaving out Pepe this year, I have never had cause to grumble with the permanent wildcard choices. Lets face it, if a rider is good enough, they will be a good draw for the crowds, and BSI would be crazy to leave them out. Riders now know that they are being judged on every ride in every country that they race rather than just a few WC qualifiers.....is that a bad thing for us fans?

Too right.....3 or 6 and 4 or 8 were the numbers that she was surely looking for! As Rico has made me go into the hub of the Polish fans this year, I'll be sticking with my "Jarek Hampel Jarek" chants this year

If they did, they made a very interesting heat 20 (assuming traditional format is used) : Adams, Hampel, Nicholls, TRick! Of course...every race I look at makes my mouth water....Can't wait until Wroclaw now! If only there was a Pepe there too

Looks like somewhere between 3 and 7 degrees for the meeting according to the site you suggested. That makes me think heavy jacket.....Or are jackets defined different down south? Would my heavy jacket actually be a light jacket? A few beers before the meeting should see me in just a t-shirt and then complaining of a cold for the next few days.....Remember to slap me if I do get to the t-shirt stage....unless I have a flash Pepe t-shirt to display

Well, I guess there is maybe still something that can attract me to Wroclaw, even if it's not the thought of seeing the great Pepe in action!

Rico, Just cancel my ticket now......

We shall wait and see whether Pepe is in the past as far as BSI are concerned, and that is a much more important factor. He has come back to the UK this season to try to prove that he deserves a place in the GP series in 2006, and I for one hope he succeeds. Miskowiak was always the most likely choice for the Wroclaw wildcard. He has done well on that track in the past, and of course won the U-21 Final there last year. Whether he is ready for the big time just yet is up for debate, but I wish him well in his first GP. I would, like Rico, now hope that Walasek and Protasiewicz are given the two track reserve slots for this GP. BSI did suggest in the past that they intended that the wildcard would go to a young hopeful with the track reserve slots being offered to former GP riders to give them an opportunity to show whether they are still good enough. Both Greg and Pepe provided some great entertainment in Wroclaw last year and I'll be saddened if I don't get to see at least one of them make an appearance at this years GP!

You could always run it through one of the online translators. They don't get things quite right, but you get a rough idea of what is being said. Babelfish has a Russian->English page translator that you could use.

As was the great Joan Miro....you share a birthday with some interesting characters!

I can assure you that your average Scot does his best to avoid wearing a kilt....and much prefers the taste of Bourbon to Whisky.....assuming I am an average Scot, which of course I may not be!

God, yes, I'd forgotten about them. Perfect location for the speedway, but possibly not perfect for anything else (including staying in).

I could be wrong, but I think that your only option for business class to Poland is to fly to Warszawa and then take a train to the GP venues. As the train journey is likely to be longer than your flight in this case, it might be worth slumming it on the flight.....of course, if you want to buy me a business class ticket as well, then I would be happy to accompany you.

Meant to reply to this in my previous post as well. Wroclaw airport seems to be fairly under-used at the moment, which is probably why Ryanair have been able to get in there. From what I can gather, it's about 12 miles from the City Center with a regular bus service. Having flown with both Ryanair and Air Polonia in the past, I think I'd prefer to go with the Poles again as their aircraft were far superior in terms of comfort and facilities, even if their pilots did take rather un-conventional approaches to the runway.

I'm slightly confused and concerned by the "can't be right" comment as I thought Rico had already booked my flights direct to Wroclaw for the GP!

I guess it depends what standard of hotel you are looking for. First time I went I stayed at the Radisson which was absolutely fantastic. This year we went for the slightly more "functional" (and much cheaper) Pyramid hotel. You can get a tram from the very center of the City straight to the stadium. I can't remember the number off-hand, I think it might have been the 22, but I'm sure there are many on here with better memories than me that will be able to confirm.

Fantastic news, I hope it works out for the Latvian promoters, I've been looking for a good excuse to visit Latvia.

I guess it's time for The Fonz to dust down those kevlars again. I've seen rumours that they were interested in holding a round. Can you give any indication whether this is likely to happen, or just a dream of the Latvian promoters?

It would be interesting to know who made the call on how the track should be prepared in the recent GPs in Bydgoszcz. I suspect that Mr Gollob will be where it comes from rather than the more often blamed Mr Olsen.

Sorry to drag this debate back a couple of days, but I haven't been online for a while. I can't really see that this rule would genuinely pose a problem if they wanted a British and English GP. This year, Spain have hosted the Catalunyan, Spanish and Valencian Grand Prix in the Moto GP series!

I'm sorry, did I miss something? When did Pepe get a "lifeline" handed to him by the FIM? He raced in 1997 as a full member of the series having qualified as the World under 21 Champion and then qualified for 1998 by winning the GP Challenge. He failed to qualify for 1999. No "lifeline" was handed to him. Similarly, he failed in the GP Challenge of 1999. No "lifeline" was handed to him for 2000. The GP Challenge was, again, his route to the 2001 series. Sadly, in 2001 he failed in both the GP series and the GP Challenge and, once again, no "lifeline" was handed to him so he sat out the 2002 series. He did, however, manage to qualify through the GP Challenge in 2002 to get himself a place in 2003, so no "lifeline" needed by him there. Then last year he, again, won the GP Challenge (this time at Poole) to earn his place in the series for 2004. So, remind me, where exactly were the "lifelines" that you talk of? (yes, you belittled him even further by the use of the plural) Every time Pepe has appeared in the GP series it has been because he has qualified to be in there, unlike several of his (supposedly) more illustrious colleagues. I will, however, accept that once in the series, he has rarely done himself justice, but the mere fact that he has so consistently battled back into the series says a lot in itself. As for talk of Rempala, Kolodziej, Miskowiak and Kasprzak, they will have earned their place when they can prove that they are better than Pepe....and averages suggest that none of them are. That's not to say that they wont be better than him sometime in the future but at the moment, quite simply, they are not. Can you tell I'm a Pepe fan, and desperate to see him on my Polish trips next season?

Call me old fashioned, but when I go to a World Championship GP, I like to see the best possible riders taking each other on. Why should the paying fans be cheated out of seeing the very best riders available just so that a youngster can gain experience? As far as I can recall, Pepe has done two GPs at Wrocław and he made it to the final in both of them. He may not always have delivered elsewhere in his time in the GP series, but I think his fans at least deserve to see him around Wrocław. BTW BilaHora, drunken laziness led me to type l instead of ł in Wrocław!