Col

I have to admit when I saw the draw for the Semi's I thought... Bugger! Andersen, Hancock & Adams are far more experienced on the GP stage than Chris, I expected a plucky third. I thought Anderson was lucky, had Hancock not took evasive action & caught him when he made a mistake he'd have been out. In the other half were Zagar & B Pedersen, who were pretty crap most of the night, best of the rest certainly. So I had hoped having finished third after 20 heats 'Bomber' would have been up against those two in the Semi. Still he had the hardest draw, Greg was unlucky and Harris capitalised. Lets just hope he can keep it up and Nicholls can respond to a Brit challenging him for #1 status in the coutry and the free ride into the next GP season.

What forced Lawson to retire in his third ride?

I thought I was looking at certain elimination at an early stage, of this years GP competition, at the semi final stage. I should have known Crumpy wouldn't fail me and that Anderson on 6/1 was the bargain I suspected. Well done to Bomber. Easily the most exciting rider in the GP's. Felt a bit for Greg, he could have ploughed into the back of Hans in the semi and got the Dane excluded. Too much of a gentleman I guess. So Nicki... can you keep it up, you've been bloody awful at some places in recent GP seasons, Cardiff one of them. Thats why I suspect Mssr Crump & Hancock aern't hitting tha panic button just yet. And Subedei how does the "Beggar" manage to out perform Gollob in the Poles element with a broken thumb? Get well soon AJ. Ohh dear Mr Lindback. *waves*

Oh well... I'll stay at home & save some cash.

Who cares? Sheffield got screwed and its kinda amusing since they have thebest track & team in the world, except for Poole. And now there was me thinking your B team (Oxford) had already visited the EoES. On a more serious note, is there TV coverage of the Play Offs anywhere inside the stadium. It's Albion v Wolves Sunday, I was gonna make the trip until that was scheduled. I'm not stupid/brave enough to watch it live, so Sky is the safe option.

You obviously mean the team that failed to beat even a reserve on their visit to Kings Lynn. You Tigers fans make the EL Pirates sound sensible. And that takes some doing.

What happened to Bridger?

Perhaps Birmingham were seeded due to location, enticing new fans to a big event and the fact that they had 6000 turn up for an event, just a few idea's there. I'm pretty sure the Brummies will hit 20 at Kings Lynn by heat 10, also. If Sheffield hadn't been on the wrong end of 15 consecutive 5-1's, which is woeful, they would likely have been in the top 7 average wise anyway. Don't worry EoES was composed of shale the last time I went there 10-15 years ago, not mud, the Tigers probably wouldn't have fancied it anyway.

Question. If you were organising a 'big' event would you invite the team that turned up at your track and failed to beat even a home reserve? No . I wouldn't either.

It's fair play to J Chapman to explain the seeding process, good to see from a BSPA member. Sheffield can blame their woeful riding at Saddlebow Rd for their exclusion I think. Shame really, considering that both tracks are big & grippy Tigers were likely have been favorites for this event, especially as Ashworth rode of the Panthers a year or 3 back. Alas, perhaps on your next visit to Kings Lynn you'll grab a 2nd place, hunh? Surely Somerset start as favorites now, Zetterstrom & Hawkins have both been Panthers in recent years. Redcar will likely struggle without Havvy I might come to this, not decided, I do like my Sunday football (playing) and with Brummies taking on Kings Lynn at Perry Barr the week before it'll likely depend on finances. The last time I went to EoES (many years back, solitary visit when Cradley made the 4's final) the roads were goddam awful from here to there, have they improved? As for people who think Rye House will walk this with their averages... I have a feeling that the deep shale and wide open spaces of the EoES will see them a little intimidated. Just a hunch. As far as the Brummies go at least Lyons has ridden there allot but I doubt he likes the track, both Sanchez & Ostergaard have been Panthers during their careers and thankfully it's Collins not Werner, who I imagine has an allergict reaction to such tracks. Somerset to win, Brummies second, Kings Lynn third, Glasgow forth.

20 heats, standard I believe It's not too bad in Wolverhampton today, the arctic wind seems less rampant than Sun, Mon, Tues.

Is Phil Morris fit? He pulled out of the meeting at Belle Vue last night.

Only a couple of days away now... Zetterstrom, Compton, Wright, Correy, Watson, Pickering are all confirmed starters plus I assume Lyons, Werner, Sanchez, Ostergaard, Collin, Powell & Smart. Leaves 3 spots, anyone have any idea who these will be filled by? Rumors suggest 3 unknown Poles, but I haven't heard anything. So who's going?

How did AJ look? He's the only hope we have for a challenge to Crump in the GP's, this year IMO. He was distinctly ordinary in at Monmore yesterday.

Eh? Did I say they did, just thought the centre green falmes would be good at the GPs.

I got a coffee in the bar for 90p. It wasn't as hot as I hoped, but it wasn't as bitter as I expected.

I'd first like to thank superguest for the loan of the gloves. By about heat 3 I thought my fingers were going to drop off. She had two pairs. It was an enjoyable occasion but surely would have been better held in June? No matter. The best couple of races came mid meeting, Hancock V Lindgren & Screen V McGowan. There must surely be a stewards enquiry into how PK got gate 1 in the final, when Nicholls & Crump scored more during the meeting. Impressive were McGowan & Screen, Joe Haines also in the young guns race looked quick - only a couple of seconds of the times set by the worlds best. Lindgren's move to jawa looks iffy, he's giving away 5 metres in the first 5 metres. He along with Jonsson, PK, Screen had new different style helmets to what they wore in previous seasons and it'll take a while for them to be instantly recogniseable again. Good to see Bruce on a bike again. And though it was a frozen farewell rather than a flaming one, the effect of the big blasts of flames on the centre green as the riders went down the back straight on the last lap of each heat was awesome. BSI take note. (It also provided a modicum of momentary heat).

Leigh Adams is in.

Who?

But there sure are 30000 gate & go, dull as dishwater Poles that are ready, right?

The ride where he rounded Nermark and one of the Scandanavians who had a head start on him, when they were jostling for position mid/low track was pretty good I thought.

Precaution I'd imagine. Kling lost it underneath him in his first race and he took a heavy tumble, competed in the re-run but was obviously shaken.

And Pijper, who could have easily have run into the back of PK entering turn 4, last lap in their race. If PK'd been excluded in that heat it would have meant a run off between PK & Lindgren which would have been interesting.

Having looked at PL averages Pjipers also only on 3.7ish EL anyway.

I know Tai is Aussie... but he competed at the British U18 thingy didn't he? Explain that. Also Aussie's seem to sneak around the DU rule somehow, grandparents?... see Matt Wethers. Yeah of the guys averaging about 4.3ish Pjiper looked a better option than Nermark, Hefenbrock & Correy. Hefenbrock I think's a decent gater and has great potential but needs a season in the PL IMO. If he dropped either Sweden or Poland, then that may sway my decision.