mikec

Agreed Paulco, Rosco heart on sleeve but not exactly cool under pressure when times get tough - as lets face it times do when managing the current GB pool of talent. Before Robins start sending hate mail this doesn't stop Rosco being manager of the EL champs this year!!

Sadly he's the best of a sub world-class standard British bunch. Bit like supporting the Scotland football team - keep your fingers crossed & hope for the best in future years! (No offence Paulco & others!!)

Congrats Crumpy - despite my tenner win on Gollob at 10/1 - ah well!!

I just wanna watch the best 16 guys in the world race whether Brits, Russian or Japanese. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for the next "world class" British racer to emerge?

So no British representation in the GP's next season it's looking like - pretty sad.

Same old same old! Slick rubbish, Olsen's a disgrace - again!

There's a couple of decent bars in the main square in Leszno, sat outside one in the corner of square while waiting for 1.30am train back to Poznan after Adams won. Can't remember name of bar though, the Lech had well n truly kicked in by then! You'll have a great time there for sure.

Sorry, i just have no time for the "joker" rule, keeping it interesting or not - it's just nonsense - especially in a World Cup Final, a battle between the best teams on the planet. Had to explain it to a non-speedway fan, explained it to him that it's like when you fall behind by a decent amount & it was applied to other sports that a Flintoff '6' might count twelve or a Ronaldo goal might count as 2 - reward for being inferior - he just thought it was stupid. Fortunately the rule didn't matter tonight, though the Poles showed great fight tonight anyway. Congrats to the Swedes by the way, thought they showed a lot of fight after an awful start. Lindgren is a World Champion in waiting for me, have changed my opinion completely on Jonas Davidsson too, he's been outstanding this week. It is a well done Denmark thread - they are worthy champs.

Agreed - congrats to the Danes, worthy winners. My god have England/GB got some seroius catching up to do! Anyway Tomasz just said the final (& presumably race-off too) is at Leszno next year - excuse for a few days off work, should be good!

Your point about heat 13's is spot on Iain B. Been talking about this down at BV for a while with the lads - the quality getting watered down while the entry fees rise. Unlikely this'll improve either - Elite League falling way behind it's Swedish & Polish counterparts - it's a real problem.

At least you still got your fix of gloom & depression!!

Yeah it was poor tonight from GB, people can blame Lynch & the riders involved as much as they like but surely rather than dish out blame surely we should be asking why it was so poor. It happened at Leszno last year & again tonight - once can be a fluke, twice & you start thinking there's a problem, that problem being that at the highest level as a team they're third rate. Is Davidsson better than our lads, doubt Rymel will be complaining tonight either (great race win over Andersen by the way). Usually it's either the tracks too big or too slick, there can be no excuses tonight - as a team, just not good enough. Time for British speedway supporters to accept we're in for a couple of years of this at least - anyone putting money on GB making the top two in the world any time soon?? I thought not. Watching Steady tonight was painful, not just for his lack of points. To go from the bloke in the Aces table topping side of 3 years ago to how he was tonight - he looked shot to pieces, slow, beaten by the 2nd bend exit. He's going backwards & it's a real shame. He gets plenty of stick on here & agreed he's been mediocre this season - anyone any clues what's gone wrong?? Finally I just hope a bit of realism prevails with Woffinden. That he doesn't get hailed as the big saviour (if he hasn't already!), only to get slaughtered if he has a less than spectacular night on Thursday - that's what happens in this country usually isn't it? Fingers crossed that he doesn't hit the "wall" that the likes of Nicholls & Harris seem to have hit on the very highest stage. It'd be great to be going watching the grand prix in 3 or 4 years time watching Woffinden out there battling with the likes of Lindgren, Holder, Sajfutdinov - though with the recent record of bringing young GB riders through I wonder if we'll see that - I hope we do.

Yeah fair comment, when I first heard Tony Millard I was a bit worried but he wasn't too bad i guess - or maybe I'm just becoming more tolerant in my old age. As for Monday, I can handle the occasional "come on Scotty" or some home bias showing through - know Mr Pearson's not everyone's cup of tea but he's enthusiastic about speedway & gives all levels of British speedway a plug on Sky when he can. It's the "Wuffy Wuffy Wuffy" shout later in the week that I'm worried about!

At least no mention of Mildura or sorting "the sheep from the goats" - phew!!

So much for the masterplan of tracking Cov track experts a week on Monday - they're all either injured or out of form. Screen, Smith & Havvy on standby maybe?

Had no idea the taxi firms were quoting that much back to Newport - I guess we were pretty lucky in the end. If was on my own I might chance it again, though I was with my better half this time & she wasn't too sure, a few people were pretty nervous at the uncertainty at the station, no-one seemed too sure what was happening.

I was in the queue Firesam saw. There was a big sign saying "Cheltenham/Gloucester" that nearly everyone was queueing behind - even though most of the people in that queue were trying to get to Newport! There were stewards letting people through in groups of 40-50, you walked halfway through the station to another checkpoint. And then you were let through to a final queue at the other side of the station where there were coaches heading towards Gloucester (i think) & to Newport. You didn't have to pay or show any ticket, they just put people on to the coaches until they were full then they left. Mine left just after midnight dropping off at Newport train station around 12.45am. Won't be planning to get back to Newport this way next time, but it worked out ok for me.

Ah right, I was sat there for nearly an hour - it looked more like a bar to me! Not complaining though. Told the girlfriend the "duty free" only sold beer, beer, cigs, vodka & crisps - so she wouldn't get a nice present. Instead of perfume or jewellery she got a can of Lech & a bag of crisps. For some reason she didn't speak to me when I got home. Ah well, roll on next year!!

Got to agree with previous posts, it was a brilliant weekend over in Poznan/Leszno. From arriving in Leszno town square 4pm Saturday afternoon, wondered where everyone was! Soon found out, arrived at the stadium forecourt & it was a great atmosphere out there, electric inside. To the Wroclaw fan who came up to us talkin about Crumpy at the interval, it was good to have a beer with you, shame my Polish isn't as good as your English! The after meeting music, beers, atmos was great too, was a shame to leave just after 1 to get the train to Poznan. Shame too that I didn't get to Gniezno, sounds a good match but we found a cellar bar in Poznan to watch my team win the Premier League at Wigan, then enjoy a few beers sat outside the bars round the main square. Credit to the Poles, you were great hosts, thank you. If you thought about going to Leszno this year but weren't sure so you stayed at home - get yourself over there next year, you won't be disappointed! By the way, where have they hid the duty free shop at Poznan airport??

Gollob to win, a few zlotys on Kasprzak each way too. Fly to Poznan 9.25am tomorrow morning, weather forecast good - can't wait!!

Couldn't agree more Macca. He brings something different to the GP party, he's unorthodox & i for one will miss him when he retires. Looking forward to trips to Leszno & Bydgoszcz to see him race live this season - yeah I'll be supporting the English lads too but Gollob on his own patch, would recommend it to anyone!

Not worried about Crumpy too much tonight, seemed more of a lack of pace than anything else. All the effort was there, just wasn't on the pace with tonights big hitters. Didn't seem to be throwing stuff round his pit lane either, a sign it was nothing major - no panic yet.

Bold, you're probably right. Adams has been there 12/13 years is it? Probably one of his worst meets there was the World Cup Final, wouldn't rule him out though. The Poles will have a few days practice round there no doubt, but it's a fair track that most of the top boys know well. If Shov's pick Nicki P excels there then fair play, can't see that happening though.

Andersen's a live threat for sure, though he's more likely on for bronze or 4th spot I'd guess. Wouldn't be writing Crumpy off just yet either, he ground out a result tonight when off the pace by his high standards. Congrats to Gollob, I think he'll win in Leszno too - then fall back into the pack as Cardiff & Copenhagen arrive. Nicki's a class act but I see a closer series taking shape this time. After some pretty tough injuries it was good to see Lukas Dryml back to some kinda form on the big stage as well.

Me & my girlfriend, both Aces fans, are flying into Poznan at 12.30pm on the Saturday from Liverpool. I went to the Leszno v Czestochowa play-off a couple of years ago, atmosphere & track were brilliant - the Grand Prix should be even better! Can't remember seeing too many bars near the track but the main square's quite nice though, plenty of decent watering holes there, should help pass the time before the 1.35am train back to Poznan.