Stevie b

Said on Sky the other day that Crump wasn't expecting to be back to full fitness until June. As we are only just into June and he is only eleven points behind don't write him off yet. Did not see Saturdays GP, but his body language up till now has not been one of frustration but one of recognition of the situation.

The thing I liked the most was, for a lot of the races you did not know who was going to win, due to the fact that it was a track you could race on. That's all we have been asking for under Ole Olsen, so welcome Tony and so far, thanks

Phillip, I understand what you say about how the GPs are appreciated in other countries and yes we may have a different take on them in this country. However a worrying aspect on Sky on Saturday was Keith Hewens comments that the track conditions are possibly bringing the sport into disrepute. Interesting to see you say that Ole Olsen does not have as much say in track preperation as most people seem to think. That's as maybe, the fact remains that Saturday was not the first time a rider has made the same comment as Zager. If my memory serves me right it was at Lesno in the World Team Cup and it was Leigh Adams. I am not able to quote verbatim but it went along these lines, he said that the track is very different tonight and there is nothing you can do about it and shrugged his shoulders. He usually says something like it's the same for all of us and we just have to get on with it, difficult to relate on here but his body language on the night spoke volumes. I for one would miss Sky's coverage, I can even put up with Mr Millard repeatedly telling me Holta is on a polish Licence. ok only just. As others have suggested Sky may walk away, I hope they don't

Manchester-Paul, I am in Devon. The stream I usually watch was not available, so watched the Tomcio stream which was excellent quality but kept freezing to the extent that I gave up. The stream I usally watch has poore quality but rarely freezes. I can only assume that it is to do with the high quality nature of the stream.

Regarding the comparisons to football, speedway has never been as tribal, which amongst other things makes going to away meeting a pleasure. Whilst Chris Harris was still living in Cornwall, he would come to Exeter when his Coventry meetings did not clash. You would see him helping and encouraging the younger lesser experienced team members and what team? Most of the time it would not be Exeter the team he used to ride for but their opposition. Have also seen riders of oposition teams after the first heat pass on information about the condition of the track when conditions are poor. So good luck to Tai and of course he would not have gained from the experience would he with peple such as Crump, Adams and Boyce et al.

Havn't read all 17 pages but from what I have read wanted to say well done to all the GB team. For any criticsim to be leveled at any one is totaly uncalled for. Bomber, appeared to be a bit like a cat on a hot tin roof, but that showed how much it meant to him. His helping hand to Bridger and his actions as captain were excellent and of course his non stop effort on track is what we see all the time from him. Rico, was brilliant, from a riding perspective and as a team member and again you could see how much it meant to him. Tai, did all that was expected of him and seemed unphased at having to race again after the start position cock up. Danny and Lewis did not perform to their potential on the night but again it was not for the lack of desire or effort. Interesting to note how many times our riders were in the lead or in the mix early on in the heats only to be passed by riders who seemed to have a lot more speed, so hope that will be looked at for the future. Lastly Rob Lyons, how anybody can criticise him is beyond comprehension, compared to what we had last year he is a breath of fresh air. Some people were saying before the event had even started that he was not up to the job, well that view can now be dismissed for what it is worth. His honesty in saying he didn't know the gates were wrong is a credit to him and I bet he does not make that mistake again. It was, quite frankly an embaressment seeing the body language and the effort of the team last year. I can remember Roger Lobb being interviewed after his first maximum, which was against KL at the County Ground and him being modest and saying the opposition was not up to much, well you can't say that now Kings Lynn are not a top team by accident. Missed the firs event but so far this has been one of the best World cups for a few years and GB made a good contribution to that and we would not have thought that a few months back.

It has got worse, I have been both ends on different occasions and it is the same each end. Thought last night was particulary bad though. If you go to the lower tier though it is ok, but it is not good for what is considered the premier speedway event. It didn't help that the announcer announced the riders in a random fashion each race either.

The idea of slick tracks to keep the advertising on the airfence clean may not be the only factor but I don't doubt it is a major consideration. The advertising on the bends must be at a premium, prime spot etc, and companies are not going to pay a premium for something we the punters can't see. Slick tracks do seem to help the danes though and that is without doubt a factor. I was given last seasons GP dvd set and I also have not watched them, started but only watched part of the first one. So having missed a year of the GPs and watching last night for the first time, the thing that struck me was how flat it all was in the studio. They could not say what they wanted to say but was obvious they were hacked of as we are with the situation. It was said several times how good the Lesno track is normally, also can't remember who said that the track looked good in the morning and they were told to pack/compact it and it had all day to bake in the sun. That does actually add some credence to the clean advertising theory as well. Allthough the stadium was not full last night it was a good crowd and all the while the attendances are ok and the viewing figures don't drop we will just have to wait till dear Olle retires and then hope he is not replaced with somebody of a similar ilk.

Thought the racing was poor, although I must add, not for the lack of effort on behalf of the riders. Not sure who it was on Sky who said it, but they said that the riders had said the track was perfect on friday. They then went on to say that they had a relativley long time to get it to that stage but then after pratice they have a very short time to repair the track to get it to the same stage as the friday, the implication being that it is not achievable. Looking back at the world cup and was it the Czechoslovakian GP to name but two some of the tracks have been dire. Is it a case that Ole takes the safe option and does what he appeared to do on Sat pack it so hard that the chances of it breaking up so badly that it becomes dangerous and then becomes a lottery for the riders are very low. Not sure what the total audience is, Sky and other feeds but I imagine the pressure on Ole is prety high so safe becomes the preferred option. But what the heck do I know.

This was my first visit to Cardiff and I was not disapointed I thought it was brilliant. That said I have to agree with Star Lady, I was expecting more than two heats from the under 15s, it would have been good to see a competition with a final. It's not that there wasn't the time for it either and it would have been good experience for the riders. I thought that under the circumstances Bjorn Again, Julia and the presenter did well with a sound system that didn't help them. I thought that Bjorn Again put a lot of effort and energy into their routine. What have the previous singers been like there? the person next to me said, as much as Tony Hadley tried last year he was on a hiding to nothing realy. As for the racing, well as this is a thread about the presentation of the event I wont say who I thought was in the right or wrong about the incidents, but just to say I went to watch racing between four riders not three and was looking forward to seeing the battles between Crumpie, Trick and Niki, sorry ref but just lets say it was not one of your better nights work.