lastword

That gate 2 seems to be a massive advantage.

Emil made it clear when he pulled out of the GP's in 2014 that it was for financial reasons. Czestochowa owed him loads of zlotys at that time. Also he said that his sponsors were an issue in preventing him riding in the series. Unclear what he meant by that,but as the series is not shown on TV in Russia any Russian sponsorship would be hard to find. This won't be helped by the fact that he took out Polish citizenship. Of course at that time he was also troubled with many injuries. With reference to his ability, this is surely not in question. Anyone who watches him regularly in Poland and Sweden can see that he would be a welcome addition to the GP roster.

Anyone who saw the Swindon riders walking the track before the meeting would have seen a young lad with them (5 or so years old? Swindon fans will probably know who he is). We smiled as he went to the gate positions and did the usual kicking and stamping to test each one himself. With all the accusations being bandied about who is at fault for the Robins defeat I'm surprised nobody has yet blamed him.

Oh dear! must have been a long time since your last visit then. The 'Mexican' thing at KL died a death ages ago!!

Torun made a fight of it. Leszno deserved it on the season's efforts. Decent meeting.

Can't really expect a classic with the away team just happy to defend the 18 point lead.

Home fans at least avoid a defeat. Not vintage Bydgoszcz of course but good to see the old place again. Memories!! Goodnight!

The locals obviously not happy after heat 10. But could Bydgoszcz afford to go up even if they were able manage promotion? For that matter would it suit Locomotiv ?

Home team running too many last places to hope for progress from this match, let alone on aggregate. Another awful start allowed to go in heat 7. Maybe different rules in this league!

Could have sworn I just saw Boris Johnson line up at 7 for Locomotiv.

Can't believe that Drozdz was allowed back in that re-run.

True. But 'home' fans got a long ride home. Work/school tomorrow!

Have Czestochowa lost some of their track staff after their financial issues? Could explain the average track prep?

Meanwhile, back to the speedway! Disappointing that gate 1 is such an advantage so far.

You mean someone like Steve Worrall? 15 points from 5 rides at Monmore last night.

This red card stuff is a knee jerk reaction from the Ektraliga to Ward's injury. OK, Gomolski made an error, (which he immediately recognised!) but in any other meeting this would have been an exclusion......end of. Lots of discussion on Polish websites in last week about 'safety' in speedway which in itself is an oxymoron. Nobody wants to see injuries like Ward's but a sense of proportion needs to be maintained.

Most of the usual suspects seem to be failing for me today. Even Sopcast. Managed to get a few heats of the wash-out at Czestochowa but little else. Hoping for better luck with Torun match. EDIT: switched to my old laptop running W7 and Sopcast came up trumps!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news again, but the rain is expected to hit Torun just about start time, and to last for an hour or so. The Torun set-up seems able to cope with rain better than most (I expect the half-roof helps!). Let's hope it goes ahead even if after a delay. Like most of us I'm getting withdrawal symptoms.

Weather not looking so great for Polish matches on Sunday. Hope expected rain stays away!

Yep, agree re Sopcast but tonight it refuses to connect! Will investigate!

Thanks, Alan, but can't get Sopcast for some reason.................maybe it's this Windows 10 to blame! Thanks.......that seems to be better!

livemecz.net proving a bit of a problem!.....................Anyone got an alternative?

Readers of the Star will know that for the past couple of weeks they have been looking at the state of British speedway and possible ways forward. Some well known names have had a say (Chris Louis for example) and this week's issue features an interview with Alex Harkess, BSPA chairman. It takes the form of a Q and A across two pages, and after reading it I challenge anyone to have an optimistic view of the future of our sport. In truth Harkess is very honest in his replies but sadly each response seems to say' 'yes that's a problem but I don't really know how to fix it'. A reminder: Mr.Harkess has been in this job for six years. All in all the hidden message he seems to be giving is that the sport needs an independent c.e.o (?) to drag the game into the real world with regard to sponsorship, publicity and marketing. He doesn't go that far ,but the answers to the questions he is posed add up to just this conclusion in my opinion. Read it if you have the chance and see what you think. I find it so dispiriting that after six years in the job he sounds so pessimistic. EDIT: Apologies to Mr H. for my incorrect spelling of his surname in the original post.