Photo Eddie

While Kolodziej is undoubtedly a very talented rider I don't think he is quite ready for the GPs just yet. He won the Polish Championship on his home track (the meeting was dominated by Tarnow riders) and this year's Golden Helmet had a lower quality line up than usual (I accept of course that you can only beat the riders who turn up!). 2006 will be Kolodziej's first year as a senior rider and I would like to see how he gets on at that level before adding the pressure of riding full time in the GP. As qualifying for the GP looks likely to be reinstated I would rate his chances of success via that route quite highly. To my mind Zagar has not proven his credentials at the highest level yet but I agree that it seems likely that he will get a place.

I believe I am correct in saying that Janusz is actually the youngest Polsish Champion since the great Zenon Plech, aged 19, won the first of his five titles in 1972 at Bydgoszcz. Janusz is about 21 years and three months whereas Tomek was about 21 and six months when he won his first title in '92. It is truly quite an achievement.

I suppose the point here is that Holta is a 'rider at Poland's disposal' as he is both a citizen and a Polish licence holder. As I hinted in my earlier post there is no shortage of talented Polish riders and Holta is going to be under tremendous pressure to perform. Polish speedway fans are not known as a forgiving lot! I'm not sure whether my role as the speedway reporter for DP (which is published daily in London) gives me that much more insight into the minds of the selectors than anyone else but I think the reason he has been picked is on the strength of his peformances this season for Czestochowa and VMS Elit. He wasn't particularly impressive in the Eskilstuna GP so I personally think his selection is a big risk. I shall be in Wroclaw for the race off and final so I'll try to speak to some people from the PZM to find out what the justification is. So far there has been little in the way of official comment (although we don't see everything that appears in the Polish press about Speedway - try as we might) other than the announcement first of all that he was in the twelve man squad and then in the team. One wonders what team spirit will be like - Holta recently had an altercation with Krzys Kasprzak's brother which resulted in young Robert being banned from speedway for six months! Looking at the way team GB performed on Sunday night you would have to say that the team was more than the sum of its parts and that team spirit and motivation from Neil Middleditch made a very big difference. I have often thought that Poland have delivered performances in the World Cup that have been less than the sum of the parts. We will soon see! Eddie Slater Speedway Correspondent - Dziennik Polski www.dziennikpolski.co.uk

I don't think that this is a case of Poland pulling a fast one. They have selected a team that they believe is strong enough using the best available eligible riders, including Rune Holta, who is a Polish citizen. It might be argued that as Holta is also a Norwegian citizen and has represented Norway at FIM level in the Grand Prix, the old Pairs and World Team Cup (and indeed the qualifying round of the new World Cup in 2001 - the only time I think that Norway have competed) he shouldn't be eligible to ride in another national side. However as in all sports, times have changed and this sort of thing happens all the time. Fiona May represented Britian as a long jumper, married an Italian and won medals for Italy. Speedway was right there at the start of it all - mention has already been made of the farcical situation in the early 1970s when one year there was a GB team with New Zealanders in it, the next there were separate England and Scotland teams and then sometimes an English team with Scotsmen in it. The Norwegian authorities have neglected speedway to the point where it is virtually dead and it is not surprising that their best rider has decided to look elsewhere. I should add that this is a view shared by Dag Lovaas who I interviewed recently. He said he would prefer it if Holta was riding for another Scandinavian country but he was quite sympathetic to his situation. It is worth noting that in Poland the decision is far from being universally popular. Both fans and insiders have mixed feelings and one former World finalist told me that he would prefer to see Poland finish second if it meant giving an international chance to a young Polish rider. Personally I believe that Holta deserves his chance on merit although there are several very good riders knocking on the door (Walasek, Miedzinski, Zabik, Hlib, Miskowiak etc. not to mention Wieslaw Jagus who has never really been given a chance at international level despite frequently outscoring Jason Crump at Torun). The pressure is certainly going to be on Holta to perform tonight. One final point - I believe it is essential for Holta's personal credibility now that he is riding for the Polish national team he should ride in all international situations for Poland rather than Norway. If he does that (and produces the goods on the track of course) he will go a long way towards convincing the doubters. Eddie Slater Speedway Correspondent - Dziennik Polski www.dziennikpolski.co.uk