Seb the Snail

I totally agree. I can't comment with any authority on last night's incident as I was engrossed in the egg-chasing, but it does seem that the consensus is that Scott was incredibly lucky that the referee was so inept. However Bomber does seem to have gone off the boil at this level post-Cardiff and really should set his sights higher than the infamous "6 points per meeting" if he wants to be considered as a winner rather than an also-ran. IMHO he should never have got into this position in the first place. Oh, and well done Rune.

Can a mod please move this thread to the GP section? For what it's worth, I think Zagar has done nothing to warrant a return to the series next year and was even woeful in his home GP. Lindgren for me every time.

Cheers Steve - if only I'd bought a lottery ticket tonight as well! An excellent competition as ever, so thanks for that. Well done to the new champion, and of course, to the biggest loser!

The track was awful but not as bad as Millard. How could he possibly have made such a horlicks of Heat 20 when Nicki was 4 laps from the title? Unbelievable. Apart from that it was a night that most of the riders will want to forget. Hans and Greg went AWOL again, Leigh faded away having looked fit in his opening rides, Zagar was woeful and that was about it. Oh, and well done to Nicholls who looks set for another year in the series in 2008.

Nicki has been head and shoulders above the rest this season from the moment that the tapes went up in his opening ride in Lonigo. A true champion.

Final year in the GP presumably? A real shame if it's true, but at least he'll bow out on the rostrum. I'd have thought that he was good for at least 1 more season - after all, he's currently riding better than ever.

Very true, Mr Clemens, although nothing like what you originally said! I agree with the sentiments though, Nicki will be a worthy World Champion this year.

You've lost me completely with this one, Mr Clemens. Surely the "best rider on the night" accolade is precisely that? It has nothing at all to do with the rest of the season...

Lindgren and Kasprzak are nailed on to be in the series next year whatever happens here. Jonas could be the surprise package, and how great it would be to see the Gaffer in the GP Series!

Pure theatre from Gollob last night; simply stunning. A disappointing evening for the assembled ranks of Clean supporters in the New Inn, but there's no shame in losing if you've given of your best. From his opening ride in Lonigo this has looked like Nicki's year, and so it has transpired. Leigh has also had his best ever GP season and given us some great moments along the way; let's hope he has a few more up his sleeve in Slovenia and Germany.

As a factual record of Carter’s career and the subsequent tragedy, I thought that the book was good, but I didn’t find the author’s style particularly inspiring. One thing that did infuriate me was the occasional use of bold text every time that he thought that he had a particularly strong point to make; call me picky, but I’m quite capable of picking these out for myself! 7 out of 10 but I was hoping for more.

Many thanks for the advice, chaps. I think I'll wait for the 2008 fixture list and then see what the best option is during late July or August.

I got home from playing cricket just as they were making the draw for the semi finals and was still bored out of my brain before the finish last night! After the thrills of Cardiff, what an appalling advert for our sport this was. Prague was right at the top of my list for an overseas weekend in 2008. Not any more.

Hancock at 9/1 looks the value to me, or possibly Hampel e/w at 16s? You can probably find longer than that too if you look around. The most baffling price has to be Crump being shorter than Adams. I'd have thought that the one with both knees intact and looking for his 4th straight "A" final would be the more likely candidate surely?

Congratulations first of all to the Poles! Anyone bar the dirty Danes was good enough for me, and once Crump hit the tapes on his tactical ride, it was clear that only the Poles could stop them. Special mention to Gollob; when he rides like he did last night, there is no finer sight in speedway. What a star. As has already been discussed at length, it was a desperate night for Team GB, with Harris in particular failing to show his current Elite / GP form. Stead and Kennett were simply outclassed, and while Rico and Scott were occasionally competitive, none of the Brits can be pleased with their night's work. As it was, we only finished 3 points ahead of Norway, and "they" had 20 less rides than we did. One thing that hasn't been covered here is the form of the Aussies - most perplexing, considering many of the pundits thought that there was nothing between them, the Danes and the Poles before the meeting. For starters, it certainly seemed odd that the Clean One only scored 5 points from 5 rides (and 1 of them a gift when Rico packed up) having looked at his imperious best on Thursday (4 heat wins from 5). For someone who has ridded Leszno for years as his home circuit it was a total mystery.

Excellent post, Steve. Hans made my night complete with his "face like a smacked ar5e" routine; and all credit to the Clean One for doing the noble thing and keeping out of it.

Good point well made! I didn't expect us to come anywhere but last, but even the most pessimistic Brit couldn't have foreseen that! No heat wins, three 2nd places, eight 3rds and fourteen lasts.

Good luck to Eddie and the rest of the Brits tonight. Him and Steady will have had a good night if they can score about 7, with the other 3 looking to get 9 or so to have done their bit. Fingers crossed.

Saturday should be an absolute belter. I don't really mind who wins as long as it's not Denmark - nothing against the Danes, but my heart says GB, my pocket says Poland and yet I'd love to see the Clean One with his hands on the trophy. Another track like last night would be just fine; and if I could have one other wish it would be that the winners don't need to play a joker. Why oh why can our sport's governing body not just let the best team win?

A cracking meeting IMHO; I'm definitely siding with those who think that it was one to savour. Congratulations to Australia on a superb victory, with all of their team bar Schlein riding at the peak of their talents. I had the Poles down as easy winners last night, but this was never likely after such a sluggish start. They certainly can't afford a repeat if they are to challenge for the title tomorrow. Bring it on.

I thought that she was excellent; especially considering that she admitted that it was her first experience of the sport. Far better than Heuwen, Millard or Green, that's for sure.

Poland to win by at least 10 points from the Aussies, with an even larger gap back to Wolves Select in third.

Latest Prices in Hills are as follows: 13/8 Denmark 13/8 Poland 7/2 Australia 6/1 GB 20/1 Sweden 200/1 Russia Corals are very similar, with Poland a touch longer at 7/4 and Australia shorter at 10/3. The Poles are 4/9 to win the Race Off this evening.

Dear oh dear; even Harry Potter couldn't conjure a World Cup win from the current batch of British riders! What do people expect? Let's just enjoy sorting out the Swedes at Brandon tomorrow and then hope that we can avoid 4th place next weekend. Somehow I doubt it. PS Good to see that shazzy will be fully behind Rico!

I have to agree entirely with SS's summary of the meeting on page 9. I didn't get in from cricket until Heat 19 and was still bored well before the finish. Anyone who endured all 25 heats surely deserves a medal. Let's hope that tomorrow's fare at Brandon and the 2 meetings in Poland restore some credibility to the tournament. Last night was a disgrace.