T.N.T.

Practice makes perfect ....... Well Done Joe

REMEMBER ...... No editing or posting from 6pm on Saturday ..... any post or edit from 6.01pm onwards will result in a -20 score

Despite clearly being the top rider of the last 12 months+ and reaching most finals, I still give Greg Hancock a modest score but he is not selected by that many. .... Are people waiting for his bubble to burst and the likes of Hampel, AJ or Emil to step up ? MY PREDICTIONS FOR LESZNO ..... 14 - Jarek Hampel 10 - Emil Sayfutdinov 6 - Prez Pawlicki WC 4 - Fredrik Lindgren

ROUND TWO PREDICTIONS = LESZNO 14 - Jarek Hampel 13 - Tomasz Gollob 11 - Greg Hancock 10 - Jason Crump 10 - Emil Sayfutdinov 9 - Nicki Pedersen 9 - Andreas Jonsson 8 - Chris Holder 7 - Antonio Lindback 6 - Kenneth Bjerre 6 - Prez Pawlicki WC 4 - Hans Andersen 4 - Fredrik Lindgren 4 - Bjarne Pedersen 3 - Chris Harris 2 - Peter Ljung

Wouldnt count Joe Haines out of winning this one as he certainly knows the track well enough and has had a few spins around after meetings. Certainly deserves a break after his injuries over the last few seasons

With the quality of riders around today, I feel that the Top 10 should qualify automatically and the other five get seeded into the GP Challenge final to face the 11 Qualifiers ...... the top 4 then qualify from that meeting and the one remaining place goes to a Wild Card

2012 World Champion - Jarek Hampel Runner Up - Tomasz Gollob Third - Emil Sayfutdinov Greg Hancock, Jason Crump, Nicki Pedersen, Andreas Jonsson, Chris Holder .... Fredrik Lindgren, Antonio Lindback, Kenneth Bjerre , Hans Andersen, Chris Harris, Bjarne Pedersen, Peter Ljung

The best riders ahould be allowed to challenge for the World Title Bjerre wasn't very good in NZ but qualified as #7 last season whiler Freddie was #9 ..... ahead of Nicki and in NZ at least Freddie made the semi finals despite letting a couple of points slip. Both should be in there unless there are better riders out there ...... at present only Darcy Ward and Tai Woffinden are close and they both said No

8 = Antonio Lindback 4 = Nicki Pedersen 1 = Fredrik Lindgren -5 = Chris Holder Missed this prediction out of the table ...... ICEMAN you have 8 points

WHAT THE RIDERS SCORED IN ROUND ONE - NEW ZEALAND 11 = Greg Hancock 8 = Antonio Lindback 5 = Tomasz Gollob 5 = Jarek Hampel 4 = Nicki Pedersen 2 = Bjarne Pedersen 1 = Fredrik Lindgren 1 = Peter Ljung 0 = Hans Andersen 0 = Jason Bunyan 0 = Chris Harris -1 = Jason Crump -3 = Emil Sayfutdinov -5 = Andreas Jonsson -5 = Chris Holder As quite a few people selected Andreas Jonsson and/or Chris Holder, there were quite a few starting with minus points. However the riders you really needed on your side was Greg Hancock, Antonio Lindback, Tomasz Gollob and Jarek Hampel which would have landed a perfect 29 points. HILLY takes the top spot after round one with 18 points as he selected Greg, Bjarne and Antonio along with Emil. ...... The legend that is SCB is close behind on 17 points with his selection of Greg, Nicki, Bjarne and Bomber. ...... The Wooden Spoon from NZ goes to BANDITS4LIFE with -14 fom their selection of Holder, AJ, Bjerre and Bomber LEADERBOARD 18 = Hilly 17 = SCB 16 = Steve R 14 = Starman2006 11 = Rico 11 = RefereeRick 9 = PhilipSR 9 = GAVAN 8 = dumptheclutch 8 = Leeman 7 = mdmc82 7 = Diddy 7 = Gray 7 = Mark 6 = Mark246 6 = Full Throttle 6 = woz01 5 = William Fisher Jones 4 = CJ69 3 = Comet10 2 = DeeksYaMahaga 2 = beercellar 2 = Racers and Royals 1 = T.N.T 1 = wjm 0 = Homer 0 = Bandits4Eva -1 = Kiwi -1 = Kris Ad -1 = Pschyco39 -2 = noggin -3 = BeesBoyBert -3 = Waihekeaces -3 = JCookie -4 = Screm -4 = Baz Brush -4 = dontforgetthefueltaps -4 = Pantherman -5 = Patto25 -5 = Diamonds Rock -6 = smiles -7 = Superguest -9 = PTW -10 = Cockney Pirate -10 = Stilton Panther -13 = Dukey Boy -13 = Brummie Kev -14 = Bandits4Life

After the 20 heats -4 Kenneth Bjerre 0 Hans Andersen -5 Andreas Jonsson 2 Bjarne Pedersen 0 Jason Bunyan 1 Peter Ljung 0 Chris Harris -5 Chris Holder So the riders you wanted to have left at the check in were clearly AJ and Noddy Going into the Semi Finals, Antonio Lindback is already on 7 points, Gollob 4, Hancock 3, Lindgren 1, Nicki 0 ...... Hampel is currently -2, Emil -3 and Crump -4

Gollob wins heat one from the gate. .... Big track which hopefully can provide some passing but may be later in the meeting. As I say that AJ passes Bjarne in heat 2 ...... could be a good one

PROGRAMME NOW STARTED 48 Entries in ....... Good Luck and the results will be posted within 24 hours NOTE; Waihekeaces ...... First to make a prediction picked PEDERSEN ..... As he never stated which one, he will get the one with the lowest score here.

Its repeated at 3pm (3 hours) but will be watching it live before work Think it may be a gaters track overall and think Hampel and Crump may be the two leading riders here.

NOTE; As this is in the other side of the World, the meeting will be on early doors on the Saturday, so get your predictions (or edits) done BEFORE the Sky Coverage starts. 13 pts - Jaroslaw Hampel 11 pts - Emil Sayfutdinov 9 pts -- Chris Holder 9 pts -- Nicki Pedersen would love to pick Bomber and Freddie but think gating may be critical here.

OK, Decided to give this one a go as its for a good cause and was interested to see how the Wolves trio were going to get the season going. Decent crowd to watch a good line up and great weather with the sun beating down. Sadly at Birmingham that means you either wear a cap or have to watch with your hand in the air trying to see through the rays of sunlight, over the heads of others and over the safety fence. ..... (bit like Kirky Lane for viewing) So the line up was weakend by Scott Nicholls having to pull out due to two blown engines and was replaced by EL 3+ and PL 7+ rider, Josh Auty who on paper looked to be one of the weakest riders in the line up ....... however the track wasnt paper and Auty deserves Man of the Meeting award for me as he battled well and put many a good EL heat leader to shame and rightly gained a Semi Final place. With the form of King and Barker and the experience of Bjarne and the back up of Auty, Birmingham could easily be handing out some big thrashings this season and going by the early showings of Klindt, Proctor and Sowka it looks like that may well be next Thursday (22nd) when Wolves are there in the Midland League match. Expected Nicolai to be much more on the pace but his gating was off and just didnt really look at ease all meeting, but I know he will come good and still feel he will provide good backing to Freddie (watching with Pontus) and Tai. ........ as for Ty Proctor, I hope he gets back to the form we know he has, but he is a bit of a worry as a top second string ..... hope he proves me wrong !!! As for Lukasz, well at the Olympique the one thing that looked to be his weak point was his gating and here it was the same as he never reached the first bend level with anyone and within yards of leaving the gate he was looking at their rear wheel. ...... Once the first bend was done, he hit the bends well, had a few wobbles (one that threw him off), but basically looked smooth and never really tailed off by much. ...... Early days for the lad who is 18 and highly thought of in Poland and I'm hoping he will progress well as the season goes on. IMPRESSIVE; Nicki Pedersen looked sharp out of the gate but not on top end power, Daniel King looked very fast and Ben Barker battled well while Rory Schlein was involved in the race of the night as he hunted down Nicki Pedersen (dropped 3 points by being passed) on the line and left enough room for Hans Andersen to ###### second on the line. ..... Until that race Andersen looked nothing and off the pace. Have to say that if Chris Harris could gate then England could have a top GP rider as he was nowhere on the first lap but his top end speed was by far quicker than anyone else as the final proved as he was way behind but only just missed out on the final bend to catch Barker. Overall some impressive performances and a few decent races but I found it pretty much follow the leader and most of the passing coming from wide lines off the second bend and down the back straight. ....... The track reminded me a bit like Poole with all the later heats being ridden out by the fence and only mistakes making races look better. Good to see a few faces there and glad the season is finally here and now looking forward to the P&P at Monmore on Tuesday night and next weeks Wolves v Poole and Brummies v Wolves ....... even if Wolves may take time to get going.

BRANDONAPOLIS – Friday March 16 Parade: 7.45pm; First race 8pm Confirmed starters: Hans Andersen ........... GP Greg Hancock ............. WORLD CHAMPION Chris Harris ................. GP Maciej Janowski .......... World U21 Champion Edward Kennett Kenni Larsen Freddie Lindgren ......... GP / Former ELRC Champion Scott Nicholls Nicki Pedersen ............ GP / 3 time World Champion Lee Richardson Rory Schlein ................ ELRC Champion Linus Sundstrom Sebastian Ulamek who are the other three ?

to start the ball rolling for this years FUN COMPETITION. Before each round I will give you a prediction to who will score what in the next Grand Prix. ........... If for example I predict Jason Crump will score 8 points but actually scores 14 points and he is one of your selections, then you score SIX points. ..... If however he only manages 5 points, you get -3 points. Each round you select FOUR riders - when you post (before the set time) you get 10 points After each round I will gather all the results and compile a leader board Should a rider you have selected fails to start the meeting, then the rider that replaces him WILL score your points instead and carry the same predicted score of the rider he is replacing. WARNING ; No posts will be accepted after the stated time (when the SKY show starts) .... This includes editing and this year anyone caught editing posts after the selected time will be judged to have not posted. If you dont post for a round - you score NOTHING WHAT THE RIDERS SCORED LEADERBOARD after round 4 80 = Rico 79 = Screm 79 = PhillipsSR 77 = beercellar 76 = Brummie Kev 76 = Iceman 72 = cj69 72 = Racers and Royals 72 = Psycho3a 71 = Deeks YaMahaga 70 = mdmc82 69 = JCookie 68 = T.N.T. 67 = William FJ 66 = Hilly 66 = DiamondsRock 64 = dumptheclutch 63 = noggin 62 = Gray 59 = refereerick 58 = Mark246 58 = dontforgetthefueltaps 56 = Gavan 54 = Pantherman 54 = Waihekeaces 52 = Kiwi 52 = Bandits4Life 52 = Dukey Boy 42 = Stilton Panther 41 = Homer 40 = Smiles 39 = BeesBoyBert 38 = SCB 30 = BomberHammer 23 = Mark 22 = Jamie E 16 = White Rabbit 10 = Cockney Pirate 6 = Steve R 4 = Starman2006 -2 = Mark Evans -3 = Diddy -4 = Full Throttle -4 = woz01 -7 = Comet10 -9 = wjm -9 = PTW -10 = Bandits4Eva -11 = Kris Ad -14 = Baz Brush -15 = Patto25 -17 = Superguest

Should be just right for me ....... GP at 3am ..... at work for 7pm on Saturday mornings ...... PERFLICK ! May have to go the whole hog and order a chinese in at 8pm to have for breakfast as the semi finals start

Gary Havelock was nowhere near the Top 10 in the world even when he won it and Per Jonsson wasn't having a great season in 1990 if memory serves me right. However, the list is much longer if you look at the people that have reached the rostrum who came so close to lifting the title that did well to reach the final its self ...... Gert Handberg and Les Collins for starters and you could possibly add Craig Boyce and Sam Ermolenko (1985 only) as suprise medal winners when you look at those they finished ahead of. Also, if it was on a Grand Prix dtyle in the 70's and 80's ....... how many times would Dave Jessup have been in the running for the title instead of an engine failure costing so much.

Loved the old one day World Final and part of the enjoyment was the qualifying rounds from British Final, Commonwealth Final, Overseas Final and then the Inter Continental Final with the top 11 from that joining the top 5 from the Continental Final. ..... Only problem back then was that the top 5 from the Continental Final were virtually just also rans and never really troubled the score board while quality riders were left watching. .... Now of course riders like Gollob, Zagar, Hampel, Sayfutdinov etc etc would come through those rounds. With the GP's you know that whoever is crowned World Champion is the right winner and it also takes it to a wider audience. It would be great if the GP Qualifying rounds were much more like the old system again with what was the old one day final being the GP Challenge Final Also its ok having 2 meetings in one country, but it would be great to see the GP's taken to new countries like Spain where fans could mix it with a holiday. ..... Other rounds in say France, Germany .... maybe even take a round into China or Japan !

IPSWICH look the strongest with a reserve pairing that could easily end up the season as heat leaders !! Newcastle look strong too with Lindgren and Henry likely to improve their starting averages while Robson and Lemon are a formidable top two Somerset look strong too with a very strong top four while Sheffield, Glasgow, Leicester and Scunthorpe challenging for play off places. Champions - IPSWICH Fours - SOMERSET Pairs - NEWCASTLE Top Rider - BARKER ..... Doyle close by Newcomer - HEEPS and TUNGATE Most Improved - Hopefully JOE HAINES back to what he can be and adding 2-3 points to his average Wooden Spoon - any one from Berwick, Plymouth, Newport and Workington

Basil and Sybil ...... Couldnt get on and Fawlty Towers was written by Cleese and Booth ..... Basil and Polly Two Ronnies ...... One much stronger than the other Blackadder and Baldrick ....... great on screen partnership but one was a peasant and a servant Batman and Robin ...... One was a Billionaire, the other was a lodger Bill and Ben ...... the two men responsable for their voices didn't get on at all and most dialogue used was those two actually swearing in their secret language at each other Cassidy and Kid ...... didnt do them much good as both were shot ..... same as Bonnie and Clyde Sonny and Cher ...... Ended in divorce Germany and France ...... not so good in the 40's You can add, MORECOMBE and WISE ..... ABBOT and COSTELLO ..... LEMMON and MATTHAU ..... TAYLOR and BURTON At Hyde Road I will give in there .... those two were awesome However Wolves has less home advantage than most, Hyde Road was very much a great home advantage track and there is no wat Monmore can be called Slick compared to Kirky Lane, Lakeside etc Ronnie was very much about gating and his brilliant switch back on the first turns, but he could pass too ..... but didnt need to many times. Ermolenko and Correy will go down as a legendary partnership at Wolves just as PC and Mort will at Belle Vue ..... both brilliant in heir day.

Proves nothing really as times have changed with the likes of Briggs, Mauger, Craven etc not having to travel to Sweden and Poland each week in their day. With transport being so much more progressed, riders can now ride here there and everywhere ..... but some dont wish to spend time at airports getting back in to Britain for one meeting before flying out again. In recent times, Gollob, Crump, Pedersen and Hancock have all lifted the title without appearing here and yet again the top 6 last season in the GP's were riders that mainly featured in Sweden and Poland.

Good News for Shane though is that while he will be parading Greg Hancock off, Swindon will be parading Nicki Pedersen at the same time. That should be enough to secure Wiltshire being quiet that day as people head to Yorkshire !!