T.N.T.

I thought the allocation for semi finals was out tonight as I had Jason Crump as 5th after the 20 heats and Rune Holta 6th as Crump finished ahead of Holta in heat 19 and is a lower draft order if they went that way too. This would have put JC in the second semi final with Nicki, Bjerre and Emil while Holta would have been in the first semi with AJ, Lindback and Lindgren. NICKI V EMIL - Yes I admire Nicki as a rider but am not a great fan of his tactics over the years and do rate Emil as one of my favourite riders. However I can see both sides of this but the end of the day, the race had to be stopped and in doing so, someone had to be excluded. Would Emil have fell if there was no contact ..... No as he had numerous knocks that night and kept going. Maybe Nicki had gone in front, but was that because Emil looked twice and saw Nicki on the gas coming inside him and slowed down a bit to change his line and avois getting run wide or into the fence. Nicki's pass was done with contact and I think he got this right. But I wouldn't have been suprised if it had gone the other way too

At least Emil rescued my GP in this third GP with another win and a nice 50 point return, 74 for the team. Adams and Andersen are looking well dodgy so far and that transfer window can't come quick enough now !

We would just like to say thank you to Jason for not fighting for the lead once Emil raced past and we would like to say to all those that selected Crumpy as captain .........

Scott seems to have lost his determination or drive to get better and looks to be going through the motions in the GP's so far. He is a quality rider, but the difference between the top and him is getting wider and wider and sadly he just cant master the GP series and doesn't appear that interested anymore. As for Bomber, well any rider that relies more on passing than gating is always going to find it hard to do well and like Scott, there is a big gap to bridge if he was to really challenge even if for only one GP. If there are two Brits in the Series next season, I hope its any two from Kennett, Woffinden and Bridger and tonights British Final may just well answer that.

3 Tomasz GOLLOB POLAND £45,000 5 Hans ANDERSEN DENMARK £45,000 6 Leigh ADAMS AUSTRALIA £45,000 10 Fredrik LINDGREN SWEDEN £30,000 15 Emil SAYFUTDINOV RUSSIA £25,000 Freddie is on fire at the moment and did well there last year, but I will revert back to my original option and have my Team Captain as ........ Emil Sayfutdinov please

My Mrs doesn't like Speedway but this year as we have been married 10 years, I promised to take her out ...... so Cardiff it is .... hopefully followed up by Bydgozcz in August ;) I will be travelling down on the morning, pretty early from the Midlands and will be coming back around an hour or so after it finishes. If anyone needs a lift from the midlands and is willing to put towards the petrol .... send me a pm

I am really hoping that the top four scores dont include Scott Nicholls or Chris Harris so the final will not only be a shoot out for the title, but also for the 16th spot at Cardiff next month. Tai Woffinden, Lewis Bridger, Edward Kennett and Daniel King would be my choice for the showdown.

Can't remember who it was instead of, but I'm sure Wolves had Buzz Burrows for about a month too after injuries wrecked the team. It may have been 1993 when we rode some matches with only two Wolves riders and the rest made up of guests, r/r and juniors.

Tai has had a few knocks, a few engine problems, riding alongside a stronger partner and for a much stronger team plus he proved last year he should not be kept out again. I rate Lewis and really wanted him to be at Monmore Green this year, but sadly that didn't happen as it would have been good to see both in the same team. If it was down to who I would pick then I would possibly put Lewis in the team ahead of either Nicholls, Harris or Richardson. Instead of Nicholls because he has opted out of the Elite League, Harris because he struggles against top riders and Richardson because if he doesn't gate its game over most times. I would even consider Oliver Allen alongside them if it was down to personal preference.

Let's face it, Team GB will do well to reach the final and more than likely go out at the play-off round yet again. Scott Nicholls, Chris Harris, Lee Richardson, Tai Woffinden and Edward Kennett are the five sure to start if injuries don't happen with Stead, Allen and Bridger as back up, but they dont have the strength of the other teams and now he holds a Polish passport, adding Emil to the Polish team means its another shoot out with Denmark for the title with Aussies third.

3 Tomasz GOLLOB POLAND £45,000 © 5 Hans ANDERSEN DENMARK £45,000 6 Leigh ADAMS AUSTRALIA £45,000 10 Fredrik LINDGREN SWEDEN £30,000 15 Emil SAYFUTDINOV RUSSIA £25,000 The same 5 riders as before but I have decided to give the captains armband to Tomasz Gollob this time please instead of Emil ..... tempted by Adams, but Gollob to pull some points back in this one.

Team Captain ........ Emil Sayfutdinov 2ND PLACE SO FAR ..... NICE START

The Question .......... Is Scott Nicholls good enough for the Grand Prix Series ? YES Is Scott Nicholls ever likely to be challenging for the title ? NO Scott is a very good rider and I would rate him in the top 15 riders in the world at present, but its like saying are Tottenham Hotspur or West Ham good enough for the Premiership. They can on their day beat the best, but overall they lack the power to challenge for honours. Nicki, Jason, Tomasz, Andreas, Greg, Leigh and Hans are clearly the big hitters and this year they should have Freddie and Emil joining in the race a bit more. Next year you should have Chris Holder in there to make a formidable top 10 so you still need five more to make up the 15 and Scott would get in on that equation. However with three qualifiers, the list grows to 13 so would Scott get one of those last two places if he didn't qualify ...... tough one to call as there are riders like Bjerre, Bjarne, Iversen, Holta, Hampel, Kasprzak, Woffinden, Jagus etc etc all waiting in the wings not to mention Harris, Kennett, Batchelor, Pavlic etc etc. I like Scott and think he has made the mistake of not riding in England, but I hope he gets some decent points and starts challenging in this years Series.

Sam wanted to tour the tracks of England to help promote the sport but you may recall he broke his leg shortly after winning the world title and this put him on the sidelines and with Ronnie Correy and others out, Belle Vue took the title on the final race of the season. Si in short, this never came off due to a broken leg more than anything else.

If the Rye House pairing are Mears and Haines then I will be there to see them take on Howe/Maggie Back on the Subject, why not take a £2 donation towards the SRA like they do at most practice sessions before the season. Lets face it that could easily get £10,000 for a well deserved charity.

What about if you get your tickets on the day or are meeting up with people on the Saturday who have your tickets ?

2009 WINNERS CZECH GP - Prague = Emil Sayfutdinov EUROPEAN GP - Leszno = Jason Crump SWEDISH GP - Gothenburg = Emil Sayfutdinov DANISH GP - Copenhagen = Jason Crump BRITISH GP - Cardiff = Jason Crump LATVIAN GP - Dugaplavis = Greg Hancock SCANDANAVIAN GP - Dackarna = Tomasz Gollob NORDIC GP - Vojens = Andreas Jonsson SLOVENIAN GP - Krsko = Emil Sayfutdinov

Amazing talent and what a future he has .......... as long as he isn't offered a part in an American Highway Patrol TV Series EDIT; I know he isn't in the U-21'S anymore

Cheers Captain 44 points from Emil, 19 from Freddie and 13 from Adams makes a pretty good start to the competition even though my big stars didn't do too well. PS; I Take it you can change captain for each round can't you ?

At 33/1 odds with Corals, I think in his current form, Fredrik Lindgren is worth an each way bet. £2.50 each way will return over £100 if he wins his first GP and just under £25 quid if he makes the rostrum.

I posted this as a rough example ..... 13 months ago

1 Nicki PEDERSEN DENMARK £60,000 2 Jason CRUMP AUSTRALIA £50,000 3 Tomasz GOLLOB POLAND £45,000 4 Greg HANCOCK USA £45,000 5 Hans ANDERSEN DENMARK £45,000 6 Leigh ADAMS AUSTRALIA £45,000 7 Andreas JONSSON SWEDEN £35,000 8 Rune HOLTA POLAND £35,000 9 Scott NICHOLLS GREAT BRITAIN £35,000 10 Fredrik LINDGREN SWEDEN £30,000 11 Chris HARRIS GREAT BRITAIN £30,000 12 Kenneth BJERRE DENMARK £30,000 13 Grzegorz WALASEK POLAND £20,000 14 Sebastian ULAMEK POLAND £20,000 15 Emil SAYFUTDINOV RUSSIA £25,000 16 WILD CARD £20,000 Team Captain ........ Emil Sayfutdinov please

POST FOR EACH ROUNDS RESULTS CZECH GRAND PRIX - Sat 25th April 03 Tomasz GOLLOB 2 2 1 0 2 = 7 06 Leigh ADAMS 1 1 3 3 3 = 11 + 2 + 0 = 13 (4TH) 14 Sebastian ULAMEK 0 3 0 0 2 = 5 01 Nicki PEDERSEN 3 3 0 2 3 = 11 + 1 = 12 11 Chris HARRIS 1 1 1 1 2 = 6 07 Andreas JONSSON 2 3 2 1 3 = 11 + 0 = 11 04 Greg HANCOCK E 2 3 3 2 = 10 + 0 = 10 10 Fredrik LINDGREN 3 2 3 2 3 = 13 + 2 + 4 = 19 (2ND) 12 Kenneth BJERRE 1 3 2 3 0 = 9 + 1 = 10 15 Emil SAYFUTDINOV 2 0 2 3 1 = 8 + 3 + 6 = 17 (WINNER) 16 Matej Kus (WC) 0 1 0 0 0 = 1 02 Jason CRUMP 3 1 2 2 1 = 9 + 3 + 2 = 14 (3RD) 09 Scott NICHOLLS 2 0 1 1 0 = 4 05 Hans ANDERSEN 1 2 1 1 1 = 6 08 Rune HOLTA 3 0 0 0 0 = 3 R Lubos Tomicek DNR R Adrian Rymel DNR 2009 EUROPEAN GP - Leszno, Poland 06 Leigh ADAMS 2 1 3 0 X = 6 05 Hans ANDERSEN 1 0 2 1 2 = 6 01 Nicki PEDERSEN 3 2 1 X 2 = 8 + 1 = 9 09 Scott NICHOLLS 0 0 0 0 1 = 1 11 Chris HARRIS 1 2 1 1 0 = 5 16 Jarek Hampel (WC) 3 1 0 3 1 = 8 + 1 08 Rune HOLTA 2 1 1 1 3 = 8 12 Kenneth BJERRE 0 2 2 0 1 = 5 10 Fredrik LINDGREN 1 0 0 1 0 = 2 15 Emil SAYFUTDINOV 0 2 2 3 2 = 9 + 0 = 9 03 Tomasz GOLLOB 3 E 2 3 3 = 11 + 2 + 4 = 17 14 Sebastian ULAMEK 2 3 0 3 0 = 8 + 0 = 8 07 Andreas JONSSON 1 3 3 2 3 = 12 + 2 + 2 = 16 04 Greg HANCOCK 3 3 3 2 2 = 13 + 3 + 0 = 16 02 Jason CRUMP 2 3 3 2 3 = 13 + 3 + 6 = 22 13 Grezgorz WALASEK 0 1 1 2 1 = 5 SWEDISH GRAND PRIX - Gothenburg 11 Chris Harris 3 0 0 2 0 = 5 04 Greg Hancock 1 X 3 1 E = 5 02 Jason Crump 2 3 1 2 2 = 10 +2 +4 = 16 15 Emil Sayfutdinov 0 2 3 3 3 = 11 +3 +6 = 20 14 Sebastian Ulamek 3 1 0 1 1 = 6 06 Leigh Adams 1 1 1 0 0 = 3 09 Scott Nicholls 0 0 0 0 1 = 1 12 Kenneth Bjerre 2 0 2 3 1 = 8 +0 = 8 WC Antonio Lindback 2 2 3 2 3 = 12 +3 +2 = 17 07 Andreas Jonsson 1 3 2 3 2 = 11 +1 = 12 03 Tomasz Gollob 0 2 3 0 2 = 7 01 Nicki Pedersen 3 3 1 1 3 = 11 +2 +X = 13 08 Rune Holta 3 3 1 2 1 = 10 +1 = 11 05 Hans Andersen 0 2 0 3 X = 5 10 Fredrik Lindgren 2 1 2 1 3 = 9 +X = 9 13 Grzegorz Walasek 1 1 2 0 2 = 6 R = Ricky Kling DNR R = Thomas H Johansson DNR FIM DANSK METAL DANISH SGP 1 S.Ulamek (14) POL 0 3 3 0 1 = 7 +1 = 8 2 H.Andersen (5) DNK 2 1 0 1 2 = 6 3 E.Sayfutdinov (15) RUS 3 3 3 2 3 = 14 +0 = 14 4 T.Gollob (3) POL 1 3 1 1 2 = 8 +3 +2 = 13 5 J.Crump (2) AUS 2 2 3 3 3 = 13 +3 +6 = 22 6 F.Lindgren (10) SWE 0 0 2 0 1 = 3 7 C.Harris (11) GBR 1 1 0 3 0 = 5 8 G.Walasek (13) POL 3 1 1 2 0 = 7 9 A.Jonsson (7) SWE 2 0 2 2 1 = 7 10 G.Hancock (4) USA 1 2 3 0 2 = 8 +2 +4 = 14 11 N.Iversen (16) DNK 3 2 0 3 1 = 9 +2 +0 = 11 12 R.Holta (8) POL 0 2 2 1 0 = 5 13 L.Adams (6) AUS 1 1 2 0 2 = 6 14 K.Bjerre (12) DNK 2 3 0 2 0 = 7 +1 = 8 15 N.Pedersen (1) DNK 3 1 X 3 3 = 10 +0 = 10 16 S.Nicholls (9) GBR 0 0 1 1 3 = 5 BRITISH GRAND PRIX @ CARDIFF 1 E Sayfutdinov 1 0 1 3 2 = 7 2 N Pedersen 2 2 2 0 2 = 8 +0 = 8 3 K Bjerre 3 0 2 0 2 = 7 4 R Holta X 1 3 X 3 = 7 5 S Nicholls 0 1 1 3 1 = 6 6 F Lindgren 1 3 3 2 1 = 10 +2 +4 = 16 7 G Hancock 2 2 2 2 3 = 11 +3 +0 = 14 8 H Andersen 3 3 3 1 1 = 11 +2 +2 = 15 9 S Ulamek 3 3 1 1 0 = 8 +0 = 8 10 A Jonsson 2 E 1 2 X = 5 11 T Gollob 0 1 2 3 2 = 8 +1 = 9 12 E Kennett 1 2 0 1 0 = 4 13 C Harris 2 2 0 2 3 = 9 +0 = 9 14 G Walasek 0 1 0 0 0 = 1 15 J Crump 3 3 3 3 3 = 15 +3 +6 = 24 16 L Adams 1 0 0 1 1 = 3 LATVIA GRAND PRIX 1 N Iversen 0 0 2 3 3 = 8 +0 = 8 2 J Crump 1 0 3 3 1 =- 8 +2 +0 = 10 3 E Sayfutdinov 2 1 1 3 2 = 9 +1 = 10 4 L Adams 3 2 2 0 3 = 10 +1 = 11 5 F Lindgren 2 1 0 2 1 = 6 6 H Andersen 0 2 3 1 3 = 9 +0 = 9 7 K Bjerre 1 3 3 0 2 = 9 +2 +4 = 15 8 S Ulamek 3 0 2 0 1 = 6 9 C Harris 1 2 0 2 0 = 5 10 G Laguta 3 1 1 1 X = 6 11 S Nicholls 0 0 1 2 0 = 3 12 R Holta 2 1 2 1 1 = 7 13 A Jonsson 2 3 0 1 0 = 6 14 G Hancock 1 3 3 2 2 = 11 +3 +6 = 20 15 T Gollob 3 2 1 3 2 = 11 +3 +2 = 16 16 G Walasek 0 3 0 0 3 = 6 SCANDANAVIAN GP 1 A Lindback 3 1 1 2 2 = 9 +1 = 10 2 S Nicholls 1 1 0 1 2 = 5 3 F Lindgren 2 0 2 1 3 = 8 +1 = 9 4 R Holta E 2 0 0 0 = 2 5 C Harris 3 2 1 0 2 = 8 +0 = 8 6 S Ulamek E 0 3 2 0 = 5 7 E Sayfutdinov 2 1 1 X 3 = 7 8 G Hancock 1 1 3 2 1 = 8 9 G Walasek 2 E E 1 3 = 6 10 A Jonsson 3 2 3 2 0 = 10 +0 = 10 11 N Pedersen 1 3 2 0 1 = 7 12 L Adams 0 0 3 1 1 = 5 13 J Crump 1 3 2 3 2 = 11 +3 +4 = 18 14 H Andersen 0 3 1 3 3 = 10 +2 +2 = 14 15 T Gollob 3 2 2 3 3 = 13 +3 +6 = 22 16 K Bjerre 2 3 E 3 0 = 8 +2 +0 = 10 NORDIC GP - Vojens 1. Niels-Kristian Iversen 1 0 0 0 0 = 1 2. Jason Crump 3 2 1 1 1 = 8 3. Gregor Walasek 2 1 0 2 2 =7 4. Tomasz Gollob 0 1 0 3 3 = 7 5. Andreas Jonsson 2 3 2 3 1 = 11 + 3 + 6 = 20 6. Chris Harris 0 0 1 0 0 =1 7. Greg Hancock 1 3 0 3 3 = 10 + 0 = 10 8. Nicki Pedersen 3 0 1 3 3 = 10 + 1 = 11 9. Seb Ulamek 0 1 3 2 2 = 8 + 0 = 8 10. Rune Holta 2 1 3 1 2 = 9 + 2 + 4 = 15 11. Scott Nicholls 1 0 2 0 0 = 3 12. Emil Sayfutdinov 3 2 3 2 1 = 11 + 3 + 0 = 14 13. Freddie Lindgren 2 2 2 2 3 = 11 + 1 = 12 14. Kenneth Bjerre 3 3 2 1 2 = 11 + 2 + 2 = 15 15. Hans Andersen 0 2 0 1 1 = 4 16. Leigh Adams 1 3 3 0 0 = 7 SLOVENIAN GRAND PRIX 1. Jason Crump 3 2 0 3 3 = 11 +1 = 12 2. Chris Harris 1 1 F 0 2 = 4 3. Greg Hancock 2 2 1 3 X = 8 +1 = 9 4. Scott Nicholls 0 3 2 2 0 = 7 +0 = 7 5. Greg Walasek 3 1 1 0 1 = 6 6. Leigh Adams 2 0 3 3 1 = 9 +0 = 9 7. Sebastian Ulamek 1 0 0 1 0 = 2 8. Nicki Pedersen 0 2 3 1 2 = 8 +2 +X = 10 9. Hans Andersen 1 0 0 1 3 = 5 10. Tomasz Gollob 3 2 1 2 0 = 8 +2 +2 = 12 11. Rune Holta 2 3 2 2 3 = 12 +3 +4 = 19 12. Kenneth Bjerre 0 0 3 2 2 = 7 13. Emil Sayfutdinov 3 3 3 3 3 = 15 +3 +6 = 24 14. Matej Zagar 0 3 2 0 2 = 7 15. Fredrik Lindgren 2 1 2 0 1 = 6 16. Andreas Jonsson 1 1 1 1 1 = 5 RIDERS AND LEADERBOARD ABOVE

These are the fixtures and riders lining up for the 2009 FIM World Championship Grand Prix Series. Numbers positioned after the riders country are last years points total. This will be updated after each round to create a leaderboard 25th April CZECH REPUBLIC PRAGUE 9th May POLAND LESZNO 30th May SWEDEN GOTHENBURG 13th June DENMARK COPENHAGEN 27th June GREAT BRITAIN CARDIFF 1st August LATVIA DAUGAVPILS 15th August SWEDEN MALILLA 29th August DENMARK VOJENS 12th September SLOVENIA KRSKO 26th September ITALY TERENZANO 17th October POLAND BYDGOSZCZ GRAND PRIX LEADERBOARD 1st Jason Crump 146 2nd Emil Sayfutdinov 120 3rd Tomasz Gollob 110 4th Greg Hancock 106 5th Andreas Jonsson 92 6th Kenneth Bjerre 85 7th Fredrik Lindgren 82 8th Nicki Pedersen 80 9th Rune Holta 77 10th Hans Andersen 70 11th Leigh Adams 63 12th Sebastian Ulamek 56 13th Grzegorz Walasek 50 14th Chris Harris 48 15th Scott Nicholls 35 16th Antonio Lindback 27 17th Niels-Kristian Iversen 20 18th Jaroslaw Hampel 9 19th Grigory Laguta 6 20th Edward Kennett 4 21st Matej Kus 1 2008 Scores 1 Nicki PEDERSEN DENMARK 174 2 Jason CRUMP AUSTRALIA 152 3 Tomasz GOLLOB POLAND 148 4 Greg HANCOCK USA 144 5 Hans ANDERSEN DENMARK 140 6 Leigh ADAMS AUSTRALIA 125 7 Andreas JONSSON SWEDEN 100 8 Rune HOLTA POLAND 80 9 Scott NICHOLLS GREAT BRITAIN 77 10 Fredrik LINDGREN SWEDEN 73 11 Chris HARRIS GREAT BRITAIN 58 12 Kenneth BJERRE DENMARK 13 Grzegorz WALASEK POLAND 14 Sebastian ULAMEK POLAND 15 Emil SAYFUTDINOV RUSSIA 16 WILD CARD TBA 17 TRACK RESERVE TBA 18 TRACK RESERVE TBA 19 Niels-Kristian IVERSEN DENMARK 59 20 Tomasz JEDRZJAK POLAND 21 Ryan SULLIVAN AUSTRALIA 22 Jesper B. MONBERG DENMARK 23 Adrian MIEDZINSKI POLAND 24 Jurica PAVLIC CROATIA

Definatley worth an E/W flutter as he should be close to Adams, AJ and Gollob Any news on a GP Competition this year ..... Anyone ?