SwissPosition

To me, that shows a lot of locals showed up, but the travelling fans (on whom Italy, Czech Rep., Latvia, Slovenia depend) stayed away. In the current climate it doesn't seem unreasonable that a good few of those who'd normally jet off to these things either decided to keep the money and watch from home, or ran up against the sudden realisation that these trips are actually pretty expensive when they can't pretend their house is paying for it...

I'm not sure how over-watering can be blamed for that. There was dust up from heat 1, and the first four heats were easily the worst in terms of racing and availability of lines. Far from over-watered, that was way, way too dry at the start.

There's at least one trophy engraver who disagrees with you entirely tonight.

Not sure I can go along with that. The points limit shows that the EL promoters aren't overly keen on having the GP boys in teams, so why should they be penalised for not riding here? I also fail to see how it's possible to, on the one hand criticise a rider for his performance at the highest level, then on the other criticise him for concentrating on a higher level of competition.

Isn't that a bit like asking if Lenin's got a bit more dead recently?

Ah, that would explain the facial expressions then.

Hats off to Emil Saf... Safut...oh, you know, him - a fine, fine performance. The same goes for Mr. Lindgren. Other than that... Crap track, minimal racing, a field that (for the most part) have hardly ridden a competitive race this season, booooooooring. I think they fell asleep during the first few heats.

Oh, not sure about that. A degree of running around the living room and yelling at the telly at a volume that's likely to make the neighbours think you're rioting is in order as well.

Well, I'll be ******ed if I know how Bomber didn't end up in tears there, because I certainly did (33 year old bloke, very unemotional). Last on the first turn, to taking it on the line, what can you say.... the bloke's a star. Extraordinary! Bomber, you're the man! On a side note, why is it that I end up moving house over the weekend of a speedway event I'd have, in retrospect, given my eye teeth (yes, my eyes have teeth!) to see.....

Either my eyes are telling lies, or I've just seen beach speedway raced on mopeds, complete with luggage boxes? "And that's three points for Jonsson. No wait! He's dropped the Chicken Strippers, and there goes the Toffee Temptation! Look out, here come the Belgians!" Millard out! Hall and Waring in!

Not a bad squad at all. Nice to see that our starting line-up will most likely not be dependant on riders in the twilight of their careers. Bodes well for the future. 3rd on the podium would be a nice goal for this year, and with a bit of luck and some really top performances from the guys it could be higher. Fingers crossed.

Good grief, riders get slagged for not taking competitions seriously, then they get slated for showing some passion? What on earth do you want? For my money, speedway riders can certainly be excused a few "moments". They're engaged in what must be one of the most adrenaline-pumping, full-on activities short of armed conflict (not to mention one of the most dangerous), and to expect a bloke who's absolutely keyed up to the max to behave completely rationally all the time is just too much. It seems to be fine for fans to shout, scream, swear, and gesture to all and sundry when they get caught up in the moment*, but when a guy who's actually involved in proceedings get's his knickers in a twist we get all het up. I for one would much, much rather see riders letting out a bit of tension once in a while than just rolling over and accepting defeat. * This is NOT a bad thing (although there is a line there with regards to foul language). It's sport. Passion is everything. Great meetings aren't watched in silence.

Regardless of the ins and outs of the funding, it's good to hear that the local council up there are being helpful regarding sites. Although it's not an area I know well, the Hedon airfield site sounds the best to me; a historically noisey location, with loads of room, in the arse-end of nowhere. Sounds perfect for a nice, big, racey track to me.

Interesting idea, but as it stands I don't think the riders would welcome it. By the end of the season, even the fittest and most motivated rider tends to be utterly cream-crackered, and well in need of a break. Also, the winter period is important for those carrying injuries to rest up and recover, or to attend treatment that they could not otherwise fit in during the season. Having said all that, I wonder how well a one-off GP-style meeting in Australia would go down over the winter? With sufficient prize money on offer, it might be a reasonable water-tester before going for another attempt at an actual Aussie GP.

Words fail me... (Oh, actually, no they don't.... here they come!) Q) What do you get of you cross the "I prepare my track with a Hoover" slickness of Rye House, the White Line Grand Canyons of Weymouth, and Kate Moss' chest? A) Doogerpills, or however the hell you're supposed to spell it. It's very rarely that I feel any sympathy with the top boys. They make a very good living from the sport, and in comparison with most of the other riders, they they're scarily well paid. They also have a tendancy to woose out at league level when things look a bit iffy. However, tonight, they're earning it. That track is horrific. Tracks like that have no real place in speedway. Slick and one-lined is one thing (in excessive heat, *every* British track can and does serve this up), but for there to be ruts appearing on the only workable line on such a track is bordering on the criminal, especially given that in order to achieve that level of slickness, one would normally require a surface with a durability and hardness of somewhere between concrete and the glacis plate (look it up) of a Challenger tank. Bloody Stupid Idiots... ...I wonder what that stands for?