barrow boy

When Martin Rogers was in charge at Leicester I was invited to go with the team to Oxford who were then in a lower league similar in strength to today's BPL. Most of the Lions riders couldn't get to grips with the circuit and it came down to the final heat in which Oxford had 2 riders quite capable of beating both Leicester riders who had generally not scored well all night. Everybody, including anyone with Leicester connections were resigned to the embarressment to follow but low and behold Andrez Huscza who had been five one'd in each of his 3 previous rides stormed away from the gate and somehow did enough to win the race and draw the match and a replay was necessary. All in all though for the Oxford fans it was a great night out so I fully support such a competition if the lower league team is always at home in a one leg match.

The best supported 15 riders were, would you believe, the actual 15 that will be competing in 2008

But as I said only one came up with the same 15.

Congratulations SEdgY2. You were the only one to get all 15. Colincooke came next with 14 correct and a choice between JH and KK, so 14.5 marks to you. A lot of us thought JH would get another chance but it was not to be. Thank you to all those who joined in the fun.

And it tells us that he wants to be involved on merit if at all possible.

I have just read that Jarek Hampel is also not riding. He still has a broken hand.

If you could choose, who would your 15 riders be for 2008? Mine would be N. Pedersen L.Adams A.Jonsson C.Harris T.Gollob J.Crump H.Andersen G.Hancock S.Nicholls R.Holta N.K.Iversen L.Dryml B.Pedersen J.Hampel F.Lindgren. The first 5 because they have each won at least one GP in 2007. I think to win a GP earns a place. The next 5 because other than any of the above, they are the 5 highest point scorers thus far. The next 3 because they finished as the top 3 in the recent GP challenge. The remaining 2 to be invited in as permanent wild card places. JH because he missed 2 GP's through injury and if he had ridden and secured average points he would have been up there anyway. I have picked FL because Sweden only have one other rider and his performances this season warrant it. I await your selections with interest.

Thank you. Honestly, I'd looked for them before crying for help but I just did not know where to find them. Your help is much appreciated.

Where do I find a list of qualifiers for the GP race off final please?

I presume this competition was not open to the top nations except Poland who tracked some lesser lights. No Sweden, no Denmark and no GB?

Agreed but he knew he would make him crash when he threw out his back wheel to make the turn. In a pre meeting interview NP was of the view that they should be allowed to sort out their differences privately on the track so perhaps this is what he did. He's changed his tactics though because he went very public the previous time. Oh well it will end up with one of them being hurt if someone does not make them see a modecom of sense. At least it provides a bit of interest in a series that is in need of something to liven it up. Did I hear Dave Norris say last night there may be changes in both the Elite League and the GP's next year or was he like me just wishful thinking.

The next in line is Charlie Gjedde. Has Antonio Lindback ridden anywhere since the last GP? Belle Vue have had a guest rider because he is injured. If he rides and considers himself injured again can a facility still be used?

Still not clear. It just tells us what is going to happen after an operation not before.

You'll all come round eventually. Even Steve referred to him as JC the other day and not just Crump

Thank you. I guess the Poles will still insist he was ill or injured during the hours covered by the WTC final but recovered enough to ride a few hours later. I forgot about Chris Holder also becoming indisposed also. Could this have been the Aussies saying if they can do it so can we. Whatever the reason this is just another example of speedway's 'Mickey Mouse' image is it not?

Does anybody know if he rode yesterday. he didn't look ill at the presentations

Spot on

Poland must start as favourites with them being at home so if any of the other teams do win then victory will be more deserved.

I see that another thread has started on the best way forward in Speedway General Discussions advocating an 8 team Elite League comprising of teams built to a 45 point limit standard and to be run on Wednesdays and Thursdays only. Good idea in principle. Might prevent one sided matches, might not, but if such a venture can be run seriously without Guest riders and Tactical Rides etc it could be worth trying.

I tend to agree

After just a few races the shale usually finishes up out wide and very little effort is made to bring it back down. The graders just seem to be flattening it out. Cannot something more suitable be used to grade tracks to provide better overall racing surfaces for longer than the first few heats? There even used to be 4 or 5 rakers on each bend.

I'm sorry that your post has received no replies and as such I would like to give you at least one because I too was in a similar position once and I know how it feels. Non speedway diehards do not take the sport seriously enough for advertising to make any difference. Lakeside proved what could be done by providing free admission recently. They were still trying to get in long after the meeting had started. Obviously this was a one off but if you think about it 3000 admissions @ say £5 each would rake in £15K plus programme sales, track shop sales and refreshment sales could quite easily rake in another £5K. As it is at present 500 @ £15 each is only £7.5K coming in. A bigger crowd attracts more media attention and the sport has a better profile. The thing to do then is to take out things like Guest Riders and any other Mickey Mouse rules and you might be on to something and proper advertising might then work.

I love watching speedway, any standard whether it be live or on the telly but I really found this one hard work. Perhaps it is the formular being used which really only serves to eliminate the worst team which was a forgone conclusion from the start. I agree that it decided which nation moved direct to the final but in reality all 3 other than the obvious afore mentioned worst team live to fight another day. Perhaps tonights meeting may prove a bit more interesting though because it features 2 teams going for the win and 2 teams trying to survive. I thought some of the racing was good on Saturday but it was very difficult for those riders who prefer the blast around the outside style of riding who could not change to suit the conditions. Leigh Adams said he was not worried that both Denmark & Poland beat them because it would be very different at Lesnow. Won't it be just as hard for them though with the other team's out and out racers also benefiting from the wide open spaces. How much influence will Ole Olsen have though on track preperation?

I thought 3 to 1 was being a bit generous

He's trying to be nice this year and play the part of a world champion ambassador. He's not hard enough at the moment and does not want to win it at any cost anymore. He's not even been involved in anything controversial to wind him up and as he said himself his head is not at the races this time around. For all these reasons I can't see him winning in Prague despite his proven TRACK RECORD. And before a certain Peterborough forum colleague jumps down my throat again. Jason Crump is still my favourite rider. I am just expressing my opinion on his current situation that's all.