Grachan

I'm sure I remember Ivan Mauger once saying that he used to keep notes on different referees, on how they responded to different situations, who they excluded when there were incidents etc and play the refs. I wonder if Nicki Pedersen does the same and knows that if he comes across early and gets hit then the other guy will get excluded by this guy? If so, then I say good on him. As for booing. Of course people are going to boo him in that situation. It's part of the fun. Speedway needs someone to boo. In fact, we need more. Last year Swindon fans booed Rory Schlein after he came round after a race pointing to his name on the back of his kevlars. Quite right too. And good for him for doing it and getting the crowd annoyed. Incidentally, did anyone actually take time to listen to what Nicki said in his interview at the end. He made a comment about if the temporary tracks don't improve then the riders might have to "stick together". That would be interesting.

Don't know what Tatum's moaning about though as he originally called the Adams/Pedersen incident the same way as the ref.

The fix is in!

You have to wonder if Leigh was right when he spoke about "the Danish influence" because there is no way on Earth that Leigh Adams caused that. It would certainly explain why this man - who constantly come up with bizarre decisions - keeps getting the GP job. And what was Kelvin Tatum on about, saying Leigh came off hi line! How much did Nicki come off HIS line? I'm just so shocked by that. It wasn't even a borderline thing. Had to be eithe Nicki out or all four back. Baffling.

Blimey! Bo Petersen is bald!!

I also read that in 1967 Norman Hunter staged a one-man protest about the constantly bad starts by deliberately breaking the tapes. I've just tried to find it, but can't. Maybe he was protesting about the scrapping of exclusions for tape-breaking?

Thanks. They were definitely slack at excluding people in 1967 though if that's the case.

Looking at some old sixties magazines I noticed that riders weren't being excluded for breaking the tapes. There was a race in 1967 at Edinburgh, for example, that needed re-running three times due to the tapes being broken, and yet all four riders were in each re-run. So does anyone know when the tape exclusion rule was brough in? Must have been between 1968 and 1974, as they definitely had it in 1974. Unless, of course, the ref at Edinburgh had been eating funny mushrooms or something.

Wrong book Andy. You were thinking of THIS one.

I'm quite looking forward to this book in a "Swindon" kind of way.

Certainly looks better with an "e" so I'm really pleased about that. What about his first name? Jim or Gym? Don't answer that.

Forget all this nonsense about who is the best rider ever or the greatest rider never to win the World Championship. The ultimate question is this: how did Jim spell his surname? You read old magazines and you get both spellings. You do a Google search and you get both spellings. So what is it? Airy or Airey? Anyone?

I remember seeing him ride at Cardiff. Not sure the year. 2005 perhaps? Nicki Pedersen won the meeting.

Let's hope his arm recovers soon then.

I guess we produced him by the fact that he was born here. It is interesting that out best prospect for years emerges through riding his formative years in Australia though, isn't it? After last night I'd say "yes" to putting him in the World Cup squad. Before I wasn't so sure but he seems as ready as anyone else besides Nicholls, Richardson and Harris now.

He was British Champion in 1977 and started riding in 1975, so I guess that would make him 18.

Quite enjoyed tonight's meeting. Nothing spectacular, but decent enough. Great stuff from Tai, and I was rooting for him in the final, but probably better in the long run for him to be reserve at Cardiff at this stage of his carreer. Good to see James Wright having a good meeting too, and I was also quite impressed with Adam Roynon. Nicholls was a cut above everyone really though, and it was pretty obvious from race one that it was going to be so. At least his ef ket it a bit interesting though. So good to see a young guy like Tai Woffinden really starting to make his mark at such a young age. Hope he can keep this progress up.

Nooooo!!! I can't believe I did that. Thank you so much for showing me the error of my ways.

People expect too much from Tai with regards this English thing. He has two countries and probably loves them both. He's chosen to ride as Britsh and we should be pleased instead of trying to spot any possible holes in hi patriotism. It doesn't mean he has to totally renounce the country where he spent most of his life.

If Tai's an Aussie, then Crump isn't.

After the track that was presented to us on Saturday I guess we can at least heave a sigh of relief that Mads is safe from one of those GP tracks.

Get out of it! Nicki took a dive. (Based on how I saw it, not who he is.)

Yet another perfectly decent speedway meeting followed by people coming on here and saying it was rubbish. What is this? Some sort of anti-speedway orchestrated campaign or something? Great to see Leigh win. Let's hope he can do more of the same this year and finally get the title he deserves. The crash in the semi was Nicki's fault. In fact, I think he "played" for it - like a footballer taking a dive for a penalty. Worked though. Can't really criticise him. I mean, look at these pictures. In the first they are away from the white line and Nicki looks over and sees Crump. Now look where they are in the second, when contact is made. Totally Nicki's fault, and he even looked like he laid the bike down.

My mum remembers Laurel & Hardy being there.

That was Kid Bodie, not James Bond. Pretty sure James Bond was his real name.