manchesterpaul

Wow! very nice race swapping positions in a good battle.

Excellent race as Harris didn't make the gate but still won and Holder improved.

Come on Holder we need you to make for exciting up front battles, no more of this lagging behind stuff please.

Didn't manage to grab the time pre-meeting to read up on the teams match reports as to how they have been performing, but don't think i would have expected a 18 point deficit for Lejonen at this early stage.

Pleasant surprise to see such a dominant win by Harris there. Presume Holder will be making some mechanical adjustments mind.

Agree wholeheartedly with the preview plaudits. Whilst on the subject of knowledge of the local scene, please Anders (or any of our 'international correspondents') can you give us a little info on the type of track and potential quality of racing we are likely to get from Västervik. Like myself there are clearly many more fans taking a keen interest in the Swedish Elitserien this year due to UK live TV coverage. Although, with Sky broadcasting a Tuesday meeting tonight it means watching two matches at the same time. With the Swedish/Premier Sports on on the tv screen and the Sky/Premier match on the PC with the superb Sky Player that gives excellent quality pictures. OK off to track down the weather satellite links that Ghostwalker gave the other week which cover Sweden. I for sure bookmarked them but....where! lol.

Sunday evening and finally got to watch the GP. I feared the worst after the initial races, however, took my own advice and stuck it out in the knowledge that 'usually' a speedway meeting improves as it goes on. There were in the end some good points. There were a couple of outstanding races indeed (yes i know there needs to be many more). Big treat was the use of Jan Staechmann who gave some excellent nuggets of information and insight. Very welcome addition indeed, alas, i'm presuming he is not a permanent fixture? The Sky team and commentators finally seem to be enjoying speedy and correct information regarding the standings and significance of heats to each of the riders. Even Sam was able to give the right details for the semi-final draw order when the anchor realised that what he was reading out was wrong. So at last after a few years it's not only me enjoying the benefit of knowing what is at stake etc. Interesting to hear the team mention something i have been prattling away about for years. Namely, the overpricing the meeting out of the reach (or desire to pay) of the level of the local economy. They clearly said the tickets last year were very expensive and were altered this year. The crowd certainly looked far better than i had dreaded it would be. Bad points the desperately disappointing track that over the length of the meeting produced little passing. I do despair as once again the sport has thrown away the annual chance in each of the staging countries to gain new fans. If speedway fans themselves are threatening to turn off after half a dozen heats, and they have a lifetime's knowledge of the sport knowing that in all likelihood racing will improve, how many outsiders would have stayed that far into the GP? One of the big benefits of the SGP series is each country in effect gets their own 'World Final' (ok some get 3 lol) and all the associated extra publicity that the sport receives. As a result you will get outsiders to the sport tuning in to see what all the fuss is about. Unfortunately, way before we got some tremendous racing they would have turned off and never intending to tune into a SGP again. Even if, as we did last season, we get some stunning racing and excitement in the GP's ahead, there won't for example be any new Czech fans aware of it as they won't be watching. More significantly, there will not be any new fans turning up at speedway tracks in the Czech Republic having been hooked by a great spectacle and having witnessed exciting racing. Instead if an aquaintance says to them they are thinking of going to a speedway meeting, they will strongly advise them not to waste their money as it's absolutely dire and boring.

Aaah understood. Not sure if that is worse if i set it to record and it misses the end lol. I always thought that speedway usually overruns into the next programme much to the disgruntlement of other sports viewers. The worst i've seen in recent times is they hastily leave after the final race with no wrap up. Might have to consider watching the SGP at the same time as the footie using combination of pc screen and tv. Then have to record the first martial arts which is on Premier Sports and watch the late night one on ESPN live. Mind you only potential snag in figuring all this out is we will all be heavily under the influence by half-time of the football lol. Thanks for the potential heads up mind, never had an inkling of any possible switching to the red button. Ok over and out from here, need to avoid the result until Sunday afternoon or evening. Let's hope we get a good GP. Just checked the weather and mentions chance of thunderstorms tonight in Prague whilst warmer TOMORROW! Guess that's par for the course for the rainmaker extraordinaire that is the SGP series Hopefully the meeting will miss the bad weather. Update Dontcha just love the power of the human brain whilst sober! Not that anyone but us remotely cares an iota lol but.....easy to sort. Recording the SGP 'as live' and should the end stages of that get red-buttoned we've also set to record the three-hour highlights programmes in the early hours tonight and midday tomorrow as a safety net we can switch to.

Whilst i'm here, for those unaware, available online now are the TWO different versions of the MiniMax Racecard. You can directly download them from the top of the following page and as ever no advertising etc. cluttering up the card. MiniMax 2011 Czech Republic Grand Prix Racecard Basic Version MiniMax 2011 Czech Republic Grand Prix Racecard

Have you checked since Screamer? I've just checked the planner and it has speedway not greyhounds. Too be honest i can't even find mention of greyhounds in my weekly tv magazine either. You gave me a heart attack as it's the first GP i can't watch live due to a little kickabout between some mancunians and spaniards. Also a night of mixed martial arts through to 5am! I need to be able to record it 'as live' rather than highlights and watch it on Sunday before the Nascar.

Thanks and all are welcome.

Don't want to sound like a Tom Petty song but how come he 'don't come around here no more'. We used to have quite a varied list or racecards for the GP's with each appealing to many folk.

OK put them online so AVAILABLE as of NOW! You can directly download them from the top of the following page. MiniMax 2011 Czech Republic Grand Prix Racecard Basic Version MiniMax 2011 Czech Republic Grand Prix Racecard

Looks like i wasn't going insane the other week and it was their own site that was wrong. Ahead of today's draw for the Czech Republic GP, at 08:00 BST on the draw page (wish i could include a screenshot lol), and in the draw window, it has in the header "round: date: Fri 27th May 2011" Then directly below at the top of the heat grid for the draw and even bigger headline stating "LIVE DRAW STARTS: 13:00 BST 26 May 2011" !!! 26th was yesterday (Thursday) and what's the betting that at 13:00 BST the draw has already taken place an hour earlier Confusion over time zone and day of the draw aside, it is a vastly improved site this year indeed.

Available in the afternoon following the draw (Friday) are the TWO different versions of the MiniMax Racecard. You can directly download them from the top of the following page and as ever no advertising etc. cluttering up the card. MiniMax 2011 Czech Republic Grand Prix Racecard Basic Version MiniMax 2011 Czech Republic Grand Prix Racecard

Although it's had to be introduced well ahead of when it was intended to, the projected points feature of the MiniMax league tables (see sticky above) are giving a clearer picture of the league standings than traditional tables are able to right now. Even a system that is quite impressive in reflecting the true state of play has to make note of the bizarre inequalities of the fixtures staged so far. However, a quick glance at the 'projected points' column is already quite informative for the Elite and Premier leagues. National League Very early days in this league so hard to take present trends and results so far as being well set for the course of the season. However, a strong stat that stands out is Stoke, currently showing as fifth in the traditional tables, being in reality the strongest team so far. 100% home record and, for the level they race at, an impressive 50% of away points earned. The projected points system will reflect any shift in form of the teams as the season progresses so will serve it's purpose throughout the season even as the fixtures level up (or if?).

Ok Good Night all (or morning, afternoon).

The future is....Aqua Speedway, where are the developers?

I got to make a quick exit after the final heat. It wasn't the worst meeting ever and one thing for sure there are plenty of great ones ahead, especially as the season progresses and more is at stake. Make sure you say your prayers and thanks to the God that is the internet Alan, i don't inagine it's easy to get one's speedway fix in the USA.

We can always fib and tell him he did miss something spectacular lol

Maybe as a contest, but one lives in hope that the heats left will still contain individual battles and the grand spectacle of basic speedway racing....errrm! unsure lol. I dare say if i was a supporter of Vetlanda i'd disagree, but seeing i'm not, i'll still enjoy the rest of the meeting in the hope of seeing good racing.

A comeback not guaranteed yet, i mean after all that was Crump and Hampel against Karpov and Zetterstrom.

Hampel another needing five laps! I so got to read up on the Swedish league scene, as all these score updates aren't meaning too much to me at the moment. However, we've got a nice long-ish season ahead so will do so, and also the tactical rules etc. If only we had such heavy tv coverage of the sport in the 70's (especially in the UK) when the stadium's terraces were well filled with spectators. Only thing missing is getting the majority of meetings staged on raceable tracks. Then the tv coverage would be beneficial and not detrimental to the sport! Not sure if Sweden is like the UK in that attendances nowadays are a pale shadow of what they used to be?

Very nice battle in heat 5, let's hope it's a sign of the age old speedway tradition in that racing improves after the initial heats. You may yet get your money's worth Ghostwalker, although i'm certianly not promising anything at all lol.

A FIVE lap race as we had last night might have been interesting then!