Gavin Elmes

Great to see that 7 of these have had the benefit of racing in Australia under the Darren & Sharon Boocock Scholarship. If Josh Auty hadn't just missed the age cut, he'd be in there too. It's not only their on-track qualities that have developed, but also their overall focus on speedway. They have become more confident, more self-reliant, more mature and more professional. It is hoped that the BSPA will see this (I doubt it though) and support this venture which is quite obviously helping to develop the future of British speedway. Gavin Elmes.

He is. I spoke to him yesterday, cheerful as always and he's back home now and will be at Kurri Kurri on Saturday night. For those who think there was a gap, Kozza was riding the white line. You can see this by going to www.gillmanspeedway.com (Latest News) and looking at the photo of Chris Holder and Dave Watt in the final last Saturday. It was taken on pits bend, where the "coming together" took place. You can see the white line INSIDE the wet part of the track. Gavin.

The white line was actually when the dark part of the track meets the light part. It was about 2ft out from the witches hats that you see around the track. I was standing near the fence in the pits, very close to where it happened and had a very good, front on view. I would say that there was no room for an inside pass. Gavin.

Spoke to Scotty today. He has broken bones in his wrist and requires an operation. Gavin.

The announcer probably didn't give any, or if he did they were probably wrong. What is it with announcers in Australia? They seem (apart from a couple) totally incapable of just announcing starters and results. I fail to understand why that is so hard! They seem more intent on listening to their own voices and they think that the speedway is there for them to "shine". Gavin.

Socks didn't even last until sundown, Bryn. Then Coopers took over! By the way, I spent the day driving around the Barossa Valley visiting 10 wineries, including Jacobs Creek & Penfolds. Back to the Blue Room - it wasn't open. I even did a daylight "rekkie" when I hit Adelaide on Friday and found it!! So now I don't have to be shepherded through the dark to find it. The blocks and plank for the front step gave its location away after I'd found the cop shop!!!

.......Had a chat with the ref after the meeting and he told me that he was watching Gathercole to see if he would get up and clear the track, just as Holder and Batchelor came down. As he couldn't exclude anyone for something he didn't see, he put all four back. He had put the red lights on because both Holder and Batchelor were down, not because of Gathercole. The final provided the best dummy-spitting I ever seen in speedway. I was watching from the pits gate, so I saw and heard it all.