New Yorker

Emil even though he didn't win a lot brought an excitement to the gp's that seems to be missing for me anyway. A true sportsman and a gentleman. The series also needs Laguta for his riding abilities alone. Just not the same without them.

My SON experience started last winter shortly after the tickets in Manchester went on sale. Being my first live Speedway race and also my first trip to Europe I bought the best grandstand tickets for myself and my SO (significant other) (after seventy what do you call each other in the UK?) Then the air fare, hotel room in Manchester, plans to rent a car after the races and see (practice) if we could drive on the left without incidence. We were going to head North and go along the coast into Scotland then explore our way back down to London to fly back home. Needless to say we were both very excited! Then along came the Covid and we just had to have a wait and see. Well we had our SON yesterday at 1:00 PM and as everyone has said it wasn't ideal......BUT that race with Emil getting pushed wide one second and passing Doylie up against the wall next second will always be my only memory of the race. I hate to agree with KeirStarmerFan BUT I would like to know who else could've pulled that off! So my Speedway experience and my trip to your country didn't turn out the way that I had hoped but that's the way life is, isn't it? I've been a Speedway fan for about 8 years now and that heat was one of the most exciting i can remember and I'm happy with that!

Unfortunately, this kind of thinking is why the U.S. looks like a third world country when it comes to our covid 19 deaths which were mostly caused by poor, excuse me, no leadership from our president.

My mate and I are a couple of Yanks HUGHLY looking forward to coming to your great country with grandstand tickets to the SON in May. I haven't seen or heard any comments on the meet being possibly called off and wondering if anyone has. Also planning on renting a car and traveling from Manchester Northward and eventually ending up back in London (hopefully a pro in left hand lane driving). My first live speedway race!

Thanks everyone for the help!! I did book some grandstand tickets this morning and now will have to book a hotel with the help of your info.....Thanks again! Is there any place that people on this forum hang out. It would be fun to put a face on a few of these names.

I'm not going to miss this. Will be my first speedway race after being a devoted fan on youtube etc. for the last seven years. Also my first trip to Europe. I would appreciate any advice on where to sit (going that far for a race I'm not going to worry about cost of seating) and hotel accommodations. Transportation etc. Really very excited about this! Looking forward to any recommendations.

Am I the only one that thinks the meeting was really not that bad. It almost seems that the quality of the racing is worse (on this site) the lower the British riders finish. If Lambert or Thai won in Cardiff I have a feeling there wouldn't be as much negativity about the racing. And as far as the GP purists who don't want anyone getting into the GP by a wild card imagine this GP season without Emil or Madsen. I really thought that there was a lot of close racing and not a ton of passes but they were there. Picture a speedway race with Boris Johnson and Donald Trump with no air fence........let's lighten up over there!

I've had my eyes on Madsen for the last few years and we all have seen him beating these same GP riders in the leagues. So why did most of us think, including myself, that he wouldn't be doing this well in the series? Also, has anyone seen anything like Freddies move to miss Dudek? An amazing reaction in a split second.....could have been nasty!

I thought Zmarzlik was a little beyond "hard riding" with Madson in their semi-final #2 in Warsaw and Madsen still came back and beat him to get into the final. Anyone that doughts Madsens riding ability should review that race. I have always been a fan of Zmarzlik but am I the only one who thinks he's riding a little too hard and at times out of control?

I agree with you Ove. Very happy for Kolojei and to finally see him get some recognition as a good solid rider. He seems like a rider who just goes about his business without a lot of talk and just gets the job done. A very good sport who interviews well. Once I saw him pass someone and unintentionally bump them on the way by so he turned around and gave them a "sorry about that" wave and went on. When it comes to Madsen he definitely is a good gater but I really don't think that he is getting proper credit for his consistency so far this season. In a pre-race interview, he mentioned getting the right setup early in the event. The importance of a good team who can communicate with the rider and a rider who can relay his thoughts to the team to "get the right setup early" really shows up at this level of Speedway. Has there been any discussion or mention of how much thinner some riders look this year? Madsen and Janowski are the first two who come to mind but there have been others I've noticed.

The second semifinal might have been the race of the night. It's at 33.00 and I think Leon might have had the ride of the night.....worth a re-look.

Thanks! I'll have a look after work.

Madson said in his podium interview that he was sorting out the setup all evening and I would have to say that he had it pretty well sorted in the final. Would anyone argue after watching the replay that he didn't have the fastest bike in the final and IMO would have passed Freddie on the outside run in the next lap or two? Give the guy a little credit, he won by nearly a half a straightaway, Unfortunately, that's the only race I've seen as a Youtube viewer and am looking forward to seeing the whole thing. Also, hats off to Iverson, glad to see him back up there.

Maybe they should run all the GPs on that track.

In the last few years I have been a fan of both Leon Madsen and Janus Kolodziej and all of a sudden both are in the GP. In my opinion they are two very interesting riders for very different reasons. And of course when they are on can be very dominating. I would be interested in any comments about either rider and also what position they will finish at the end of the season. For myself I have not looked at any league stats and I'm just thinking about who they will be racing against sooooooo.......I will predict Madsen finishing in 6th and Kolodziej (I finally learned how to spell his name) coming in 8th. I know Leon didn't qualify through the "proper channels" but IMO Emil has been a good addition and hopefully Leon will also contribute some excitement into the upcoming season.