AndyM

Well, Pedersen should have been excluded if anyone for the simple reason that Adams was clearly leading, but if I had been ref it would have been an "unsatisfactory start, all four back."

Let's say that NP had more than his fair share of assistance from the ref during the meeting though. And that Adams had more than one reason to be cursing the guy. This should hopefully mark the end of his international refereeing career!

That's right. Back of the sports section, demonstrating how riders slide around bends and advertising the GP.

First I'd call a halt to the existing GP circus altogether. Then I'd have a completely open qualification process whereby each country selected a quota of riders based on whatever criteria they wanted to apply. Barring seeded riders, all would compete on an open draw and qualify for the following GP series. Thereafter, the process would be repeated with only the top 4 from the previous year being guaranteed places.

As I pointed out before, this is why it's far better to watch speedway matches in the evening than on warm afternoons. The atmosphere and racing are far better and the track doesn't dry out anything like as quickly.

Can't say I've been that impressed with Bridger on several viewings, and he certainly didn't stand out in the field yesterday - Ricky Wells looked more spirited and he has a lot less experience. Lewis seems to have stagnated in the past year, but then they did say the same about Eddie Kennett a couple of years back. Riders in that position come to realise that they have to redouble their efforts and work harder to succeed.

In truth, NO track stands comparison with the good old days at Hyde Road, but I'm darned sure that none of the tracks I've visited in recent years have been any better than the House in terms of quality of racing (including among others Lakeside, Peterborough, Brandon, Kings Lynn, Wolves and Kirky Lane.) I've only seen Armadale on video clips so I can't comment on that.

You get a very high standard of racing in the majority of heats at Rye House, in my experience. Overall, yesterday's meeting was below average quality because of the problems with dust and watering (see my earlier post on that subject.) Did you not enjoy the excellent Rockets v Monarchs match recently, Ian?

Rye frequently does produce racing of the highest order. How else would you describe heat 19, Ian?

Plenty of passing when the track was damp. The problem is that speedway is far better in the evening; for afternoon meetings like this, as soon as riders got out near the fence the dust billowed up like a sand storm, no matter how much watering there was between races. If there had been any more dirt down, it would have been impossible for anyone to see the action. As it was, my nice clean car ended with a fine mist of red dust coating its silver exterior!!

Courtesy of Live Updates: 1. Linus Eklof (Sweden) 3, 1, 1, 0, 2 = 7 2. Max Dilger (Germany) 1, 0, 0, 0, F = 1 3. Chris Holder (Australia) 2, 3, 3, 3, 1 = 12 4. Robert Kasprzak (Poland) 0, 0, 1, 0, 0 = 1 5. Kim Nilsson (Sweden) X = 0 Withdrawn 6. William Lawson (Great Britain) 3, 1, 3, 1, 0 = 8 7. Lewis Bridger (Great Britain) 2, 0, 0, 3, 3 = 8 8. Tobias Busch (Germany) 1, 1, 0, 1, 0 = 3 9. Ricky Wells (USA) 0, 2, 1, 2, 1 = 6 10. Mateusz Szczepaniak (Poland) 2, 2, 2, 0, 1 = 7 11. Simon Gustafsson (Sweden) 1, 1, 0, 2, 3 = 7 12. Tai Woffinden (Great Britain) 3, 3, 3, 2, 2 = 13 13. Troy Batchelor (Australia) 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 = 15 14. Grzegorz Zengota (Poland) 1, 3, 2, 1, 2 = 9 15. Morten Risager (Denmark) 2, 2, 2, 3, 3 = 12 16. Ludvig Lindgren (Sweden) 0, 2, 2, 2, 2 = 8 Reserves 17. Joshua Auty (Great Britain) 0, 1 = 1 18. Ty Proctor (Austrailia) 1, 1 = 2 Heat Results Heat 01: Eklof, Holder, Dilger, Kasprzak 57.90 Sponsored by Clean Cut Sports @ www.cleancutsports.com Holder Pressured the complete race. Heat 02: Re-run Lawson, Bridger, Busch 58.45 Sponsored by Steve Dixon www.stevedixonphotography.co.uk 3 down 2nd bend. Nilsson excluded and he is still down. Ambulance is now on track. Lawson from gate. Bridger applied bit of Pressure. Busch on the pace for 2 laps. Heat 03: Woffinden, Szczepaniak, Gustafsson, Wells 56.95 Sponsored by Boxer123 Stamps bought & sold. Pm me here or via the Witches forum Tai 3rd out of gate, Superb cut back on 2nd bend and won by ease. Track very dusty Watering between heats Heat 04: Batchelor, Risager, Zengota, Lindgren 58.39 Sponsored by Friends of Edinburgh Speedway http://www.foes.info/ Risager led, Batchelor chased and kept gaining and swept under last bend. Heat 05: Batchelor, Wells, Eklof, Auty Sponsored by Richard and Anne Hollingsworth www.scunthorpespeedway.com Auty for Nilsson, Wells into 2nd lap 2. Heat 06: Zengota, Szczepaniak, Lawson, Dilger 60.0 Sponsored by http://www.SpeedwayInfo.co.uk - speedway information for all UK leagues plus Grand Prix & World Cup stats Lawson into 3rd start of lap 2 Heat 07: Holder, Risager, Gustafsson, Bridger 58.58 Sponsored by Merlin Superb pass by Holder on 4th bend lap 1. Heat 08: Woffinden, Lindgren, Busch, Kasprzak 58.80 Sponsored by Speedway Souvenirs available at www.enjaydesigns.net Remember The Cardiff GP Rider Merchandise and Souvenir Fair Tai sweeps wide on 2nd bend into lead. Lindgren into 2nd on 1st bend 2nd lap Heat 09: Lawson, Lindgren, Eklof, Gustafsson 61.4 Sponsored by www.inthedirt.co.uk - Speedway Merchandise for the Masses" Great gate from Lawson Well spread out race. Heat 10: Woffinden, Risager, Proctor, Dilger 60.48 Sponsored by KanDysoft Speedway spreadsheets www.kandysoft.com Easy win for Tai. Proctor into 3rd on 4th bend 2nd lap Heat 11: Holder, Zengota, Wells, Busch 59.82 Sponsored by Peter Hopkins Busch locked up on 4th bend lap 1 when in 2nd. Znegota chased Holder throughout race. Heat 12: Batchelor, Szczepaniak, Kasprzak, Bridger 59.31 Sponsored by http://www.cablestar.co.uk - computer cables & accessories. Save 10% using promo code SPEEDWAY Bridger got out of shape on 3rd bend 1st lap. Was last at time. ********INTERVAL******** Heat 13: Bridger, Woffinden, Zengota, Eklof 61.65 Sponsored by www.rpm.org.uk Woffinden pressured but couldnt passed. Heat 14: Batchelor, Gustafsson, Busch, Dilger 60.90 Sponsored by http://www.ebuyitnow.co.uk/ 10% discount coupon code SPEEDWAY Dilger out of shape 2nd bend 1ast lap. Was mazing he didnt collect anyone else. Batchelor easy win. Heat 15: Holder, Lindgren, Auty, Szczepaniak 60.92 Sponsored by www.msj.edu.pl www.msjspeedway.com Lindgren under pressure from Szczepaniak until Auty nips under 4th bend lap 3. Heat 16: Risager, Wells, Lawson, Kasprzak Nf 60.28 Sponsored by Close between the 3, Kasprzak didnt bother to finish. Heat 17: Risager, Eklof, Szczepaniak, Busch 59.56 Sponsored by Risager lifted alarmingly backstraight openinglap was ahead though. Heat 18: Bridger, Lindgren, Wells, Dilger Fell 60.02 Sponsored by Close race with all 4 in contention. Lindgren into 2nd lap 3 Dilger fell bend 1 lap 4 Heat 19: Batchelor, Woffinden, Holder, Lawson 59.56 Sponsored by Race of the day! Batchelor led throughout, Holder pressuring inside, Woffinden out wide and closing in all the time. Wide Challenge from Tai off 2nd and 4th bend took it to the like, Batchelor held on just, Standing ovation for riders. Heat 20: Gustafsson, Zengota, Proctor, Kasprzak 60.04 Sponsored by Close race between the 3. Run-off 1: Gustaffson vs Szczepaniak vs Eklof for Reserve spot in final. Result: Gustafsson, Szczepaniak, Eklof 59.90 Run-off 2: Risager vs Holder for 3rd Result: Holder, Risager 59.74 ************************* Comments: Line-up confirmed. Nice and Sunny in Rye Decent Sized Crowd Nilsson has been withdrawn with Concussion. Congratulations to Troy Batchelor on Winning the meeting and Other Qualifiers Tai Woffinden, Chris Holder, Morten Risager, Grzegorz Zengota, William Lawson, Lewis Bridger and Ludvig Lindgren

Just got back home. Congratulations to Troy Batchelor on a very professional performance, though it was one hell of an epic battle in heat 19. Tai had to come through past Holder not once but twice, but was neck-and-neck with Batchelor from the last bend through to the line, only to see Troy just pull ahead by a nose at the finish. Race of the season down here and worth the entrance on its own! And just to repeat for SS's benefit - Tai beat Chris Holder from the back! As for the rest: Risager lost out to Holder for 3rd place but didn't really look too inspired Eklof rode a fine race to beat Holder first time out but never did anything else Bridger left it very late, 2 points at the interval but then won his two races to qualify in the second half, including a victory over Tai Auty and Proctor had a couple of tasty rides from reserve Zengota and Lindgren weren't too bad, both doing better than Gustaffson - maybe worth a shot for a PL place? And spare a thought for Kim Nilsson of Sweden. His match lasted less than 100 yards, by which time he fell and brought down Bridger and Lawson. He was carted off in the ambulance and never reappeared, poor lad.

OK guys - I shall be there with my kids at the top of the section right by the starting gate. Love to see anyone who wants to chat and potentially a pint!

Think you may be surprised how good Tai is, especially around the House. Holder might be good but he certainly ain't invincible. Who's going to be there? This being fathers' day, I shall be there and enjoying myself! In fact, I'll make sure I'm not driving so I can enjoy a few pints with my mates - anyone want to drink with me?

My comment was based on what an older rider told me donkeys years ago. As I recall, Tommy Price was born around 1911. Don't really know what he did early in life, but I was definitely told he first rode on a speedway track in the late 20s, which I remember because my dad was born in 1929. Don't know any more than that, but if you've written Tommy's biography I shall defer to your superior knowledge, Norm!!

Sure Norbold can come up with a few, but I'm pretty sure Tommy Price for one was riding in the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s.

I know the feeling too - several projects on the go here too!

Will be there. Anyone else going?

Not Lynch's fault if we have no decent riders. He has to encourage other riders to think they're in with a chance, which is why he has an extended squad. But you're right - if you could ride a match between that squad and the squad 30 years ago (at their peak), the current team would be trounced.

Time was when the British Final would have consisted of 16 top quality riders capable of competing at the highest levels, plus another 10 or 15 who could easily have joined them. Now there appear to be 3-4 contenders and a bunch of riders who would never have even qualified for the event had they been around 30 years ago.

I wondered what Barbie might have to do with the speedway museum. Perhaps Ken has a bike and appears occasionally in Pirates colours? You should have popped round for my BBQ, Norm!

With that name, he sounds more like a porn star than a speedway rider!

How would you go about raising sponsorship and advertising revenues to help fund the event if you think it's all a waste of time, then? Most advertising for those sorts of events is not about prompting people to rush out and buy the product (not true of KFC and CocaCola, obviously), but to ensure that either businesses or individuals retain the brand name in mind for when they do make purchasing decisions. It's about brand exposure and positive associations.

Excellent! Wish I could be there to see PC ride again.

He has one bad GP and you've written Crumpy off? Those are the sort of words that come back to haunt you... Seem to recall some people saying that after he won his first world title and had a bad year after that. Crump certainly ain't finished yet, and this year's GP definitely isn't over yet.