Gorgrel

Took this video on my phone of heat 7 of the Bydgoszcz v Wroclaw match - might cheer up some of the Polonia fans !

Mateusz, will Andreas Jonsson be riding ? I'll be staying in Gdansk at the weekend, but quite fancied coming down on the train for this match !

Will you be able to pick up GPs on things like TVU, PPStream etc for nothing.... I know you can get most major footy matches (Premiership, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A etc...) live online for nothing if you know where to look.

Cheers guys !

Hi guys and gals, Does anyone know when the Polish fixtures are announced ? Any help would be greatly appreciated ! Cheers !

Yeah it's Tarnow v Bydgoszcz the day after the GP. Sadly Tarnow is miles away from Bydgoszcz. I don't know if it's any quicker by road, but it must be the guts of 10 hours on the train. Which would probably mean getting the overnight train ! It is theoretically possible, but it's a hell of a journey, especially if you're flying back out of Bydgoszcz !

From Gdansk Airport I would advise getting a taxi to Gdansk Glowny (pronounced Gwoovny), which is the main train station. I think it only costs about a fiver, which is very reasonable if it's a local firm (i.e. not a dodgey guy sitting in a car waiting to fleece you). An airport bus exists, but I never got it when I was there. When you get to Gdansk Glowny, you will see the KFC building opposite the platforms, and also McDonalds which is in the terminal building itself. Go inside the terminal building, I think tickets are signposted as 'Bilet' (our Polish friends will be able to give you the exact wording). Go to any one of the PKP glass windows, just the same as ticket offices over where. Ask for a return ticket (powrotny - pronounced povrotny, I think !), it should cost you about 30-35 Zl. In the main concourse is also where the departures and arrivals board is. It shows the time of departure, where the train's final destination is, and what platform it arrives at. (It may not necessarily show the train stops at Bydgoszcz, so do not be alarmed. It is very important you have the exact departure time so you can match it up on the board ! E.g. your train could be for Katowice.) You may need to come out of the terminal building and go down the stairs just outside KFC to get to some of the platforms. Pretty much all the trains heading south of Gdansk stop at Bydgoszcz, the main station where you get off is Bydgoszcz Glowna. Check the timetables here at: http://rozklad.pkp.pl/bin/query.exe/en? the site is in English, and is very useful. On the train itself you can sit anywhere apart from first class. The second class coaches are normally green, and the firsts are red. You can tell by the numbers on the carriage doors. When you get to Bydgoszcz, don't get a taxi from the station, as you can walk it in less than 20 minutes. Either follow the stream of fans, or ask "Gdzeh jest, stadion zuzelowy" (In numpty terms - Gdyeh yest stadion joozlovay). Hope this helps ! Others will be able to fill in anything I missed.

Good stuff. Thankfully the cost of flights are coming down, although Poland will probably do a "Prague", and raise their prices a little for tourists soon. Although I'm hoping this will be more Krakow and Warsaw. 8 days sounds good, you might get jammy and get three matches (Sunday - Thursday - Sunday) in that time ! Plus any rearranged matches from the lower leagues.

I wish mate ! I've not even done the whole Extra Liga (Tarnow and Rybnik). This summer was the first time I've been able to tour Poland properly, in three weeks I got to Gdansk, Bydgoszcz, Torun, Rzeszow, Poznan, Leszno, Rawicz, Czestochowa and Wroclaw. I was based in Gdansk, so it meant I clocked up something ridiculous like 2000 miles on the trains. I guess all the stuff is fresh in the mind, giving the impression I know much more than what I actually do ! I've been told by my brother that Zielona Gora has an awesome track, so I'm hoping they get promoted ! Have you been over before yourself ?

For those going to Gdansk... If you travel by train to Gdansk Glowny (the train will be for Gydnia), when you come out of the station, go down the stairs in front of KFC and you will see a sort of underground mini market. If you take the second flight of stairs up (to your right), it will take you to a tram stop. In the underpass you can also buy tickets for the tram. Tram number 8 (signposted for Stogi Plaza) will take you direct to the ground - it's less than 10 minutes away. You will know when to get off when you see the big yellow Lotus signs on your right hand side ! On the way back your tram will be signposted for Jelitskowo. The trains from Bydgoszcz are a bit variable, normally they take about two hours - some do it in slightly less. The annoying thing is they speed along quite nicely up to Tchev, and then trundle the last half hour into Gdansk. Hope this helps guys. If you need any more questions about Gdansk feel free to ask (was there for three weeks in June in case you were wondering !). p.s. This link shows you what the stadium looks like, took it on my phone:

Think it's normally about 5pm. From a speedway purist's point of view, I would recommend the Wroclaw v Czestochowa match. It's a bit of a trek as it's about four hours on the train. (Gniezo is an hour and a half) The Gniezo meeting isn't a bad fixture (teams are probably on a par with Arena), but Extraliga is the best racing in the world.

Is that worth coming over for ? What is the standard of riders in it ?

Cheers thanks. I assume it'll be the same for the first division as well ?

What is the chances of there being play off matches on Sunday 3 September ? Just I could wangle a trip to Poland for the weekend, but I don't want to go if there's no speedway ! Cheers !

They both look pretty one sided meetings ! I suppose Leszno should be more competitive with Kasprzak riding again. I've never been to Tarnow, but the atmosphere at the Czestochowa vs Wroclaw match earlier this month was something else. Here are a couple of videos from there, but be warned they were taken on my phone so the quality isn't the best: Heat 2 Hancock, Drabik v Andersen, Bjerre Heat 7 rerun Hancock, Drabik v Crump Heat 15 decider, Hancock, Sullivan v Crump, Andersen