Star Fever

Hmm but everyone said that last saturday lol

Good idea .....but last year I doubt the Czechs would've made the top 2 so would not be in the final, which although making a better final might've meant low attendance for that instead?

Can't believe they went for Kildemand - he's an accident waiting to happen - could lose the Danes a few points if he's not careful. I know Hans can be a bit desperate at times too but with him at least it's 'controlled desperation'.

yes

Yep Danes could get knocked off their perch, but should be in first plaice

No, but it would seem that 100s of people must already hate him to react like they are doing. You don't suddenly realise that someone is a 'pathetic spoilt brat' unless you have a pre-conceived opinion of that person and you're just waiting for him to do something that you can use as an excuse to lambast him. Do you not think that being the potential biggest threat to GB winning might have something to do with it and the crowd enjoyed seeing him fail? Or even the fact that he is a Poole rider maybe? What Darcy did was unprofessional maybe (like many other riders have been at times) but it hardly warrants the stick he's getting.

Best wishes to Andre and Sheffield. That was a really nasty incident

Hope the rule is changed yes, but if it isn't I don't think the Latvians would be out of the running at all.

Maybe I should also add that if it was Woffinden, Holder, Doyle, Manzares, Covatti or virtually any other rider who endured what Ward did on Saturday I'd feel a bit of sympathy for any 'unprofessionalism' they subsequently showed. Whilst not exercising perfect control its maybe excusable under the circumstances as far as I'm concerned. There's been a lot worse behaviour on and off the track and it is rarely punished.

You started off by saying "....with his actions on the night." Yes, you then described some in particular, but actions (plural) can mean anything.

I'm neither a Poole supporter nor an Aussie supporter, there again I don't have anti-feelings towards them either. I am however a lover of good speedway and Darcy Ward is probably the best in the world at providing it at the moment and I am a fan, plus of course being a Lynn supporter and seeing him from the start and his progression has helped. He is still 'one of ours' wherever he rides. He was not at his best last night (obviously not happy with his bike problems) and no doubt was somewhat peeved all evening, resulting in some minor unprofessionalism maybe, but 'pathetic spoilt little brat'?? That's way over the top Anyway was he fined or warned or anything over this supposed 'unprofessionalism'? If not I've no idea why people are getting so irate over it all - seems that he's just this week's hate figure.

Well like the rest of us maybe he was totally bemused, and honestly thinking the red lights had come on and presumably expecting the other riders to stop also. He probably thought the ref himself had accidentally flashed them - in which case I'd guess he was expecting a rerun. As for walking across the track to pit gate if it was after the riders had passed on the 4th lap, what is the problem? As for the camera incident I thought you were referring to that also, as you weren't specific.

Well if he walked to the pits gate ' as the riders came past ' as you said then what danger did he cause? I've seen plenty of riders do that at Lynn on the last lap then hop over the gate - whats the problem? And I wasn't referring to that incident anyway regarding the other riders - but their similar reactions to having cameras stuck up their noses. And i'm sure lots of (the partisan GB) fans would boo him anyway simply because he's (a ) Australian (b ) a Poole rider..... would've been interesting to see the reaction if it was a Brit being 'unprofessional'

What actions? When he retired due to the red light incident he was soon on the centre and out of the way. When an over-enthusiastic cameraman shoved a camera towards him after that incident in the pits, he was obviously fuming with rage that he'd been fooled by a bogus red light and thus let his side down and ANY rider would've felt the same surely? There've been similar reactions on TV over the years too - Tai and Jason Crump are two that I remember. They're only human and and are obviously wound up at the time so its stupid for the media to be anywhere near them in times of stress and only have themselves to blame for adverse reactions like pushing cameras or swearing. I don't know your allegiances but maybe if it wasn't a Poole rider, or a Brit reacting in the same way last night you wouldn't have said a word ? Geez, talk about an over the top reaction! He did nothing worse than many other riders have done in times of stress. I take it you dislike Tai & Crump too or has your memory cleansed them for some reason? As for NickiP he must be public enemy #1 in your eyes! Personally I'm looking forward to the day Darcy is world champ - the most talented rider in our midst today.

lol what a load of tripe

Well done to GB - they had several slices of luck but would probably still have won it anyway. Aussies obviously lost points when Darcy [a] retired at gate & pulled up for the red light and Woodward was a total disaster - would've thought Morris or Graczjonek or Watt would've been a better choice. Was impressed by the young Americans, but Wells should've been better. As for the Italians, Covatti certainly tried and had hard luck when his almost 6 pointer was restarted. Not a brilliant meeting racing-wise though, but I think that was more down to the quality of riders than anything else i.e. Ward wasn't able to compete speed-wise and luck-wise/ Holder wasn't there - in fact Denmark weren't there so no Iversen or Pedersen to add to the mix! It was mainly 2 against 2 for most of the races simply because of the teams there. Hopefully this comp will revert back to the old formula asap with no seeded finalists, but at least the next semi looks more balanced, Danes even using a B-team to spice it up!

Well i enjoy it - its speedway after all, and tbh I'd watch even if it was the German league. Any speedway on TV is a bonus as far as I'm concerned

Yes of course a lot of crashes are caused by the riders themselves - I wasn't disputing that - but they hardly need a track that encourages errors do they? At Wolves riders build up nowhere near the speed they can at Leicester - hence negotiating the bends becomes less of a problem and they can RACE. Peterboro has long straights yes but the bends are wide and riders can sweep around them without too much danger and again, can RACE. Accidents will still happen of course but not because of the track design, more likely to be track surface or rider error. At Leicester, no matter how perfect the surface is or how expert the rider is, the very speed they have to go will always nurture an accident.

Doesn't matter who you are - you're wrong. A track that invites riders to go full throttle on very long straights and then try to slide around corners that are far too tight is asking for trouble. Or are you expecting riders to hold back for their own and other's safety? Whatever they choose it puts a severe limit on the chance of decent racing - which is what they're supposed to do. Speedway should be about 4 racers trying to outrace each other - not trying to beat the track.

People who think Beaumont park is an ANTI-speedway track might give up eventually yes... after a while it hurts banging your head continuously on a brick wall That won't make the awful track go away though

...or channel 167 if you have Sky.

Very sad. RIP Simmo

Lets face it it doesn't matter if he qualifies or not - he'll get in it somehow just as he did last year when he'd already been knocked out in the earlier stages! Obviously there's only Tai who deserves to be in the GP. Harris is certainly one of the bunch in the second tier of GB riders but NONE of those deserve to be in the GP on merit - they have to first PROVE they're good enough by qualifying (which of course Harris failed to do)

Exactly

I had a contract including Sky Sports - I cancelled after 2013 season and will renew for March but obviously if there is no speedway on Sky in 2014 then I won't. Eurosport is now separate from the Sky Sports package - it is included in another package called Sky Entertainment. As the poster after you has confirmed GP coverage is continuing on Eurosport then I'll renew this only. Good - Thanks