PTDragons

Thanks for that Jayne

Please can any Waspies / Hornets tell me when the Hornets v Hitmen fixture is. On the Newport website, it says May 2, with a Newport v USA Dream Team penned in for April 25, whereas on the BSPA site, it says the Hornets v Hitmen fixture is on April 25!! Also, what time is tapes up and what is the entrance price? Thanks guys.

Me!! Seriously though, you're quite right Malcolm about the poor crowds at Carmarthen but if (and a big if) a track could be located at somewhere like Swansea / Neath then I think that this would be a more viable option.

Carmarthen Dragons to return at Newport by any chance?!

Congratulations Tomasz Gollob. What a rider, thoroughly deserved and a legend of the sport. Bialo e Czerwoni!!

Crap if you access Sky Sports via Virgin Media as there is no red button

The wife & I really enjoyed the GP, the whole day including the fanzone was top notch and it was interesting to hear from Edward Kennett, Briggo & Leigh Adams. Thought the track was great, as was the racing and well done to Chris Holder who deserved his win. Pedersen still an arse as ever, he was lucky that it was only Andersen he had a fall out with, as he tried to nail a couple of others in his rides and how Watt got excluded The ref only had two decisions to make all night (All 4 back with Crump was the other) and he got them both wrong However, not to dwell on that, well done Holder, the wife was happy he won and I have to say the best rider won too. With Hampel taking the lead overall, it was a good night all round.

Well done Jarek on a great win - fantastic

Yes he is. At least put your personal grudge against him aside to admit that, cos I'm afraid Gollob will be back in 2010 to bug you further.

Gollob is one of, if not, the most entertaining rider in the GP series. Snyper, stop your snivelling

My 15 would be: Crump, Gollob, Sayfutdinov, Hancock, Jonsson, Pedersen, Holta, Bjerre, Lindgren, Andersen, Hampel, Zetterstrom, Holder, Lindback, Zagar. If Holta does not take up his option of a GP place (as is being reported), Maciej Janowski to replace him.

Hardly fair riding from NP but what I expect of him. Of course, Gollob should not have done what he did. However, perhaps Gollob should have gone down and Pedersen would have been excluded and not gone on to win the meeting.

Carmarthens first fixture in April 2002 saw the Dragons beat Kings Lynn 53-35 with the final fixture at the Showground on October 24 2004, when we drew 46-46 with the Buxton Hitmen. Carmarthen's final 7 were: Steve Bishop 17, Chris Hunt 4+1, Ben Wilson R/R, Dean Felton 11+1, Steven Jones 2+2, Darren Hatton 7 & Gordon Meakins 5+1. Going into heat 15 44-42 ahead, James Wright beat Bish with Benji Compton finishing ahead of "Mr Carmarthen", Deano to leave the scores 46-46. Top Carmarthen riders to have graced the Showgound were Steve Bishop, Ben Powell, Ben Wilson, Dean Felton, Trevor Harding, Matthew Cross, Darren Pugh, Craig Taylor, Shane Colvin (1st time round !!), Stuart Williams and "Sensational" Corey Blackman. As for racing lines, probably best that Deano answers that one!! However, the setting for the Showground on a Sunday afternoon was probably one of the best in British Speedway. It is frustrating for all to note that the Showground still remains to some degree and you are still able to make out the track (I drove round it in my car !!) The reason given by landlords that they needed the land for the use of a hotel complex is still as ridiculous now as it was back in 2004!! Carmarthen reformed as "Clwb Caerfyrddin" in 2005 for a few Challenge matches under the leadership of Laurence Rogers and meetings were held at Plymouth, Weymouth & Buxton I think with notable Dragons being Ben Barker (who broke the track record at the time at Weymouth riding for Clwb Caerfyrddin) and Ty Proctor, who has gone on to be a star this season for Redcar. Leading Averages / Number of Rides / Number of Points in the history of Carmarthen Dragons 2002-2004: Averages 1 Trevor Harding 10.35 2 Shane Colvin 9.65 3 Steve Bishop 9.27 4 Ben Wilson 8.80 5 Craig Taylor 7.96 6 Matthew Cross 7.80 7 Stuart Williams 7.70 8 Ben Powell 6.94 9 Dean Felton 6.93 10 Corey Blackman 6.77 Most Rides 1 Dean Felton 480 2 Darren Hatton 275 3 Ben Powell 257 4 Gordon Meakins 237 5 Craig Taylor 209 Most Points 1 Dean Felton 831 2 Ben Powell 446 3 Craig Taylor 416 4 Shane Colvin 321 5 Darren Hatton 302 One news topic found on the internet: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2340855.stm Hope this helps a little, it certainly helped me remember the good old days at the Showground at a great family club and all credit should go to Nigel Meakins and his family who tried to bring this great sport to West Wales.

Just reading this topic late at night - will look up my records tomorrow and post anything I have of interest relating to the mighty Dragons

Spook - I think you have hit the nail on the head there, both incidents with Adams and Bjarne should have been all 4 back at best or Nikki excluded. Awful refereeing. As for holding the tapes BWitcher, the problem is that all night, the ref was consistent with the tapes going up then changes it for the most crucial heats by holding.

So no Diamonds / Denmark bias in your post MM If you look at the score, I think you'll find that the Poles won. Team Poland deserved to win as the score suggests, simple as that.

And there was me thinking that Hans had "something wrong with my engine" Great quote from Nigel Pearson at the end, saying that Gollob is a Polish legend alongside the likes of Jerzy Dudek. Maybe Gregorz Lato, Kazimierz Deyna or Jerzy Szczakiel but Dudek - no

Agree with you John that perhaps the Poles will only ever win the World Cup in Poland, but at least they win the cup on home soil, which is something the Brits failed to do. Rune Holta did well and qualified to ride for Poland, in the same way I guess as Strauss, Pietersen, Geraint Jones et al qualied to play cricket for England. Well done to Poland - great performace.

Congratulations to the Poles on a superb victory - Gollob was outstanding and it's a pity that we don't see this form as regularly in the GP's as he would definitely be challenging more than he is now

Sure Tony Millard said of Jason Crump on his 5th heat ride "this is his last chance salon"!! Millard also said that there was a misunderstanding in the pits with the 2 minute clock on as they weren't letting the riders onto the track - no Tony, they were the riders for the next heat

You can have him - for Wales he's either average or "injured"

It was great to see the kids ride before the GP - what an experience for them all - I'm glad my Wife & I arrived early enough to see the 2 heats as we didn't know about it. It would have been good to put the heats in the programme as well as we didn't know who was riding until I read the posts on the forum today. Well done to the 8 riders - all looked good out there

Fantastic meeting - well done to Jarek Hampel - awesome performance, especially considering that this was his first meeting back since his injury - surely a GP win won't be too long in coming Fair play to Rickardsson though and especially for that 2nd bend in the Final - can't see him being caught now - too consistent. As for the meeting, great entertainment, plenty of passing, controversy and skill out there, I cannot see how anyone can complain about the meeting at all (unless you are a Crumpy fan - sorry Nash ). Looking at the TV today, Crump was certainly unlucky with his exclusion against Andersen but feel the other two exclusions were probably correct decisions. Well done to everyone for serving up a great spectacle

Apologies if the line up is on the forum elsewhere but with injuries to Hampel & Sullivan, does anyone know the definite 16 for tomorrow?

Yes, good to see "Sensational" back riding again after his troubles in the UK this season. Always well remembered at the Showground for his time with the Carmarthen Dragons