Hackett

So we are now 6 GP's through the series and 5 to go .... so just over halyway ... Thought I would have a look at the riders and analyse there mid term report ... SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX 2007 1st PEDERSEN, Nicki 24 23 11 16 12 24 110 Was quick out of the tapes and has left the competition trailing. With the points system changed to stop one rider running away with the title. Nikki has been as dominant as Crump and Tricks have been in previous years. A+ 2nd ADAMS, Leigh 12 10 21 18 14 8 83 Has consistently scored well and won his first SGP in Sweden. Lacked a little in Prague when he could of made a march on his challengers for the no.2 race jacket. B 3rd ANDERSEN, Hans 9 13 20 12 13 8 75 Is it harsh to say that expected more from Hans .. Has been good in the heats but has faltered during the semi finals on a couple of occasions. B- 4th HANCOCK, Greg 19 15 9 7 17 6 73 Started the season well but then has fallen away slightly with some bad SGP's. Doubt he is happy with situation and needs to shake and bake the last 5 !!! C 5th CRUMP, Jason 12 13 4 9 15 11 64 Had struggled with form, equipment and just sheer bloody mindiness has got him where he is. Has not looked competitive whatsoever and for the reigning WC not good enough C- 6th HARRIS, Chris 7 15 9 5 20 5 61 Whatever he does from now he will be remembered for Cardiff's awesome performance which followed on from the podium place in Poland. Has surpassed all expectations already needs to steadily improve and concentrate on getting better when conditions dont suit. B+ 7th HAMPEL, Jaroslaw 8 6 5 7 8 16 50 Hugely disappointiong like all the Poles in the SGP series ... looked more on the pace at Prague but has been poor and needs to improve in the last 5 meets to consolidate his top 8 place. D 8th JONSSON, Andreas 7 5 5 16 5 7 45 Flattered to deceive apart from Parken where he was lucky to qualify for final then flew ..... Seems to have got out of control a few times and been in the wrong place at wrong time .. Will no doubt miss the next 2 SGP's and be looking for a wild card into next season D- 9th HOLTA, Rune 2 6 9 5 5 16 43 Has been in the SGP but you barely would of known until Prague .. Followed decent SWC performance with good Prague SGP but for a rider who was quick and on the pace last year been lacklustre in 2007 D- 10th NICHOLLS, Scott 4 6 4 7 9 12 42 Has had an up and down season both in the EL and the SGP however after a slow slow start seems to be riding himself out of bad form. Looked better at Cardiff and on the pace eventually at Prague and a decent performance to reach the final. Needs to continue this progress as he has too many cheap Wild Cards D 11th JAGUS, Wieslaw 14 6 6 3 0 9 38 Great start in SGP series but has then suffered from injury following his wipe out from N Pedersen when he was looking on the pace ... has not returned to initial form although looked better at Prague .. Needs to continue to develop ... D 12th GOLLOB, Tomasz 10 3 9 11 3 1 37 Think this could be the great mans swansong in the SGP - On his day with his oversized / sorry Polish engines he has the beating of most but seems like a tempermental teenager when the track is against him .. if he doesnt gate he pulls up .. Hope he has an awesome farewell at Bydgosczw - E 13th PEDERSEN, Bjarne 5 8 3 5 7 6 34 Excellent in the EL and has led Poole to the play off positions with Jason Crump has proved an awesome twin attack yet has a "touch of the Adams" in that he cant transfer that form to the SGP series .. has been way below par .. started off ok then the big crash with Nikki seems to of knocked the stuffing out of his ambitions and chances. D- 14th ZAGAR, Matej 5 7 7 1 5 8 33 Last year was excellent and had a couple of good results this year ... I cant remember him putting together a run of decent races , so consistency been his downfall. Disappointing and due to lack of appeal needs to make sure he gets in top 8 ... D- 15th LINDBÄCK, Antonio 3 0 3 9 7 0 22 6 pts after 3 SGPs ..could only improve ... spent to much time listening to others instead of getting himself race fit and ready to go. Improved but always playing catch up - Now suffering from a wrist injury .. Will be hoping for a wild card that not really deserved BUT is marketable !!!! E

I had it on but was quite bored with the processional racing and most of the entertainment was provided by Hamill and ermolenko's expertise. Nikki Pedersen was just awesome , nobody could even get close to him .... he was streets ahead and never looked like getting headed. Crump considering his injury was excellent , how much pain must that guy of been in ... deserveda final spot just for sheer bloody mindness to race. Adams was disappointing and his poor SGP has handed the title to NPedersen IMO Hancock / Lindback neither looked fully fit and obviously suffering from there recent spills. Harris / Gollob both suffered with track conditions and a tack that had little near the fence both tried the outside line only to go into reverse. Nichollsdid excellent to reach the final and then did the normal cras first turn and start to waste his chances. andersen most disappointing not sure what the situation with HA was he just did not look on the pace whatsoever.

Think Thurs will give us a taster on how Sat will go ..... If the Poles win convincingly like they did last time in Poland imagine they will be favourites with the Danes close 2nd in the betting. I agree Team GB did well to qualify but with Sweden losing AJ and then Lindback the outcome was determined pretty easily and it was more a case of how early the team would confirm qualification. Rider for rider Nicholls and Harris should do ok and Richardson has done well in Poland .. Kennett / Stead is where the opposition will look to pick up points but hopefully they can ride out of their skins as a medal would be a good achievment

It seemed as though the Polish manager (see speedway star) was always going to bring in Balinkski if the Poles went to the run off. Be interesting as I imagine will see plenty of dirt .... and can see Poland qualifying for the final.

In Soccer Am style - Chris Bomber Harris "TAKE A BOW SON , TAKE A BOW !!!!!!!!" Excellent perormance a true racer and not a gating tart .. i have a sore throat and did not get home until 4am ... having got absolutely soaked walking to car. Hour wait in car park queing before escaping the jaws of the NCP without paying and then running into a gridlock M4 !!!!!! But to experience the performances of Bomber Harris and the efforts of Scott Nicholls was well worth it. Glad Howe enjoyed the experience too ... Was up in the rafters as SeeTickets F==cked up my tickets so not impressed as I could not get a true reflection of the atmosphere but a fantastic meeting. Track was not as good as Parken but who really cares !!!! Superb performance by Bomber ...watched it again this morning and the Grand Final still makes me

That was not people queuing to buy tickets , it was people having to collect tickets as the ticket companies had main a major bulls- up !!!! I booked my tickets in Oct and did not receive tickets due to problems was instructed to collect them .... Only to find that my party had been split up all over the stadium .... Absolute dogs danglers IMO

Just got 12/1 forn hancock on my Sporting Odds account ..... Sorry all hancock fans !!!

The attendance will be 40,000 whether there are less people attending Cardiff than last year ............BSI attendance figures Having been to Poland last year for bydgoszcz , I personally feel that the novelty factor at Cardiff is starting to wear off.

Exactly .... this is the longest series of the SGP with 11 rounds ... Ok so Nicki P has got a lead on the rest of the riders but there is a long,long way to go. Plus was it not stated by Crump on monday that lonigo is a strange sort of track and quite dificult to pass on. Nicki Pedersen has been excellent for Eastbourne home and away this season. YET amazingly despite his dominance he has not looked as quick round Arlington as he did last year. So there could be even more to come from the Eagle. However he looked much quicker than the other SGP riders ... but a lot of the SGP riders look to be struggling. Crump was struggling all meeting with setups / machinery and considering the pace he had (Holta / Crump ) match race i would imagine he grab a final spot with both hands despite being 12 points down on Nicki. Yet over 10 meetings I would expect Crump to believe he can make that up ... Hancock was excellent as ever and rode the right lines to dominate nicki apart. Adams looked good in spells but out of the dodgy gates did not look quick enough. The Great British hopes, Nicholls did not look quick enough or gate well enough and if he has broken his thumb I would expect him to be struggling to even ride in the next round. Bomber gave it his all and will be satisfied with his debut as a Full Time rider in the SGP but will need to get a series of starts to make an impression. He was in contention on 1/2 but on the graveyard gates struggled. Lindback was woeful ... barely managed to look more on the pace that the Italian reserves ... If he dont knuckle down and hit the ground running in sweden / Poland could be along old season. Jagus was the best of the Poles looked quick when he had fresh air in front of him but seemed to struggle when at the back. But an excellent effort from the Pole and with Wroclaw next round must be hoping for another good return. Gollob and Hampel were ok in spells and both will be looking to make an impression on May 12th. AJ like Gollob did ok but did not pull up any trees .... Bjarne and holta both seemed to just have one of those meetings ..

Should be quality ... looking forward to this SGP ... Going courtesy of Ballinger Tours // fly out from stanstead Fri am and return Sun eve. Wife is with me but hopefully she will have too much vodka and goto bed early. Those getting their early can you stand on the track and ensure OO dont take the dirt off

1st CRUMP, Jason 20 25 25 25 20 25 16 14 11 181 2nd HANCOCK, Greg 5 20 20 16 13 9 12 4 25 124 3rd PEDERSEN, Nicki 25 14 16 4 6 9 11 6 18 109 4th JONSSON, Andreas 8 5 10 20 7 9 25 7 16 107 5th ADAMS, Leigh 10 7 11 6 12 16 18 12 8 100 6th ANDERSEN, Hans - - - - 25 18 20 25 4 92 - Already qualified 7th ZAGAR, Matej 9 18 4 9 4 10 4 20 11 89 8th LINDBÄCK, Antonio 9 2 6 8 16 4 3 18 20 86 9th HAMPEL, Jaroslaw 4 16 8 18 2 4 10 16 7 85 10th GOLLOB, Tomasz 18 9 18 7 3 7 4 6 4 76 11th NICHOLLS, Scott 9 9 5 8 8 20 8 - 9 76 12th PEDERSEN, Bjarne 5 6 7 12 18 10 8 2 7 75 Gollob and Hampel likely to have a big big meeting in Bydgoscz so should jump a couple of places ..... Nicholls has sworn if he does not qualify he will not ride next season. So that will be interesting to see how that situation goes because looking at the scores he is going to need a final place. Bjarne Pedersen may be a Wild Card but may have to sweat for a place. He is immediately replaced by another Dane Hans Andersen but in all honesty there is not a great deal of top class riders out there - SO I can see Bjarne getting nominated again. Should Hampel / Gollob have the big meeting in Poland that will be 3 poles in next year , so the WC may go to Freddie Lindgren who is probably ready to make the next big step up.

Thought Lindback was excellent value on Saturday and deserved his rostrum place and was unlucky to loose the final. Shame that Lindback, Hampel, and AJ are unlikely to ride in the EL next season.

I wonder if this may be reconsidered if his collar-bone injury prevents him from making the top 8 !! Has a ready made excuse now ... Plus with Cardiff being the Speedway SGP jewel in the crown will need 2 Brits in series. Loram would be popular but would tend to go against the BSI trait ... so I guess it would be between Stead and Bomber .... Bomber out performed Stead in the GP Qualifier so the balance would favour him I guess BUT is Steady more marketable !!!

Congratulations Crumpie on winning the World Crown !!!

Congratulations to Jason Crump on his World Title ..... simply rewards his excellent season, he has been far and away the best rider out of the 16 riders. I understand that in terms of the SGP series he has won the title in the quickest time, which is some going considering TRicks performances last year. Which brings me to congratulating the BSI on not having Hans Andersen in from the start of the series as he should of been !!! Perhaps if he was in from the start they might of had some competition for Crumpie this season and in the last couple of SGPs be interesting to see if BSI are burnt financially in terms of attendances - or lack off.

Come on AJ !!!! 20/1 too good to not have a tipple at those prices.

Think the Wild cards nationality will be determined by the final 8 placings .... however if : Crump Hancock N Pedersen A Jonsson L Adams S Nicholls B Pedersen Gollob Make the top 8 this season - with the 3 qualifiers of Jagus Holta H Andersen The wildcards are likely to be : Hampel - Polish good sponsorship with Red Bull who the BSI must be continually pitching. Poland has 2 SGP's and biggest fanbase. Lindback - Most of the PR around the SGP's have been based on the boy from brazil etc etc. With him being black and offering excellent marketing opportunities and the next generation of Swedish rider and possibly AJ the only Swede in the top 8 - Nailed on for a Wildcard. Zagar - Has mixed it in a number of the SGP's and on his 1st season deserves another shot at the series. It is looking beyond these 3 then the equation gets difficult ..... BSI like British representation with Cardiff the jewel in the crown will they ensure a 2nd Brit. Harris did his chances no harm with 5th place in the qualifier BUT does he have the appeal of Loram ????? PK missed out in the final had a good season generally but has failed at SGP level will they offer him a go at the SGP's again or look at a younger option like Lindgren. Off the other riders in the SGP series Richardson has blown his chances and has continually failed to deliver. Will have to earn his place back in the series by qualifying next year. PROTASIEWICZ like Richardson has had plenty of opportunities and blown it ... Niels Kristian Iversen may get a place he is young exciting and featured in the Danish SWC team and the BSI marketing

As much as speedway fans may like Mark to ride in the SGP series it not going to happen. Unfortunately

Might as well hand him the trophy now , the guy has been streets ahead of the rest of the field. I am going to Bydgoscz so hopefully the top 8 will not all be over by then as well.

Kaj Lukkanen Gufarov Janusz Kolodziej - Early season form suggested he could of been a contender but struggled in SWC. With a good performance may become a consideration due to need for Polish representation and sponsorship .... Michael Max Hans Andersen - Will be in the SGP series next year even if he fails to make the top 3. has to be handed a Wild Card whatever. Chris Harris - With Richardsons' likely demise from the SGP as I cant see him making a top 8 finish. A good performance from Bomber or Stead may see them on the SGP stage with a Wild Card simply to give BSI 2 jewels to their Cardiff Crown. Peter Karlsson - If fit and on early season form PK has a great chance also ... although has struggled a little. Simon Stead - see Chris Harris .... Piotr Protasiewicz - Pentel could be the key but has struggled so badly on the SGP scene unless he makes top 3 - bye pepe !!!! Charlie Gjedde - Martin Smolinski Rune Holta - I understand the meeting is on one of his home tracks so should have a good chance of qualifying. I wonder if he does whether he will become Polish again ...... Wieslaw Jagus Ryan Sullivan Robert Kosciecha Matej Ferjan

I got no problem with Hans Andersen .... He is riding out of his skin at the moment. I think that he can be overly aggresive on the track but every sport has a good guy and a bad guy. It is often portrayed that rider are thus because it sells tickets !!!!!!!!! Previously in speedway it used to be Gollob around the time of the Boyce incident so much so that Sky tried to mention nicknames in commetary and say Gollob rather than Tomasz Gollob as it sounded more sinister ... Crump had it for a while as he was so commited to win and would get frustrated in the pits throwing gloves etc . Nikki Pedersen got mantle passed on to him and now that he "seems" to have calmed down on track it has been passed onto Hans for the moment. Sky Sports always promotes the Brits and is crying out for a Brit winner and Scotty has been the pin up boy of British speedway for a while now ... simply because following Loram dropping from the SGP series, Scotty is the best Brit by a back straight and is portrayed as the good guy. Any rider in the SGP series has to be mentally and physically strong to win a SGP ... I dont care two hoots about riders feuds and obviously there is bad feeling between Scott and Hans from the SWC in 2004 and Ipswich days ... let it carry on it creates a great story and hopefully will create fantastic racing now and into the future. ...

The Bris have been hammered for not being hard enough .... Scott on Greg was hard but fair racing. If he let him through all and sundry would be asking why he did not close the door. Scotty may not make it to be World Champion but he is whole back straight better than the other Brits at the moment.

At last a decent track and we get a good SGP .... a number of good races and a Brit on the rostrum. Congratulations to Crumpie because that is his 2nd World Title in the bag !! Excellent race in the final pressuring Hans into mistake and then gone !! 25ts !!Pretty tough on Bjarne but thats SGP racing. Nicholls was fortunate to make the final. Zagar was going slow into the corner and went down pretty easily but he was in front and certainly touched by Scotty. However over the course of the year they tend to even out over the course of the season. As for hoping he gets "wiped out" considering the accident to Ales Dryml and Luke Priest recently you should hang your head in shame. IMO your know better than the thugs who threw bottles at the Danes. Hans Andersen was excellent value again and made a mockery of the BSI / FIM ...by competing superbly and showing if he was in the series Crump may of had a serious contender.

"What goes around comes around" I believe were his words Thurs ..... Now I think HA is having a superb season and was harshly treated by BSI and FIM for saying the tracks were pee poor amongst other things. But was it not him who went down with barely a touch by Crump at Cardiff 2005 ??? Plus on a couple of occasions at SWC and SGP last season he hit the dirt without being touched ... HA riding in England so long you may of come across the line "Pot kettle , kettle pot "

Congratulations to Denmark over the course of the meeting they deserved the victory !! Their team strength was greater than opposition. DENMARK - Nikki P and Hans Andersen were dominant and forceful. Bjarne and Gjedde picked up points and good support. NKI a SGP rider and the poss weak link picked up the victory when the chips were down. SWEDEN - Seemed to struggle especially PK and Max yet still claimed silver. AJ was quick and rode well. Lindback seems to be heading in the right way and claimed a couple of deent wins. Lindgren did ok without pulling up any trees. AUSTRALIA - Crump was excellent again and just his will to win cost him and the Aussies. Sullivan and Adams seemed to struggle. Expected Adams to be dominant on an EL track but he was someway off top form. Wiltshire did wel to come back after the crash in heat 2 !! Mcgowan think the occasion was too much for him TEAM GB - Nicholls showed he can mix it with the best but needs to get his gating sorted. Excellent performance and lead from the front. Loram , Louis , Harris gave there all but none of them could gate and missed out. Richardson like his season was inconsistent. As for the facilities absolutely dire ... putting a burger van in and 5 portaloos does not warrant rubbishemead as a SWC venue FACT