Hackett

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

Team GB were just not good enough FACT !!!! Nicholls proved that he can mix it with the big guns and the positive for him is that if he maintains that style of riding he will guarantee his SGP place next season. Richardson like his season was inconsistent on one of his former tracks. Loram is a racer and gating is not his strength thus struggled in the SWC Final. Louis strangely could not gate and just struggled throughout meeting .. Harris - Missed the start and that was that. At that level you cant afford too .... then in last two rides at least competitive. As for Floppy he has struggled with his engines all season and not been the dominant force .. he has been. But he is comong back from a head injury and no doubt confidence a little low with e/f and the alike. His last Smallmead visit was a 4+1 return I believe.

Crump was the rider to get Australia in with a chance !! All SWC he was only headed by Richardson until the last heat !! The guy just wants to win !!!! Lets be honest what is 2nd / 3rd in the World Cup NOTHING !!! Although I have to say I was quite happy as TEAM GB got 3rd and it disappointed a number of the Crump fans who must be the most irratating in the sport !!!!

I did not see that ?? Was that at the end of the meeting ??? I had already left .. but if I had seen it I would have a word in the mugs ear who threw it !!!! Either that or take a photo of the mug and send email it to Reading / BSPA or on here to shame the muppet.

As for the track and rain ..... having seen what they did to that Swedish track a couple of years ago when they dumped hot shale on the track and 30 minutes later they had racetrack that was spot on ... I have no sympathy. Sorry but this is the pinnacle of the sport as a team event .. if BSI / FIM (I care not ) want the sport to appeal to the masses this is one major opportunity. I fear this has been all done on the cheap and we are likely to be cheated ... time will tell.

Kevin Coombes is excellent at Eastbourne ... !!! His lack of knowledge for bends 3/4 is because he is in complete shock having walked on the track and tried to find some dirt. As for supporting Team GB and getting the crowd behind them sobeit tournament is in England so get used to it !!! You got a Danish track as well.

With the threat of Thunderstorms and the Danish liking for slick tracks .. dont expect anymore shale down.

OO always wants slick tracks ... look at Bydgosz last year and it was slick !!! The best track in the SGP and they removed all the dirt from it !! Hans Andersen said words along the lines of how OO likes the tracks - slick amongst other things ... as was bombed. Everytime the riders are interviewed at SGP tracks they say it is usually grippy and has more dirt but it is slick ....... Cant recall them ever saying ... trtack is so different there is just so much dirt on it !! Hope the track is not rubbishe Sat ... but then again from most on the forums the Reading track has been pretty dire all seaason ....

Denmark Australia Sweden Team GB Denmark for me ....... Lets be honest the track is not likely to change on Sat so would seem OO has got his way and provids another dogsh++e track. Hans is in superb form and after Crump is probably the form rider at the moment. Nikki P will be more dialled in than tonight. Crump should guarantee a double point return and if Wiltshire is fully recovered from his spill in Poland his gating ability on a sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick track will be worth a good sum of points. Travis on home track should aid their cause .... however it will be interesting to see how Travis deals with the added pressure. Sweden I think have greater strength than Team GB throughout the side on a slick track. Loram, Nicholls, Bomber, Stead are racers who would prefer a track with grip and passing opportunities. Nicholls has struggled getting out the gate all season, Loram has never been the best of trappers and Stead and Harris are not consistently bang into first corner. Richardson is perhaps the only gater in the Team GB ??? so why let OO have a slick track. On a dustbowl gating will be the precedent and the Aussies ,Swedes and Danes have the edge in that department. Although I will hope the crowd helps the Team GB guys ..... but cant see the atmosphere being like Poole.

Apart from speedway updates are there any live feedsof action on the internet ... polish tv or danish possibly??

So the Sky £££ has persuaded Sam not to ride I would of thought he would of enjoyed a spin round his home track ???? Or is it case of leting the younger riders have a go .....

I am getting there early to eat down the road ...because I remember the catering being dire .... the chicken nuggets were like bullets !!!

I remember reading sbout the Bulldogs at the start of the season in the Speedway Star and Sam Ermolenko was stating that each rider would have the opportunity of watching VT in the video van and access to Smallmead when they wanted. Well if it is good enough for Bulldogs it is good enough for Team GB !!!!!!! There are no meetings all week so get Loram, Richardson, Nicholls, Stead, Harris and Louis down to the track and practice,practice, practice for Thurs. That way we can have experience of the track get the bikes set up - dialled in and there are no excuses for a rider to not perform. Benefit to BSI they will get more punters in Sat for the SWC if Team GB qualify.

Still scratch my head why the track was slicker than Zidanes head !!!! Apart from the Gollob heats and the Harris vs Hampel race the the meeting was nothing more than processional .... it was only the closeness of the meeting that made it interesting. Good effort from Team GB though.

Not exactly the greatest racing track either is it ??? I understood that the BSI has applied to the council again - sure I read it in SS last week or week before. Got tickets for the final but somehow wishing I had not bothered ......

Noted on the reports a couple of people mentioned Nikki Pedersens poor display at Parken...... ..Reading the Eastie programme from last nights meeting "Ahead of the cup clashes with Wolves, Nikki has advised us that he will not be available for our matches next week at Arena and Swindon as he has to undergo more treatment for his wrist problems. he has assured us he will be back to take his place in arguably our two most important meetings. His place in the 2 meetings will be filled by Leigh Adams at Arena and Screenie at Swindon" May explain his performance. As even after the operation he has been icing his wrists between heats

With the first meeting in Poland , I would take : Nicholls Loram Louis Stead Richardson/Harris/Screen I think Floppy is Team GB through and through but cant recall him riding in Poland. He should be brought in for the run off as we dont have a hope in hell of winning (BSI be pleased guarantees good attendance) .... Reading Nicholls Norris Loram Stead/harris Richardson

He was my first speedway hero .... I can remember my father taking me to White City and Kennett was riding when I was 8/9 Sure he had the back wheel filled in with a Union Jack ... All I can remember it was the meeting when Dave Jessup was leading Ivan Mauger in one heat and Ivan clipped his back wheel ... looked like Jessup went 30ft in the air to my eyes

Going to look to purchase this on Saturday ..... wont get there till the afternoon so hope the copies will still be available