Gemini

We'll just have to agree to have differing opinions about this. If you think it's immature to comment on what was part and parcel of the Sky T.V. show then so be it. I would have said the same if it had been Mark Loram or Greg Hancock, but strangely enough although Mark had a cold I didn't see him blowing his nose with his fingers or spitting. When celebrities get to the top of their profession they should be someone to look up to, but that's just my opinion. You have yours, but I wouldn't call your opinion pathetic. Let Nicki carry on spitting, farting and snotting out his nostril contents to his heart's content, makes no difference to me but it won't make me respect or admire him I'm afraid.

So will I, with Summit and Pawprint.

Why is it not Nicki's fault? He knows the Sky cameras are all over the place and everything is filmed live. He chose to remove his helmet before heat 13 to spit twice knowing the cameraman was there, did two impressive ones before the semi-final, which anyone would have been proud of as they must have gone at least 3 feet, and then of course there was the nostil clearing whilst standing in a group of people including Alun Rossiter and the girl with blue headphones. He is our World Champion and I want to feel proud of him and no...I am not a Nicki hater. Just don't admire him very much. Anyway back to the racing. I don't know why there was such an issue about the tapes rising fractionally later on the inside because in 21 races - before they were checked - the rider on the inside in Red gated first on eleven occasions so it couldn't have been that much of a disadvantage. It seems to be pretty normal for a couple of the gates to be better than others in any meeting and in this case it was gate two (Blue)which was the worst. White gated first in 8 races and Yellow twice. Some good design Helmets on show and I particularly liked the Gold coloured ones belonging to Bjarne Pedersen and Hans Andersen. I was impressed with the attitude of Jason Crump, especially when he went to find Greg Hancock to sympathise with him after he was eliminated. Even then he got no credit from Tony Millard who said it was the other way round. I agree with all those who thought Tony Rickardsson was very lucky, but I would still prefer to see four riders in a race so didn't really mind the all four back decision. I think Tony Steele got it wrong though when he stopped heat 10 because Crumpy was already remounting. Rickardsson definitely had problems so was very lucky to get another chance in the re-run, when he should have been excluded for not being under power at the time the race was stopped. Some great racing and I hope the track at Cardiff is that good.

Phew! That would be an enormous undertaking and I can't see it ever getting off the ground, but good luck if anyone wants to try. I've got a photo of Charlie Barsby and Bryan Elliott. Never heard of them? That's what I mean! There are thousands of riders out there who have ridden in official fixtures. Perhaps it would be best to just pick a decade to start with - like 1990's to 2000 and then work backwards to Norbold's day.

Ah! At least my old memory is not playing tricks and I got the right people so no injustice done there. I'm sure you were all little Angels last year and will be this time as well.

I don't watch football so it doesn't bother me what they do, but I do watch Speedway and I don't particularly want to see our World Champion acting like some down and out tramp. Sorry but I can't imagine Greg Hancock or Mark Loram for instance doing this. No wonder Nicki has got loads of spots on his face. It's not a one off thing as last year he used a dirty cloth to blow his nose and then immediately wiped the sweat off his face and head with the same cloth. My god! No wonder I always keep away from the pits when at Speedway meetings so I can keep my rose tinted glasses on. Men ey?! Who'd have 'em.

We Gemini women notice things like that Addy. I dread to think what Nicki must be like with his personal habits if that's what he does when he knows the cameras are there. I remember him doing a similar thing with a dirty piece of cloth in one of the G.P's last season as well.

Don't worry about it Sir Matty - you're probably safe and I've got the wrong person and the wrong place. I thought it was dgm, Charles, Jay etc. who were wandering round the corridors late at night.

Enjoyed the GP tonight and would give it 8/10. Nicki Pedersen gets 10/10 for artistic impression for his spitting and nose blowing, using one finger on each nostril. Very clever as there must be an art to doing this and presumably he has to make sure the wind is blowing in the right direction. I live in hope there might be a sudden change one night. Not sure what to make of Tony Steeles decisions as I felt Trick was lucky to be allowed in the re-runs, but at least it meant we saw four man races so it wasn't an anti-climax, which sometimes happens when a top rider is excluded. Well done to Leigh Adams.

Are you making your poor children suffer the Grand Prix again Joanne? I thought you were going alone this year.

No thank goodness. I've heard all about your exploits last year.

True but it will be interesting to see which, if any, riders give the practice a miss. Can't see Lukas Dryml and Lee Richardson, for instance, deciding they'd rather ride at Peterborough the night before a G.P.

Thanks Norbold. Have looked at these now and they are very interesting, although it's a shame you don't have Charlie Barsby. Ham Burrell?? New one on me but what a great name.

Probably three quarters of the way through writing a new book on the Life and Times of Michael Lee. Well, he has got the week off work.

Poor soul. He doesn't stand a chance.

.....And is it me or does poor Ove look like he's grimacing from the pain of being held down in his seat by Shazzy?

Yes, I asked the same question last year. I can't believe that Andrzej is still riding competitively. Well done to him.

There must be a complete Dick Dastardly Bermuda Triangle Forum somewhere because overnight posts seem to disappear. ...

Ooops! Too late - she's gone. Incidentally my daughter is called Suzan and her name is always being spelt incorrectly. Just one of those things. Father's idea to call her Susan, but she has a strange mother who objected to the letter S having two different sounds in the same word.

Where are you Kelvin? Fancy missing that one.

And what about Kip? .. Is he included in the plans? (Dogs are allowed.) We have booked at a Travel Lodge near Ipswich, for 3 days at Easter, and I'm looking forward to trying it out as it sounds ideal for Speedway weekends away. I know there are also some good bargains to be had with Travel Inns, but I'm not too impressed with them following the email I had. You'd think a company of their repute could at least spell correctly when writing to potential customers. "Thank you for your e-mail. We regret that, with the axception of assistacne dogs, pets are not allowed in Travel Inns. regards ...central reservations."

I've been following as well Grachan so thanks for letting us watch the clips. Brilliant stuff!

Anyone know what year/s he rode for Leicester?

1 - 0 to Newxranger......

I always go in for a spot of metamorphosis in the Spring.