ladyluck

Still, it was a very fine performance all round from Harris, who together with Hancock, has given himself a golden opportunity to qualify. It now looks impossible for Nicki P to qualify and very difficult for Jonsson and Andersen. To be honest, both Jonsson and Andersen wouldn't be huge losses.

I'm not sure what the rules say about such an incident, but I would imagine that, having failed to stop the race, the referee was powerless to do anything about Gollob and his point. I guess with the riders on the last couple of turns, the referee didn't want to have a re-run, where either Gollob (unlikely because he'd have been excluded) or Holta gets a second chance. A bad GP for Gollob, who seems to be struggling to hold it all together, but not the best for Crump either. He could only manage third place and missed a great chance to really take a big bite out of Gollob's lead. The biggest loser was surely Hampel, who has now put in a couple of very poor GPs and could be drifting out of the title race. Other major losers were Jonsson, Andersen and Nicki P.

He ought to make the top eight. If he doesn't after this performance then he still doesn't deserve yet another nomination. Andersen and especially Jonsson are riding dreadfully at the minute, but both are capable of winning GPs (both might also benefit from being shown the door, as both just tread water in the GPs).

I suppose I'm classed as a "Harris knocker". So, where am I now? Well, I'm here, as it goes. Where are all the "Harris unknockers" the rest of the time, when Harris is floundering pathetically? Ah yes, they're making excuses. Harris did very well today, to a point, but you always suspected that choosing red in the final, placing yourself alongside the fast-gating Hancock, might be an error of judgement. So it proved, just as Gollob's choice of red in Malilla was an error. Speaking of Gollob and errors, he made plenty today and should really have been excluded in the semi-final. Strange refereeing performance. Stopped a race that didn't need stopping and then failed to stop a race that did need stopping. Holta had every right to be furious. Jonsson and Andersen out of the top eight; Hancock and Harris in and they scored so much more heavily than the two riders they replaced that they'll have a good lead. Harris could finally qualify.

Regarding Hancock, another good GP for the American, so far today. Harris superb, but the two riders immediately above him (Lindgren and Hancock) are matching him, more or less. Jonsson looks to be heading out of the top eight and Andersen could well be following him. In the great scheme of things, they both have better claims to a nomination than Harris.

I gather Torun and Leszno have already agreed to this date, but hasn't the decision to delay the Under-21 SWC Final, at Rye House, until a Sunday seen Zielona Gora and Wroclaw move one of their meetings to the Sunday you mention already? That being the case, they'll have to reschedule, presumably to a date that clashes with British fixtures. However, since it appears the Under-21 SWC change seems to have been a British decision, perhaps any complaints in the event of a clash should be addressed to Mr Leonard Silver.

Just "a bit"? Tomasz Chrzanowski won the "odd race here and there", but it didn't get him a nomination. Magnus Zetterstrom has won the "odd race here and there" (and made a final), but it's not going to get him a nomination.

Earlier today. The draw is: 1 F Lindgren (SWE) 2 H Andersen (DEN) 3 T Gollob (POL) 4 T Woffinden (GBR) 5 R Holta (POL) 6 J Hampel (POL) 7 G Hancock (USA) 8 N Pedersen (DEN) 9 M Zetterstrom (SWE) 10 C Harris (GBR) 11 [W] J Pavlic (CRO) 12 A Jonsson (SWE) 13 C Holder (AUS) 14 J Crump (AUS) 15 [R] D Watt (AUS) 16 K Bjerre (DEN) 17 [TR] M Duh (SLO) 18 [TR] J Tabaka (HUN)

When the Polish fixtures were decided, the Rye House event was scheduled for the Saturday, not Sunday. Janowski is a bigger miss for Wroclaw than Dudek is for Zielona Gora, in my opinion. Wroclaw will also be without team manager Marek Cieslak, who also manages Poland's international sides. I wouldn't imagine either club would be too upset if the weather intervened.

One would imagine that the atmosphere in the Green Mountain town's stadium (69 Wroclaw Street, interestingly, given the visitors) will be hotter than the young lady who presents the Polish GP coverage, as the Falubaz faithful try to intimidate Crump and Co into submission. Expect an extravaganza of green and yellow in the stands. ZKZ are the current champions and won't let go without a fight (not literally, hopefully, although the Falubaz fans have a reputation for going a little too far, occasionally). I'd expect an already "difficult" track to be suitably prepared for home domination as a big lead will be wanted to take to lower Silesia.

Ward clearly has bags of potential, but it looks like his attitude and approach are being questioned in Poland. I don't know how long a contract Ward signed with Torun. If it was just for this season, then maybe Ward will see if the grass is greener elsewhere, especially if Pulczynski continues where he left off against Wroclaw (taking rides away from Ward). If it was a multiple-season contract, then I don't think Torun would be wise to let him go, especially if Pulczynski's performance on Wednesday was just a "flash in the pan".

Chris Holder = 11+1 (5 rides) Darcy Ward = 1 (2 rides) Leon Madsen = 3+1 (5 rides) http://www.sportowefakty.pl/zuzel/2010/08/25/unibax-torun-betard-wts-wroclaw-5535-wynik/

I think it'll be Zielona Gora versus Leszno in the final, which would be a bit of a local derby. No love lost between the Falubaz Hools and Leszno, as some forumites discovered a few seasons ago when they took in a meeting between the two clubs after a Polish GP. However, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Torun gave Leszno a bit of a fright in the semi-final.

I guess Marek Cieslak must still be manager of Wroclaw? He missed a Joker opportunity during the SWC Final, although Poland did ultimately prevail. Or maybe it suited Wroclaw to lose big enough to not face Leszno. That said, I think Zielona Gora will defeat Wroclaw easily enough and that the Torun-Leszno meetings could be the more compelling.

It seems, according to sportowefakty.pl, that Marek Cieslak has decided that the following five riders will defend Poland's title: Maciej Janowski Patryk Dudek Artur Mroczka Szymon Wozniak Przemyslaw Pawlicki Poland's record in this competition is rather good. They're the only nation to have won it.

No.

I haven't forgotten how he did it. By not being excluded for an accident that was clearly his fault and by defeating a bunch of hapless nonentities. Being British champion means nothing these days.

I think you're being generous there. Harris isn't really that good when it comes to league racing. I doubt he is No 1 rider for his team in Poland (a "lower" tier club). He's definitely not No 1 rider for his Swedish club (that honour belongs to a certain Mr Gollob). He's not even Coventry's No 1. He does, however, have a good record in the British Final. That will end up being the justification from his followers if he manages another nomination. "They can't not have the British champion there" will be the mantra.

Neither gives any sign of being ready to throw in the towel, indeed Gollob spoke of "maybe next year" after his engine failure at Cardiff. Both seem to be in good condition, physically. Neither of them endures the supposed rigours of the British scene. Both are still more than capable of holding their own. As far as I'm aware, neither has a film career in the offing. Also, the GP series itself will lose an awful lot when Gollob finally hangs up the kevlars.

There is no chance of Emil Sayfutdinov being left out next season. That's not going to happen. He's won three GPs last season and made the final in one of the two GPs he completed this year. There would be outrage if he were left out. No one would take the world championship seriously, especially if a relative nonentity like Harris, who has never qualified for the GPs, was included.

Prior to his dreadful crash in 1978, Owen was averaging over nine in the British League, Steve Schofield never came anywhere close to that. Owen returned to the National League when Hull folded ahead of the 1982 campaign. I think he had one further British League campaign in 1984, when he topped Newcastle's averages.

I think he was a late starter - over 21-years-old when he took to shale-shifting.

Was Steve Schofield? Another omission from your generations is Joe Owen (in the PC, Morton, Jessup generation), whose career was cruelly blighted and then ended by injury.

Yes, very good of Torun. The only problem is what sort of team would they send? After all, one would imagine that Chris Holder and Darcy Ward would figure in Poole's plans for 2011. If they are in Torun's plans it could turn out to be a rather weak Torun team that comes to Wimborne Road.

I'm struggling to think of good non-Poles who are missing out on the Polish scene. They may not be in the Ekstraliga, to be sure, but I'd guess that they are somewhere in Poland (or Latvia and Hungary). Perhaps you'd care to enlighten me?