celticboy

Some nice video montages with Boycie laying Gollob flat, and the Nicholls/Safutdinov punch-up. Including Holloway (who really should have been handed a pit ban for that) being a "hard man" when it was all over.

The Navy Display would have been good, if it had been the full on "over walls/across chasms" display. Sadly it wasn't. The abseilng was interesting but didn't work having them drop just on the start line. I've always thought that a good tie in would be motorcross or bmx stunt riding. and PLEASE god no more So you think that britain has got the x-factor rubbish

Why not combine Speedway events with MX events? Forget half time concerts by X-factor rejects, whny not have half an hour of MX stunts in the centre field? you could have one large jump in the middle and it would be a damn sight more exciting than a lacklustre field gun race. Why not have speedway demos at MX events? you stick a dirt track (basically a long track) around the perimeter and at half time in the MX, you stick 4 riders going hell for leather. Generate a bit of cross-interest.

Hmm, Greatest 7? 1 - Jason Crump (Naturally) 2 - Phil Crump (what can I say?) 3 - Tony Rickardsson (The Michael Schumacher of Speedway) 4 - Tomasz Gollob (As much as I think the guy has an appalling attitude, he's got a talent) 5 - Ivan Mauger (Is there another name in speedway that conjures up more?) 6 - Barry Briggs (Well, maybe Briggo's) 7 - Hans Neilsen Jason, Tony and Gollob are from the "resurgent" era when I started watching again, although I still remember Gollob's antics at the start of his career and relish seeing Boyce lay him flat. (am i just imagining it, or at one point during a heat,Gollob tried to grab another rider by the knackers during that period??) Phil & Hans are from the "just getting into Speedway" era, when my brother was taking me up to Swindon & reading. I don't remember ever seeing Briggo or Mauger, but you can't have the Top 7 without these two

From what I understand, Torun is sponsoring the series, and so get's pride of place on the bibs, whilst the individual GP main sponsors go on the fork/handlebar covers. I must admit, it does gripe me a little that so much of the sponsorship in speedway is either foreign (Torun, Akiw etc) or when it IS British, it's tiny firms like M Stead or Trucks R Us. I know that Red Bull & Monster are here too, but the hoped for tie between Red Bull F1 & Speedway hasn't materialised (aside from Webber visiting Crumpy). I think they missed a trick by not bringing a couple of the 2009 F1 cars (Mclaren, Red Bull Racing) etc over to the Millenium Stadium for the Fanzone Would be a nice tie in, and could have boosted sales for both. (Anyone else fancy watching a F1 car flooring it past the castle? Unfortunately, until Speedway loses it's image as a poor man's sport, it's not going to get the attention it deserves. Maybe the answer is for a BIG NAME to take on a Speedway team. For the cost of a month of F1 development, a team owner could buy 21 bikes, protective gear, helmets, trucks for transport etc and have 7 riders with no "pay for points" system, but instead a regular salary, all the mod cons etc. Run it like an F1 team (on a much smaller scale) and maybe the interest will pick up. After all, would you support the Poole "Penske" Pirates or Swindon "Red Bull" Robins, or even Newport "McLaren" Wasps.. Just a food for thought moment of "What If Speedway had real, serious investment" Could you imagine Lotus operating the Newport track?? you think it would have problems with the conditions? And just think, they could bring the startline girls from the F1 series too

I said earlier I'd run the scoring as 4,3,2,1 in the semis, then double it in the final, (8,6,4,2) You maintain the scoring gap for the leaders, but the people making the semis aren't wasting petrol

Ref with two bad errors, a few "ouch" moments as riders hit the deck, plenty of work for the ambulance drivers (Wonder if they practice "gating" before the event?) Sure i heard a shriek of delight from the direction of young Miss DB for Tai making the semis.. The more I watch, the more I'm sure the points should be changed for the Semis & Final (4,3,2,1 for each SF, 8,6,4,2 for the Final) Glad to see Crump on form again, shame Gollob was at home on a track that seemed virtually designed for him. Along with Pedersen, he's a rider who's skill is undeniable but whose attitude is poor). But he was unstoppable tonight. I was a little disgusted with the fan throwing a toilet roll onto the track before the race was done, but that was about the limit of my disapointment (apart from Crump not quite managing to score)

Surely this would be "off" the track completely? I admit, i'm not up to date on the rulebook, but what Gollob did caused the stoppage of the race. if he wanted to protest, he could quite easily have pulled off the track completely, then spoken to the referee to lodge a formal protest. He did what he did deliberately, and with forethought. No matter what happened in that heat, Gollob's actions introduced a possible danger to other riders by leaving his bike on the dirt. That cannot, and should not, be allowed. No matter what Pedersen did, it did not leave the bike unridable, Gollob continued around the bend before ditching it, he had half a lap on that motorcycle which was more than enough to place it where every other rider does when they drop out of a heat. On the centre field. Gollob deliberately put his bike in a position where he knew it would interfere with the heat and cause a re-run. Whether he hoped to be in the re-run, or just wanted to punish Pedersen who was in 2nd, it was a example of bad sportsmanship which deserves some measure of punishment. Whether this is in the form of a fine, a suspension, a GP ban (Personally, I think a monetary penalty and a suspended GP ban for one year)is probably the best way to go. Pedersen's actions should have absolutely no bearing on this. What Gollob did was unsporting, dangerous and clearly breached the rules of the GP speedway event.

You mean the pile-up in the first corner featuring Andersen, Gollob and Sayfutdinov as Crumpy outgates the lot and picks up another win?

Pedersen is a racer. If there's a chance he can overtake he will. He's ruthless and unmerciful on the bike, and often let's his temper get the best of him if he's excluded, telling anyone and everyone who will listen that it's never his fault, when it often is. I respect his talent, but not his attitude. Gollob on the other hand spat his dummy, threw his toys out of the pram and deliberately caused a dangerous situation. He, like Pedersen has talent, but again, his attitude, especially when things don't go his way, stinks. What Pedersen did is considered "hard and tough racing", but what Gollob did was worse than all of Pedersen's tantrums on camera. He left his bike in a deliberately dangerous position. If he felt he could not continue, he should have done what every other rider does and leave the track (With his bike) of course, because it's Gollob, because he's 2nd and because the reaction of Polish fans & teams would be hard for the FIM to bear, he'll get away with a slap on the wrist and a small fine.

Hmmm 1 out of 2 ain't bad... Crumpy's win overcomes the sadness felt over Swindon's loss. Next year, Crump for WC for the 4th time, Robins to win the Elite League and Newport to win the PL. Remember, you heard it here first..

I spent two years in the Emirates and saw less sand than tonight Glad to see that Ole's reputation for slickness is getting picked up more though.

Have you been watching the same GP's I have? Nicki P has spent more time on the floor than on his bike. At least Crump has managed to remain upright most of the time. Crumpy's good enough to win this year..and I'd like to see him eventually challenge Rickardsson's tally (I don't think he'll do it back to back, but I think he'll come close) On the other hand, I still can't stand Gollob since I saw the way he rode in the beginning of his career.

Try - http://www.justin.tv/coalhouse7 It's working, it's Sky Extra on the Red Button

No rubbish, sherlock. I meant, how is it NOW compared to before after I cleaned it for you. Honestly, there was enough crud in that machine to lay new track at Newport.

Already been there and it's not a pretty place to be. Luckily, I developed callouses on my ears years before. How's the computer?

Your wife, your daughter and you? I suppose it would constitute noise pollution. Mind you, your daughter's enough to count for two people on her own.

Your darling daughter always has had a big mouth, DB Never mind, with a bit of luck, I'll go next year to balance out the male/female ratio for you.

I actually think it was a case of both of them wanting to get into the pits in front of the other. Emil's elbow was in front, but neither wanted to give way to the other. If either had shut off, the other would have gone in cleanly, but they were so focused on their argument, they rode into the fence. Six of one, half a dozen of the other, and all boils down to Emil's tantrum on track at getting ridden hard for maybe the first time in his GP career. So far, his ability and audacity has gotten him through where nobody has expected. He's often swooped around the outside, with inches to spare and gotten the drop on the others, but this time, Nicholls knew he was there, was expecting him to come around the outside fast, late in the heat, and did what he could to block him. Emil tried a cut back a moment too early, clipping Nicholl's mudflap which locked him up slightly. Nobodies fault, but Emil had a strop on about it and his immaturity showed through (as it did last GP when he had a scream at Pedersen).

Ok, New to the forum, so I think I'll throw my hat into the ring on. Some really good racing in this GP, far better than I've seen so far this GP season. The Sayfutdinov/Nicholls ruckus seemed pretty clearcut to me, with Scott riding him hard and yes, "pushing" him out wide, but all's fair in GP speedway and more than once Emil's riding style has caused me to wince. The boy is heading for a big accident at some point. He then decided to give Nicholls a bit of mouth (not easy when English is probably his 3rd or 4th language), Nicholls got bored of the verbals and tried pushing him away in a "piss off mate" kind of way, then started to cruise into the pits. Emil's obviously got a pretty quick temper and decided to block him in the most petulant display I've seen for a while. A bit of a barney then ensues which should have cost both men either a suspension or docking of points. Holloway's interference should have resulted in a straight out exclusion from the pits. The fight was over, both were being walked apart and he decided to take a cheap shot. Not acceptable in my book. Pedersen's exclusion was both laughable and incredible. The ref had shown consistency, then decided to throw that out of the window and exclude Pedersen. He probably hasnt endeared himself to ref's with some of the behaviour he's shown lately (and from the reigning champ? Not on) All of this can't take away from Crumpy's achievement though. He was on it all night, and whilst he was lucky with his fall, he rode the luck (and his bike) all the way. Next round should be interesting and I hope it can live up to Cardiff.