Dexter

When it comes to catholic affairs Poles are unbelievably painful. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done and I am pretty sure they will go on with the cancellation of the whole round.

Any chance to order at least some of these over the web?

That's not a very good thing for Australian speedway. Let's hope that the series doesn't shrink any more.

So much for Parramatta... and so much for seeing speedway because I am not going to Kurri Kurri for sure...

They actually have not paid money that they were supposed to and therefore have been suspended. Indeed, once paid, they will be allowed to ride. Just bear in mind that Holta will miss his first meeting in Torun due to disqualification in the last meeting against Gdansk.

For anyone interested - both Zielona Gora and Wroclaw are not far away from Leszno. You might wanna book some stay overnight after GP and see one of those two meetings.

So unlucky for Justin... I am sure he will improve in next meetings. I hope to see him during Aussie Champs.

Great example of how top riders of "the most professional speedway league in the world" perform in situations like that. Hampel is not the only one. Gollob used to do things like that in the past and so did Protasiewicz. Remember how they were banned from meetings in Elite League? Stay cool, Hampel. Australia and Leigh will do just well without your attendance...

Troy Batchelor has pulled out and there are rumours he would be banned from national team (as per Sportowe Fakty). Traditionally, Crump, Sullivan are not there. Holder will be defending his title, Ward and Watt will be there too.

It's 19-th December now and... ?

I would say that claiming that Poles control speedway is exaggeration. They can hardly control their own league. Every year half of Polish clubs struggle with fulfilling their financial commitments to the riders and half of the rules are changed. Obviously, they try to have that all, mainly because of lack of successes for many years. This is why we have three GP-s in Poland. They are now on fire (as long as Gollob is in form and Scandinavians together with Brits struggle to provide strong resistance). On the other hand - which stadiums outside Europe could run GP? Australia, New Zealand - they are approached almost every year but there is never enough sponsors to allow to run the event. We've heard about returning GP to Australia since many years and nothing ever happened. Surely, there are many venues where it could be done. The problem is obviously on financial site. It is simply not profitable.

Has anyone ever pre-purchased tickets on Parramatta Speedway website? I see the tickets section and it mentions such option but I cannot actually make a purchase.

Gollob as a personality of the year? Naaaah, even in Polish language he isn't one. Not sure if Ward has much chance to succeed in his category either. He may have won the second title but apart from that it wasn't his year at all. He struggled in the leagues, his overall performance wasn't impressive at all.

Second round is to be run in Kurri Kurri. Has anyone ever been there? It is not that far from me and I am also considering seeing it. What time may these meetings start?

There were some issues between Stekkers and Leon Madsen if I am not mistaken? This may have been one of the reasons? I don't really see any other reason why decision like that would be made.

To me he's trying to get some more offers from 1-st league by spreading that sort of gossips. We shall see...

Face it mate... you are from Bydgoszcz, you are hoping it won't happen so that your team (which was beaten in a fair fight) will have chance to grab their place in Ekstraliga.

They will not be virtual anymore once all the money is paid off.

There would be quite a few but one I can remember very well is Simon Wigg. Amazing rider, top class rider. Kelvin Tatum would be another one. Although he never achieved what he was able to due to... not sure what? Anyone? Paul Thorp was a great rider at that time and so was Jeremy Doncaster.

Let's hope this was not just one time achievement from Bomber and he can advance from now on. Rzeszow fans (including myself) would also love to see him to be a bit more regular in Poland especially since he is going to ride in Ekstraliga.

You can as well consider a flight to Poznan or Gdansk which are not that far from Torun. Although Bydgoszcz would indeed be the most convenient place. If you have a bit more time travel a bit around local towns (Grudziadz or Golub Dobrzyn for example) where you can see castles belonging to Teutonic Knights in the past. Also, in Torun, see some stuff related to Nicholas Copernicus who was born there. Since I am not that familiar with the area, maybe Vicar or Mateusz could drop a few more lines with details here.

Due to Schengen agreement, borders should be open. France is definitely part of Schengen agreement and there should be no problem with travelling between countries. Picking Warsaw, Auschwitz and Gorzow as your destinations makes it more difficult to find a place close to all of them. They are in three different regions of Poland. Gorzow is north west, Warsaw is central east and Auschwitz is South. I am not sure what your direction is. If it is Gorzow -> Warsaw -> Auschwitz I would propose going through Germany and getting through Kostrzyn (I believe this is the right way to go). There is only 182 km from Berlin to Gorzow. If you want to look for a stay, you can find some hotels under http://www.staypoland.com/gorzow-wielkopolski-hotels.asp . I am not familiar with the city at all so I cannot help you much more. As for travel from Gorzow to Warsaw, it is nearly 400 km. Because of poor quality of Polish roads you can except a journey around 6 - 7 hours to get through. Obviously Warsaw is full of hotels and it is easy to find them on the internet. The next step is Auschwitz. You would then make your way down to Krakow and stay there. That's a good location in terms of tourist attractions. The city itself is quite attractive with Wawel castle and Vistula river as its most attractive venues to see. Auschwitz is only 50 km from Krakow and since there is quite a good road in that area you should be able to get there within less than an hour. If after seeing these three places you want to head back west, you should either try going towards Czech Republic (roads there may be better) or Wroclaw (another nice city to look at).

A Brit should definitely get a chance in Cardiff GP. My first pick is Woffinden even though he performed so poorly in 2010. After all, he is still a young bloke who had a really tough time (father's death). I am sure it will be a chance for him to see if he has put himself together yet and for BSI - to see if he is ready to be back to GP. On the other hand, a young Aussie could be considered for this event. Darcy Ward or Troy Batchelor maybe?

Speedway in Hungary hasn't been at its best since a while. Times when Adorjan, Petrikovics, Bodi and others were able to challenge the top riders of the world are gone and doesn't look like will be back anytime soon. Tabaka is far from what these guys used to be and their previous successors such as Roth, Magosi, Szatmari have all failed.

Hopefully not. Although both Czestochowa and Wroclaw should not have been in Ekstraliga 2010 due to finances. Bydgoszcz was beaten in a fair battle which they lost and should spend 2011 in 1-st league.