pandorum

Cheers.

Anyone know of sites where I can go to watch it on my lap top? No access to Sky TV on Saturday.

Congrats to Gollob and also to Chris Harris for putting himself in a position to deserve to be in the top company next season.

Well done TG. A genius on a speedway bike plain and simple. It took a while for him but he eventually got there. Not everybody's cup of tea but surely only the hardest hearted fan would begrudge the guy his glory? Congrats to a speedway legend.

Can Harris hang on? Not if he performs like that again. Lamentable has been his GP nickname and he still has not done anything to deserve a pick. Same goes for Woofy. He has learned and showed a few bits of promise but the sooner the Brits get out of the 'charity hand out' habit and realise that only hard work will get them in the GP the quicker we will have someone who will put up a decent challenge. No one can put up ONE reasonable argument why a Brit deserves a pick. We have lived on the 'series needs a Brit' argument for so long we here have started to believe such crap. The series needs guys like Darcy, Artem, Freddie, Aussie Chris, Emil, Antonio and even Woofy but the Brits need to start deserving thier spots. No Brit pick for 2011 please and let our guys ponder that they can only get in via the qualifiers for a few years. Might wake the buggers up. Congrats to Gollob who is arguably the best rider to sit on a speedway bike in the last 20 years. Seen guys like Mauger, Collins, Michanek, Briggs, Olsen, Penhall, Neilsen, Gundersen and Tommy Jansson and this guy is up with modern greats like that. It's about time Poland had a great world champ to savour in. Gollob is the man. Lets hope he can finish it off in the next four weeks.

The idea that the reintroduction of the old one off world final would invigourate speedway in some way is so utterly barmy that it's not even worth laughing at. But I will anyway. I can remember that so much interest was paid to the old world final from my fellow fans when it was held outside the UK that often they had no idea who had won it a week later and even less interest. I have been to two one at Wembley and one at Bradford. Neither was that great. The GP system is exciting and absorbing and fans are able due to the TV coverage it gets be part of the whole event sharing the excitment over a series of months and not read about it in the papers a week after. If they can even be bothered. The old system was poor and the only saving grace it had was that your local rider could be part of it for an hour or so at some meaningless qualifier event. The GP pits a decent line up against each other without the old system which had to pander to poorer speedway nations by giving them half a dozen no hoper places. Of course there will be riders who can't have a hope of winning the event but as Chris showed last time they can be spoilers and have an affect on the overall winners and losers. The GP system is massively better than the old one off final and anyone who thinks it is not is loony tunes. The fact that speedway does not capitalise on the TV coverage is speedways fault. Promoters have a product that gets good TV exposure and waste it by the fact they are amateurish idiots who could not promote thier collective way out of a paper bag. It's not GPs fault crowds are down and the GP is the only bright spot in a mediocre summer of elite league racing. High prices, lack of any proper long tem planning regarding the future of the sport and promoters who after decades of TV live speedway still cannot interest anyone in sponsoring the league shows where the problems lie. GP has lifted the sports profile here in the UK but the sport still wants to be a little known minority sport run by used car salesmen who I would not buy a second hand wheelbarrow from. The farce that is the Elite League a week before the start of it's showcase finish shows who is to blame for the decline of the sport in the UK. And it's not GP speedway.

Harris did brilliantly and was unlucky not to win the GP. He was without doubt the best rider on that day. But this changes nothing when you consider the pick situation. Is Chris better than Nicki, Greg, Hans, AJ or Holder? In terms of GP no he isn't. He is hardly a draw for the series either and as it's a business trying to make money Nicki P will ALWAYS be considered before Chis Harris. Emil is a stone cold cert so three picks available. Nicki if he fails is stone cold cert #2. So two left. Hans and AJ are favourites of the competition audience so will likely get the other 2 picks if they too fail to make the top 8. And so it should be. Bomber has done nothing really in GP to stake his claim. Fine he won at Cardiff. Brilliant acheivement but the vast majority of his performances were lamentable. Nice to see him make the top 8. He has a 7 point cushion. He just needs to score more than his rivals for 8th spot to make a fully deserved place for himself in the GP. If he does that no one can argue he does not deserve to be there. If he fails to do that then he does not deserve a pick as he will have flopped big style in the final run in. If he can't even keep his place with 7 points on his rivals with three to go then he will be of little impact next year. It's not a big ask for him now is it. Secure a place with a 7 point head start over 3 meetings. If he can do that then there may be some hope he can do himself justice in 2011. We all know that Chris is a good rider but he has not done himself justice in GPs. He does not deserve a pick. Plain and simple. He must secure his spot and not depend on charity. Deserve a place Chris rather than expect a place. If Britain is ever going to regain a place in the elite speedway nations it needs to aspire rather than live on past glories. Good luck to Chris and I hope he makes it. Yesterday was an awesome display and hopefully we will see three more good ones and him secure 8th spot or higher.

I can't seriously think of one single cogent argument to justify a Brit pick in next years GP. Emil is a certainty and deservedly so and if anyone thinks Harris or Woffy deserve a place in front of Hancock or Nicki P then they are living in one strange world. The Brits just sit back and expect 2 picks so don't put the effort into qualifying that others less favoured do. No one can argue that Laguta does not deserve his place as like Zorro he won the qualifier and the 2nd and 3rd likewise. Harris could not even do that on his own track but knew he would get a get out of jail free card anyway. It's time the Brits stopped getting free rides and earned their spots. Let them go through the qualifiers knowing this was their only route and perhaps we will get a decent well deserving Brit in the GP who does what guys like Zorro did and make an effort when they get into the competition. He knows that its top 8 or nothing so gives it everything. The Brits know that however pathetic thier showing someone will drop them a 'pity pick' because it's felt the series needs a Brit. British Speedway used to be the envy of the speedway world but now it's a backwater being left behind on the world stage by a nation once considered here as a Mickey Mouse speedway nation in Russia. We will never get back to a decent level on that world stage as long as we depend on sympathy. We need hard work and effort at all levels to aspire to once again be top of that world stage. Mark Loram won his world title because he put the effort in and since we lost him we have had no one who looks remotely like even a near potential world champ. I like Woffy. he has showed a little bit of grit in GP this year. Not enough to deserve a pick but a spark that might do him justice in years to come. He has learned from his year in the GP and that will put him in good stead for the future. But he needs to know that the qualifiers are his only route as picks will be at a premium and better riders considered before any Brits. Let them strive to get into the GP and maybe, just maybe when they get there they will do themselves justice. Nichols and Harris do not deserve a pick. Rico is the same. What exactly have any of them done to deserve any consideration other than be British and do well in a Brit final which is full of PL riders? Our best prospect could not even qualify for this years Brit final. Brit speedway will never better itself if it depends on the patronage of GP picks and Sky. Yearn to be in the GP. Strive hard to get in the bloody thing and when you do earn the right to be in that company make sure that nobody can say that you don't deserve to be there. Other riders do that so why do ours have to be different. End this nonsense of Brit picks because they are British. Let us earn our place at the top table not depend on charity and then we might see a Brit world champion once again.

Is there anything fans here won't whine about I enjoyed the meet and it was wonderful to see our riders come out on top. Of course GB won't win the WC but as long as they give a good account then that is progress. Moaning about the fact we only beat weakened teams is pointless. GB were weakened by the loss of Loram and Louis in previous years but had to just get on with it. That's speedway. Credit where its due and our lads did marvellous. I thought the Aussies would pip us and those last 5 heats would go their way. Glad to see I was wrong and our lads fought for every point. Tai beating Holder was class and had to laugh at his comment that he could see what Chris was doing by watching the helmet cam on the big screen. Good one son! Lee got a great win and Steady was exactly that. Bomber and Scotty were top class and inspired the rest. Getting to the final is an acheivment for GB and one hopefully they can build on. It might help inspire some of the younger lads to want to be part of that. Our boys never seem to get the money from sponsors they deserve and have the handicap of usually being outclassed equipment wise but last night was their night and they deserved their glory. Putting them down especially when those doing it are British is silly. Last year the Russians deservedly got tons of praise for thier qualifying feats and what GB did last night was no different to that. We are hardly a top speedway nation anymore. Give cerdit where it's due and deserved. We did well last night.

makes you wonder where exactly some people watch speedway if this was boring. Must be a helluva track. If there was passing every bend for every lap for every race someone would say it was not as good as Scunthorpe last week. Excellent meeting from start to finish. Tai did well and was unlucky to run three lasts at the end. He beat three of the worlds best riders in one race so is capable thats for sure. Good to see Chris do well. He earned his SF place and was a threat in the final. Good lad. Lets see more of that. Jampel deserved his win and if he ends up #1 fair play to him. I would prefer to see Tomas Gollob do it as the guy is the best there is and has been for many years now. sad to see Nicki, Jason and Greg struggle but they will be back thats for sure. Peter Prot is not an adequate replacement for Emil thats for sure so hopefully we will see him at Cardiff and not the Pole. Good crowd and they made plenty of noise. A great advert for the sport. Kelvin sounded worn out. Let's see it continue and provide a fitting world championship season and a fitting world champion.

Make it worth while people going to live speedway ie lower admission, maybe arrange with away track to allow thier fans in for half price as a reward for travelling? it's radical but might encourage a lot more to attend, have a proper programme of races including perhaps a second half of somekind, reintroduce something along the lines of the golden and silver helmet match races that might attract attention, radical changes to rules to make them simple but effective such as get rid of that imbecelic double point nonsense, have a national strategy to attract sponsors and promote and develop the sport, encourage young Brit talent by perhaps limiting reserves in both EL and PL to Brit only, have test matches at PL/NL level here and in europe to allow talent to grow and more importantly learn, make a proper concerted attempt at national level to provide decent racing circuits encouraging tracks to provide proper entertainmenet and proffesional running of meetings,encourage schools to get involved by going into the places with riders and bikes and giving concessions to local schools, have a national strategy that provides help for areas wishing to develop the sport. Work together to build the sport up instead of against each other to drag it down. Hell its not astro physics after all. A troop of chimps could run the sport better than the current lot

Thats a shame.....it would be great to see GPs in front of large crowds both in terms of atmosphere and perception with regards TV coverage. The last GP was a joke in terms of the crowd. Encouraging local schools to attend via cheap admission would be a good thing to do as kids are usually very vociferous towards thier local heroes. Speedway seems not to have the slightest clue how to make itself look good to the wider viewing audience. It has such a wonderful avenue to promote itself with GP coverage and seeks short term gain instead.

I heard Led Zeppelin were reforming especially for the event......either that or Kajagoogoo I always get those two mixed up.

Not bad considering the way the weather affected the track. Makes you wonder what it would have been like if not for the rain. Some decent racing and some good passing and an exciting finale. But the crowd was non existent which is a worry. Obviously a few got put off by the weather but surely all those who bought tickets turned up? That along with the lack of sponsors must be a worry for taking GP forward. They may have a few meeting sponsors like Exide who are in for 4 meetings but have no substantial GP sponsor. Considering the coverage this must be a worry. And as far as the Andersen/Harris clash I could not believe what came out of his and Taters mouth. Hans headbutted Chris arm to get past him. I have seen some weird ways of passing but that was a classic. The ref was quite correct and anyone who saw it different must have been either Hans family or drunk Mind you the late great Jack Millen would have approved I am sure

If energy drinks start putting money into speedway bloody great. These guys can plug thier drinks all they want if some money comes the sports way. Maybe Rockstar will sponsor cardiff again.

Well another boring meeting to add to all the other boring GPs Bloody Hell that was amazing......great racing from the off, super TV coverage, decent commentary, nice Sky programme with 3 good guests...well done to everyone especially the track staff.....awesome! Lets hope this is the first of many!

Tai is not remotely 'technically representing Britain'. The guy IS British. Was born in Britain and has British parents. Hopefully Emil will stay Russian as I enjoy watching those guys and they have a chance of WC glory with him in the team.

I would think that the more worrying aspect of the 2010 GP series is not what to call all the Polish GPs but the fact that it seems to have lost it's 'major' sponsors. A look at the sponsor section on the GP site shows that the betting guys have dissapeared and all thats left are the tie ins with tourist agencies, a newspaper nobody reads and a few minor sponsors still around from last year. The GPs are mostly sponsorless although doubtless a few will pick up a name sponsor before the event but considering the coverage and even taking in to account the economic situation it must be worrying for the organisers. We can hardly expect the moneybags sponsors football gets but with the massive coverage the GPs get one would expect some reasonably major company to show some interest.

You are all forgetting that Speedway GP is run as a business. Those running it do it to make money and are not likely to allow a lot of riders who don't enhance the product to earn qualification through some series of qualifying rounds like we had in the old days. Earning a place in the GP has nothing at all to do with it. If they believe X Y or Z will bring in some new audience or sponsor then X Y or Z will be given a pick. Anyone who believes that the organisers want riders like Zorro in there is a bit naive. Guys like Woofy and Holder and Darcy and Emil will always be given a leg up if they fail to reach the top 8. Thats why they have a reign on the number who can qualify via racing. The top 8 usually will be be TV/sponsor/audience friendly and they will add a handful of the most glamourous candidates to that and allow the rest to crawl in and fill up the minor placings. If a top guy decides to do the qualifiers and get in then one more pick for the guys in charge if not then a pick will do. Its about enhancing the whole product nowadays and if I was running the show I would do exactly the same but have even less qualifiers than there are now if even any at all

Pretty obvious really. The football/rugby/cricket world cups are important sporting events that wherever they are held will attract an overall crowd in hundreds of thousands and a TV audience nowadays in 100s of millions if not billions. The speedway equivalent attracts a TV audience of maybe a few hundred thousand across europe and the world and a crowd of maybe (if you are really lucky with weather etc) 25,000 for the whole thing. Sponsorship with the football etc world cups measured in millions sponsorship in speedway WC measured in thousands (if you are lucky). Interest in the other world cups measured in terms of continents of people speedway maybe a few hundred thousand worldwide with small enclaves dotted around the globe here and there. Newspaper coverage of the other WC measured in acres of front and back page interest whilst speedway WC lucky to be measured in feet overall and consigned to that page nobody ever looks at next to the used car adverts.. Countries fight over the world cups in sports like that whilst the experiment speedway had with holding a WC in one country was an utter and abject failure with less interest to most events that an pre season challenge match. I like the WC and enjoy it a lot but is never going to hold the interest that even pub games like world cup snooker or darts will hold so holding it in places that at least have a reasonable interest and can muster a decent crowd for the TV audience is sensible.

Was a regular saturday night visitor to The Shay during the Carter era as I liked watching The Dukes. KC was a damn good rider who gave a damn good account of himself every race. But he never seemed to have that little extra that rivals like Penhall had and for me underachieved as a rider. His sad demise was a shock and for me a book about it seems a little disrespectful. His private life was just that. But sadly sensation sells and there will always be plenty of people to make money out of it. Kenny the rider stirred up enough controversy for any book. The magic night when Bruce won the 1981 world final a perfect example of KC at his best. I liked Kenny even though he never was one of my favourite riders and always thought he could have acheived more if only he could have channeled his aggression a bit more into his racing. Still one of Britains great speedway riders and on his night a sight to see round The Shay.

First saw Peter Collins as a not even programmed match day afterthought in the Rochdale line up. Three rides, zero points, three stone dead lasts looking like a total novice. Which of course he was. Saw him many times after that. What an incredibly exciting speedway rider worth travelling hundreds of miles to see. One of Britains best ever riders.

Wuffy by all means. look forward to seeing him in GP he won't let himself down especially if his dad makes it to see him in a GP. but harris? what a joke. plenty more entertaining than him. lindback would have been good. zagar might have been interesting but seeing chris finish 14th to 16th every round aint my idea of fun. and where does this wuffy is not a brit nonsense come from? it seems that brit speedway fans and certain commentators who should know better have never heard of rob woffinden and scunthorpe. young wuffy will do the country proud i have no doubt.

Why does he have to be banned is all I am saying as that is stupid beyond belief and anyone who thinks robbing the paying public of a talent like Gollob is bonkers. Not the worst excess on a track I have seen and the fuss being made is a bit OTT. Yeah it was utterly stupid so take some of his sponsors money and tell him off.

Agree to quote Wuffy '110%' Crump deserves the title on any level you care to discuss. I always liked watching his dad but the kid done well. A worthy World Champion who has been before and will be in 2010 a credit to his chosen sport. As pointed out above though Emil was indeed Rider Of The GP Series. An awesome performance from the young lad. Tomas Gollob sadly never stood on the top rostrum and that was/is a tragedy. But Emil is the best rider I have seen since I saw the late great legendary Tommy Jansson score an 18 point max for Young Sweden on a track he had never even heard of let alone seen and I am sure that he will not suffer like Gollob and will be Champ before long.