nw42

Excluding Batchelor is not putting things right by any means, shame for the Latvians as they are capable of pushing Russia, hopefully they don't miss out by a point.

Brilliant rant, I'd never even noticed it until now, I'm supporting team Latvia tonight.

You're still around for the cause though eh, think positive, it's live speedway and anything can happen.

Not seen these mentioned anywhere but by chance I came across this little series, seems like it's a regular half hour slot. Episodes include an interview with new British |Champion Craig Cook, also some interesting stuff on the Poultec set up, Olly Allen giving the insight into how it works. Most enjoyable for me was the skype interview with Adam Roynon, what a brave lad he is, still hoping to ride for another 10 years, stay safe Adam. One podcast dedicated solely to Edwin Overlander, what a career he's had in speedway, seems a nice chap. Anyway, enjoy, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p051d52h/episodes/downloads

Forecast I looked at, accuweather I think, showed rain around lunch time on both days but clearing up towards the evenings, quite warm too, 24/26degrees. I'm hoping it's on today, been ages since Tuesday and I've got the taste.

Well he must have had at least 6 months to sort a decent track out for Last Saturday, it's not as though the meeting was dropped on him last minute.

You're right I was the only one to ask you to take it to pm but I've just checked the post and it has 9 likes, now those weren't for me, they were for what I said, does that not help towards persuading you to do as asked? Now we've also got waihekiaces vote, that makes 11 of us that are sick of seeing threads ruined day after day by your stupid arguments. Just for clarity, this post isn't aimed solely at Gavan, so don't be throwing your toys out eh.

You're probably right in that tonight's meeting was top drawer and will take some beating but I'm looking forward to the race-off and final, we're pretty much guaranteed a decent track, weather permitting of course, and at least 40 heats of speedway featuring some very good riders, GB included.

Well the track was so much better than the one produced on Saturday, there's no getting away from that. Am wondering why you call them daft comments and then pretty much back them up with your own. The track was better prepared full stop.

Absolutely, no complaints whatsoever from me, just looking through a neutrals eye and there's no doubting expectations would have been higher had the Danes got through. Then again, as Scott pointed out, there are members of both the Russian & Latvian teams who will be more at home on the Polish track, I'd be happy to see either of them take the final spot ahead of the Aussies.

Really pleased for Latvia but can't help but think it weakens the Race-off overall, who cares though, we're through already and we've been treated to a great evening of speedway tonight.

Me too, is it a run off if they tie on points? If so I'd fancy Lebedevs over any Dane on tonight's showing. Come on Kostigovs

Bit late but, none to be used after ht16.

Might be a good night for those who don't like the joker, can't recall a WC round being so close across the board after only 8 or 9 heats. Which one, Nige or Lindgren, or both?

Lindgren reverting to type there, deserved to come off, hopefully ok though. Nige just as the camera pans across the start girls rear, "I like the shape here Kelv, great banking" perfect timing.

Indeed, Tarasenko, sign him up, brilliant ride.

Can't you girls get a room, totally unfair infecting threads all over the shop with your stupid arguments, use the bloody pm facility and give the rest of us a break eh. Speedway's on now...

Well said, right on topic. I'm looking forward to tonight's meeting, could be a cracker for entertainment. There are quite a few riders who could upset the odds in this one, Sweden on home soil should prevail but it's definitely not a given, each team capable of taking points off the others, unlike Saturday's meeting from Lynn, yet that proved to be entertaining due to the excellence of the British lads. Tonight's meeting has the potential to be the best of the 4, all I'm short of is a traditional style racecard and, in the words of Keith Millard(rip), I'm set fair for the evening. Love speedway me.

It's called career progression, how can you justifiably condemn someone for that? I'm sure if Natalie were offered a role in presenting a different sport that would increase her exposure and income she'd be off like a shot, quite rightly so imo. I think they're both good presenters but Suzi could bring new viewers in and that's important.

Not at all, I'll be adopting those little gems myself. Tbh I do miss the gate stats boxes, they were truly innovative and certainly helped when studying the races later in the meetings. Roll on Tuesday!!

Cheers for that. I did use the one you put up first for last night, still unsure what to do when a rider is replaced, do you fill in the plain square for that rider, obviously the coloured square relates to the original rider.. confused.com.. Looks like I'll need to get used to these cards as they are the only ones available these days, bring back Manche... oh wait, maybe not.

Plenty of sports are just pricing themselves out of the range of the average Joe, Speedway is no different, they all seem happy to fleece the few who can afford it rather than try and fill their stands and make extra on souvenirs or food outlets. I thought it came across on tv as a healthy crowd last night, certainly not a sparse one. I like them both but Suzi is the main face and I thought her and Scott were excellent together, Natalie is great in the pits as she knows what to ask like Steve Brandon. I think we're lucky to have Suzi on board, the likelihood is that she will bring in viewers of other motorsports, there's no doubt she will have a following of her own, who knows some of them might like speedway and decide to stick around. After all it's all about viewing figures for BT and we need all the help we can get..

Just to get the thread back on topic here's a nice piece with a couple of quotes from Cookie, he's made a good captain so far and seems to relish the role, long may it continue. "Great Britain skipper Craig Cook led his country into the Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup Final and declared “we’re not going there to win a medal. We’re going to win.” The Lions roared to victory in Event 1 at King’s Lynn on Saturday with 53 points to secure a place at the Final in Leszno next Saturday alongside hosts Poland, plus the Event 2 and Race Off winners. Australia finished second on 44 and take their place in the Race Off, also at Leszno, on Friday. They’re joined by a plucky USA team, which defied the absence of four-time world champion Greg Hancock to finish third with 15 points, knocking the Czech Republic (13) into fourth place. WE’RE NOT GOING THERE TO WIN A MEDAL. WE’RE GOING TO WIN. WHAT’S THE POINT OF LOOKING TO FINISH SECOND? WE JUST HAVE TO BELIEVE.Craig Cook The night belonged to GB, and Cook sees no reason why the Lions can’t top the podium again in the Monster Energy SWC Final as they seek their first world title since 1989. He said: “We’re not going there to win a medal. We’re going to win. What’s the point of looking to finish second? We just have to believe. “Yes, the Poles are good. The Swedes are good, the Australians are good and the Danes are good. They’re all good; they’re all fantastic in fact. But that doesn’t mean they’re unbeatable. If you think ‘we’re up against the Poles, we’re not going to win’, you’re defeating the object. “You have to forget about who you’re racing and concentrate on your thing. It doesn’t matter what they’re doing. It’s irrelevant. You’re there to race the bike and I think that’s what has helped me this season.” Cook led the charge on 14 points, with Robert Lambert, Steve Worrall and Chris Harris all weighing in with 13 apiece. The Cumbrian believes the lightening start, which saw the Brits win the opening five races, put their rivals on the back foot. He said: “We can all ride this King’s Lynn track really well. We hit them hard from the get-go and we were out there to prove a point and make a statement. That’s what we did. We set the tone for the whole meeting and kept it up.” On a personal level, Cook is determined to make his mark against some of world speedway’s biggest stars in Poland in the Final. He said: “I get to go to Poland and show the boys there what I’m all about. Let’s go out there and just enjoy it. I just want to go there, open a few people’s eyes and do well for GB.” The last team to win the Monster Energy SWC after reaching the Final via the Race Off was Denmark in 2012. But with that meeting now staged just 24 hours before the Final, Aussie boss Mark Lemon believes his side has a tough task to lift the Ove Fundin Trophy. He said: “I know it has been done, but now it’s back-to-back nights, it’s tough. People take for granted how much effort goes into these meetings. Whether you win or you lose, it takes it out of the boys. The Brits will go in there fresh. The Race Off isn’t a double-edged sword – it’s hideous.” Reflecting on Event 1, Lemon paid tribute to the Brits, as well as skipper Chris Holder, who led the Roos’ challenge on 19 points. He said: “The Brits rode great; you can’t deny them that. Chris had plenty of resilience, but one man can’t do it alone. The boys just didn’t fire on the track. The slick conditions kind of caught them out a little bit. Collectively, we struggled at the starts. But you have to adapt. They’re pro riders.” American team manager Lance King hailed his USA heroes as they overcame a Czech team packed with far more experienced stars to earn their place in the Race Off, as well as qualification for the 2018 tournament. He said: “This is obviously the first step. When we get to Leszno, we’re just going to do the best we can. But this shows the heart of these kids. “We made a lot of mistakes out there. We had a lot of stuff go against us. But we still made it, so these kids should be so proud of themselves.” http://www.speedwaygp.com/news/article/5841/cook-we%E2%80%99re-going-for-gold

Hardly fair, there are some good Polish posters on here, Pawel is brilliant for translating bits of commentary. Truth is there is only one Polish poster who thinks he's clever in winding us all up, sometimes he succeeds and that's why it keeps coming back. I'm guilty of responding to it in the past but soon realised I was feeding it and haven't bothered since. Anyway, just saying there are plenty of decent Poles here.