PHILIPRISING

WAS actually the other side of the stadium but a great view.

CANNOT speak for the pundits but was sitting in the stadium and it was obvious ... it wasn't close at all. Just my opinion

PRAGUE certainly wasn't a gaters' paradise last year. Since Pavel Ondrasik took over from his father the track at the Marketa has shown a considerable improvement.

APART from taking an eternity to exclude Jason Doyle for touching the tapes when it was obvious from the first replay that he had done so.

DON'T forget GB have to use the same three riders at Wroclaw assuming they qualify...

SHOULD be about 7.04 local time, 6.04 in the UK

MEETINGS at stadiums with a roof ... beautiful weather. No roof ...rain. Sod's law. Last few tickets gone. Sell out crowd in excess of 50,000. Track looks perfect. Possibly too much so said a couple of riders. Tough start for Cook, outside gate against three Poles.

BEEN used by many SGP riders on and off for some time

ME, too

WHY not seed the defending champion o the final?

Not sure Steve. TV director Steve Saint is putting something together for each night.

THERE will be a BSI tribute to Ivan prior to the start of the SGP in Warsaw on Saturday and another by BT at Belle Vue (appropriate) for the first domestic TV match of 2018 on May 14.

LIKE anything, it is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

WILL ask him on Friday ...

No Sayfutdinov?

DESPITE his injury another paid 16 from six for Nicki who dropped two points in one race.

MY thoughts exactly so I did enquire further. Allegedly a whole package of major sponsorships are lined up which will fund the operation. I did wonder what exposure all these sponsors were going to get, given that at present just three riders will figure in two televised meetings (assuming GB get through at BV on June 5). Still more questions than answers.

ARE we sure BT are paying nothing. The BSPA have kept the wraps on the deal. My understanding was that BT would pay a fee (in the region of 10 grand) to each staging club. May be wrong. Has been known

GOOD question

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2018/04/24/ivan-mauger-speedway-world-champion-obituary/

IVAN always denied that he lost a million but he did suffer financially from the Lloyds crash.

IVAN did it his way ... It was only two years since Ivan Mauger had equalled Ove Fundin’s record of five World Championship victories in Gothenburg in 1977 but there were many who felt that the Kiwi would struggle to go one better and fulfil his dream of standing alone in the history books. Despite seeing his great rival Ole Olsen claim the title at a Wembley in 1978, Ivan’s faith his own ability to claim the record he always craved remained undiminished. Ivan might already have had six but for an untimely crash at the Slaski Stadium in Katowice in 1973 and it was here in 1979 that he devised a plan that would turn upside down how he had approached all his previous World Final appearances. Ivan would always establish his camp well away from the centre of attention, out of the public eye, untroubled by the media mob. Of course, there were no mobile phones in those days but even if there had been his would have been turned off. Nothing would be allowed to interrupt his preparation, surrounded only by those closest to him, including mechanics Gordon Stubbs and Norrie Allen, manager Peter Oakes and his immediate family. All that went out of the window. Ivan joined the Press corps (39 strong with all the British national newspapers represented along with journos from provincial papers the length and breadth of the country) encamped at the Novotel hotel in Katowice along with the likes of his Hull promoters Ian Thomas and Brian Larner, fellow Kiwi Barry Briggs and American speedway supremo Harry Oxley. After practice, Ivan returned to the hotel, ate with us and then adjourned to the bar (no alcohol of course) chatting away and ignoring protestations from both Briggo and Oxley that he should retire to bed and get some sleep in preparation for what lay ahead the next day. It was all so out of character and prompted many to conclude that even Ivan didn’t rate his chances and was simply in Poland to enjoy himself. This theory, however ridiculous, did however gain still more credence the following morning when Ivan asked if he could hitch a lift to the stadium later in the day on the Press coach. It was so unlike him, but he was relaxed, chatty, at ease with himself and everyone around him. As the coach made its way to a parking area we had pre-arranged a couple of hours before the start, Ivan jumped off and walked into the giant stadium like any other spectator, unrecognized by anyone. He simply disappeared into the crowd. Those of us who knew him best had already began to speculate that this all part of a carefully constructed plan, to take all the pressure off himself and convince his opponents that despite his history he wasn’t a realistic threat. It was, as we all found out, a brilliant tactical ruse. Ivan, a few weeks short of his 40th birthday, raced to a superlative sixth title success, defying those who suspected he was past his best. We celebrated appropriately with him at the hotel before flying back to England the following morning. Ivan wasn’t the only one who walked away happy and enriched by his evening’s work. The bookmakers had slashed the odds on a Mauger victory and the ever-astute Thomastook full advantage and placed a bundle on his Viking winning. Ivan never rode in another World Final. He had smashed his winning six and, as ever, done it his way.

CORRECT

LET'S hope they can both take that into the SGP and shake things up a bit

BRIGGO did it too ... cannot remember what he chose but probably all Elvis