Steve Shovlar

I reember the first cardiff GP and there were only a handful of Poles there. Now that there are so many of them over here is will be interesting to see just how many turn up tomorrow.

With the weather going to be dire, I have decided to head into the stadium when it first opens to watch the youngsters race. It's OK when the weather is fine, but being couped up in a packed out pub gets pretty boring.

Can't find much news on how many tickets have been sold for tomorrow, I have a feeling the attendance will be down on the last few years, especially with poor weather forecast. Thoughts?

Big well done to Eddie and Bridger, two Brits through. Also well done to Noddy Holder, Poole in waiting!

Any sites doing live scores of this meeting tonight?

Just read that Eddie Kennett has decided that he will not do the GP qualifying round he qualified for by finishing 4th in the British Final. A suprise decision but he wants to concentrate on his league form and the U21 qualifier. Todays Echo. TEAM Great Britain boss Neil Middleditch believes Edward Kennett is a "strong contender" to lift the World Under-21 title. Middleditch, who also team manages Pirates, has made his thoughts known during the build up to the Poole Castle Cover rider's semi-final appearance at Vojens, Denmark, tonight (8pm). Kennett is aiming for a top eight performance to book his place in the final at Ostrow, Poland, on September 9. He is also bidding to emulate Ron Preston (1979), Jason Crump (1995), Lee Richardson (1999) and Krzysztof Kasprzak (2005), who all won the crown while Poole riders. Middleditch said: "On current form, Ed would have to be one of the favourites to win it. "He has been riding extremely well in Britain, Poland and all over the place this year. He is really just improving as the weeks go on. "Ed is a great racer. He can trap but when he doesn't he just keeps trying and pulling off great passes. "I think he has made a lot of senior riders in the Elite League sit up and take notice of him. "That's why I think he can win the overall thing. He is the in-form rider at the moment and I don't see any reason why he can't. "There are other good riders out there but he will certainly be one of the favourites." Middleditch, however, has admitted he found it "a little bit surprising" that Kennett had decided not to take part in the 2008 Grand Prix qualifiers this year. Poole's team manager added: "It was every riders' dream to reach the old one-off World Final and these days I think it is to make the GP series. "But Ed just wants to concentrate on the Under-21s this year and if that is what he wants to do, I'll go along with that, although I did speak to him about it at Wolverhampton after the British Final. "He is young and has got plenty of time on his side." Looking ahead to the Speedway World Cup next month, Middleditch would not be drawn on where Kennett stood in his plans for a debut in the competition. However, the national team boss said: "He has put himself in a position to be in my top six. "I will leave my final decision as late as possible to make sure I pick the right riders." Team GB line up against Sweden, United States and Russia at Coventry in Event Two on July 16. Pirates captain Bjarne Pedersen has been named in Denmark's team who will defend the cup he helped them win last year. Denmark: B Pedersen, H Andersen, J B Jensen, K Bjerre, N Pedersen, N K Iversen. The Danes go up against Australia, Poland and Finland in Event One at Vojens on July 14. Poland's 12-man squad is T Gollob, R Holta, W Jagus, K Zabik, A Miedzinski, J Hampel, D Balinski, K Kasprzak, P Protasiewicz, G Walasek, T Chrzanowski, S Ulamek.

I went to the X factor tour show a year back when Shane Ward won it and we had a good laugh. Better than I imagined it would be. Brenda is a good singer, Ray Quinn does a bit of swing, not bad, but those two Mcdonalds, no thanks.

Well I normally buy tickets by the starting gate but this year we have gone for the cheapest possible tickets. The reason? Well once the event starts, spot some space ina good spot on the second tier, then move to it! They can't check everyone all the time and if stopped just say your ticket is in your jecket on your seat, "down there".

Will done to Team GB, through to the final.

Who would support Sclein at Cardiff? A few Cov fans and thats it. Who would support Stead or Kennett? 95% of the people there!

You have got to be joking, right? An Aussie gating tart in place of a yong up and coming Brit? Never in a million years. You think Schlein would be more popular than Kennet or Stead?

A bit of luck and third! Andersen shoved out Crump to allow Harris third. Excellent from the Cornishman. Well done Harris!

Excellent racing from Harris. The track tonight suits him perfectly. Shame most of the time it will be a lot slicker. Now if he can just make the rostrum.............

Who do you suggest takes his place? The Munchkin?

This has happened to Lindback twice bfore when he has failed to score in a GP. Still he turned up at Poole the following week and scored double figures. You think he would score 3-4 points a meeting in the EL? he would soon be rattling in double figures every week. remember last year in the Panthers/Pirates meeting when he raced JBJ for the bonus? Still all there. Just needs a bit of time. You don't become a bad rider overnight. Sooner he gets back to the EL the better.

I didn't expect anything from him but they way some were carrying on last GP you would have thought he had won it!

In his first GP Chris Harris didn't impress me and I said so. Failed to make the semi and whilst some on here were raving and going overboard, I thought he had a quiet start to the series. Tonght Harris is well worthy of praise. Still failing to gate but using the dirt line to his advantage. I type this as Harris has one more race left before the semis, but he has done enough tonight to deserve his plaudits. Well done to the lad.

Well the Italian GP had a local no hoper on board. So the Italian speedway federation must have some clout! I am sure who the BSPA/Middlo suggest will be the rider who will be picked.

Personally having wathed both riders for the last three years, Kennett is the better rider of the two. Or should I say "potential". The way Kennett is coming on this season, i feel that within a couple of months he will be in front of Stead in the averages anyway. The lad is showing real improvement on a bike and in any many other teams would probably be riding at 1 or 5. He can gate and he can pass. Like Stead he has ridden in the British GP before, a couple of seasons ago, but he is a whole straight better than he was back then and will bring something extra to the gP compared to Stead, who has yet to really step up to the mark. A tough call for Middlo, but to be honest, even if Kennett was not riding for Poole, if he went for the youngster it would not be a wrong call at all.

Well here's a bt of a dilema for Middlo. Who to name as the GB wildcard for Cardiff. Does he give Simon Stead another chance or up and coming Eddie Kennett? Being Biased I would like to see Kennett get the nod. He is on fire at the moment and deserves a chance to taste the world stage. Others will say Stead has a higher average and is carrying his team. What are your thoughts?

Harris couldn't even pass Troy Batchelor at Poole last week. Or Boyce. Didn't even win a heat. I am certainly not doing Harris a disservice. He scored OK on Saturday, a similar performance to Poole last Monday, but not worthy of high praise IMO. If he had made the semi, well it would have been an acheivement. As it was, he failed. But then we are used to failure in this country, and accept a 7 point haul from 5 rides as a brilliant debut. I want Harris to do well, but let's be realistic about Saturday.

I agree with that statement. But to go overboard and say he had a good GP is stretching it way too far. He wasn't embarressed, but didn't do anything either. Lets be realistic here. Of course I want him to do well, but last night wasn't anything to write home about or start a thread over. Just my opinon of course.

Wow Chris Harris posts under the name of BeesFan! Hopefully you will do better next time Chris. Trouble is if you have been watching the GP's, you will know there's no GPs with plenty of dirt on them.

Well done for what though? He failed to make the semis. If he had managed that I would be congratulating him on a good effort. But like NIcholls, there wasn't much for him to celebrate yesterday. Hopefully other GP tracks will suit his type of riding where you give the opposition 10 metres headstart in every race. Nothing lastnight to congratulate IMO.

I don't see how some can say it was a good GP. It was terrible rubbish for most of the night, bar a couple of heats.