Rico

If Kolodziej doesn't qualify on his home track it will be a MAJOR surprise. Given his home track knowledge I'd expect him not to drop many points at all. Rico

Hope you do make it across Ewa. Would be nice to see you at SWC finals again Rico

They are expecting the capacity to be around the 7,000 mark. Will be interesting to hear if they have started work on the back straight yet. Rico

I'm just going on his current SWC form Rico

Can't understand anyone feeling the need to spend £400 on an organised tour to go to Copenhagen Next you'll be telling me you've splashed out £425 to go to Bydgoszcz Rico

Shazzy, Please don't make it look like I suggested Dean Barker should have any involvement in the team. Rico

Don't see any point in having a different team in Rybnik to the one sent out at Reading. They have no chance of qualifying direct to the final, therefore it would make sense from a bonding perspective to use the same 5 riders in the qualifying round in Rybnik and then again in the race-off at Reading on the Thursday. I'd go for Nicholls Norris Loram Richardson Harris with Louis on standby. No place for Stead as Reading is not one of his better tracks. Rico

The program for this years GP showed a planned redevelpment of the stadium in Wroclaw. I think at the moment it is fine for viewing speedway, but if their proposals come to fruition then this would become a superb modern arena. Wroclaw has the added advantage of direct flights to and from UK as well as (I think still) Copenhagen. The other tracks mooted to take the European GP do not have this. As a city, it is one of the best I have visited and rivals Krakow in terms of ambience, however the racing in the last 2 GPs has been awful and I've come away feeling somewhat let down. The SWC race-off and final were ok but the GP in 2004, after a slow start was one of the most exciting I have seen. For me going to a GP is not just about the 3 hours of track action but the whole trip, so this is why Wroclaw is so well regarded by me, in spite of the poor GP. I'd be sad to see it go if these rumours are true. Rico

Practice is closed to the public. Rico

No. Rico

He's Polish now. Rico

You may have a bed to yourself Doctor. Not sure when the draw will be made I think it's the Holiday Inn Express that we are staying in - will get confirmation from HenryW hopefully at some point. Rico

Really sorry to hear that. Your and Jan's presence will be greatly missed Rico

Indeed. Look forward to it Zetters. Hope all is ok. From your comment I am assuming you are still going to Wroclaw, just not via Zakopane. Hopefully see you at the weekend. Rico

Mr Pugwash. Are you in Poland already ? Expecting to see you in Wroclaw on Thursday/Friday evening. Rico

SJW, Train to Ostrow departs at 1037 from Wroclaw Glowny. Return train is at 1943 from Ostrow. Look forward to supping that pint Rico

Given we will be out partying until very late (making sure you stay up for your train) it will be very difficult to achieve. No firm decisions have been taken, we will just need to see how things are at the time. Rico

After some canvassing today it appears Ostrow is getting a cold reception from some members of our party, so there might have to be a change of plan for Sunday for us. Rico

I spoke to J-D, who was at the GP in Krsko and apparently the chap with the water truck only managed quarter of a full lap before Mr Olsen stopped him in his tracks, so the track staff didn't appear to get their own way after all. So I suppose we should thank Ole for overseeing the preparation of a good racing surface Rico

Look forward to seeing you and your dad again and meeting your friend. Current plan is to go to Ostrow, though my only concern is that the train is at 1037 in the morning and hangovers after GP may cause a slight problem on that front. Other options are meetings at Rawicz and Opole which are about an hour away on the train, but these are 2nd Division matches. The Ostrow v Zielona Gora match has all the makings of a great meeting as both teams are looking strong, so that's why I intend to go there. Rico

We used to get the train from Reading (train departs from Paddington) to Cardiff on the Friday, but this year are going by car. It's a good way to go as the station is bang in the middle of the city and most of the hotels are a short walk away. I think one problem we had was getting the tickets as they didn't release them until late, but we got returns for about £25 in the end, which wasn't bad. Just looked at the FGW site and they appear to be on sale already. Rico

The countdown is on for the 2nd GP of the season, in Wroclaw. As has been done for the Bydgoszcz GP (that's still 5 months away !) I thought I'd see who was all going along. Now, just looking at one thread and from memory, the following members are confirmed as going Myself, HenryW + 6 Mateusz Lawrence Tommy Mr & Mrs Pugwash goonergirl4eva (+1 I assume) sjw robolots rema & ben spacebaby rita mojo shaggie Anyone care to add their name to the list ? I'd suggest, if no-one has any brighter ideas, that we will be in the Irish Bar in a small square, just off the main square, on the Saturday night after the GP, before heading off to some dodgy club later on. We've got to keep Mateusz awake so he can catch his train back to Bydgoszcz at 0640. So if you want to put names to faces, that's probably a good way to do it. Other than that, hopefully see those of you we've met before at some point over the weekend. Rico

Word from our man at the track, Mateusz, suggests AJ has a twisted knee. Rico

Indeed Shawn, this was of great interest. Maybe the standard of racing last night will show that it's perhaps best to let the locals sort out their own tracks to produce good racing surfaces. I am pretty sure both Bydgoszcz and Wroclaw would be much better spectacles for it. Rico

Try here. Rico