Rico

I went to the Edinburgh Playhouse circa 1987 for Level 42 and managed to secure front row seats. My friend even got Mark King's thumb covering gaffer-tape. Rico

The Stadium is around 15/20 minutes out from the town centre by tram, but I'd point out that once you get to the perimeter of the stadium it's still a 5 minute walk to the stadium. I'm not sure if you got a taxi from town (unlikely to cost more than £5) if they'd be allowed to take you farther in to the complex. I'd also point out the ticket collection point is near enough opposite the tram stop. As for hotels I've stayed at the Radisson SAS and the Mercure Panorama, both within 10 minute easy walk of the main square and shouldn't cost any more than £60 and £45 respectively per room per night. Heartily recommend Wroclaw as a city, has a lovely main square and lots of things to do and see during the day and an excellent nightlife as well. Rico

Just to add a couple of comments to Jeffster's very helpful posting. Bydgoszcz, Air Polonia fly from Stansted but only in and out on a Sunday, though that might be handy for getting back to blighty if you don't plan on attending a league match on the Sunday or hanging around generally. Poznan (served by Air Polonia) or Gdansk (Air Polonia / Wizz Air) would probably be easiest alternatives connecting to Bydgoszcz by train. Alternatively if you don't mind train journeys Bydgoszcz is around 4/5 hours by train from Warsaw, which has the most frequent flights and is served by Air Polonia, Wizz Air, Easyjet, BA, Lot, Sky Europe direct from UK. For Wroclaw, Poznan again or Katowice and a 3 hour train ride. Alternatively you could look at Ryanair's site and see if they have introduced any new services to Poland £35 return including tax (dzięki bardzo LW), direct from Stansted to Wroclaw, no that can't be right Handy for popping over for a league match or SWC as well (though they are only selling tickets for travel to the the end of June at the moment). Rico

Easyjet stagger their releases, sign-up to their mailing list as a back-up and they might inform you by e-mail, otherwise just check the site regularly. Oh, and wait until the GP is confirmed Enjoy yourselves ! Rico

Deal ! I generally do Joanne I can't think of a GP weekend night I've spent in Cardiff where I've tried to get to sleep before 4am. Rico

No but there's a drink in it for you if you keep hush Rico

I can't reveal that Rico

Oh get a room you pair Rico

Good twisting of words for your own purposes ! The original posting said "BSI has signed a 3-year contract with Eskilstuna..." - nowhere does it say anything about money being paid by BSI to use the Eskilstuna track. I somehow doubt the details of the contract are likely to be made public, but presumably Eskilstuna are happy with the contract negotiated as they have signed it. Rico

Any Maths homework, just e-mail it to me. Rico

Glad I'm not the only one with similar suspicions Rico

Maybe people would be a bit more forthcoming with information if you put a bit more into things yourself rather than asking for help / making topics up and sitting back and feeling content with yourself ??? Just a thought. Rico

Hi Kevin, Difference between Polish and Swedish leagues and the BEL, as I know very well you are aware, is that the number of matches are a lot less as teams generally only ride at home every other match. I am 99.9% certain that the Polish league does not run after every GP, so unless they moved every round out of Europe I doubt there will be much disruption to their schedules. Why oh why does a BEL team need to run a 36 match league to find out the top half of the table for play-offs ? Overkill and the perceived need to run speedway at the track every week. Does this boil down to the need to use their (generally) rented stadia so many times over the course of a season or the demands of the consumer, us fans? Make the league special, the BIG one, allow squads that mean the missing and potentially missing riders actually WANT to ride in our flagship team competition. Personally I'd love to see a league that had all the top guys in it, meetings could actually become things I'd look forward to going along to and I'd happily travel further if I felt the product was worthwhile going to see. As it is I reckon I've done 3 or 4 EL meets this season as the product doesn't particularly excite me and entice me to make the effort (I've got 2 tracks within 40 odd miles of home). Just to make sure this post has some relevance to the GPs, I reckon I've probably been to as many GPs as EL matches in a season, despite one product being virtually on my doorstep. Just what are you suggesting Kevin , I thought it was the BSPA who were involved in the event. Rico

Hi Kevin, Just playing devils advocate as ever here I think the foreign-based riders riding in the GPs are clearly starting to disregard the EL as a potential income source, when comparing it to the number of fixtures/irregularity and other shenanigans involved in riding in the UK. AJ coming out with a statement saying he is not prepared to do a full season in my opinion is quite significant and hopefully something taken on board at the AGM. Is that what the EL wants or do they want to accomodate the likes of Rickardsson and Gollob (what a sad loss to the UK that is) - I'm sure most fans would prefer to see these kind of top-line riders occasionally rather than not at all. I take on board your points about developing riders Kevin and how you feel the national leagues deserve compensation. As far as Britain is concerned, don't the BSPA make some sort of profit out of Cardiff ?? They certainly are involved in the event. Rico

And throw in the free port of Gdansk/Danzig that belonged to no-one. Rico

You might as well throw a GP in Belfast in while you are at it. Bottom line, it's gonna be the British GP - nothing else can compare to Cardiff GP in GB. Rico

Kevin, I know I expect perfection from you, but realistically I can't expect it 100% of the time. Still it got some reaction I still prefer your side of things to all that urban myth nonsense Rico

Goodness gracious no Sorry I read your original message as After all, it used to be treated separately to England and Scotland is technically still at war with Russia as a result! I think you might have left an and or therefore out of your sentence - sorry I hate being pedantic. You just amaze me with some of the info you come out with sometimes Kevin. Rico

I was in Moscow earlier this year and no-one asked me for a square-go. Where did you get that info from Kevin, sounds interesting. Rico

Kevin, I'm sure you've mentioned before something about the prize money being the responisbility of the FIM, as part of the agreement negotiated, rather than BSI. Can't recall whether this was merely the payment or setting of the amounts. Can you remind us please. Rico

HenryW, Clearly you got me at a moment of weakness to find me agreeable to be quoted after a shandy or 2 on Saturday evening Our conversation must have taken place around 2.00am on Sunday morning Polish time. My own personal thought on this meeting is that Pepe should be a track reserve for the night along with an up and coming youngster, perhaps Kolodziej, Rempala or Miskowiak. The wildcard itself, purely for his performance in the Wroclaw GP this year as a wildcard, must be given to Grzegorz Walasek. He was easily the most entertaining and exciting rider of the meeting and gave his all in each of his races, before bowing out in the semi-final. Good to hear you are committed to Polish trips (plural) next year - I expect at least 3 out of you Rico

Mr BilaHora I fear you are going to be disappointed with the date for the Czech GP. With regret Rico

Roughly, 10 SGP rounds next season, first one will be in Poland on 30/04 - most likely Wroclaw. Interestingly one of the dates appears to be a Friday (13th August) - wonder if that's a typo) SWC split between 3 countries, qualifiers in Britain, Sweden and play-offs and final in Poland (I understand from MK that this will be Wroclaw). There is an under 21 SWC with qualifiers in Rybnik and Holsted (??) with the final being held in Pardubice. That's about the long and short of it. Rico (big thanks to MK for providing a lot of the background on this)

I remember I was drunk and caught on camera by some Reading fan (Rico ducks for cover) With the budget airlines moving into Poland things are certainly easier. And if you can't fly direct to where you want to go to there are always alternatives not too far away. (e.g. Poznan/Katowice for Wroclaw, Gdansk/Poznan for Bydgoszcz) Two things get in the way of that Bila Hora, the weather and the fact that domestic speedway is over in Europe by then. Otherwise, feel free to write to BSI and see if they'll extend the season for you Rico

I've been to Prague twice, whereas I've only been to Wroclaw once (ooops, well I am going out there again this weekend actually !). Ok, I've only been to one Wroclaw GP compared to two in Prague. Loved the racing and atmosphere at Wroclaw (Walasek must get another wildcard !). There's even a Scottish themed pub on the main square to remind you of home Joanne. I'm sure they'll overcharge you though There's also the delight of club PRL in Wroclaw - spent a couple of nights in there and had a ball - it's certainly on the agenda for this weekends trip. Have never thought Prague has produced great racing as the track is too flat - lovely city though and well worth a weekend in. Rico