Bavarian

Easy for the Gunnestad boys, but .... Why did Elgane not send a team? Also, Riska once more rode with a poor line-up, where were their top riders? And what was Marius Rokeberg doing all year long? This is the first time I see his name in any results list from Norway this season. And this in the final meeting of the year! Has he come back from retirement?

Germany 2010 ... Martin Smolinski

spot on! This Gollob move reminded me so much of Hackney 1995, when Boyce floored him with a right hook. Same stupid riding by Gollob. Perhaps his nerves begin to come into play again, as the title is on the horizon.

Boring? What meeting did You watch then? The Thriller in Malilla was excellent speedway racing from start to finish. I have rarely seen a better and more entertaining meeting. The Gp series this year is phantastic, the best it has ever been, and everyone seems to be able to beat everyone out there. The tracks are excellent, too. Seems Tony Olsson is the right man as race director.

My god, Parramatta !!! Now that's big News! I wonder how good the track surface will be adapted for the bikes? If successful, could this possibly be a forerunner to an Australian SGP there?

Now that Debrecen has closed, there's really only two clubs/tracks left in Hungary, Miskolc and Gyula, so communication and coordination should not be THAT difficult. Hungary really only stages a handful of meetings this year, other than the Polish League meetings of Miskolc. And so many of their riders have recently retired from the sport that even some of the old timers like Adorjan, Kocso and Nagy must ride again from time to time. Other than Tabaka and Benkö there are no new riders coming through. It sadly reminds me of the demise that speedway took in neighbouring Austria, where the end is near!

One of the most talented German riders as a teenager on a par with Martin Smolinski, who is one year older and also graduated from the junior ranks of MSC Olching. Hertrich never had the same backing that Smoli had. His parents were against him riding speedway, only his grandpa helped him get going. Money was always tight, and at times young Michi showed a difficult character, one that needed a guiding hand. Hertrich had to stop riding about four years ago simply becuase he did not have the money to continue. He never wanted to end his speedway racing, but he had no choice. He then concentrated on his other sporting activities, that's boxing and kick boxing. He signed for a military career in the army, where he could earn some money. Now Sonke Petersen has approached him to help out the Brokstedt team in the Bundesliga. Sonke, who You will know is now sadly paralyzed since his accident at Abensberg in May 2009, is a co-team manager at Brokstedt. He had kept contact with Hertrich since the tiem tehy both rode in the German national under 16 team team that toured the UK. Despite his injuries, Sonke still has kept his speedway bikes race ready, so Hertrich really only had to come along and ride them. This he did now twice for the Brokstedt team. Despite him being out of the sport since 2006, he immediately showed glimpes of his rich potential and scored well for his team. I have asked him since if he intends a full time comeback to the sport, but he would not give me a straight answer. All he said was "let's wait and see"!

This is so sad, only two Hungarian riders in a meeting in their own country. They will soon be no better off than neighbours Austria with just a handful of riders and a handful of meetings.

I like this, would be a postive step in the right direction. Can't see Brum in the EL though, but with Ipswich dropping down, it would work perfectly well with eight teams in the EL, and leave a little extra options for rain-offs re-stagings.

Are You sure the Aussies will beat the Swedes tomorrow? Even without AJ, Sweden is on par with the Aussies (without JC) and the Brits (who have all on board). Finland may struggle a bit, but I expect tehm to score more than the Czech did today.

You are funny!

Not a Norwegian, but Your Team GB got one Aussie lad from Perth, W.A. I believe if Poland had sent out their B team in this SWC that they would still be able to beat the British team, and not just in Poland, but in England, too. Poland's 2010 World Cup team is indeed a genuine "Dream Team". This year they are unstoppable, they are unbeatable! Pure Gold!

I saw a very entertaining meeting and even though postions one to four were decided relatively early, there were some good races and incidents to keep the interest. The Russians are alway lively competitors. And what can You say about this Polish team's performance. Wonderful and how deserving that Gollob's win in the last heat got them to break the old record. This was a nice warm-up for King's Lynn and the two events at Vojens. It will get better and better. I love the SWC

Yes, tomorrow, Sunday. The jury decision will be taken at 1pm (UK time)

Holta and Szomi were good, but the rest of teh team was terrible. Can anybody tell me why on earth Bridger and Woffie were seemingly glued to the white line, when all the grip and drive and passing was to be found out around the fence? Soem terrific racign on the outside line, but the Brits never even tried to find that faster line, just follow the leaders on the inside. Very, very poor performance of them. And Karlsson wasn't much better. Not to speak of Davidsson, whom I actually never ever saw in the races, only when they showed the scoreboard. Jonas Davidsson 0,0,0

Results from GDANSK after 12 Heats: 1. Maksim Bogdanovs (Latvia) - 9 (3,3,3) 2. Patrick Hougaard (Denmark) - 8 (3,3,2) 3. Jurica Pavlic (Croatia) - 6 (3,3,0) 4. Artem Laguta (Russi) - 6 (2,3,1) 5. Vadim Tarasenko (Russia) - 6 (3,2,1) 6. Maciej Janowski (Poland) - 6 (1,2,3) 7. Darcy Ward (Australia) - 5 (2,2,1) 8. Martin Vaculik (Slovakia) - 5 (1,2,2) 9. Rene Bach (Denmark) - 4 (0,1,3) 10. Patryk Dudek (Poland) - 4 (2,R,2) 11. Kevin Wolbert (Germany) - 3 (R,R,3) 12. Matej Kus (Czech Republic) - 3 (0,1,2) 13. Dennis Andersson (Sweden) - 2 (2,0,0) 14. Artur Mroczka (Poland) - 2 (1,1,0) 15. Frank Facher (Germany) - 2 (1,1,0) 16. Damian Sperz (Poland) - 1 (F,F,1)

The funny thing is, there are no Aussies either, Ward except. British promoters and fans seem to believe that any youngster from Oz is a potential future World Champion. But where are they? Stuck in the British Premier League! I am not saying there are no talented riders from Aussie, there are some like Holder or Ward, but Australia is certainly not dominating the junior world speedway scene. Amazingly this year, Poland struggles, too! And so do Sweden and Denmark! I would be pleased if Laguta wins it tonight, but watch out for Slovakia's Martin Vaculik. He used to be a Gdansk rider in the Eksta Liga, so he will know how to ride that track. He rode Landshut with a sholder injury, yet had no problems to finish on the rostrum. Latvia's Bogdanovs could be a spoiler, and of course Andersson the Swede, who rides rather unspectacular but is very efficient. And nobody seems to fancy Croatia's Jurica Pavlic? Or Ward, the defending world champion! Last but not least the Poles will have high hopes in tehir home country. Janowski should be a threat, just as the wild card rider Artur Mrozcka. All in all, this Junior Grand Prix series promises some spectacular racing and unpredictable results, just as the senior GPs this year. Good thing!

I believe they use the same points scoring system as in the senior GPs. This would make sense as the U21 meeting runs on the same system of 16 riders, 20 heast, two semis and a final. But it would certainly be nice to be told about before the meeting. Nobody seems to be sure on this. About Artur Mrozcka at Landshut. I was there. In his last race he was in no danger of losing second place in his last ride. It was a genuine mistake on him miscounting the laps and shut down. However, the fact that he did needed at least one point from his last ride shows that he was anything but a certain qualifyer for this meeting. There were others much more superior (Andersson, Vaculik and Janowski) Ward rode steady inhis first three rides, but struggled badly after the interval. He failed to score in his fourth ride and need at least one point from heat 20 (that was after Mroczka's last ride) to avoid a run-off with the Pole. And Ward was really struggling to get that point, as he was stone last from the gate and just managed to get passed the already qualified Kevin Wolbert on the second lap. Mroczka really deserves to be given this wild card entry. He would have qualifyied on merit, if it wasn't for his black-out moment in his last race. But I am still not sure if he has got a permanent wild card for all three finals, or just for the one meeting at Gdansk?

I know!

Don't think Tarasenko will be THAT good in his first season, but better watch out for the other Russian in the finals, 19y/o Artem Laguta. He is on a run!

Great pix, Doug. I particularly like the appearance of the young riders. They all wear their national flags on their race jackets. How refreshing to see this, just as it used to be in the good old days of the 70's and 80's. It is such a shame that this is no longer the case in the senior modern day world championship events. Wearing the national colours on Your breast plate gives the riders such a proud and noble appearance, much better than wearing any kind of a sponsors logo. I must say, that this national flag or emblem (such as England's Three Lions or Poland's White Eagle) worn by the speedway riders in international competition has always been one aspect of why speedway appealed so much more to me than moto cross or road racing. The same goes for the club team emblems worn in league racing. This is such a beautyful heritage that makes speedway something special in the world of motor sports. Sadly this is now much neglected in these modern times of putting a sponsors' logo on every available square inch of a riders' body or bike. At least in the SWC they are now back to give the national teams a national identy appearance. I like that. This 80cc FIM Youth Gold Trophy really is a great tournament fro teh youngsters. I particularly like the compact way of running it at one track with three Qualifying Rounds, then two Semi-finals and a true world final of the last sixteen, all this within the space of just four days. This makes it so much more easy for long distance travellers like the Aussies to participate. And the same goes for traveling fans who can spend a short week at this place and see all of the meetings. This is a beauty, indeed!

Yes, Povazhny is through as well. No wild card for a Dane neccessary, two have qualified.

AFAIK fourteen riders qualify directly via the semi finals (2x7), plus as number 15 one permanent wild card for the three meetings series t.b.d by the FIM, plus as number 16 one local rider given a wild card once in Poland, another in Latvia and another in CZ, just as is done in the senior SGP series. Don't know who will be the reserves, probably locals as well, as is in the SGP.

It is pretty far away from Innsbruck. You would better be based in Vienna instead. The Speedway at Natschbach-Loipersbach is in Lower Austria, about 80km southwest of Vienna,and the name of the town to which Natschbach-Loipersbach belongs is Neunkirchen. For its location You may take a look at the German wikipedia website here Natschbach-Loipersbach and here: Neunkirchen The town of Heidenreichstein is in the north of Austria, very close to the Czech Republic border. See here on the German wikipedia website: Heidenreichstein

But the list of winners in that Speedway Star Yearbook is incomplete. The 1970's and early 1980'S results are missing / unknown. I have heard about one of our German riders Stefan Deser having won the Argentinean championship in ca. 1981 or 1982? (but I am not exactly sure in what year)