Subedei

Okay, my thoughts on the riders individual performances: Adams: Dismal. I thought this new tuner was supposed to be the missing link for the fellow? If anything, he's going backwards. Never looked like doing anything. Andersen: A solid GP for the guy. He'll be happy with making the final. Chrzanowski: Didn't disgrace himself and showed the Brits the way home in his final heat. Crump: Didn't see too much of the champ. He can only have completed 8 laps, but he didn't do much the 2 heats he finished. He's looked out of sorts all season, down on power and only luck and will power keeping him afloat. The luck ran out. Was harshly excluded twice and justifiably once. A disaster for the guy. Gollob: Never looked entirely comfortable and had to rely on the charity of Hampel to make the semis. He was in good positions in several races but lost out as the race progressed. Machinery still looks an issue. But he seemed happy with another appearance in the semis. Took a nasty tumble in his semi. Hope he's okay. Hampel: Did I really say he couldn't handle temporary tracks? I think I did. And Hampel shoved that right back in my face. The guy was superb and fully deserved to be runner-up. You've got to think he could've taken Gollob in their last heat, but those Poles stick together and Hampel shepherded Gollob around to a place in the semis. Hancock: Was unlucky to be suckered into the tapes by Lindback in his 2nd race. But was lucky not to get excluded when Crump went down. Swings and roundabouts I suppose. Still, not a good GP for the fellow, failing to make the semis for the 3rd GP running. Jonsson: A huge improvement on the last 2 GPs. I picked him in the GP competition and all through the night I was hopeful of scoring big. But he let me down in the semis. Still, a good showing from a guy who usually performs well at Cardiff. He still has a long way to go before he's a genuine contender. Lindback: Is it nerves, or is it pressure? Once he gets into a race he's always on the pace, but he always looks likely to charge through the tapes at the starts. And he did charge through them in his 1st heat and suckered Hancock into them in his 2nd heat. Made the semis. He'll be happy with that. Nicholls: A good effort from the guy to make the semis. Norris: Unlucky to be excluded in his 1st outing. He did well enough, but never looked like making the semis. B Pedersen: Where'd he come from? Hardly noticed the guy and then, all of a sudden, he's in the semis and then the final. Kept his head while plenty were losing it and kept his poor GP-good GP sequence going. He'll be hoping to break that sequence with his home GP next. A quiet, unassuming, effective performance from a quiet, unassuming and effective rider. N Pedersen: Another eventful GP from Nicki P - aren't they all? Richardson: A couple of good races from the guy and a couple of poor races. Rickardsson: Was lucky to get away with his 1st heat fall. But after that it was business as usual for TR. He was awesome and looks to have that 6th title in the bag. Sullivan: Withdrew after a couple of races. Clearly struggling after his fall in Poland last weekend. Let's hope the fellow is back to full fitness very soon.

I hope it's nothing too serious for Mrs Shovlar and that she's feeling well again very soon.

You put replace Hancock with Nicki P and you'd get a totally different response.

ZKZ Kitten wants the referee to get himself a Hungarian licence.

TR often pushes cameras away with his hand. He did it tonight as he walked to his bike for the semi or final.

Are they ever? I understand where you're coming from, but seems to me there's always someone moving.

The thing about TR this season is that he's not letting knocks affect him. In the last couple of seasons a knock a week before a GP and he'd be struggling. And a fall in a GP and that was virtually the end of his night. But this season he's regained his desire it seems. He wants No 6 and let's face it, barring something extraordinary, he's going to get it. It looks like nothing is going to be allowed to get in his way this year. Realistically, only God can stop him. So far this season 4 GPs and he should have won the lot. Remember he had Eskilstuna in the bag until Nicki P intervened.

Euan wait until you see aTomek Gollob at Bydgoszcz.

To be honest with you, I think Rickardsson's performances in the GPs this season have been great for the sport. He's a class apart and fantastic for the sport. Long may he continue to ride.

In fairness, Crump gave an interview after his 1st exclusion. I thought his 1st 2 exclusions were harsh - if you replace Hancock with Nicki P you get a different story I think. But this is what Sky are looking for. They followed Crump and Pedersen like hounds chasing a fox. Both camps to a degree responded in an unfavourable light. And that's exactly what Sky wanted. Just like Jonsson got caught out at Eskilstuna.

Not entirely related to this subject, but did anyone notice that Edward Kennett was shown as Edward Kenneth in the graphics. Hell, BSI are a British company, you'd think they could get the British guys' names right.

I knew that because I didn't hear "class personified", "pillar to post" or "knife through butter" once tonight.

I did think TR was lucky to get away with that one.

It was Nigel Pearson.

I think that maybe the track had something to do with the number of incidents. There were some desperate moves being pulled out there tonight. And not just by the usual suspects. You had to be in a decent position coming off the 2nd bend or - in the main - you were road kill.

It's what Sky are there to do. They caught Jonsson out in Eskilstuna and a couple of riders tonight. So credit to Scott Nicholls for always taking time to speak to them and ALWAYS being polite and measured in his responses.

Might be time to think about having the tapes on a pre-set timing. Like in F1. The referee puts the green light on and then a set time later (obviously not always the same time) the tapes go up.

It's starting to look all over. Crump's been off the pace all year, but having a bit of luck and hard work has kept him in the hunt. But the luck ran out tonight. Nicki P is Nicki P. And Leigh Adams is nowhere. Everyone thought this new tuner was missing link, but Adams has been going backwards. Still, TR deserves his 6th. And I think he's going to get it this year. He's been a fantastic ambassador for the sport and does it huge credit.

Some tough decisions to make tonight. Was it just me, or did this GP have more incidents than all the others put together? I thought Crump's 1st and 2nd exclusions were harsh. And I agree with VV - Hancock should have gone in the 2nd. If it were Nicki P everyone would be crying that it was a "no brainer". Lindback lives dangerously at the tapes - he was excluded once and suckered Hancock into them in his 2nd ride. The referee was poor, but why so many incidents when the other GPs have had so few?

With young Turner away watching the GP, I thought I'd post provisional results. I haven't included those who didn't play in this round as I don't know what penalty they will receive. And I haven't included the late posters because I don't know whether their selections will count. But here goes: Drakey = 2600 woody-the-bee = 1125 Mark Evans = 1000 jimmy smith = 800 Phil = 730 Cornishman = 710 Timbo = 710 James = 700 London Witch = 640 creetingblue = 615 The Concrete Cowboy = 610 micky76 = 440 Dark Horse = 420 tomazpozrl = 380 Crazy Munchie = 350 Tina = 350 BritPete = 275 Tabby3 = 270 Shale Eater = 260 jill = 250 pirate paul = 240 KevtheRev = 220 Bezza = 200 Laser558 = 200 cov_bees_2005 = 176 born_2b_mad = 160 steve jones = 160 f-s-p = 150 Shale Eater’s girlfriend = 140 diamonds_are_forever = 140 beercellar = 106 sportsnut = 105 Papa Bazarou = 100 Subedei = 100 Ruby Tuesday = 100 skitts61 = 95 Matt Davis = 90 German Speedway Fan = 90 smillie = 90 smiles = 78 Dicey = 70 Kevin Hammond = 70 Silver Cheetah = 70 Witches Vs Hammers = 60 panthersfan = 55 Super Swindon = 50 Gaz W = 50 vog = 49 pug/206 = 45 Star Lady = 40 ballinger = 25 Electro = 20 B52 = 8 beesboybert = 8 Col = 5 Jo_1515 = 5 Chris = 5 Shnikies = 1 Psycho Girl = 0 ZKZ Kitten = 0 full-throttle = 0 Jay = 0 Charles = 0 Ozyace = 0 klone = 0 SCB = 0 sjw = 0 Edit: Whoops, gave woody-the-bee a few too many points there. Edit: Arranged them into order, I think.

And the thoughts of Ole Olsen: “The track is looking really good right now. The team have put in a huge amount of hard work to get us where we are right now. We have put in five degree of banking on the corners to ensure spectacular racing on Saturday night.” Taken from the Welsh Rugby Union website ( http://www.wru.co.uk/2_5499.php ).

And when does the Shovlar helicopter touch down in the Millennium Stadium?

Well, it hasn't been announced that Hampel's out, so I assume he's in.

Also missing from Polish league action yesterday was Andreas Jonsson. I assume he is still laid low with suspected food poisoning. Does anyone know if he's a doubt for the GP? After all, I've got some credits on the fellow.

Polish Ekstra Liga results for 5 June 2005 are as follows: Torun..45 J Crump..11 A Smith..3 M Puszakowski..12 K Zabik..5 W Jagus..1 M Jagus..6 A Miedzinski..7 Wroclaw..44 H Andersen..11 P Swiderski..11 K Slabon..10 T Gapinski..7 J Hampel..R/R R Jamrozy..4 M Pacholak..1 ---------- Tarnow..54 T Rickardsson..8 R Wardzala..1 G Rempala..8 J Gollob..11 T Gollob..10 M Rempala..9 J Kolodziej..7 Czestochowa..36 Ryan Sullivan..3 S Drabik..5 G Walasek..2 S Ulamek..9 R Holta..14 M Szczepaniak..0 M Ciura..3 ---------- Leszno..49 L Adams..12 L Jankowski..1 J Rempala..7 D Balinski..10 K Kasprzak..12 R Kasprzak..3 N Kosciuch..4 Gdansk..41 T Chrzanowski..10 G Klopot..1 R Kosciecha..15 T Bajerski..1 B Pedersen..8 S Dabrowski..0 M Jablonski..6 ---------- Zielona Gora..43 N Pedersen..9 A Huszcza..6 R Okoniewski..1 P Swist..12 M Staszewski..5 A Marcinkowski..3 Z Suchecki..7 Bydgoszcz..46 M Jedrzejewski..2 J Krzyzaniak..2 R Sawina..14 M Robacki..4 P Protasiewicz..12 K Klecha..3 K Buczkowski..9 Comments: Jacek Gollob stars and Ryan Sullivan is injured as Tarnow crush Czestochowa. Zielona Gora throw away a 10-2 advantage after 2 heats to lose to Jonsson-less Bydgoszcz. Torun fend off the Wroclaw charge, but Hampel's still missing. Results taken from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl/ekstraliga.htm