Subedei

And the results: Dackarna 60 : 36 MasarnaAvesta Hammarby 47 : 49 Smederna Indianerna 54 : 42 Elit Vetlanda Rospiggarna 50 : 46 Lejonen Piraterna 49 : 47 Vastervik Looks to have been some really close meetings in Sweden today, with the highlight surely being Smederna's first away win of the season. It looked like it could be an away win for Vastervik, as Bjarne Pedersen and Tomasz Gollob lined up for Ht 16 (10+1 from 4 and 14 from 5 respectively, at that stage), with Piraterna just a couple of points ahead. And the visitors must surely have sensed a result when Piraterna's Nermark was excluded. But Damian Balinski confounded Messrs Pedersen and Gollob to ensure a home win.

Artiom would have a struggle, he missed the meeting with Daugavpils operating Rider Replacement - looked like Maksim Bogdanovs was the star for Lokomotive.

If you can bring yourself to do it, ask the Shovlar, I believe he has an idea.

It's mostly age related. They don't have reserves in Poland, just juniors. And once you're passed 21 you can't ride as a junior (6-7 / 14-15) anymore, so you move into the main body of the team (1-5 / 9-13). Of course, a junior can ride in the main body of the team.

Shameful behaviour from Avesta not to select Adams and Sajfutdinov for certain away meetings. It's distorting the league and also robs the fans of seeing these two fine riders.

Look rather bizarre coming to the tapes riding insurance.

From memory, the top team is promoted automatically and then it gets complicated. The bottom two teams in the Ekstraliga race-off to decide who is relegated, with the loser automatically relegated. The winner then goes into a race-off with the second team in Liga I. So, it is possible that two teams are relegated and two teams promoted. But generally speaking the gap between Ekstraliga and Liga I means that only one team is promoted and one relegated.

But you did think it was an "astonishing feat" for 3M to keep the top five from 2004 together for 2005. And that top five included Messrs Sullivan and Ferjan.

Busy day for Gomolski - he's riding for Ostrow as I write this.

It's started, it's over. Poland won, Australia second. Both qualify. The post that marked the end of the meeting is here.

I guess that means the final in Holsted is: Denmark Sweden Poland Australia

Very poor performances from Jagus and Andersen were the downfall of Torun.

It looks as if Gniezno's meeting at Rovno in Poland's Liga II has been cancelled today after the bus taking the Gniezno riders' bikes to the Ukraine burst into flames - eleven bikes lost, but fortunately it doesn't appear that anyone was injured: http://www.sportowefakty.pl/zuzel/2008/06/...onu-dla-startu/

Which is why they hate the qualifiers almost as much as the British champion and Chris Harris do. But the fans complain if there isn't a legitimate means of having riders outside the circus qualify. And it's pointless trying to guess the BSI/FIM nominations at this stage of the game. If Sullivan qualifies and Adams and Crump remain in the circus for 2009, that effectively rules out Holder. You can only start guessing at the nominations after the qualifiers are known, by which time you also have a good idea which riders are going to be in the top eight. You forgot to mention the British champion and Chris Harris in that list. At least riders like BP, Dryml and Kasprzak (why the hell is he in your list, this is his first season for crying out loud?) have taken part in the qualification process. A process that the two British riders seem to regard as beneath them.

He scored 5 points from the 2 races he managed to complete.

Getting the better of Crapanese, such a claim to fame.

This is a shockingly poor round, as can be seen by unSteady's qualification.

On a Polish site "d" means defekt or engine failure.

Perhaps you should consider engaging your brain before posting?

To the nation's eternal shame - has British speedway ever been laid so low?

Don't be silly. You don't expect princes of the sport like Harris and the British champion - who is banging on about knowing he "can win one" in the Speedway Star again this week - to enter something so far beneath their status as the qualifiers.

Well, Holta won the Swedish Grand Prix after being drawn at No 5. But who was drawn No 5 at Copenhagen and how did he get on?

And copied and pasted from elsewhere. A tough start for Edward Kennett, with Nicki P and Crump keeping him company in his first outing and then Adams, Hancock and last year's winner alongside him in his second.

Lee Richardson was world champion - World Under 21 champion.

If the Under 21 final is staged during the Golden Helmet meeting the Poles probably won't run a full programme on the Sunday, leaving the best riders in the world to compete in the Golden Helmet - last year the Golden Helmet suffered as it was up against the Polish play-off meetings.