Subedei

Then I won't need to retract, will I? I have no doubt that the Nicholls begging bowl will be out. And I've equally no doubt that John Postlethwaite will take pity on the pauper prince.

And how, pray tell, does one determine the top sixteen riders?

And if he does then I will personally retract and applaud his integrity.

Ah yes, the old chestnut of Nicholls being a "racer". But Bydgoszcz is a "racer's track" and Nicholls still did nothing. Jagus will be there next season on merit. He qualified. Nicholls will be hanging around BSI with his begging bowl, even though he's already said that if he couldn't qualify he didn't deserve to be there.

Hampel gets on okay with Cardiff. Been in the final the last couple of seasons. And that's more than Nicholls has ever managed. And Jagus is there on merit. He got off his backside and entered the qualifying tournament, which Nicholls appears to believe lies beneath his princely status. Perhaps it's being dellusional to believe Nicholls still deserves a place?

I guess that depends on who wins any potential court case between the FA and Multiplex. The FA had to borrow a vast amount of money (from German banks) to fund Wembley. And the cost over-runs are equally huge, leaving Multiplex with losses of up to £100 million, which they'll have to look to recoup via the courts.

I thought it was the FA that didn't want speedway at Wembley.

To the best of my knowledge, there's no geographical feature called a "speedway track" and, as such, all such things are "man made". And you may enjoy watching speedway around the abortions that pass for tracks at Cardiff and Copenhagen, but I think you'll find most people enjoy watching the mastercraftsman Tomasz Gollob around a proper track in Bydgoszcz.

The Danes have their GP on a one-off track. The last Danish GP was won by a Dane.

Now we're talking my kind of fetish.

One single, solitary rostrum in the last three seasons? In fact, one single, solitary final appearance in the last three seasons.

Wonder how Crump gets on with "God save the Queen"?

But he'll be around in 2007. And - no doubt - he'll fail once again, but get invited back. It does him no favours whatsoever. The guy is in a comfort zone. Look at the difference in Hans Andersen after being kicked out last season.

Certainly did. I read it in the Speedway Star.

Except Nicholls made no effort whatsoever to enter the qualifying competition and even went so far as to state that if he couldn't qualify by being top eight, he didn't deserve to be there.

Still, it must be very exciting for the visually impaired - every GP he's involved with there must be multiple passes as he gets riders mixed up and seemlessly moves riders from last to first and back again. Hell, even the Latvian GP would've been fun.

Even more remarkably, Jagus was the only one not wearing blue. I mean, fair enough getting three riders in blue outfits mixed up, but Jagus stood out like a sore thumb in red.

Some excellent action tonight - congratulations to Nicki P on his win and third place in the world. And once again Scott Nicholls will have to get his begging bowl out.

Is it just me, or does Andreas Jonsson make some dreadful starting gate choices when it comes to semis?

I doubt you were alone - in fact, I'd say the people watching from the second bend were a bit worried that he was trying to join them.

The GPs would just be so much less without Tomasz Gollob at Bydgoszcz.

Do I spot a contradiction?

Ht 18 = incredible, amazing, astonishing, brilliant.

So, when he flops he's not fit?

The new Wembley is owned by Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Football Association. And it's difficult to imagine that WNSL won't find itself embroiled in an almighty wrangle with Multiplex over the costs of building the stadium. Multiplex are losing money left, right and centre at Wembley and they'll try and recoup some of their losses probably via the courts.