Subedei

If the scores are tied over the two meetings, no team gets the bonus point.

Rybnik versus Tarnow Rybnik..48 9..Z Czerwinski..0,0 = 0 10..R Gafurov R/R 11..R Povazhny..1',1',1,2' = 5+3 12..R Chromik..2,2,3,0,1,1' = 9+1 13..R Szombierski..2',3,2,3,3,2 = 15+1 14..W Druchniak..3,1,0,2' = 6+1 15..P Pawlaszczyk..1,3,0 = 4 16..M Smolinski..1,1,3,1,3 = 9 Tarnow..42 1..T Gollob..2',3,3,3,2,3 = 16+1 2..J Kolodziej R/R 3..J Gollob..3,2,1,2,1,0 = 9 4..S Burza..0,0 = 0 5..S Nicholls..0,0,2',0,0 = 2+1 6..K Zielinski..0 = 0 7..P Hlib..2,1,3,2,2' = 10+1 8..M Rempala..3,0,1',0,1 = 5+1 Ht 1..Druchniak, Hlib, Pawlaszczyk, Zielinski 4-2 (4-2) Ht 2..Rempala, T Gollob, Smolinski, Czerwinski 1-5 (5-7) Ht 3..J Gollob, Chromik, Povazhny, Burza 3-3 (8-10) Ht 4..Pawlaszczyk, Szombierski, Hlib, Nicholls 5-1 (13-11) Ht 5..T Gollob, Chromik, Povazhny, Nicholls 3-3 (16-14) Ht 6..Szombierski, J Gollob, Druchniak, Rempala 4-2 (20-16) Ht 7..Hlib, Nicholls, Smolinski, Pawlaszczyk 1-5 (21-21) Ht 8..T Gollob, Szombierski, J Gollob, Druchniak 2-4 (23-25) Ht 9..Szombierski, J Gollob, Rempala, Czerwinski 3-3 (26-28) Ht 10..Chromik, Hlib, Povazhny, Nicholls [Ex] 4-2 (30-30) Ht 11..Smolinski, Druchniak, J Gollob, Rempala [E/F] 5-1 (35-31) Ht 12..T Gollob, Hlib, Smolinski, Chromik 1-5 (36-36) Ht 13..Szombierski, T Gollob, Chromik, Nicholls 4-2 (40-38) Ht 14..Smolinski, Povazhny, Rempala, Burza 5-1 (45-39) Ht 15..T Gollob, Szombierski, Chromik, J Gollob 3-3 (48-42) Notes: 1..Ht 1 and action aplenty as Tarnow's Hlib passes both Rybnik riders, only for Rybnik's Druchniak to re-pass on the last bend. 2..Ht 2 and Smolinski takes the R/R for Rybnik. 3..Ht 2 and Rempala takes the R/R for Tarnow. 4..Ht 4 and it's a re-run with all 4 after the Tarnow riders take a tumble on the 1st bend. 5..Ht 5 and Nicholls takes the R/R for Tarnow. 6..Ht 6 and Rempala replaces Burza for Tarnow. 7..Ht 7 and Pawlaszczyk takes the R/R for Rybnik. 8..Ht 7 and Smolinski replaces Czerwinski for Rybnik. 9..Ht 7 and Hlib replaces Zielinski for Tarnow. 10..Ht 7 and Tarnow's Nicholls overtakes Rybnik's Smolinski on the last bend. 11..Ht 8 and J Gollob takes the R/R for Tarnow. 12..Ht 9 and Szombierski takes the R/R for Rybnik. 13..Ht 9 and Rempala replaces Burza for Tarnow. 14..Ht 9 and it's a re-run with all 4 after Rybnik's Czerwinski takes a tumble on the 1st bend. 15..Ht 10 and Hlib replaces Zielinski for Tarnow. 16..Ht 10 and it's a re-run without Tarnow's Nicholls, who takes a tumble and is excluded. 17..Ht 11 and Smolinski replaces Czerwinski for Rybnik. 18..Ht 11 and Rempala replaces Burza for Tarnow. 19..Ht 12 and Smolinski replaces Povazhny for Rybnik. 20..Ht 12 and Hlib replaces Zielinski for Tarnow. 21..Ht 13 and Chromik takes the R/R for Rybnik. 22..Ht 13 and T Gollob takes the R/R for Tarnow. 23..Ht 14 and it's Povazhny-Smolinski for Rybnik and Burza-Rempala for Tarnow. 24..Ht 15 and it's Chromik-Szombierski for Rybnik and T Gollob-J Gollob for Tarnow. ----------------------- Bonus points calculated per British Elite League. ----------------------- All details from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl

Have you watched the meeting yet young fellow? If you have, do you have any thoughts on the continued eclipse of TR?

Okay, does anyone know the reason why one of the posters at that forum has a photograph of the Duke of Edinburgh beneath his name?

Actually, I've just been reading on speedwayworld.tv that Poland have announced a provisional squad for the SWC campaign and that Poland's Minister for Sport has approved it. Do you think Middlo gets the nod from Richard Caborn before he announces his squad?

I fear Tomaz Pozrl may be your only hope. And speaking of Tomaz, I notice that, after his flirtation with Hungary last season, Matej Ferjan is in the Slovenian squad for Sunday's qualifier in Hungary.

Hopefully the sense of occasion and surroundings will stir Rickardsson into action. He's certainly still capable of giving Crump and Co a run for their money, but he's got to want to.

I do believe that young Middleditch can't afford any mistakes with his team selection or Team GB might not even make the final. Realistically, Poland and Sweden are going to go straight through to the final, leaving Team GB, Australia, Denmark and possibly either the Czech Republic, Russia or America in the race-off. It's going to be very tough for Team GB to get into the final from there. Australia have Crump (awesome this season), Adams and a coming into form Sullivan, while Denmark have the Pedersens, Andersen, Iversen and Jensen.

So, I guess that means we're half way through the regular season and time for an opinion as to how the various teams are getting on. Here are my thoughts: Tarnow: Sitting at the top of the table and that's where they want to be. But I sense all is not well in the camp. They've been heavily reliant on Tomasz Gollob, Kolodziej and to a lesser extent Marcin Rempala. Tony Rickardsson is fine and dandy, when he's around. But he's not around too much. And Kolodziej's injury will be a bitter blow. Rider of the season so far: Janusz Kolodziej. Wroclaw: Looking more and more powerful with each passing meeting. Wroclaw have assembled a super side, but can they keep everyone happy? Serious contenders for the title. Crump has been outstanding, with solid support from Hampel and Andersen. Rider of the season so far: Jason Crump. Czestochowa: Heavily reliant on a powerful top five, with limited support from the juniors. The fans, apparently, want Matej Zagar to be given a chance, but the club are sticking with Lee Richardson. And, being fair, he hasn't let them down. Rider of the season so far: Greg Hancock. Bydgoszcz: Assembled their side early and it looked great, under the old rules. But then the rules changed and other clubs took advantage of signing more foreign stars. Still, the Bydgoszcz squad looked capable, but things haven't really gone their way so far. At least Kosciecha looks to be finding his feet, but concerns surround Andreas Jonsson and Piotr Protasiewicz. Rider of the season so far: Krzysztof Buczkowski. Leszno: Looking a poor side in my view and would've had another loss in their record if it wasn't for Tarnow's Lukas Dryml and Jacek Gollob losing their points from the season's opener. Rider of the season so far: Damian Balinski. Torun: Had a good start to the season, but are starting to fade. None of their foreign stars have really performed consistently. Rider of the season so far: Adrian Miedzinski. Rzeszow: Started well, but suffered during Nicki Pedersen's absence. Now that Pedersen's back, they should consolidate and climb the table. Rider of the season so far: Nicki Pedersen. Rybnik: Where everyone expected them to be. But, apart from the odd meeting, they've done reasonably well. And they pushed Tarnow very hard, in Tarnow, in their last meeting. Rider of the season so far: Martin Smolinski.

Good question for which I've no answer.

Leszno versus Wroclaw Leszno..40 9..L Adams..3,3,2,1,2',2 = 13+1 10..M Loram..1,1,0,2,1 = 5 11..R Dobrucki..1',1 = 2+1 12..D Balinski..2,3,2,3,0,1' = 11+1 13..K Kasprzak..0,1 = 1 14..M Jurga..3,0,0,0 = 3 15..A Kajoch..1,1 = 2 16..R Miskowiak..3,0,0 = 3 Wroclaw..50 1..J Hampel..2,2,2,0,2' = 8+1 2..K Bjerre..0,0 = 0 3..H Andersen..3,2',1,2',3 = 11+2 4..T Gapinski..0,3,3,3,0 = 9 5..J Crump..3,2,3,3,3 = 14 6..R Jamrozy..0,0 = 0 7..N Klindt..2,2',1,1 = 6+1 8..P Swiderski..1',1 = 2+1 Ht 1..Jurga, Klindt, Kajoch, Jamrozy [E/F] 4-2 (4-2) Ht 2..Adams, Hampel, Loram, Bjerre 4-2 (8-4) Ht 3..Andersen, Balinski, Dobrucki, Gapinski 3-3 (11-7) Ht 4..Crump, Klindt, Kajoch, Kasprzak [Ex/T] 1-5 (12-12) Ht 5..Balinski, Hampel, Dobrucki, Bjerre 4-2 (16-14) Ht 6..Gapinski, Andersen, Kasprzak, Jurga 1-5 (17-19) Ht 7..Adams, Crump, Loram, Jamrozy 4-2 (21-21) Ht 8..Miskowiak, Hampel, Swiderski, Jurga 3-3 (24-24) Ht 9..Gapinski, Adams, Andersen, Loram 2-4 (26-28) Ht 10..Crump, Balinski, Klindt, Miskowiak 2-4 (28-32) Ht 11..Gapinski, Andersen, Adams, Jurga 1-5 (29-37) Ht 12..Balinski, Adams, Klindt, Hampel 5-1 (34-38) Ht 13..Crump, Loram, Swiderski, Miskowiak 2-4 (36-42) Ht 14..Andersen, Hampel, Loram, Balinski 1-5 (37-47) Ht 15..Crump, Adams, Balinski, Gapinski 3-3 (40-50) Notes: 1..Ht 4 and Leszno's Kasprzak gets himself into mischief at the tapes and is excluded. 2..Ht 8 and Miskowiak replaces Kasprzak for Leszno. 3..Ht 8 and Swiderski replaces Bjerre for Wroclaw. 4..Ht 10 and Miskowiak replaces Dobrucki for Leszno. 5..Ht 10 and Klindt replaces Jamrozy for Wroclaw. 6..Ht 12 and Adams replaces Dobrucki in a tactical move by Leszno. 7..Ht 12 and Klindt replaces Jamrozy for Wroclaw. 8..Ht 13 and Miskowiak replaces Kasprzak for Leszno. 9..Ht 13 and Swiderski replaces Bjerre for Wroclaw. 10..Ht 14 and it's Loram-Dobrucki for Leszno and Hampel-Andersen for Wroclaw. 11..Ht 14 and Balinski replaces Dobrucki in a tactical move by Leszno. 12..Ht 15 and it's Adams-Balinski for Leszno and Gapinski-Crump for Wroclaw. ----------------------- Bonus points calculated per British Elite League. ----------------------- All details from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl

Tarnow versus Rybnik Tarnow..48 9..T Gollob..2',0,2',2,3 = 9+2 10..S Burza..3,2,3,0 = 8 11..J Gollob..0,0 = 0 12..L Dryml..3,1,1 = 5 13..J Kolodziej..3,2,3,3 = 11 14..K Zielinski..1,0 = 1 15..P Hlib..3,0,0,1',1 = 5+1 16..M Rempala..1,3,3,2',0 = 9+1 Rybnik..42 1..R Gafurov..1,2',2 = 5+1 2..C Harris..0,3,1',1' = 5+2 3..R Povazhny..2,3,1,0,2' = 8+1 4..Z Czerwinski..1',1,0 = 2+1 5..R Szombierski..2,3,2,2,1,3 = 13 6..P Pawlaszczyk..2,1,0 = 3 7..W Druchniak..0,1',0 = 1+1 8..M Smolinski..3,2,0 = 5 Ht 1..Hlib, Pawlaszczyk, Zielinski, Druchniak 4-2 (4-2) Ht 2..Burza, T Gollob, Gafurov, Harris 5-1 (9-3) Ht 3..Dryml, Povazhny, Czerwinski, J Gollob 3-3 (12-6) Ht 4..Kolodziej, Szombierski, Druchniak, Hlib 3-3 (15-9) Ht 5..Harris, Gafurov, Rempala, J Gollob [E/F] 1-5 (16-14) Ht 6..Povazhny, Kolodziej, Czerwinski, Hlib 2-4 (18-18) Ht 7..Szombierski, Burza, Pawlaszczyk, T Gollob [E/F] 20-22 Ht 8..Kolodziej, Gafurov, Harris, Zielinski 3-3 (23-25) Ht 9..Burza, T Gollob, Povazhny, Czerwinski 5-1 (28-26) Ht 10..Rempala, Szombierski, Dryml, Druchniak 4-2 (32-28) Ht 11..Smolinski, T Gollob, Hlib, Povazhny 3-3 (35-31) Ht 12..Rempala, Smolinski, Dryml, Pawlaszczyk 4-2 (39-33) Ht 13..Kolodziej, Szombierski, Harris, Burza [Ex] 3-3 (42-36) Ht 14..T Gollob, Rempala, Szombierski, Smolinski 5-1 (47-37) Ht 15..Szombierski, Povazhny, Hlib, Rempala [Ex] 1-5 (48-42) Notes: 1..Ht 5 and Rempala replaces Dryml for Tarnow. 2..Ht 6 and Hlib replaces Zielinski for Tarnow. 3..Ht 10 and Rempala replaces J Gollob for Tarnow. 4..Ht 10 and Druchniak replaces Pawlaszczyk for Rybnik. 5..Ht 11 and Hlib replaces Zielinski for Tarnow. 6..Ht 11 and Smolinski replaces Czerwinski for Rybnik. 7..Ht 12 and Rempala replaces J Gollob for Tarnow. 8..Ht 12 and Smolinski replaces Gafurov for Rybnik. 9..Ht 13 and it's a re-run without Tarnow's Burza who's excluded. 10..Ht 14 and it's T Gollob-Dryml for Tarnow and Gafurov-Harris for Rybnik. 11..Ht 14 and Rempala replaces Dryml for Tarnow. 12..Ht 14 and a double change for Rybnik, with Szombierski replacing Gafurov in a tactical move and Smolinski replacing Harris. 13..Ht 15 and it's Kolodziej-Rempala for Tarnow and Povazhny-Szombierski for Rybnik. 14..Ht 15 and it's a re-run without Tarnow's Rempala who's been excluded. 15..Ht 15 and Hlib replaces Kolodziej for Tarnow. ----------------------- Bonus points calculated per British Elite League. ----------------------- All details from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl

Czestochowa versus Torun Czestochowa..56 9..L Richardson..1,1,2',3,2 = 9+1 10..R Sullivan..3,3,3,3,3 = 15 11..S Ulamek..3,2',2',3,1' = 11+3 12..S Drabik..0,3,3,0 = 6 13..G Hancock..3,3,2,2',2' = 12+2 14..M Szczepaniak..1,0,1',1 = 3+1 15..C Hefenbrock..0,0 = 0 16..M Piekarski = DNR Torun..34 1..B Pedersen..2,0,3,1',0,1 = 7+1 2..S Stead..0,1,0 = 1 3..A Dryml..2,1',1,2,0 = 6+1 4..K Slabon..1',2,0,0 = 3+1 5..W Jagus..1',2,0,1,3 = 7+1 6..K Zabik..2',0 = 2+1 7..D Stachowiak = DNR 8..A Miedzinski..3,2,1,2,0 = 8 Ht 1..Miedzinski, Zabik, Szczepaniak, Hefenbrock 1-5 (1-5) Ht 2..Sullivan, Pedersen, Richardson, Stead 4-2 (5-7) Ht 3..Ulamek, Dryml, Slabon, Drabik 3-3 (8-10) Ht 4..Hancock, Miedzinski, Jagus, Hefenbrock 3-3 (11-13) Ht 5..Drabik, Ulamek, Stead, Pedersen 5-1 (16-14) Ht 6..Hancock, Slabon, Dryml, Szczepaniak 3-3 (19-17) Ht 7..Sullivan, Jagus, Richardson, Zabik 4-2 (23-19) Ht 8..Pedersen, Hancock, Szczepaniak, Stead 3-3 (26-22) Ht 9..Sullivan, Richardson, Dryml, Slabon 5-1 (31-23) Ht 10..Drabik, Ulamek, Miedzinski, Jagus 5-1 (36-24) Ht 11..Richardson, Dryml, Szczepaniak, Slabon 4-2 (40-26) Ht 12..Ulamek, Miedzinski, Pedersen, Drabik 3-3 (43-29) Ht 13..Sullivan, Hancock, Jagus, Pedersen 5-1 (48-30) Ht 14..Jagus, Richardson, Ulamek, Miedzinski 3-3 (51-33) Ht 15..Sullivan, Hancock, Pedersen, Dryml 5-1 (56-34) Notes: 1..Ht 1 and Miedzinski replaces Stachowiak for Torun. 2..Ht 4 and Miedzinski replaces Stachowiak for Torun. 3..Ht 10 and Miedzinski replaces Zabik for Torun. 4..Ht 12 and Miedzinski replaces Zabik for Torun. 5..Ht 13 and Pedersen replaces Stead in a tactical move by Torun. 6..Ht 14 and it's Richardson-Ulamek for Czestochowa and Slabon-Jagus for Torun. 6..Ht 14 and Miedzinski replaces Slabon for Torun. 7..Ht 15 and it's Sullivan-Hancock for Czestochowa and Pedersen-Dryml for Torun. ----------------------- Bonus points calculated per British Elite League. ----------------------- All details from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl

Bydgoszcz versus Rzeszow Bydgoszcz..46 9..P Protasiewicz..3,2',2,0,2 = 9+1 10..R Sawina..0,3,0,0 = 3 11..R Kosciecha..2,3,3,1',0 = 9+1 12..K Klecha..0,2',2' = 4+2 13..A Jonsson..3,0,3,2,0 = 8 14..M Jedrzejewski..1,1 = 2 15..K Buczkowski..3,2',1,2,1' = 9+2 16..E Sajfutdinov..2 = 2 Rzeszow..41 1..D Sledz..1',0,0 = 1+1 2..R Holta..2,1,2,3,3,3 = 14 3..T Rempala..1,3,0,0,1,0 = 5 4..N Pedersen..3,2',3,3,3,2' = 16+2 5..T Chrzanowski..1,1,1 = 3 6..D Stachyra..2,0,0 = 2 7..P Miesiac..0,0,0 = 0 8..A Karpov = DNR Ht 1..Buczkowski, Stachyra, Jedrzejewski, Miesiac 4-2 (4-2) Ht 2..Protasiewicz, Holta, Sledz, Sawina 3-3 (7-5) Ht 3..Pedersen, Kosciecha, Rempala, Klecha 2-4 (9-9) Ht 4..Jonsson, Buczkowski, Chrzanowski, Miesiac 5-1 (14-10) Ht 5..Kosciecha, Klecha, Holta, Sledz 5-1 (19-11) Ht 6..Rempala, Pedersen, Buczkowski, Jonsson 1-5 (20-16) Ht 7..Sawina, Protasiewicz, Chrzanowski, Stachyra 5-1 (25-17) Ht 8..Jonsson, Holta, Jedrzejewski, Sledz 4-2 (29-19) Ht 9..Pedersen, Protasiewicz, Sawina [Ex], Rempala [Ex] 2-3 (31-22) Ht 10..Kosciecha, Klecha, Chrzanowski, Miesiac 5-1 (36-23) Ht 11..Pedersen, Sajfudinov, Rempala [Ex/2], Protasiewicz [Ex] 2-3 (38-26) Ht 12..Holta, Buczkowski, Kosciecha, Druchniak [Ex] 3-3 (41-29) Ht 13..Holta, Jonsson, Rempala, Sawina 2-4 (43-33) Ht 14..Pedersen, Protasiewicz, Buczkowski, Rempala 3-3 (46-36) Ht 15..Holta, Pedersen, Kosciecha [E/F], Jonsson [Ex] 0-5 (46-41) Notes: 1..Ht 2 and it's a re-run with all 4 after Rzeszow's Sledz takes a tumble on the 1st turn. 2..Ht 6 and Buczkowski replaces Jedrzejewski for Bydgoszcz. 3..Ht 9 and it's a re-run without Rzeszow's Rempala who's excluded. 4..Ht 9 and it's another re-run, this time without Bydgoszcz's Sawina who's excluded after a clash with Rzeszow's Pedersen. 5..Ht 10 and Miesiac replaces Stachyra for Rzeszow. 6..Ht 11 and Sajfutdinov replaces Jedrzejewski for Bydgoszcz. 7..Ht 11 and it's a re-run without Bydgoszcz's Protasiewicz who's excluded after a clash with Rzeszow's Rempala. 8..Ht 11 and Rzeszow's Rempala fails to beat the 2 minutes and is excluded. 9..Ht 12 and Buczkowski replaces Klecha for Bydgoszcz. 10..Ht 12 and Holta replaces Sledz in a tactical move by Rzeszow. 11..Ht 12 and it's a re-run without Rzeszow's Druchniak who's excluded. 12..Ht 13 and Rempala replaces Chrzanowski in a tactical move by Rzeszow. 13..Ht 14 and it's Protasiewicz-Buczkowski for Bydgoszcz and Rempala-Pedersen for Rzeszow. 14..Ht 15 and it's Kosciecha-Jonsson for Bydgoszcz and Holta-Pedersen for Rzeszow. 15..Ht 15 and it's a re-run without Bydgoszcz's Jonsson who's excluded. 16..Ht 15 and Bydgoszcz's Kosciecha won't be in the re-run either as he wasn't under power when the heat was originally stopped. ----------------------- Bonus points calculated per British Elite League. ----------------------- All details from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl

Surely Nicholls is in greater need of such a creature. He just never recovered from his tapes exclusion last night. And he always bows out in the semis. Richardson always struggles to make the semis, but if he gets there, he makes the final.

I believe, though I could, as ever, be wrong, that I've been consistent. I think that you'll find - in all those early Oxford and Rickardsson threads - me stating that Rickardsson could live to regret his apparent lack of interest in Oxford. And I rather think I used Crump as a comparison as well. Now, I couldn't care less whether Rickardsson gives his all or not. He's one of the all time greats, whether you like it or not. We can all argue in bars, on the back straight, or wherever about who's the greatest rider. You go with Nielsen, others go with Mauger, or Gundersen, or Fundin, or Penhall, or Moore, or Steve McDermott. Everyone has their own opinion and in their mind they're right.

No, another rider (who according to some[one] is already in the world's top eight riders) has also managed to score five 0s in a GP. And it wasn't that long ago. In fact, it was at Bydgoszcz last season, when Richardson finished second. Now, name that rider.

There are qualifiers for next season. But from what I understand Nicholls isn't going to bother with them. And all this talk about the Top 9 qualifying as of right next season because of Rickardsson's departure, is utter tosh and nonsense. The Top 8 is the Top 8. If Nicholls finishes 9th, he's not in the Top 8 and hasn't qualified.

I reckon young Shovlar's had more threads dedicated to him on here than many a top class rider. I've a little sympathy with the fellow on this one. I, for one, saw this season's GP series as being little more than a Crump-Rickardsson duel for title. I never conceived that TR wouldn't be in the top 2-3 come Bydgoszcz. Have to say, I think TR is short-changing his loyal supporters in the GPs this season.

I take it that's the name of Porsche's new model?

Actually, on second thoughts, it was "Steve Shovlar Guest", so it might not have been the great man himself.

He posted at the Live Updates site this evening.

I've said all along (well, ever since qualifying became so "old hat" to BSI) that riders should be given one second chance at the GPs. How many chances do you want Nicholls and Richardson to have? They didn't qualify automatically for 2005 and they didn't qualify automatically for 2006. Doesn't that tell you something? Neither has won a GP. Nicholls hasn't made a final since 2003. That suggests they aren't good enough. Pure and simple. Let others have a chance. At the minute we've the same old suspects at the top of the pile and they'll probably still be there five years hence.

Things is, with all the talent Denmark have, will Iversen get a second year? It's an honest question. The calls to bring back Andersen get louder and louder. There's Bjerre waiting in the wings. Should Bjarne Pedersen be looking over his shoulder? You're right, Richardson and Nicholls have been given more than enough chances, I just wonder whether Iversen will.

And since then Lee Richardson has made his two final appearances.