Subedei

I can't see how they can defenestrate Andersen now. They might as well have named him. He finished above Richardson. He's won a GP. If Richardson's in, he's got to be in as well. This just devalues the series. Nicholls and Richardson have been rewarded for serial failure. And, you know what? They'll fail next season as well. They're just not good enough. But they're British and so's BSI, chauvinism gone mad.

What's the point? The whole thing has been devalued by the chauvinism of BSI in nominating the no-hopers for the series next season.

There's some photographs of the meeting on the Unia Tarnow website and they make the sportowefakty.pl ones look sanitised. They also show Kasprzak's celebrations and the podium. The address is as follows: http://www.unia.tarnow.pl/index1.html You find them under "Final IMSJ - fotorelacja."

You think so?

That does sound awful. Best wishes to all the riders involved and especially Sergey Darkin. Doesn't look pleasant for Dzik and Karpov either.

Mega Lada Togliatti..72 1..L Adams..20 2..S Darkin..0 3..A Jonsson..20 4..O Kurguskin..13 5..T Rickardsson..19 Speedway Center Daugavpils..63 1..D Gizatulin..15 2..S Vlassov..21 3..K Puodzuks..11 4..S Dudek..6 5..R Mikolaiczak..10 Rosja..47 1..J Gomozov..10 2..E Szajchulin..0 3..I Bondarenko..7 4..R Gafurov..19 5..V Dubinin..11 Ukrainia Rovno..46 1..V Gajdym..11 2..A Karpov..0 3..V Trofimov..9 4..I Marko..15 5..L Szatmari..11 Unia Tarnow..19 1..K Zielinski..1 2..G Dzik..0 3..S Burza..12 4..R Wardzala..4 5..M Mroz..2 Well, it looks like Szczepan Bukowski, Poland's SWC-winning manager and head man at Unia Tarnow didn't take this altogether seriously. Apart from missing foreign star Rickardsson, riding for Togliatti strangely, he also decided not to field TG, Marcin Rempala or Janusz Kolodziej. The Russians of Togliatti, on the other hand, fielding TR, Jonsson and Leigh Adams, seem to have taken it very seriously. Full details available at: http://www.sportowefakty.pl/index.php?dysc...7&news_id=82549

Seems that there was a very nasty crash between Pawel Hlib and Mariusz Puszakowski in Ht 6 of this event. Puszakowski was taken to hospital for a check over, while Hlib was excluded from the rest of the meeting. Anyway, congratulations to Rzeszow on their victory.

FINAL MISTRZOSTW POLSKI PAR KLUBOWYCH The Swindon Robins won the Elite League Pairs earlier in the season, but which team is going to lift the Polish Pairs championship? It'll not be Ekstra Liga title favourites Tarnow, they're not even represented. Bydgoszcz look to have the strongest pairing on show. And with most of Poland's under 21 finalists on show (only Tarnow's Marcin Rempala missing), perhaps we see the reason yesterday's final was not cancelled. ------------------------------ Final Mistrzostw Polski Par Klubowych - Wroclaw Ostrow..22 1..M Szczepaniak..2,2,2,0,1,3 = 10 2..T Jedrzejak..0,3,3,1,3,2 = 12 15..P Dym = DNR Bydgoszcz..24 3..P Protasiewicz..1,2,2,0,2,3 = 10 4..R Sawina..3,3,3,2,1,2 = 14 16..K Klecha = DNR Wroclaw..20 5..K Slabon..2,1,3,3,3 = 12 6..P Swiderski..3,0,0,0 = 3 17..R Miskowiak..1,2,2 = 5 Gorzow..9 7..P Paluch..1,2,0,1,0,0 = 4 8..P Hlib..0,0 = 0 18..K Pecyna..1,2,1,1 = 5 Torun..19 9..W Jagus..1,3,2,3,2,1 =12 10..M Puszakowski..2 = 2 19..K Zabik..1,3,1,0,0 = 5 Rzeszow..24 11..M Kuciapa..0,2,2,2,0,2 = 8 12..D Sledz..3,3,3,1,3,3 = 16 20..T Rempala = DNR Leszno..8 13..K Kasprzak..1,0,1,3,0 = 5 14..L Jankowski..0,1,0,1 = 2 21..N Kosciuch..0,1,0 = 1 Ht 1..Sawina, Szczepaniak, Protasiewicz, Jedrzejak [Ex] Ht 2..Swiderski, Slabon, Paluch, Hlib [E/F] Ht 3..Sledz, Puszakowski, Jagus, Kuciapa [E/F] Ht 4..Jedrzejak, Szczepaniak, Kasprzak, Jankowski Ht 5..Sawina, Protasiewicz, Slabon, Swiderski Ht 6..Jagus, Paluch, Zabik, Hlib [Ex] Ht 7..Sledz, Kuciapa, Jankowski, Kasprzak [Ex/T] Ht 8..Jedrzejak, Szczepaniak, Miskowiak, Swiderski Ht 9..Sawina, Protasiewicz, Pecyna, Paluch Ht 10..Zabik, Jagus, Kasprzak, Kosciuch Ht 11..Sledz, Kuciapa, Jedrzejak, Szczepaniak Ht 12..Jagus, Sawina, Zabik, Protasiewicz [Ex] Ht 13..Slabon, Kuciapa, Sledz, Swiderski Ht 14..Kasprzak, Pecyna, Paluch, Jankowski Ht 15..Jedrzejak, Jagus, Szczepaniak, Zabik Ht 16..Sledz, Protasiewicz, Sawina, Kuciapa Ht 17..Slabon, Miskowiak, Kosciuch, Kasprzak [E/F] Ht 18..Szczepaniak, Jedrzejak, Pecyna, Paluch Ht 19..Protasiewicz, Sawina, Jankowski, Kosciuch Ht 20..Slabon, Miskowiak, Jagus, Zabik Ht 21..Sledz, Kuciapa, Pecyna, Paluch [Fell] Gold Medal Race-off Ht 22..Sledz, Sawina ------------------------------ Notes: 1..Ht 1 and Jedrzejak is excluded after a clash with Protasiewicz. 2..Ht 6 and Hlib is excluded after a clash with Puszakowski. 3..Ht 6 and Zabik replaces Puszakowski for Torun in the re-run. 4..Ht 7 and Kasprzak gets up to mischief at the tapes and is excluded. 5..And Mariusz Puszakowski is withdrawn from the meeting following his clash with Hlib. 6..It looks like Pawel Hlib has been excluded from the rest of the meeting after his clash with Puszakowski. 7..Ht 8 and Miskowiak replaces Slabon for Wroclaw. 8..Ht 9 and Pecyna replaces Hlib for Gorzow. 9..Ht 10 and Zabik replaces Puszakowski for Torun. 10..Ht 10 and Kosciuch replaces Jankowski for Leszno. 11..Ht 12 and Zabik replaces Puszakowski for Torun. 12..Ht 12 and Protasiewicz gets up to mischief and is excluded. 13..Ht 14 and Pecyna replaces Hlib for Gorzow. 14..Ht 15 and Zabik replaces Puszakowski for Torun. 15..Ht 17 and Miskowiak replaces Swiderski for Wroclaw. 16..Ht 17 and Kosciuch replaces Jankowski for Leszno. 17..Ht 18 and Pecyna replaces Hlib for Gorzow. 18..Ht 19 and Kosciuch replaces Kasprzak for Leszno. 19..Ht 20 and Miskowiak replaces Swiderski for Wroclaw. 20..Ht 20 and Zabik replaces Puszakowski for Torun. 21..Ht 21 and Pecyna replaces Hlib for Gorzow. 22..And with Bydgoszcz and Rzeszow tied on 24 points, it's a race-off for the gold medal. 23..Ht 22 and the race-off sees Sledz against Sawina. 24..Ht 22 and Dariusz Sledz defeats Robert Sawina, so the gold medal goes to Liga I team Rzeszow. ------------------------------ All details from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl

The photos are here: http://www.sportowefakty.pl/index.php?dysc...5&news_id=82438

I see most, if not all, of Poland's finalists are scheduled to ride in the Polish pairs championship (club) at Wroclaw this evening. Perhaps that's why the authorities were so eager to complete the meeting.

I feel sorry for Kasprzak. He'd have been a worthy winner. But he didn't win. In his position, I'd have refused the prize. And now, due to the incompetence of Steele and the FIM, he will always be seen as the "illegitimate" champion.

All hail the world under-21 coin tossing champion Krzysztof Kasprzak.

Well, we don't know the full story of this. Perhaps the riders elected Lindback, as the most high-profile (GP star), to act as their spokesperson. Lindback may have carried the news that none of the riders were satisfied with conditions.

I think a lot depends on which Tomasz Gollob shows up for the meetings. For Vastervik, BP will be solid and score lots of points, but success depends on TG doing the same. And these days you never really know which TG is going to show up.

They'd both have had to refuse the coin toss to force the issue.

And here's some photographs that show just how atrocious conditions were: http://www.sportowefakty.pl/index.php?dysc...5&news_id=82438

SOLIDARITY TOURNAMENT Was it really 25 years ago that the world watched as Polish workers in the Lenin shipyards in Gdansk, led by Lech Walesa, started a strike that led to the formation of the Solidarity trade union and ultimately the end of Communism? It was one of the landmark events of the last century and almost led to war in Europe, as the Poles, unlike the Czechs in 1968, would've fought a Soviet invasion. This meeting is a memorial to the men and women who created Solidarity and is being staged, appropriately, in Gdansk, the birthplace of the movement. As you'd imagine, a top quality field has been assembled and the contest should be keenly fought. ------------------------------ Solidarity Tournament - Gdansk 1..S Ulamek..1,2,3,2,2 = 10 2..R Kosceicha..3,2,2,2,2 = 11 3..M Puszakowski..0,1,1,1,2 = 5 4..G Walasek..2,0,3,2,1 = 8 5..R Holta..3,1,3,3,3 = 13 6..J Krzyzaniak..2,0,0,0,1 = 3 7..G Klopot..0,0 = 0 8..P Protasiewicz..1,3,2,0,3 = 9 9..D Ruud..0,0,0,3,3 = 6 10..K Jablonski..2,1,1,2,1 = 7 11..B Pedersen..3,3,2,3,2 = 13 12..S Drabik..1,1,0,0,0 = 2 13..W Jagus..2,3,2,1,3 = 11 14..T Chrzanowski..3,3,3,3,0 = 12 15..P Staszek..0,2,1,1,0 = 4 16..K Zabik..1,2,1,0,0 = 4 R1..M Jablonski..0,0,1,1 = 2 ------------------------------ Ht 1..Kosciecha, Walasek, Ulamek, Puszakowski Ht 2..Holta, Krzyzaniak, Protasiewicz, Klopot Ht 3..Pedersen, K Jablonski, Drabik, Ruud Ht 4..Chrzanowski, Jagus, Zabik, Staszek Ht 5..Jagus, Ulamek, Holta, Ruud Ht 6..Chrzanowski, Kosciecha, K Jablonski, Krzyzaniak Ht 7..Pedersen, Staszek, Puszakowski, Klopot Ht 8..Protaziewicz, Zabik, Drabik, Walasek Ht 9..Ulamek, Pedersen, Zabik, Krzyzaniak Ht 10..Holta, Kosciecha, Staszek, Drabik Ht 11..Chrzanowski, Protasiewicz, Puszakowski, M Jablonski [Ruud Ex/2] Ht 12..Walasek, Jagus, K Jablonski, M Jablonski Ht 13..Chrzanowski, Ulamek, M Jablonski, Drabik Ht 14..Pedersen, Kosciecha, Jagus, Protasiewicz Ht 15..Holta, K jablonski, Puszakowski, Zabik [Fell] Ht 16..Ruud, Walasek, Staszek, Krzyzaniak Ht 17..Protasiewicz, Ulamek, K Jablonski, Staszek Ht 18..Ruud, Kosciecha, M Jablonski, Zabik [E/F] Ht 19..Jagus, Puszakowski, Krzyzaniak, Drabik Ht 20..Holta, Pedersen, Walasek, Chrzanowski ------------------------------ SEMI-FINALS Ht 21..Holta, Jagus, Kosciecha, Walasek Ht 22..Ulamek, Chrzanowski, Pedersen, Protasiewicz [Ex] ------------------------------ FINAL Ht 23..Ulamek, Chrzanowski, Holta, Jagus ------------------------------ Notes: 1..Ht 11 and Ruud is beaten by the 2 minutes and replaced by M Jablonski. 2..Ht 12 and Klopot is replaced by M Jablonski. 3..Ht 13 and Klopot is replaced by M Jablonski. 4..Ht 18 and Klopot is replaced by M Jablonski. 5..Ht 21 and the line-up for the first semi-final is Holta, Kosciecha, Jagus and Walasek. 6..Ht 22 and the line-up for the second semi-final is Pedersen, Chrzanowski, Ulamek and Protasiewicz. 7..Ht 22 and Protasiewicz gets up to mischief and is excluded. 8..Ht 23 and the line-up for the final is Holta, Jagus, Ulamek and Chrzanowski. 9..Ht 23 and Ulamek wins the Solidarity tournament. ------------------------------ All details from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl

And Ferrari won the American GP this season.

Scores are posted in Steve Shovlar's thread in "General Speedway Discussions": http://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/ind...showtopic=21519

But I'm just getting warmed up for when the "nominations" are announced old fellow.

From what I gather, from "wolf cry", Suchanek was the first to start celebrating. Maybe he won the coin toss, Kasprzak complained, so they decided on a run-off, which Suchanek refused to take part in (and who would when the track has been declared unfit for further racing) and so Kasprzak is declared the winner. But there is no winner and only one loser - the sport.

Can't see how you can make such an assertion, since you weren't there and haven't seen any of it. As far as I'm concerned, there is no under 21 champion this year. The event is null and void due to the incompetence of the organisors.

No, I'm being consistent. With the circus now lacking an entry tournament, there has to be some form of selection process to eliminate the weaklings. My view has always been that if you fail to automatically qualify twice running, you should be out. In that sense, Andersen, Nicholls, Sullivan and Richardson have failed and should be kicked out. But it seems Nicholls and Richardson don't even have to try. They should just automatically have a place because the British GP is all-important.

Apparently, they could've raced the whole meeting at 7:00pm CET today, or held the meeting over until tomorrow.

How could a run-off be safe if the track was unfit to complete the meeting. Sensible decision from Suchanek to refuse a run-off. A stupid decision from Tony Steele to start the meeting in the first place.