Subedei

Steady on young fellow. Let's get 2005 out of the way first.

The only repeat I can find is at 7:00am tomorrow morning - on Sky Sports Xtra. I'm sure that someone will video it for you.

I'd imagine they've all ridden at the track at some time or other. Certainly Jason Crump practiced there during February this year. And others will have ridden in open meetings.

And the dangers of the sport illustrated again with the news that Tarnow's Grzegorz Rempala fractured his back in a fall during Tarnow's meeting at Torun last Sunday. Let's hope the fellow makes a speedy recovery.

And, for the last time in 2006, a one-stop shop for the GP. First things first, predictions. The Mongol warlord says the following: 1..Tomasz Gollob 2..Jason Crump 3..Tony Rickardsson 4..Bjarne Pedersen

Same as the British GP I believe - 7:00pm. Edit: Correction, it's 8:00pm on Sky Sports Xtra. I just checked on the Sky website.

And after Sunday's meetings, the top 10 in the Ekstra Liga averages are as follows (last recorded position and average in brackets): 1..(2)..R Sullivan..Czestochowa..9.71..(9.71) 1..(2)..N Pedersen..Zielona Gora..9.71..(9.71) 3..(1)..T Gollob..Tarnow..9.64..(9.84) 4..(5)..P Protasiewicz..Bydgoszcz..9.38..(9.32) 5..(6)..L Adams..Leszno..9.36..(9.26) 6..(4)..R Holta..Czestochowa..9.31..(9.41) 7..(7)..T Rickardsson..Tarnow..9.20..(9.21) 8..(7)..J Crump..Torun..9.14..(9.21) 9..(10)..A Jonsson..Bydgoszcz..9.00..(8.88) 10..(-)..R Sawina..Bydgoszcz..8.59..(-.--) So, with neither Sullivan or Nicki P riding on Sunday they leap above TG who had a relatively poor meeting at Torun. And as a little extra, here's a few averages that might be of interest to Elite League fans: 11..G Walasek..Czestochowa..8.56 12..R Kosciecha..Gdansk..8.52 13..K Kasprzak..Leszno..8.38 14..H Andersen..Wroclaw..8.11 15..G Hancock..Gdansk..7.92 23..S Ulamek..Czestochowa..7.20 35..M Puszakowski..Torun..5.37 41..A Smith..Torun..4.94 43..A Skornicki..Leszno..4.56 And a few riders who haven't yet raced sufficient heats to get into the "main" average listings: B Pedersen..Gdansk..9.55 S Nicholls..Tarnow..9.00 L Richardson..Zielona Gora..7.04 R Miskowiak..Wroclaw..6.13 A Lindback..Wroclaw..4.36 All details, as ever, from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl

Speedway lives a hand-to-mouth existence. There's no incentive to plan for the future whatever. The rider controls change and a rider you just signed a year ago can't be accommodated in your team.

Could Nicki P also miss this GP?

But I didn't say copy, I said learn. Governance is clearly the primary concern and the sport in this country just seems to drift. Are we too "hung up" on averages? Do we punish success and reward failure through rider control measures? Do we encourage a "merry-go-round" of riders via restrictions on club strengths?

In the sense of helping and not hindering the progress of young British riders. A young Polish rider can race at Nos 6 and 7 in his team until he is 21. That's a huge advantage.

Taken from speedwayworld.tv: Jarek Hampel and Ryan Sullivan have both withdrawn from this weekend's final Grand Prix of the season at Lonigo. Hampel broke a bone in his hand in last week's Eugeniusz Nazimek meeting in Poland, while Sullivan (pictured) is still unwell after undergoing recent blood tests. The Aussie has also pulled out of his British, Polish and Swedish league commitments. Hampel is currently ninth overall in the Grand Prix standings while Sullivan is 14th. Both will now have to wait and see if they get a special nomination back into the 2006 series. Sweden's Stefan Andersson and Russian reserve Roman Povazhny are set to replace Hampel and Sullivan at Lonigo this weekend, though official confirmation of their participation is still awaited.

Missed Poland walking away with the SWC then? And surely that's the true measure of success. To win the team world championship. After all, you only need to find 1 exceptional rider to win the GP series.

And hopefully it's all level on aggregate after Ht 14 in Bydgoszcz with TR, TG, AJ and Pepe in Ht 15. Think the blood pressure could cope with that?

We have to learn from the Poles.

But is TR taking his racing in Poland seriously this season? Tarnow ended up having to recruit Nicholls to cover TR's absences this season. And his average is about a point down on Gollob's. In addition, early in the season Jonsson wasn't at his best for Bydgoszcz, but he's on top of his game now. This should be a classic encounter. Wish it was televised in the UK.

I could be wrong, but I think the results in the regular season were: Tarnow..48..Bydgoszcz..42 Bydgoszcz..48..Tarnow..42 It should be a super couple of meetings. Easily the best two teams in the Ekstra Liga this season up against each other in the Grand Final.

I notice Jason Crump saying it would be cheaper for the riders if "we just gave Tomasz [Gollob] 25 points and forget about this [bydgoszcz] event.

Should be a couple of great meetings anyway. And the Polonia stadium will be packed for the second leg. But Bydgoszcz have to hold Tarnow at their home track. They can't let Tarnow run away from them like Wroclaw and Torun did. If it's a 10-12 point defeat at Tarnow, the Bydgoszcz meeting should be heart attack territory.

But can you smash Tarnow and TG? And show a little concern for the poor ZKZ Kitten young fellow. Her beloved team has just dropped from the Ekstra Liga.

And that means a Grand Final between Tarnow and Bydgoszcz, with the first leg at Tarnow and the second at Bydgoszcz. So, will Bydgoszcz's favourite son, aTomek Gollob, return to haunt the club he spent so many years with? Or will new favourite Andreas Jonsson lead Bydgoszcz to the promised land?

The second Ekstra Liga play-off meeting on 4 September, 2005, sees Bydgoszcz attempting to recover a 5 point deficit to Czestochowa. And you've got to fancy their chances of pulling it off at the Polonia stadium, especially with Czestochowa No 1 Ryan Sullivan ruled out through injury. ------------------------------ Bydgoszcz..61 [103] 9..A Jonsson..3,2,3,3 = 11 10..J Krzyzaniak..1,1',2',3,3 = 10+2 11..R Sawina..3,1',3,2',1 = 10+2 12..M Robacki..2',2,2',3,0 = 9+2 13..P Protasiewicz..2,3,2,2',3 = 12+1 14..K Klecha..3,1',2',0,1 = 7+2 15..K Buczkowski..2' = 2+1 Czestochowa..29 [76] 1..S Ulamek..0,3,1,1,1,0 = 6 2..R Sullivan [R/R] 3..G Walasek..0,0,3,0,0,2 = 5 4..S Drabik..1,0,1,1' = 3+1 5..R Holta..2,3,3,1,2,1,2 = 14 6..M Piekarski..1,0,0,0 = 1 7..D Romanczuk..0,0,0 = 0 Ht 1..Klecha, Buczkowski, Piekarski, Romanczuk 5-1 (5-1) Ht 2..Jonsson, Holta, Krzyzaniak, Ulamek 4-2 (9-3) Ht 3..Sawina, Robacki, Drabik, Walasek [E/F] 5-1 (14-4) Ht 4..Holta, Protasiewicz, Klecha, Piekarski 3-3 (17-7) Ht 5..Ulamek, Robacki, Sawina, Piekarski 3-3 (20-10) Ht 6..Protasiewicz, Klecha, Ulamek, Walasek 5-1 (25-11) Ht 7..Holta, Jonsson, Krzyzaniak, Piekarski 3-3 (28-14) Ht 8..Walasek, Protasiewicz, Ulamek, Klecha 2-4 (30-18) Ht 9..Jonsson, Krzyzaniak, Drabik, Walasek 5-1 (35-19) Ht 10..Sawina, Robacki, Holta, Romanczuk 5-1 (40-20) Ht 11..Jonsson, Holta, Klecha, Walasek 4-2 (44-22) Ht 12..Robacki, Sawina, Ulamek, Piekarski 5-1 (49-23) Ht 13..Krzyzaniak, Protasiewicz, Holta, Ulamek [E/F] 5-1 (54-24) Ht 14..Krzyzaniak, Walasek, Drabik, Robacki [E/F] 3-3 (57-27) Ht 15..Protasiewicz, Holta, Sawina, Romanczuk 4-2 (61-29) ------------------------------ Notes: 1..Ht 2 and Holta takes the R/R ride for Czestochowa. 2..Ht 5 and Drabik takes the R/R ride for Czestochowa. 3..Ht 6 and Ulamek replaces Drabik in a tactical move by Czestochowa. 4..Ht 8 and Walasek takes the R/R ride for Czestochowa. 5..Ht 10 and Romanczuk replaces Piekarski for Czestochowa. 6..Ht 11 and Holta replaces Drabik in a tactical move by Czestochowa. 7..Ht 12 and a 5-1 for Bydgoszcz sees them through to meet Tarnow in the Grand Final. 8..Ht 13 and Ulamek takes the R/R for Czestochowa. 9..Ht 14 and it's Krzyzaniak-Robacki for Bydgoszcz and Walasek-Drabik for Czestochowa. 10..Ht 15 and it's Sawina-Protasiewicz for Bydgoszcz and Holta-Ulamek for Czestochowa. 11..Ht 15 and Romanczuk replaces Ulamek for Czestochowa. 12..And Buczkowski gets a maximum, of sorts. Unbeaten by an opponent in his only ride. ------------------------------ Bonus points calculated per British Elite League. All details from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl

I believe he's back in training Gemini: http://www.sportowefakty.pl/index.php?dysc...5&news_id=79728 Rico might be able to translate, or Mateusz.

And as an added extra today, Leszno and Wroclaw are also meeting, at Wroclaw, presumably to decide who gets 5th and 6th places in the Ekstra Liga for 2006. It'll be tough for Wroclaw with GP star Jaroslaw Hampel breaking his hand in a crash at Rzeszow last night. ------------------------------ Wroclaw..49 9..J Hampel [R/R] 10..R Miskowiak..1',3,3,0,3,0 = 10+1 11..K Slabon..1,1,2',2,2,3 = 11+1 12..P Swiderski..0,0,2',1',0,2' = 5+3 13..H Andersen..2,3,3,2,2',3 = 15+1 14..R Jamrozy..3,2',0,1',1 = 7+2 15..M Pacholak..1 = 1 Leszno..41 1..L Adams..3,3,3,3,1' = 13+1 2..J Rempala..0 = 0 3..L Jankowski..3,2,0,2',1 = 8+1 4..A Skornicki..2',1',1,0 = 4+2 5..K Kasprzak..1,1,3,3,0,2 = 10 6..D Balinski Jr..0,0,0,0 = 0 7..N Kosciuch..2,2',0,1,1 = 6+1 Ht 1..Jamrozy, Kosciuch, Pacholak, Balinski Jr [Ex/T] 4-2 (4-2) Ht 2..Adams, Andersen, Miskowiak, Rempala [Ex] 3-3 (7-5) Ht 3..Jankowski, Skornicki, Slabon, Swiderski [E/F] 1-5 (8-10) Ht 4..Andersen, Jamrozy, Kasprzak, Balinski Jr 5-1 (13-11) Ht 5..Adams, Kosciuch, Slabon, Swiderski [E/F] 1-5 (14-16) Ht 6..Andersen, Jankowski, Skornicki, Jamrozy [E/F] 3-3 (17-19) Ht 7..Miskowiak, Slabon, Kasprzak, Balinski Jr 5-1 (22-20) Ht 8..Adams, Andersen, Jamrozy, Kosciuch 3-3 (25-23) Ht 9..Miskowiak, Swiderski, Skornicki, Jankowski 5-1 (30-24) Ht 10..Kasprzak, Slabon, Swiderski, Balinski Jr 3-3 (33-27) Ht 11..Kasprzak, Jankowski, Jamrozy, Miskowiak [E/F] 1-5 (34-32) Ht 12..Adams, Slabon, Kosciuch, Swiderski [E/F] 2-4 (36-36) Ht 13..Miskowiak, Andersen, Kosciuch, Kasprzak [E/F] 5-1 (41-37) Ht 14..Slabon, Swiderski, Jankowski, Skornicki 5-1 (46-38) Ht 15..Andersen, Kasprzak, Adams, Miskowiak 3-3 (49-41) ------------------------------ Notes: 1..Ht 1 and Balinski Jr is up to mischief at the tapes and excluded for Leszno. 2..Ht 2 and Andersen takes the R/R ride for Wroclaw. 3..Ht 2 and Rempala is up to mischief and excluded for Leszno. 4..Ht 5 and Kosciuch replaces Rempala for Leszno. 5..Ht 7 and Slabon takes the R/R ride for Wroclaw. 6..Ht 8 and Kosciuch replaces Rempala for Leszno. 7..Ht 9 and Swiderski takes the R/R ride for Wroclaw. 8..Ht 11 and Miskowiak takes the R/R ride for Wroclaw, while Kasprzak replaces Skornicki in a tactical move by Leszno. 9..Ht 12 and Kosciuch replaces Balinski Jr for Leszno. 10..Ht 13 and Kosciuch replaces Rempala for Leszno. 11..Ht 14 and it's Slabon-Swiderski for Wroclaw and Jankowski-Skornicki for Leszno. 12..Ht 15 and it's Miskowiak-Andersen for Wroclaw and Adams-Kasprzak for Leszno. ------------------------------ Bonus points calculated per British Elite League. All details from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl

The first Ekstra Liga play-off meeting on 4 September, 2005, sees Jason Crump's Torun attempting to restore some honour after their hammering at Tarnow in the first leg a fortnight ago. They don't stand a chance of actually progressing into the final, do they? You've got to doubt it. In the regular season fixture Torun won 50-40, but while TR went away with the track record, the brothers Gollob had a woeful time. ------------------------------ Torun..48 [76] 9..W Jagus..2,3,3,1',2' = 11+2 10..M Jagus..0,0 = 0 11..J Crump..3,1,2,1',2 = 9+1 12..A Smith..1,3,1',2,1' = 8+2 13..M Puszakowski..1,3,3,1',3 = 11+1 14..A Miedzinski..3,0,0,2',2 = 7+1 15..K Zabik..0,0,2 = 2 Tarnow..42 [104] 1..T Rickardsson..3,2,1,3 = 9 2..S Burza..1,0,0,0,1 = 2 3..J Gollob..2,1',2,0,3 = 8+1 4..G Rempala..0 = 0 5..T Gollob..3,2,0,3,0 = 8 6..M Rempala..1',2',1',3,0 = 7+3 7..J Kolodziej..2,2,1',3,0 = 8+1 Ht 1..Miedzinski, Kolodziej, M Rempala, Zabik 3-3 (3-3) Ht 2..Rickardsson, W Jagus, Burza, M Jagus 2-4 (5-7) Ht 3..Crump, J Gollob, Smith, G Rempala [Fall] 4-2 (9-9) Ht 4..T Gollob, M Rempala, Puszakowski, Miedzinski [Fall] 1-5 (10-14) Ht 5..Smith, Rickardsson, Crump, Burza 4-2 (14-16) Ht 6..Puszakowski, Kolodziej, J Gollob, Miedzinski [E/F] 3-3 (17-19) Ht 7..W Jagus, T Gollob, M Rempala, Zabik 3-3 (20-22) Ht 8..Puszakowski, Miedzinski, Rickardsson, Burza 5-1 (25-23) Ht 9..W Jagus, J Gollob, Kolodziej, M Jagus 3-3 (28-26) Ht 10..M Rempala, Crump, Smith, T Gollob 3-3 (31-29) Ht 11..Kolodziej, Miedzinski, W Jagus, J Gollob 3-3 (34-32) Ht 12..Rickardsson, Smith, Crump, M Rempala 3-3 (37-35) Ht 13..T Gollob, Zabik, Puszakowski, Burza 3-3 (40-38) Ht 14..J Gollob, Crump, Smith, Kolodziej 3-3 (43-41) Ht 15..Puszakowski, W Jagus, Burza, T Gollob [E/F] 5-1 (48-42) ------------------------------ Notes: 1..Ht 6 and Kolodziej replaces G Rempala for Tarnow. 2..Ht 6 and Miedzinski is up to mischief and excluded for Torun. 3..Ht 7 and Zabik replaces M Jagus for Torun. 4..Ht 9 and Kolodziej replaces G Rempala for Tarnow. 5..Ht 10 and a 3-3 sees Tarnow hit 91 on aggregate and progress to the Grand Final. 6..Ht 11 and Kolodziej replaces G Rempala for Tarnow. 7..Ht 13 and Zabik replaces M Jagus for Torun. 8..Ht 14 and it's Smith-Crump for Torun and J Gollob-Kolodziej for Tarnow. 9..Ht 15 and it's Puszakowski-W Jagus for Torun and Burza-T Gollob for Tarnow. ------------------------------ Bonus points calculated per British Elite League. All details from: http://www.sportowefakty.pl