Seb the Snail

All hail the Clean One! I guess it would have been a surprise if he hadn't won, but 18 straight wins over the 3 meetings is an awesome effort. Final standings: 60 Adams 52 Holder C 48 Schlein 45 Batchelor, 43 Watt, 41 Woodward, 37 Proctor, 32 Doyle, 31 Ward, 28 Gathercole, 27 Smith, 20 Grajczonek, 17 Herne J, 17 Summers, 16 Sedgmen J, 13 Herne L, 4 Holder J

Heat Results are available here Good to see Clean starting 2009 as he means to carry on.

I wouldn't back Adams under any circumstances. His best chance was 2007 and whilst he can still win the odd GP, I'll be very surprised if he ever manages a Top 3 finish again. Hans each way looks the best bet to me, but there's no rush to get on and you'll probably get better than 10-1 if you hunt around.

I'd rather have a 7pm start and more socialising time in the afternoon. Hopefully the fleet of Robins coaches will just leave 2 hours earlier to ensure that we don't miss out on serious drinking time. If not then I may have to break the habit of a lifetime and stay over, and that could be really messy!

Blimey Bert, this is worse than waiting for your A-level results. Have I finished above orion or not?

How about your favourite Forum male?

On the Rostrum: Pedersen, Crump, Andersen In the Top 8: Jonsson, Adams, Gollob, Hancock, Holta Supporting Cast: Nicholls, Sajfutdinov, Bjerre, Lindgren, Ulamek, Harris, Walasek

I think that a Wembley World Final would be my choice. My Mum went to several in the early 60s and says that they were magical. Domestically I think that Cradley would be my first choice, on a balmy summer evening when the Wolves were in town!

What a load of poppycock. What right does anyone else have to tell me who to support in the Speedway Grand Prix, or anything else for that matter? Most of the criticism this weekend has been over the selection of Harris, who quite clearly doesn't deserve his spot in the series for any other reason than his birthplace. Cardiff '07 apart, he spends most GPs struggling to qualify for the business end of the meeting because his gating is so poor, and top quality riders are far more difficult to pass than those he storms past in the league. This compounded by the slick surfaces that the GPs are often raced on. Nicholls is a different case, and you'd do well to argue that he isn't in the Top 15 after missing out by a whisker on the Top 8 this summer and generally being far more competitive throughout the series. Either way, I fully defend my right to support who I like next summer, and neither of the Brits will rank particularly highly on the list.

Harris! What a total disgrace! I can't say that I'm totally surprised, but as the Adder suggested, this decision stinks the place out. Nicholls deserves his spot, and I have no problem with Lindgren and Sajfutdinov taking their place in the series either, but there are at least half a dozen riders with a better claim than Bomber. The sooner riders are selected on ability rather than nationality the better, but I won't hold my breath.

Surely that will be decided at the British Final as per the last couple of seasons?

Maybe so, but on this season's evidence, wouldn't "Lukas Dryml cometh before a fall" be more accurate? I doubt that Woffinden is even in the Top 50 in the world at the moment, let alone the Top 15. The GP series will lose its last shred of credibility if he's given 1 of the picks.

Rune has qualified anyway! I can't agree about preferring to see Bomber in the series rather than Sajfutdinov! Have you not watched him pootling around at the back all summer? Freddie showed last night that he is the 2nd Swede and should definitely get the nod over Davidsson. As you mentioned on the other thread, he could just do with cutting down on his schedule a little, so that he has the energy to allow him to raise his game on the big occasion. Like most others, I'd go for Nicholls, Lindgren, Holder and Sajfutdinov. Jarek and Bjarne are next best, but clearly the wrong nationality to get an automatic pick.

Not much to add. The whole meeting and subsequent "Not So" Super Prix were predictable in the extreme. You can't help but admire Gollob, but the final Championship standings and record purse were altered dramatically by last week's fiasco. Totally wrong in every way, and I don't blame Greg one bit if he came out and said so. Apart from that, good to see Rune claim 8th. Snails like Rune. And as for AJ's move! All I can say is that I thought it was Kozza Smith on his bike for a minute! Quite how some posters are trying to defend it astounds me. Very sad for Lindgren whose season had been on a real downward spiral until last night. At least he got back on his feet. Leigh, for the umpteenth time in the GP this year, was just Leigh. Seemingly untroubled until push comes to shove, at which point he fluffs the start and just pootles around at the back, packs up his kit and goes home.

What a load of poppycock. Good luck to Smolinski next week. If he can beat Gjedde round Swindon in a Grand Final, surely he can beat the world's best round Bydgoszcz?

What a total joke. I'm so glad that I'm not one of the poor souls who have wasted their hard-earned cash on this trip. I don't buy the conspiracy theories, but I do think that this should be the end for the German GP, and hopefully for Olsen as well. Two other things spring to mind. Firstly, what will Mrs Gollob spend the Super Prix money on? Secondly, can Rosco sue the FIM for tonight's loss of takings?

Firstly, I can't find any real fault in any of the refereeing decisions. The only one up for debate was Freddie's exclusion at the start of the meeting, but I guess he was as culpable as anyone. Crump wasn't to blame for either of his 2 incidents. The first saw Nicki return to his Cardiff tactics of falling over in a heap once he'd been out-foxed, and the second was just plain stupidity from Gollob, who recklessly threw away his place in the final (and my money with it)! Elsewhere, very sorry that the race isn't a little closer going to Germany, but at least Nicki still has "work to do". He'll be champion barring a miracle. Credit to Hans, who was right on the pace all night, and looked absolutely delighted to capitalise on Jason's misfortune. The same sentiments to Bjarne, who clearly relished the blue groove. He must have spent most of the evening thinking that he was at Wimborne Road! As for the Clean One, par for his GP course again; decent off red but struggled elsewhere. Bigger fish to fry on Monday methinks.

Interesting theory 21CH, but the facts would suggest that he is a mile behind Adams and Hancock - and to a lesser extent Andersen and Jonsson. "On their day" they all win the meeting, after all.

I know what you mean, but Nicki is only 31 and Hans is 27, so it's not quite as you suggest. I agree that if riders like PK or Sullivan had qualified, and so potentially kept out youngsters like Lindgren and Holder, it wouldn't have been particularly inspiring, but a World Championship should be based on ability and nothing else.

Pretty uninspiring stuff last night, especially at the start of the meeting, when it was just a case of "follow the leader" once they had sorted themselves out in the first and second bends. It did get better later on, and Gollob was clearly different gravy all night, but it wasn't a vintage Bydgoszcz meeting by any means. Another semi-final exit for Adams; his GP series has been a succession of nights like this . So frustrating. Oh, and well done to Greg on his win, but I still want to stick that infernal drinks can somewhere that would wipe the cheesy grin off his face. Rather bizarre that the GP winner was outscored by 2 of the riders that he beat in the final too.

Disagree Steve. The World Championship is at stake and so the best riders in the world should take place in the series, irresepective of where they happened to be born.

I can't see any of the qualifiers troubling the Top 8 in next year's series, but I like the concept of the GP Qualifier and so they deserve their place for 2009. Ulamek is one of the sport's good guys, and his celebrations are without equal. At least with Bjerre going through I get someone to jeer every other Saturday; well, unless he decides that his leg is broken again. Good news that Holder's chances have been enhanced by Sullivan's late collapse too, but the sooner we have a system based on ability and not nationality the better. I couldn't really give a stuff if we had 5 Aussies, 5 Poles and 5 Danes as long as they are the best 15 riders in the world.

Walasek, Sullivan and hopefully Rico. Like TNT I'd love Pavlic to make it, even though that could have an adverse effect on his performances for Swindon next season. A year too soon for him though, I reckon. Almost half the field has a Swindon connection so there will be plenty of Wiltshire eyes on tomorrow's result. As long as it's not Bjerre; he scraped through on the back of Davey Watt's missed flight and has been picking and choosing which days his leg has been broken all summer. I'll bet it's in full working order tomorrow.

I agree, but I guess that just sets it up nicely for a decider in the final meeting? I wonder if there are any plans to restage if the weather intervenes, as it must be a shade of odds on at the moment.

I think my "favourite" Millard moment last night was in the rerun heat after Hans had been excluded, when on about lap 3 he commented that Iversen had "moved through into 3rd place," as if finishing ahead of someone who was sat in the pits that was a major achievement. All of the ridiculous bits of rider trivia have been heard so many times that they just wash over me now, so it's the absurd new comments that I tend to notice.