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I agree Backless the GP from Malilla was very bad on Sky and was caused by lack of HD studios in fact on that day it was a studio very rarely used now except for voice-over work as really old 4.3 cameras and gallery so had to stretch the picture to fill the screen and in my opinion a total mess. So far this year Sky has recieved a HD feed for all GPs but often downscaled for broadcast. I have not had a chance to check which studio they are in tonight as the red button will make it look poor anyway as low available bandwidth and old encoder.

Also I am very sorry to say that all the coverage is being downscaled to SD as there are no HD studios available to use can't wait until all the new HD studios are handed over for use so can finally do away with SD coverage due to lack studio capacity. With free weekend offer on and both Real Madrid and Barcelona playing Saturday night Speedway was always going get pushed to red button and SD coverage.

I am pretty certain there will be a British rider in the GP in 2012 for commercial reasons who that rider may be is less clear with Harris already having a few chances,Woffy already ruling himself out,Kennett not so good on continent and problems in UK and unlikely that Nicholls or Richardson would want to do it so may be Harris again unless go for younger rider like Barker,king or Bridger. Darcy Ward can't commit to 2012 yet as has some outstanding things that need sorting out and the Laguta brothers I am told burned their bridges with BSI over the Cardiff and Kings Lynn fiasco with visas. I would be surprised if Poles get another place and if do expect will be a Pawlicki brother or Janowski if wins U21 championship

There will be at least one British rider in SGP in 2012 but as will have to be a wild card maybe a change of rider will happen. Who the other wildcards will be may become clearer in next couple of weeks I expect if Darcy Ward has a good one in Torun that he will be in and will be surprised if Lindgren is left out. The Russians and Laguta brothers did themselves no favours with BSI and FIM after the world cup and Cardiff fiasco so believe it will just be Emil for 2012

I was not saying that something that something funny had been going on. But the family has obviously got some bad mark on on a record somewhere that UK embassy are not happy with for them all not be able to obtain visas which can be got in a few days if required I know this as fact as have helped Russian crew and journalists enter the UK for work. Also know that one of Leicester Russians family managed to get a visa at late notice when there partner was confirmed as riding at Kings Lynn.

Is it true what i have heard that Tarasenko is the Laguta's sisters son ? If so there is definitly something not correct with families background

Team GB did pretty much what I expected in fact maybe a little bit better. I was very impressed by Ben Barker seemed to show lots of passion and really prepared to mix it both his win and 2nd places were hard physical rides and not scared of the others. Kennett was very poor just does not seem to travel well fine in UK but go abroad just don't happen

Just got home and see now confirmed that Bridger replaces Scott Nicholls in Poland for family reasons

I agree with previous comment Emil was in UK until this morning as racing for Coventry and has two bikes plus equipment and mechanics in UK BSI/FIM will pay points money and small amount of expenses . There is no reason for him not to ride as he able to do so, the Lagutas obviously have some very diffrent background as they have been refused entry permits to UK even to come here on holiday. I have spoken to our travel team at work as we often have crew going out to countries and also assist foreign crew when working over here and they have confirmed with ASLA a approved Uk entry visa agent that it takes around 3-5 days to get the required entry permit for UK for Russians but does involve quite detailed information about persons. People have mentioned the kid Tarasenko but from what I understand he is Artem and Grigory Lagutas sisters son so is likely to have the same issues

I cant believe that the Russians are plannning on using the Lagutas and Emil for race off and final I hope that BSI/FIM block them from riding in the event at all this season. The latest i have heard this morning is Russia may only have 4man team so some 3 rider races which will rob the fans even more it is bad enough that Russia are sending really poor weak team but to only field 4 riders I find unacceptable and I know BSI were very unhappy with Artem Laguta missing Cardiff so I think the chances of a Russian GP in next few years has just gone

Just been looking at things and seems don't even need work permits as get paid by Fim in euros or Swiss francs so all need is visiting permits which can be got in 2 to 3 days after Artem missed Cardiff you would think they would get this arranged don't even have to go to Moscow can be issued in other cities. I suspect they have been refused entry for some reason to visit UK at all and may be on a banned list. I remember they were due to go Australia then pulled out as couldn't get visas for the fans sake I hope Emil does ride to make them have some chance as others are useless. Only positive is for team GB as just Poland to worry about

If the Russians don't field full side they are robbing fans and Lagutas and Emil should not be allowed to ride in Poland at race off. I do have some sympathy with Emil as he will be class as usual but with no support especially with Darkin and Bondarenko both struggling in premier league and would not normally be anywhere near a Russia team place . Emil must feel why should I bother with it

Robbie B- Glad you enjoyed the 3D experience and the feedback that has been recieved from viewers and also from other broadcasters/ industry people has all been very good with some even saying it is better than football/NFL in 3D which is a credit to speedway and also the 3D production team. As stated previously we would liked to have done the World cup meeting at Kings Lynn but it would mean taking up a lot of extra space on the terraces and reduced the crowd capacity further and what is likely to be a near sell out event so has been stopped at present. I am confident that there will be some more 3D speedway this season maybe even before the play offs especially as we now have 3 3D only units available to us from our outside broadcast partners Telegenic who are obviously keen to get them out on the road earning money, I believe inside the next 6 months there will be a dedicated Sky sports 3D channel as content is improving all the time. Diesel- No need to worry yet 3D is expected to remain a niche/premium product for another 3-5 years but which time they should have sorted glasses free 3D at an affordable price and normal HDTV is likely to remain for another 20 years plus

I am very glad to hear that most fans who have the required tvs enjoyed the 3D coverage I personally thought it was very good and really brought the sport alive especially the new camera angles on the centregreen with shots down the straight made it seem that the riders were coming straight at you there was also some good 3D footgae from the start line girls who gave us lots of twirls and misses into the cameras. The trophy presentation was good as well and looked like the glitter was floting out of your screen. Overall everybody at Sky was well pleased with how it turned out and I know the 3D brand manager at Sky tv was impressed and is keen for more 3D speedway. At Cardiff we used 8 3D only cameras along with a 3D steadicam and 3D on bike camera on Holders bike which didnt work very well and needs bit of work on. We also converted shots from three 2D cameras mainly in pits and beauty shot from roof Steve Johnstone could not believe how good it was when we first showed it him. The biggest isssue we have at the minute with 3D is at present it is filmed as a totally seperate production with own cameras,cabling,camera positions,ob trucks,broadcast links,crew,commentary so just for the 3D coverage of the speedway meant an extra 25 staff and cost around an extra 25k to do. We would like to do the World cup event but space is at a real premium so I dont think that it s going to happen this year although you may see some Elite league action later in the year. All in all a very good busy day with over 300 staff involved in bring it to fans screens which is around the same amount of staff used for FA cup final and Carling cup final the HD coverage was as brilliant as usual and the 3D coverage seems to have gone down well

The 3D footage we filmed at Coventry on Monday along with some bits we got from practice is very impressive and I will be very interested to hear fans view on the coverage. You will be having the brilliant Jonathan Greene and super Aussie Steve Johnston as your hosts for the evening . Look out for the 3D wheelies and the shale flying from back wheels

BFD you didn't really miss much in Walkabout tonight apart from a few riders and fans having few too many beers but was an experience and good speedway atmosphere. Unfortunately I am likely to be too busy tommorow to see all the fans for pre meeting drinks but may pop in after racing is all done

topaz325, on 14 June 2011 - 11:04 PM, said: Ben Barker in Team GB,the guy is a PL rider with no ambition. You mean the guy who 2.5 years ago when still only an 8 point PL man went full time EL? There are a few things you can never accuse Barker of, one of them is having no ambition. I understand that Barker has also been called up to be track reserve at Cardiff along with a GP 2012 qualifier this weekend all seems strange for a guy with no ambition

Unless any last minute changes happen this will also be the first GP in HD on Sky apart from Cardiff, Due to a lack of HD equipped studios at Osterley London previously all GPS have only been in SD even if filmed in HD they are downscaled for broadcast on Sky as we wdo not allow SD presentation and then HD main action as deemed to be confusing to viewers. Once the new Harlequin 1 building fully opens later in the year all Gps and other studio presented shows should be in HD

Now that the trails and bumpers have been run on Elite league coverage I am very pleased to confirm this years Brutish Speedway GP at Cardiff will be the first ever broadcast in 3D and as far as I know will be first ever tv match in 3D. This will of course be on top on the usual HD coverage

Birmingham will be in the Elite league in 2011 and the new number one will be Hans Anderson much to the annoyance of Coventry who thought they had agreed a deal for him to go to Brandon and Richard Sweetman will be staying at Perry Barr talks are ongoing with Jason Lyons as needs to decide whether he wants to step up

I also understand that Sky sports pit side reporter and glamour girl Charlie Webster is going to be at the meeting presenting the trophys

For those that missed the world cup due to change of channels to avoid red button coverage the meeting is being shown again on Wednesday and Thursday evening again in HD

Does anybody have a rough idea on how many fans are likely to be at Kings Lynn do you think the crowd will be at similar level to last year at Peterborough ?

Ballinger do you still have the room available ? I have tried PM but says you can not recieve any new messages

Just tried the ETAP but none available so must have gone straight away or have not gone back into the system yet.