IainB

They even let Chris "Bomber" Harris into the stadium... shocking!

Nothing confusing about that at all... you didn't have to do any points conversion like you do these days, now that is confusing.

That goes back to mentality

It was always going to be difficult for Bewley after the highs of Friday night, sub consciously you must have been thinking job done and to then have to do it again the very next night, mentally he's just not at that level (yet). Also the track was very different from Friday to Saturday, was very slick on Saturday. You could tell before the first heat with a lot of dirt already up against the fence kick boards on the both bends

I've been chatting to my ai friend again this morning: Approximate Current Standings Based ONLY on Qualifying Heat Points (after 5 rounds): (Note: There may be slight variations due to conflicting numbers in source results for individual heat points, but this provides a very close approximation) * Bartosz Zmarzlik: 13 + 9 + 12 + 12 + 13 = \textbf{59 points} * Brady Kurtz: 13 + 13 + 7 + 12 + 11 = \textbf{56 points} * Jack Holder: 8 + 14 + 9 + 11 + 9 = \textbf{51 points} * Fredrik Lindgren: 8 + 10 + 11 + 8 + 10 = \textbf{47 points} * Max Fricke: 8 + 9 + 6 + 12 + 9 = \textbf{44 points} * Andzejs Lebedevs: 10 + 11 + 10 + 1 + 6 = \textbf{38 points} * Dan Bewley: 9 + 4 + 10 + 11 + 6 = \textbf{40 points} (Updated for better accuracy) * Mikkel Michelsen: 4 + 8 + 6 + 8 + 9 = \textbf{35 points} * Robert Lambert: 8 + 9 + 5 + 7 + 6 = \textbf{35 points} * Martin Vaculik: 7 + 4 + 10 + 10 + 7 = \textbf{38 points} (Updated for better accuracy) * Anders Thomsen: 9 + 7 + 9 + 3 + 6 = \textbf{34 points} * Dominik Kubera: 8 + 6 + 3 + 5 + 6 = \textbf{28 points} * Kai Huckenbeck: 2 + 1 + 6 + 5 + 11 = \textbf{25 points} * Jan Kvech: 6 + 4 + 6 + 6 + 5 = \textbf{27 points} * Jason Doyle: 4 + 5 + N/A + 4 + 3 = \textbf{16 points} (Note: Doyle may have missed a round or had very low heat scores in one, contributing to a lower total) Key Takeaways: * Zmarzlik still leads, showing his consistency in heat racing. * Kurtz is very close behind, also demonstrating strong heat form. * The standings are much tighter under this "heat points only" system compared to the official SGP points, which award significant bonus points for making and winning semi-finals and finals. * Riders who consistently win heats but sometimes miss the final (e.g., Lebedevs) might be higher here than in the official standings. * Riders who may have a few lower heat scores but then pull off big wins in the final (like Bewley in Cardiff, though that was a 2024 example, it illustrates the point) would be relatively lower in this system. This calculation gives you a good sense of who is consistently performing well throughout the main body of each Grand Prix event.

At the risk of being called a racist or xenophobe (again) I really do think that his poor English language skills doesn't really help his cause for non-Polish Speedway fans, yes we can all see his skills on a Speedway bike that is not in doubt, but down the years we've always had riders that have been dominating Championships that have had excellent English language skills and when they're spoken to they are quite engaging, Tony Rickardsson stands out for me. Translating from Polish to English doesn't seem to be the easiest of things even Google struggles, so I fully understand why a lot of Polish riders struggle. We've never really seen Bartosz Zmarlik the man only the rider so it's difficult for some (yes me) to connect to him on a human level.

I think this is why I was comparing Zmarlik to JanO... he does have a bit of an advantage as like JanO there's nothing to him size wise, when you see him without all his protective gear he's a very small man, add that to his talent and kit and he seems to be able to make passes that no one else can... like JanO did, shame he got injured when he did as I think he had more in him.

I was thinking that last night... how do you follow that? Last night there was an inside line that riders were using in the latter races, that's not really working tonight

Suppose I'll not be seeing him on Thursday then 🙄

I know their styles are nothing like each other's bur Zmarlik reminds me of Janno in that a rider is never safe of points with him behind them

We've never really seen the best of Zmarzlik on these shores... we've seen it last night and we're watching it tonight.

BSN are good for what they are, they're not broadcast tv quality though... though neither are WBD

Maybe Tatum & Louis aren't at the venues so they're forced to commentate on what's happening on screen and not all the action that the Camerachimps miss?

Noticed that in both events in Prague

SHOVLAR! WAKEY! WAKEY!

The big question of the night... Is anybody going to remind Shovvy?!?

Poland and the UK are two very very different countries, culturally, economically and politically.

Merch anyone?

Don't forget Cardiff was on the calendar for this year

And DJ before his name 😁

Went last night, really enjoyed it, will be going again tonight. was it a brilliant speedway GP? yes... was it an event? Not for me, Cardiff was an event and attracted people from far and wide, speedway fans and non speedway fans. I've been to a few GP's in Denmark, Vojens & Parken, I went to Vojens as a Speedway pilgrimage, I went to Parken for the city and event. I'd go to Parken again in a heartbeat, couldn't see myself back at Vojens likewise Horsens never attracted me. Last night was very much like just being at a speedway meeting, something I'll be at around 40 other times this season. WBD have been a disaster for the SGP series, I don't know what it is, there just doesn't seem to be any fun around it since they took it over. IMG/BSI made a bit of a carnival of it, couldn't really say what positives WBD have brought.

Not sure what's going on with NORA, a few seasons ago many on here were saying the way IOW run their Speedway was the blueprint to follow, it seems they're having their own struggles along with the rest of the sport. Have BSPL managed to kill it off? Barry Bishop used to contribute quite often to this forum, not seen anything for a while.

Apparently not!

Just announced, heat winning times

Alphabetical? ... oh no, not that! Heat winning times