Mateusz

They've just been talking about the situation on the radio, here in Poland, and they said: "No chance the volcano ash cloud will leave the Polish airspace till next week ... Very likely no flights landing/taking off from Poland this week" So I'm sorry to say this but it doesn't look good at all ...

Received a payment confirmation about 90 minutes after paying by a credit card. So everything seems to be fine.

My team: 2. Tomasz GOLLOB £50,000 (Captain) 6. Nicki PEDERSEN £45,000 9. Fredrik LINDGREN £35,000 12. Chris HOLDER £35,000 13. Jaroslaw HAMPEL £25,000 Thanks

Wroclaw v Gorzow will be shown live by TVP Sport at 6 pm local time.

Yeah, the Torun match has been postponed and looks like the clubs will have a free hand as for fixing the new dates of their matches. //UPDATE: All matches now officially cancelled by the Ekstraliga authorities.

Well, there would be just nothing at all going on here, you know. On Saturday early afternoon there are official farewell ceremonies in remembrance of all victims taking place in the centre of Warsaw. And then on Sunday, at 2 pm, the funeral of the presidential couple will take place at the Wawel Castle in Krakow. In the meanwhile, all tv's will be showing the 'journey' of the coffins - taking off in Warsaw, then landing in Krakow and then the funeral procession on the streets of Krakow. So just everyone will be sitting home this weekend and watching tv.

All football matches have been cancelled so I guess the decision re speedway is just a matter of minutes/hours. There's still a little hope but I don't think they will go that day. If so, I'm really sorry for you bluejam. If it was up to me, I wouldn't be cancelling sport events that day. Watch the funeral on telly if u want to and then go to the stadium in the evening, maybe without singing and drinking that day as usual ... But that's just my opinion, I'm not the speedway governing body //Update: Division 1 & 2 matches have just been cancelled by the GKSZ (Polish speedway governing body). Speedway Ekstraliga is a different sports organisation, not under Polish Motorcycle Federation, so there must a separate decision as for the Ekstraliga matches. I will be surprised though, if this decision is different. Although I wish it was.

A one week long national mourning has been announced, starting today. I understand it ends next Saturday so there should be matches next Sunday. I'm not 100% sure about it yet tho'.

All sports and entertainment events have been cancelled in Poland because of today's national tragedy. Switch on BBC News or CNN.

You can buy your tickets on the day of the event.

Unless they create an English version of it closer to time, I will write here what to do. But I'm pretty sure there will be an English version of this website, as soon as they put there any GP tickets content. This article says the normal tickets will cost 90 - 140 zl (depending on sectors) and that you'll be able to pay by a credit card for them.

Tickets for the GP Everyone-Here-Is-Jealous-Of will be on sale from April 19th on www.unibax.kupbilety.pl

TVP SPORT are going show live the following matches (first 7 rounds): Round 1 - April 5th (Easter Monday) 16.00 Tarnow - Zielona Gora 18.00 Gorzow - Leszno Round 2 - April 11th (Sunday) 16.00 Bydgoszcz - Tarnow 18.00 Leszno - Torun Round 3 - April 18th (Sunday) 16.00 Czestochowa - Tarnow 18.00 Torun - Zielona Gora Round 4 - May 2nd (Sunday) 16.00 Tarnow - Gorzow 18.00 Bydgoszcz - Torun Round 5 - May 9th (Sunday) 16.00 Leszno - Zielona Gora 18.00 Wroclaw - Bydgoszcz Round 6 - May 16th (Sunday) 16.00 Tarnow - Wroclaw 18.00 Zielona Gora - Gorzow Roudn 7 - May 23rd (Sunday) 16.00 Torun - Gorzow 18.00 Wroclaw - Czesotchowa All times in CET.

Misunderstanding or a mistake in translationg but he's been married since 1997.

1) Ostrow was not an Ekstraliga team (and we are discussing Ekstraliga here...). Anyway, they went bankrupt and have to start from scratch in the lowest Division now (even if they had stayed in Division 1 somehow, they would be starting with their new club from Division 2 now). 2) Gdansk paid him off eventually. 3) Richardsson was paid off eventually as well. Otherwise Czestochowa would not have got the licence to ride in Ekstraliga in 2010. 4) Nicholls and Wroclaw is a different kind of story - they didn't want to pay him all the money because of his utterly rubbish performances throughout the whole season. Still, they had to pay him off (or agree with him anyhow) - otherwise they would not have got the licence! Doesn't matter how many clubs got their licences straight away - they had to pay off their riders in the end - otherwise they would not have been given their licences for the 2010. What I am trying to say is - in the past clubs could sign virtual contracts and deepen their debts more and more ... Now it's impossible (alright, with little delays in a few cases) - unless you pay off your riders you won't be given your licence for the next year, simple as. And I'm not saying the financial condition of every club is perfect, it depends on various factors such as sponsorship, attendance at the matches, management, marketing etc. Some clubs are doing it better (Zielona Gora) are some doing it worse (Czestochowa) but all in all - unless you pay off your riders till the deadline (with minor exceptions for conflict situations like Wroclaw & Nicholls etc.), you won't ride in Ekstraliga next year. Which means no one can sign contracts they won't be able to pay off any more (unlike how it was around 10 years ago...). Czestochowa struggled last year because of their reasons but they paid off their riders in the end, now they have a crappy line-up for 2010 but they are still in the business, even as an outsider, theoretically. And looking at the line-ups of the rest of the teams it doesn't look their finances are in big trouble - we have 7 competitive teams with all top riders and 1 theoretical outsider in Ekstraliga in 2010. It does not look bad, IMHO. The point was - how a club paying Gollob so much money can stay in business. Well, looks like somehow they (Gorzow) can. If you can't afford him, you won't have him, simple as. Otherwise Rawicz would have offered him 3 mln zlotys, got him for one season, the people of that little town would have got to admire the master for one year... Then Rawicz would have gone bankrupt and Gollob would have gone somewhere else. It doesn't happen though.

Gollob was not the reason of the Bydgoszcz financial trouble 7-8 years ago. Sh!t management and local politicians messing in the club destroyed it then, among the others. Nothing like this would work out anymore now. A lot has changed since then, each club's finances must be fully transparent. Are Gorzow in any trouble having Gollob on board? Nope. You cannot compare the present situation to what we had almost 10 years ago. Or maybe you have not read any news since you left to Oz?

Jealous and cynical

But they do stay in business somehow. Czestochowa was the only club having problems with money fluency last season. They paid their debts after all and will be racing in Ekstraliga next year (although their line-up is rather poor, as for the Ekstraliga standards). Anyway, the best Ekstraliga clubs' budgets have reached 8 million zlotys now (1,75 mln pounds) so guys like Gollob, Pedersen or Crump can get nearly 2 mln zlotys from their Polish teams. Almost 50% of Gorzow's budget will go just to cover Gollob and Pedersen this year. There are big sponsors in Polish speedway, we have 10 thousand fans at a league match every Sunday (that's the average) so it just works ... and thanks to this, in the heat 15 of Bydgoszcz v Gorzow match, we will get to watch Emil & AJ v Gollob & Pedersen in a battle of life or death - what can be more exciting? Personally I think Gollob deserves all the money he earns. Speedway riders risk their lives while footballers or tennis players earning usually much more risk nothing. A simple example - Gollob earned 4,8 mln zlotys last year and was ranked #9, while Liverpool's ex goalie, Jerzy Dudek (#6), earned 6 mln zlotys for doing nothing the whole year (ok, for showing up a few times at Real Madrid trainings)

There are trains running almost every hour from Wroclaw/Poznan to Leszno in a daytime and there are a few running back to Wroclaw/Poznan after the GP so I would not worry at all as for this. Poznan-Wroclaw (Leszno is almost exactly in the middle) is one of the busiest railways in Poland, I have done journeys there and back dozens of times so you can trust me. Closer to time I can paste here all necessary time tables of Wroclaw/Poznan - Leszno trains with the train types etc... - all the info you may need to buy a ticket.

Apator Wibrator GP

Division 1 fixtures for 2010: http://www.sportowefakty.pl/zuzel/2009/12/...-ligi-zuzlowej/

All 3 Polish GPs and maybe Cardiff

No, the final 2nd leg will take place on September 26th.

Don't know but I guess that till xmas... Another Division 1 option near Poznan is Gniezno - about 45 min by train from Poznan.

Yeah, I know the Wroclaw track is sh!t but I'm not sure whether it's not one of those things they are going to rebuild next spring... And the line-ups are pretty strong with Wroclaw led by Crump and Bjerre against Gorzow with Gollob, Pedersen, Zagar etc so it may be a decent meeting after all. There might be Division 1 matches that Sunday though. Div 1 & 2 fixtures have been not released yet.