GP's, Wild Cards & Janusz Kolodziej

Planning ahead trips to the Grand Prix's for the coming season gets me pretty excited! There's something about competing on a world stage that brings out the best in riders. Take Thomas H Jonasson for example, his wild card entry into the Scandinavian GP at Malilla was pretty special. Not only did he pick up points but he wasn't afraid to contend with GP legend Tomasz Gollob. Yet riding in the Elite League he was hit and miss. With the TV crews, fans from all over the world and trophies shining on the centre green, there's just something about the Grand Prix's.

Cardiff is my personal favourite, not just because it's the British GP, but because of the electric atmosphere in the Millenium Stadium, the noise and the thousands of fans waving their nations flags. The hype in the streets beforehand gives just a tiny glimpse of what the stadium has in store once the tapes go up. It's great to have the emerging talents given a wild card entry; riders like Darcy Ward may get a chance to show what he's made of... Not that most of us aren't aware of his racing ability! With rule changes that allow any rider, regardless of their nationality to be handed a wild card entry at any of the series locations, it will allow Australian, American and/or Russian riders to face the competition and get a feel for the standard of racing, when before they wouldn't have got the chance.

I'll be taking trips to Sweden and Poland this year for the Grand Prix's...Leszno and Malilla, I can't wait!! I'm already excited about watching Janusz Kolodziej. He is unbelievably exciting to watch and I'm sure he'll be giving the likes of Jason Crump, Jarek Hampel and Tomasz Gollob a run for their money this year. He'll definitely go a long way, as he's given promising performances with his wild card entries last series and down amazingly well in the Swedish and Polish leagues. I reckon he's going to do an Emil and be well up there in the standings. Who's your money on?

He rocks in the tree tops all day long...

I'll be honest, I'm not totally sold on the idea of Scott Nicholls being the new Swindon Robins number one. But despite being skeptical about Leigh Adams successor, any Robins rider will have my support. He has big boots to fill, so hopefully he's up to the job and fans will show him the support he needs to be his best. There's nothing worse than fans getting on their own teams backs when things might be going wrong, or when remembering something that's happened in the past. (As in this case I'm remembering scuffles with Emil Sayfutdinov... Hans Andersen... Chris Harris... Leigh Adams... Shall I go on?!) It's not going to help the situation and certainly not going to improve the rider in questions performance. All it seems to take is one last place or a stupid little mistake and off they go again.

Supporters need to SUPPORT their team instead of damaging the confidence of riders; shouting the odds solves nothing. One last place can then easily lead to a programme full of duck eggs! If a rider believes they can win, they are much more likely to go to the tapes with a positive frame of mind and get the points. The more wins and good performances, the more likely the good run will continue, because they know they can do it, so the positive mental attitude means they are half way there. So when the tapes next go up in March, instead of shouting 'For God's sake, pull you finger out!' (Or words to that effect!!) Holler at the top of your voice 'Come on, this one's yours!' You might just make the difference.

Speedway is a minority sport, fact.

Speedway is a minority sport, fact. If you ask most people who Leigh Adams and Chris Harris are, chances are you'll get a shrug of the shoulders. Even when Team GB pull out all the stops to get to the World Team Cup Final, you'll need a magnifying glass to find a write up in the daily papers, let alone a picture or an eye-catching headline. The excitement and thrill when watching every single race during each meeting doesn't even compare to football or tennis, for example. With the close finishes in races, spectacular crashes and sheer high speed entertainment, it baffles as to why the majority of people seem to be oblivious to this motorsport in Britain. The amount of risks the riders take to win races are endless, having no brakes certainly doesn't help! But being a dangerous sport can have it's pro's and con's. It is exciting as hell for a spectator, but the amount of horror spills, that are part and parcel of Speedway, often result in broken bones and sometimes even worse.

It's amazing the amount of people who ask 'What is Speedway?' when there are also thousands of people who can't do without their weekly Speedway fix and count down through the winter months from October to March to the start of the new season. Throughout the three leagues, Speedway can be viewed all the way from Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland, to Plymouth and Eastbourne in the south of England, all the way to Newport and Cardiff in Wales, so there's really no excuse no to go to your local track to experience the thrills and spills of Speedway. Take the Grand Prix series, where we have British competitors fighting to win silverware, even getting on the podium does not create the hype in the UK as it does with Formula 1. Yet countries such as Poland and Sweden celebrate each single race win as if they had won the championship. The amount of support for their riders is crazy and must psychologically boost their countrymen to deliver the goods. Poland are unbelievable with their encouragement... Think banners, chanting, flares, the lot... And that's not just in their own country, they will travel far and wide and will always be the ones making the most noise, no matter how many of them there are! So why is this not the same for Great Britain?