Steady on... Best of the Brits?!

So the British final is just around the corner, the line up is set and there's no Simon Stead! Surely his invite is lost in the post, because to me and many others it seems absolutely crazy that one of the best Brits at the moment has been left out of the line up!!! With injury preventing him taking place in the qualifiers, just like Tai Woffinden, the decision to include Tai and not Steady in the field for the British title is crazy! He has one of the highest averages for the Brits in the elite league, with only Nicholls, Harris and Richardson above him, he was part of our Team GB in 2010 and always gives 110% whether for club or country. I have absolutely nothing against Josh Auty and hope he does well in the final, but he's already had a chance to qualify, mechanical problems or not, whereas Woffinden and Stead didn't, so surely they should have both been given wildcards so they can at least have a go. I could go on and on about this, so...

The real battle will be between Scott Nicholls and Chris Harris. Who will come out on top, grab the silverware and in Scotty's case can he win the chance to appear at Cardiff again? I'm personally hoping Scotty can nick the win and top spot back... British number one is quite a nice title! Both will be wanting to come out on top but it will come down to who rides Monmore Green best on the night. They better have been studying Freddie Lindgren around there, he pretty much owns the place!

The Return of the Dane

He’s done it again. Nicki P is back at the top of his game. He may have had a disastrous 2010 campaign, but he started 2011 with a bang, beating Gollob to the chequered flag. I’ve never had a strong opinion either way about Nicki Pedersen, but felt he battled to earn his place in the final and was pleased to see him win. He looked happy and relived after the final, as his wife shot down from the stands to congratulate him. It must be hard on rider’s families too, when they aren’t performing to their best and the disappointments of not winning or racing to their potential must be reflected in their home life away from the track. So it was nice to see the controversial Dane on top of the podium once again.

The exclusion of Tomasz Gollob after the incident with Nicki Pedersen obviously left a sour taste in the Poles mouths; the booing going around the stadium when he won was appalling and even more so when it continued through the whole of the Danish national anthem! It was interesting to hear that a Polish man sat near us didn’t want Gollob to do well; he was supporting the other Poles including Hampel. Just goes to show that not every Pole is a Gollob fan as we expect.

I was very excited to watch Artem Laguta race for the first time. I have previosuly watched him on TV in the World Cup and had been quite impressed by him. It was a shame he did not manage to pick up any points, but he definitely deserved points for the best kevlars... Stunning!! Very eye catching black and gold attire, even his mechanics and crew looked the part. I’m sure he will find his feet during the rest of the Grand Prix rounds; after all it’s a marathon not a sprint!

In answer to the previous posts questions:

Will Gollob start the season as he left off?

Not quite, but its early days, just look at how he started the 2010 season and where he ended up!!

Can Bomber do us Brits proud?

Respectable 7 points, but I expect he will be aiming for much more in the coming rounds.

Is Emil back to full fitness?

Certainly looked to be and he should have been happy with 3^rd place on the night.

How many times can Greg Hancock be seen to be promoting Monster Energy and likewise Jason Crump with Red Bull?

This was probably getting on for the hundreds...

When will we have our first spill?

Heat 3 Bjerre and Hampel, hard decision for the referee, but Hampel was the first to hit the deck this season and Bjerre had the first exclusion.

And most importantly, how do the burgers fair compared to home?! I will never know... had to settle for a hot dog!