What Royal Wedding?!

What Royal wedding?! Maybe I’ve missed something. This weekend’s all about the first Grand Prix of the season! Very nice of Prince William and Kate to give us an extra bank holiday... That’s less time off work needed for this trip!

Joking aside... back to the very important matter in hand. Leszno; First Grand Prix of the year and the first time we’ll see Artem Laguta and Janusz Kolodziej as fully fledged GP riders and a long awaited return for Antonio Lindback. This is a stadium I have been to before, which was last year for Leigh Adams Polish farewell meeting and I’m sure the atmosphere will be electric as always... this is Poland after all!!

Last time I was here Crumpy and Greg Hancock made the final, along with Leigh Adams and Adrian Miedzinzki, but with the standard higher this time, will that be the case again? Two riders sure to do well are fellow countrymen Hampel and Kolodziej. I find it fascinating how their very different riding styles tend to more often than not produce the same end result... Winning. Both these riders will know the track like the back of their hand, so which one will come out on top?!

Will Gollob start the season as he left off? Can Bomber do us Brits proud? Is Emil back to full fitness? How many times can Greg Hancock be seen to be promoting Monster Energy and likewise Jason Crump with Red Bull? When will we have our first spill? And most importantly, how do the burgers fair compared to home?! All these questions need answers... And we will find them out soon enough, let the racing begin!

I Love The Premier League!

I’ve been to a few Premier League meetings so fat this season and have come to the conclusion that I love Speedway’s second tier. It’s great that we are seeing more doubling up riders, meaning more challenging races at this level of racing. Take Charlie Gjedde for example, he’s definitely capable of scoring some serious points this season, Berwick must have thought their birthday’s and Christmases had all come at once. Taking a doubling up role can only be good for the likes of Charlie, more meetings, more points and hopefully better confidence due to bike time.

It’s interesting how riders talk about time on the bike at the start of a season. It must be odd spending half the year on a speedway bike nearly every day, to the other half of the year next to nothing. Putting in the laps at the start of the season can only boost confidence, efficiency and remind the body what it’s got in store for the season!

I’ve taken trips this season to Newport and Somerset already this season and intend to do a few more. I’ve adopted Somerset as my premier league team, due to them having Travis McGowan at number one alongside Cory Gathercole... That’s nearly halfway to creating my perfect team... Shame I had to do two fantasy speedway teams to have them both in my team!

It Gives You Wings!

Advertising; a form of communication intended to persuade an audience to purchase or take action upon products.

Although I try not to be affected by advertising and product placement, I’ll admit, if an influential celebrity or sportsperson is endorsing a product, I am more likely to buy it than a similar product. Its very clever how these companies make us believe we need their product and promote it in a way that is very hard not to notice. I’m talking about Jarek Hampel, Emil Sayfutdinov and Jason Crump and their long term love for Red Bull. Although I liked Red Bull before it was all over their bikes and caps etc. I seem to be drinking it more and more these days. The same goes for Greg Hancock and Monster Energy, if you had £1 for every time you saw their logo on his equipment or he mentions their brand name, you would be very rich!

The rooftop advert with Jarek Hampel for Red Bull in his Ipswich Witches kevlars was certainly different, riding in the snow. But adverts that are different make people watch them more intently, so it’s taken in better. There have been many adverts that have been weirder in the past and no doubt we have some on the way... we kind of expect crazy advertising campaigns now!

Company logo’s on merchandise is a great way of getting your company known. I can think of a few off the top of my head... Red Care & Simon Stead, M&J Sealey & Charlie Gjedde, Hagon Shocks & Edward Kennett, Meridian Lifts & Hans Andersen, OK Benzin & Nicki Pedersen, the list goes on... It definitely seems to work and the more exposure a company can get by sponsoring riders, the better for them. Having speedway on Sky Sports means their logo’s can reach millions of viewers.

Then you have the really bizarre products for sportsmen to advertise... Freddie Lindgren advertising hot dogs! I’m not exactly too sure what he was saying in the commercial (I need to brush up on my Swedish!) but if I’m honest that would be enough to make me buy a hot dog!

Ready Steady Go!

Ever wondered why Simon Stead heads to the back straight before lining up at the tapes or why Chris Harris tugs his race jacket and rolls his bike back and forwards before moving away in the pits?

Whether it’s intentional or not the ‘getting in the zone’ can make or break a performance. The time just before a race begins can be used in many way; it could be they are mentally rehearsing what they have to do, imagining beating their opposition or filling themselves with self confidence and belief, so they go into the race with all guns blazing.

By using any one of these techniques, the rider can go into the race with a positive mental attitude and leave any doubts they may have about their ability and any previous mistakes or loses firmly in the pits. The routines may go unnoticed to many or may just think it’s because they fancy doing it, but the moments in the build up to the tapes rising are vitally important as to the frame of mind the rider goes into the race with and therefore the end result.

This obviously can’t work every time, but it’s the belief that will ensure that the best possible result is taken from every single race. This is not something that always comes naturally and can be learned, in order to get the best out of man and machine. It is not necessarily the skill of the rider than will prevent race wins or heat advantages, but the frame of mind that is taken to the tapes, which needs to be focused, optimistic and hungry for the win!

But if this is true then why have we never seen Tomasz Gollob doing half a lap in the opposite direction to get race ready... Maybe his many mechanical adjustments are his way of believing he has the edge over everyone else?!

Rag Dolls and Racers

Injuries are part and parcel of speedway. The danger element of the sport can create excitement but riders will be lucky to get away from their speedway career without having at least one or two sidelining injuries. However for some, as soon as they hit the deck the next thing on their mind is getting themselves and their bikes ready for the re-run.

Take Chris Harris in the 2010 playoff final. Being thrown down the track like a rag doll and being unavoidably run over by Lewis Bridger wasn’t enough for him. As captain he had a job to do. I can’t even imagine the pain from that crash, yet he gets up, runs back to the pits (... yes runs!) and not only takes his place in the re-run, but wins it! That’s hardcore! And many other speedway riders are the same. To put it simply to win, races need to be won, to do that you have to be in the race in the first place. Being a racer must be something you can not stop yourself from doing.

Then there's Ales Dryml... Amazing! To come back to a sport that nearly ended your life, isn’t something any sportsman or sportswomen would do.  But these guys are made of something else! You try stopping Jason Crump taking his place in the remaining GP’s in the series, when there are points and silverware up for grabs... it’s not going to happen. With his shoulder injury, he has battled on and on. He may not have competed in the 2010 series at his best, but he was still third overall over the course of the year, when he is back to full strength the others had better watch out.

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.