So after the blurry eyed, tea and toast fueled, 4am mess that was the inaugural Auckland Speedway Grand Prix, what can we take from it to try and gauge who will perform well tonight in Leszno? Well, not a lot really.

Now I’m all for the progression of the series abroad and I’m sure the logistics of the ‘NZSGP’ were a bloody nightmare to organize, and I know that this Speedway drought of a month is done with the longer term inclusion of an American SGP to fill the gap nicely, but as a result, I do feel properly out of the loop! Looking back, Greg is up top, followed by Hampel and Gollob, it’s kinda like nothing has changed from last season. - None of this is helped by the fact that due to the glorious British Spring weather (rain) I haven’t been able to get anywhere near a speedway meeting since Easter. I’ve got some serious withdrawal symptoms going on. In fact, I’m not typing this from the regular comfort of my oversized office chair, I am in fact currently sat in a dark cupboard, rocking back and forth, smelling a can of methanol and desperately trying to remember what Chris Holder’s purdy face looks like. He’s the albino guy with one arm, right?!

Having been to Leszno a few years ago you’ve got to say that the place is a quality arena for the Grand Prix. The track is huge, the terraces are always packed and the only form of food available is the greasiest, gristliest sausage on a bun combo you will EVER see.

Now I could quite happily write the rest of this post about the sausage. The estimated calorie content, its unequivocal ability to retain levels of grease, hell, we could even try to guess what type of animal the bloody thing is made out of, although having had the product already pass through my lips perhaps it might be better to leave that last one alone. So lets talk grand prix!

When I started writing this I wanted to take an educated punt on who could do well tomorrow night, kinda like a form book. However so far, this read has probably been pretty unhelpful, unless you’re looking to further your knowledge on Polish cuisine.

So the obvious favorites for tonight are the Poles. In fact my sources inform me that not only does Jarek Hampel ride at Leszno, he was also conceived, born, raised and indeed lost his virginity on the track itself, so I think it’s pretty safe to say that the lad is in with a good shout. 

As for the other one, Gollob looked ridiculously fast in NZ. Now either Eddie Kennett lent him a silencer for the night or the veteran could well have the bit between his teeth once again this season. We all know he can do it, and when the mood strikes he’s bloody lethal going into that third bend; so that’s another no brainer for tonight.

But what of third? I loathe myself for saying it but at 10/1, Nicki Pedersen looks like a right tidy bet. Sayfutinov could be another cheeky threat, although I’d love to see Chris Holder, Greg Hancock or Hans Andersen sneaking onto a podium place too. 

As for the rest? Freddie’s not looking quite so hot from what I’ve seen this season, nor Bjarne or Bomber. As for Jonsson, well, I think I’ve got a better chance of growing a full handlebar mustache or, discovering a sustainable cure for genital warts by tomorrow morning than I do of trying to guess how that guy will perform at any event. Carl Blomfeldt, on board or not, I ( and my betting money) am staying well away.

So who the hell is your money on? 

I’ve got it on… Antonio Lindback! I can hear you gasping from here. Why the hell would I do that?! Simple really. In order to be successful on these big Polish tracks you need 2 things, raw power and a fucking massive set of testicles. Despite it being a month ago, if the New Zealand grand prix tells us anything of any vague sort of usefulness for tonight, it was that Lindback and his kit looked bloody fast. In fact, he was probably the only guy that looked anywhere near as quick as Gollob did all night. The lad is sorted financially, much more focused and if he can manage to stay away from those starting tapes, I reckon he could be in for a good night.

All banter/tips/slagging off welcome. POLSKAPOLSKAPOLKSA!!!!!

So, I spent a bit of time last week writing a post about the New Zealand Grand Prix with the plan being to ejaculate it all over Twitter and Tumblr on the Friday before the event. All dressed up, planned out nicely and ready to go! However, having finished the post, I accidently proceeded to click the preview button instead the ‘create post’ one. Bugger. Checking back two days later, I realized my error. As a result, I’ve been left with an arse-load of out of date, SGP satire sat looking longingly at me, desperate to see the light of day. So i’ve come to the conclusion that I’m going to post it any way, then look back at it to see if it was right! Badly thought out? Perhaps. Pointless? Probably. Self indulgent? Definitely! Enjoy…! :-) 

Right then, given the imposing nature of this weekend’s SGP (and the cheeky fact that I’m on easter break from Uni so I have half a minute to myself for once), lets take a goose at who exactly will be present during this year’s championships.

The usual offenders are thankfully, all there, meaning that every other Saturday (weather/track permitting - I’m looking at you, Vojens!) we will be seeing the always smiling and ever charismatic faces of Gollob, Crumpy, Bjerre, and the eternally well loved and all round good egg, Nicki Pedersen. 

Now seeing as we have a lot of riders in the field that are nearing the autumn of their careers and therefore looking to blitz the series completely (I wish there was a German rider to link a pun with there), 2012 has the potential to be a properly exciting season. We all know Hancock, Gollob and Hampel will be flying as per, however I’m thinking this could be the year that Emil finds some consistency and properly cements himself as a title contender. The same applies for Lindback and Holder, both of which on their day, and if the mood strikes, can beat any one that is put in front of them. 

So as a fan I’m excited, I bloody love the first Grand Prix of the year, the new Kevlar’s, the new merch, the new bikes and of course, the new, babyfaced, fresh, young, talent. You know, the ones that will be setting the stage alight every fortnight for the next 8 months. The ones that attract people to happily pay to watch live on the promise of ‘being there’ when they finally come of age and reach their full potential in front of a sold out stadium somewhere in the middle of a (probably) former soviet state. The ones that will brighten up the series and position it as a more marketable, demographic straddling, properly cool, world class franchise? Oh hang on, this year’s GP lineup roster says that instead of competing, they’ll be at home with the rest of us, watching it on Sky whilst flipping between the races and ‘Take Me Out’.

OK, so I’m being flippant, and if I’m being honest, Holder, Sayfutinov and Antonio (if he’s been off the energy drinks that day), manages to satisfy our urge for new(ish) blood in the series, but no matter how excited I get for the start of this year’s festivities in Auckland, I can’t help but feel slightly soured by riders such as Darcy Ward’s exclusion. 

Now I know I’m dangerously at risk of sounding like Nigel Pearson right now (Bazinga!), but Darcy Ward is the single most promising rider in the sport right now. Not since watching Tony Rickardsson in the great season of 03 have I seen someone so outrageously and relentless flying around our circuit. Still not convinced? Get down to Poole on a Wednesday night when the Sky cameras aren’t about; the boy is a different type of animal.

Now I’m fully aware that Darcy’s absence in the series is entirely the product of the PZM’s consistent love affair with causing savage arsebanditery with our beloved sport, but surely something could’ve been done to get them on side. The Grand Prix series is the one, it is what every rider on earth should be aspiring to reach as the pinnacle of anyone’s career and no one, not even the almighty Polish Motor Union should possess the capability to corrupt that dream for anyone - even if it is just for the one season.

But whatever, I guess we’ll just have to put up with only seeing the lad as a wildcard at every single event that the FIM can attempt to crowbar him into, so maybe I shouldn’t be too disheartened. I mean besides, we all know what an exciting watch it’ll be to see Bjarne Pedersen and Peter Ljung throwing themselves into corners and blasting around the boards for all their worth each and every meeting, don’t we? 

-

Wow, could you tell I was annoyed about the Darcy thing when I wrote that? Haha.

Back to the present and the first SGP of 2012 is over. And what a success it was with around 20,000 adopted kiwis reportedly being present for it - a great moment for the progression of the sport abroad. Watch out racquetball, we’re coming for you!

There were no surprises about the winner and to be fair, all power to Greg for it! The guy has reached legendary status, you can’t help but be in awe of someone that 4 years ago looked dead and buried as a serious, series title contender. He’s a gent, a brilliant rider and a bloody great ambassador for the sport. In the words of the man himself, I believe this would definitely be an appropriate time to use the term ‘winning’. *does W hand thing*… Ok, it’s cooler when he does it.

So thats it. The SGP is done for a month, the season is shaping up well and I’ve learned a very valuable lesson in how to use the ‘publish now’ button, a positive weekend for all. Stay tuned for a hugely bias, self deprecating and probably, tragically inaccurate Elite League review in the coming days x

So on the face of it, it looks like I’ve done what most people do just a few weeks into using a social media site.

I came in heavy, like a fat man eating a Krispy Kreme, spued out a few muffled adjectives, like a fat man eating a Krispy Kreme and then, for all you knew, emegrated to an african country with below par internet coverage, perhaps not the best place for a fat man that enjoys Krispy Kremes.

Well the good (or bad) news is that I am still in the currently festive hotbed that is the united Kingdom! My post negligence has been down to other commitments, namely being up to my bollocks in university work. I do however plan to swing forth my speedway related tumblrisms in the future and press on for the new season! Huurah.

But for now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a masters level peer critique of industrial internal commuications to finish.

The party never stops.

Hello all and welcome to my fairly unimpressive blog! 

So about me! I’m 22, fairly male and from the south coast of England.

I basically plan to use this blog to both talk about SPEEDWAY and all the goings on within the sport and to put off doing my uni assignments.

I’m new to Tumblr but have been a Poole Pirate (don’t let that put you off) since I was about 3 months old. In general I love the sport enough to make a blog about it, unquestionable loyalty haha. 

Feel free to follow (or whatever you do on this site!) and I’ll return the favor.

:)