Sky Sports.com

Pedersen: Danes are 'red-hot favourites'

Don't forget to keep an eye out for the Race-Off - a lot of people overlook it but some of the best speedway I've ever witnessed has been from that meeting because teams are desperate to make the final.

Kelvin Tatum
Quotes of the week

2008 SPEEDWAY WORLD CUP:

Round 1 - 6pm, Sat 12 July, SS2
Round 2 - 7.30pm, Mon 14 July, SS1
Race-Off - 6pm, Thu 17 July, SS2
Final - 6pm, Sat 19 July, SS2

Also see

• LIVE Speedway only on Sky Sports
• Bet on 2008 Speedway season
• Check out the 2008 GP calendar
• British Speedway standings

No brakes, no gears, no fear - that's the slogan of the 2008 Speedway World Cup as the best riders from across the globe take a week-long breather from domestic competition and team up to battle for national pride.

skysports.com's speedway expert Kelvin Tatum preview the eight sides in action.

For seven days, riders can forget about charging around for their domestic commitments.

The World Cup brings together probably the best riders in the world and they have to work together, which is slightly unusual because obviously at World Championship level, it's fundamentally an individual sport.

It is the one time in the season when the best riders in the world come together and have to work together, and generally throughout the week, we see some of the best speedway of the year.

Funnily enough, although it is a country-team competition, you only have one representative from each country on the track so the riders actually ride as an individual.

So you won't see the team riding as you do in an Elite League match; effectively the racing is the same as in a grand prix where every rider is out for himself.

It's slightly odd but it works and everyone's chasing for wins which keeps it very exciting.

And, if you drop 6 or more points behind the leaders , you can play one tactical 'joker' whose points count for double.

It's a bit of a gamble for the managers (do they play it early or leave it to the last minute so other teams can't respond?) but it has at times made a significant difference to the result of meetings.

Round 1: Leszno, Poland

AUSTRALIA are very strong on paper. They've got Ryan Sullivan, who isn't in the Grand Prix Series, and isn't riding in the Elite League - he's based in Poland - but he's through to the final of the qualifying series to get back in the Grand Prix.

As well as Jason Crump and Leigh Adams - we know all about them - Chris Holder has got plenty of experience, and Dave Watt's in there as well so it's a fantastic team. They're more than capable of winning this meeting.

RUSSIA are an up and coming speedway side. They're not ready to win this type of meeting yet but let me tell you, they will do it - the investment and the profile of the league out there is on the up.

The financial rewards for riding in Russia are already very significant and they're beginning to attract some of the best in the world to their league - Nicki Pedersen's out there and it's an awful long way so they must be paying big wages! So keep an eye out for them - they are a team that will produce some big results in the future.

HUNGARY are going to be out of their depth. They haven't got the strength in depth to cope with quality sides like Poland and Australia. The experience will be invaluable but I think they'll find it tough.

POLAND have got a really good line-up. Clearly they've got track specialists in Krzysztof Kasprzak and Jaroslaw Hampel, and Tomasz Gollob is obviously flying high - he won the final for them in dramatic fashion last season in the last heat in the final at Leszno so he's going to feel very comfortable. And the Poles have Rune Holta, of course.

Round 2: Coventry, England

This is a terrific line-up. It's certainly the more competitive of the two qualifying rounds, purely for the fact that there are four decent teams - I would suggest that in Event 1, Poland and Australia are head and shoulders above the other two.

CZECH REPUBLIC are a team that could spring a surprise. They're spearheaded by the Dryml brothers - they're the backbone of the side and they have Adrian Rymel and Lubos Tomieek as well. They won't win on Monday night but I tell you what, they will win races and keep it interesting, no doubt.

SWEDEN are a team in transtition. They've got some elder statemen like Peter Karlsson as well as some young chargers like Andreas Jonsson and Freddie Lindgren, so they're a blend of youth and experience.

They have won the World Cup in its present format a couple of times - even without Tony Rickardsson, who was out injured in 2003. They have a tremendous team ethic and no doubt will be very motivated to do well.

GREAT BRITAIN will be concerned by Olly Allen's shoulder injury, which meant he missed Coventry's defeat at Belle Vue.

But I am surprised at Jim Lynch's selection to leave out Edward Kennett for the first round - I would have thrown everything at Monday night to see if we could win it. I understand that he wants to go for track specialists - obviously Allen and Simon Stead ride for the Bees but I think on the strength of his performance this year - qualifying for the British Grand Prix, plus he has World Cup experience - I think I probably would have put Kennett in and had Allen on standby.

It's a tough meeting but we do have home advantage. A couple of years ago when we raced as the underdogs at Swindon against Denmark, we pulled off some fantastic wins so who knows, we may be able to do something similar again.

DENMARK are a standout team. They are just full of world class riders and on Monday night, for me, will be the red-hot favourites. They're got to be red-hot favourites for the Cup because the final is in Denmark. And they seem to adapt well to riding in their home country.

Kelvin's call

Australia and Denmark stand out on paper but every year we see some really dramatic stuff - it never fails to deliver.

Don't forget to keep an eye out for the Race-Off - a lot of people overlook it but some of the best speedway I've ever witnessed has been from that meeting because teams are desperate to make the final.

I'm looking forward to some superb speedway - we should be in for a good one.