PIRATES co-promoter Matt Ford has admitted he won't be surprised if Polish Grand Prix winner Tomasz Gollob walked away with the £7,500 first prize at Poole today.

The Bydgoszcz flyer proved what an enigma he is when he bounced back from a disappointing Norwegian GP showing by winning the second round of this year's World Championship GP series on his hometown track last month.

In doing so, he passed Pirates spearhead - and four-times World champion - Tony Rickardsson from behind and also beat ex-Poole men Mark Loram and Jason Crump in the final.

Now Ford is expecting fireworks from the Pole again at Wimborne Road when Poole stage the Golden Jubilee Individual meeting today (4pm).

First prize is a mammoth £7,500 - believed to be higher than the amount paid out to a round winner in the GP.

And you can be sure Gollob, Rickardsson and Loram will all be out to walk away with the biggest kitty believed to be paid to a rider winning an individual meeting in global Speedway history.

Ford said: "It is great to know that the one-two-three at Bydgoszcz will all be at Poole for our big meeting.

"It means our meeting will be very interesting to watch and I wouldn't be surprised if the same three riders filled our top three, although I wouldn't like to say in what order.

"I am quite sure the likes of Leigh Adams, Krzysztof Cegielski and Greg Hancock will all have a say in matters.

"But it is going to be an excellent meeting and it is great to know that an in-form Tomasz Gollob is going to be here.

"I genuinely don't think Tomasz is the same rider as he was a few years ago, but you could say this is when he is probably going to be at his most dangerous.

"I look forward to seeing him in action at Poole. And in all honesty I would be just as happy to see him walk away with the £7,500 main prize as I would be to see one of our own riders, Tony, Grzegorz Walasek, Gary Havelock or Krzysztof Cegielski win it.

"Tomasz likes the Poole track and always seems to go well round here so I would like to see him receive a great reception from our fans, especially after his heroics at Bydgoszcz.

"We will make the track as good as we can to make sure we get the best racing. There is a product coming in from Leeds, similar to the old red shale people still talk about, that we will put down especially for this meeting.

"Fingers crossed, this is the product that will make racing even better at Wimborne Road."

Poole fans will be keeping a special eye on the performance of Mariusz Wegrzyk, the latest Pole the Pirates appear interested in.

He has been top scoring for Rybnik in Polish League Division One this season and a good performance today could earn him a Wimborne Road team slot in 2003.

Gates open at Poole Stadium at 2pm for the 4pm start to racing and there should be a party atmosphere for a meeting being staged to commemorate Queen Elizabeth's 50th year on the throne.

The full line-up is: 1 Robert Sawina (Poland), 2 Tomasz Gollob (Poland), 3 Leigh Adams (Australia), 4 Grzegorz Walasek (Poland), 5 Mark Loram (GB), 6 Andreas Jonsson (Sweden), 7 Gary Havelock (GB), 8 Lee Richardson (GB), 9 Andy Smith (GB), 10 Greg Hancock (USA), 11 Sebastian Ulamek (Poland), 12 Todd Wiltshire (Australia), 13 Tony Rickardsson (Sweden), 14 Mariusz Wegrzyk (Poland), 15 Krzysztof Cegielski (Poland but riding on a GB licence), 16 Joe Screen (GB).

Speedway fans will be treated to some tuneful and colourful entertainment in the build-up to this afternoon's Golden Jubilee spectacular, with free give-aways and live music adding to the expected carnival-type atmosphere in the Poole Stadium.

Free air horns will be given to the first 150 under-12s to pass through the turnstiles, while bags of sweets will be handed out as they make their way around the Stadium.

There will be pre-meeting entertainment from band Pronghorn playing from 2.20pm followed by a modern dance display.