The Grand Prix circus gets under way at the Hamar Olympic Stadium in Norway on Saturday when Leigh Adams, Lukas Dryml and Oxford asset Todd Wiltshire will be going for gold.

They all have to beat the big two, Tony Rickardsson and Jason Crump, but the ambitions of all 20 taking part will be intense and we should be in for another blockbusting series.

It will be no place for the faint-hearted, and with the series extended to ten GPs this summer and the promise of more to come next year, the top riders could in time be involved in Grand Prix action only.

For Dryml, it will prove a real eye-opener and the Czech is apprehensive.

He has yet to set the Elite League alight this year and if he thinks this is tough he is about to find out about the cut and thrust of GP racing.

Old hands Adams and Wiltshire will take it in their stride, but for Adams it could be his year.

No one in the sport this year has been in better form, but the man from Mildura has yet to win a Grand Prix, which is puzzling, though it's surely just a matter of time.

There is a new format to the GP series this year in that there will be no A and B finals, but semi-finals with the first two in each going through to the final.

Riders who make the final will not be allowed to pick their gate positions. Instead, positions will be allocated by means of a ballot.

Dryml has got a very stiff debut ride in heat three where he takes on Greg Hancock, Greg Walasek and Krystof Cegielski, while Adams and Wiltshire kick off in heat nine aganst reigning champ Rickardsson and Ryan Sullivan.

The riders once again race on a specially prepared one-off circuit at the magnificent indoor Viking Ship Stadium in Hamar.

The venue was built in 1994 to host the Winter Olympics, and the move to take speedway there is another indication of the vision and ambition of GP organisers Benfield Sports International.

GP race director Ole Olsen has experimented with various types of shale and is confident he now has the right mixture to lay and ensure top-class racing on a circuit that will be very similar in shape to the one at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium last year.