Todd Wiltshire and Jimmy Nilsen did Oxford speedway proud against the world's top flight in the William Hill Swedish Grand Prix.

OK, they didn't win the title - that went to the courageous Jason Crump - but the Oxford duo made their presence felt throughout the meeting, finishing third and fifth respectively.

However, the man who attracted most attention was German referee Wolfgang Glas, when in fact he shouldn't have been noticed.

His decision to boot out current champion Tony Rickardsson in the A final was nothing short of outrageous. It was wrong of GP director Ole Olsen to try and influence the referee in bringing Rickardsson back into the race. He tried the same thing with Tomasz Gollob last year at Coventry, and incensed the riders still in with a shout.

Mark Loram, Britain's best bet for the title this year and currently leading from Wiltshire, was clearly the guilty party. It wasn't malicious, he just picked up so much dirt that his bike was propelled forward and speared Rickard- sson.

Loram knew he was to blame, but at this level you take all you can get to keep you at the top.

Why referees don't use the videotape facilities to make decisions is beyond me. Other sports are making full use of new technology, but for some reason, referees prefer to use their own judgement.

How officials can make decisions on back-straight incidents when they can see only one side of the action, beggars belief.

If Glas had taken the trouble to view the incident, he could have come to only one decision.

Loram hit the nail on the head after the meeting when he said: "I am not sure if referees should make instant decisons. It was extremely fast out there. I just kept it together and gave it my best shot. I made the mistake in the first run by coming under Tony too hard." Rickardsson said: "These kind of controversial decisions will let riders get away with tough riding. It was very hard racing and not fair."