Humphrey Appleby

I think the complication is speedway is that the points limit means riders move around teams quite often, whereas sponsored visas are linked to single employers. The guest system and riders taking open bookings possibly further complicates matters. A sporting body does have some responsibility to liaise with the authorities, and ensure its members are correctly advised and follow the rules so that complications for everyone don't arise because some don't do things right. I haven't looked at them for a while, but the work permit qualifications used to be an absolute joke, and maybe someone finally cottoned-on to the fact that finishing fourth in Australian State title does not a world class rider make...

That was then, this is now. Plenty of Brits died fighting for Australia as well, but it doesn't get us any special favours Down Under, and many Australians now originate from countries that didn't commit to any side. Of course this is all a bit daft, but it's the consequence of 'cracking down on immigration' as you advocate elsewhere.

If I just fall short of the points criteria to get an Australian visa, then it's too bad. There's always going to be a cut-off somewhere when you use points based assessment.

I doubt I'd get much leeway if I asked for an Australia visa because one day I'd be really good at my job. It's about the here-and-now. I fully agree that Australians (and Kiwis) should be riding in the UK, but if they're not, it's a consequence of people voting for parties who want to keep immigrants out.

For most Australians these days the UK is not their mother country, and I don't see why the descendants of people who chose to leave the country several generations ago should be given special privileges. Because there's a significant percentage of people in the UK who want to restrict immigration and who vote UKIP, and we're now seeing the consequences of this. Illegals are irrelevant in this discussion because by definition they shouldn't be in the country anyway. Speedway is a minor sport nowadays, is not a big crowd puller, and certainly doesn't contribute much if anything to the UK economy. Why then should it expect to be exempted from the rules that apply to every other business? You can say the same about many specialised industries, but over on the General Discussions thread you'll find plenty claiming that the UK should be training rather than importing skilled people. He'll be on a young person's working holiday visa which in principle only entitles the holder to take unskilled short-term employment. There's an equivalent visa in the UK which Aussie riders used to be able to use to come over and ride, but that was abusing the terms and there was a clampdown. I'm a 'skilled migrant' currently working in a professional occupation in Australia, and I had to go through a several month process to obtain a visa despite being invited by an employer. I got no special privileges as a so-called Commonwealth citizen. The Commonwealth isn't a freedom of movement zone. That all stopped in the Enoch Powell era when the locals complained about all the funny coloured people coming in from the Commonwealth. Of course, the likes of Jamaica and Nigeria are also in the Commonwealth, so would you be so happy if there was unrestricted immigration from there, or do you envisage the special privileges to only apply to certain Commonwealth countries or speedway riders?

You and others have advocated leaving the EU so 'our borders can be controlled' and that we only have to 'take immigrants that are useful'. What we're seeing now are the realities of border bureaucracy when the authorities are told to clamp down on immigration. Speedway is far too insignificant to really expect any special dispensation in this respect, and indeed I'm sure plenty over on General Discussions would argue that we should be giving preferential employment to our own young people You don't need to speak English to ride a speedway bike, although I'm really sure there's that many immigrants from the EU who don't speak some English. In addition, the ethnic origin of Australians is majority non-British nowadays.

Yes, but their view is totally irrelevant. It's a disciplinary matter, and one that hasn't even been adjudged yet.

I'm sure many undoubtedly would have been (and still are). It's also the case that other factors (such as eating) affect how alcohol is absorbed by the body, so it's possible to get caught out if the limit is zero, although the obvious argument is don't drink at all the night before. I do think though, that you have to balance the severity of a penalties between those marginally above a zero limit a few hours before a meeting, those over the limit just before a meeting, and those that turn up stinking drunk.

I seem to remember Hans Nielsen scoring a 21 point maximum away at Reading, which was made all the more remarkable by the fact he'd scored an 18 point maximum at home against Reading earlier in the day!

It means nothing because there's a disciplinary process to be followed, and which should not be influenced by populist (pro or otherwise) sentiment.

7 ride maximums (21 points) have happened in the apst, but that would imply four programmed riders, nominated, rider replacement and tactical substitution. In the above scenario a rider is only taking six rides, right, so that's still only a possible 21 points even with double points.

Until 2021 apparently.

And since when does justice come down to a popular vote?

Undoubtedly, but I was replying to the point that he shouldn't have been drinking at all. Having a couple of beers the night before a GP wouldn't necessarily have made him a unprofessional sportsman.

Everyone is different - and what's good for one competitor isn't necessarily good for another. Whilst excessive alcohol consumption is never likely to improve your performance (unless you're the likes of Ian Botham), plenty of competitors will say a beer or two helps them relax, which in turns means they're better rested the following day.

It's irrelevant whether other riders passed. A correct procedure might have been used for them, or an erroneous calibration of the testing equipment didn't matter in their cases. No-one can say for sure he was guilty if the testing is unreliable. Admittedly to having a few beers the night before is not an offence if you're under the limit the following day.

A crime is a act contrary to the laws of a state. The FIM isn't a state, do it would be more correct to describe it as an offence.

Well he would say that he's not in the SGP, and no doubt has to big up the SEC. If he's tired, then maybe he could ride in fewer leagues. I suspect it comes back to how much money he can expect to make out of the respective series, and the tiredness would dramatically disappear if the SGP was worth his while. This said, there are too many GP rounds, but that's no doubt a function of what BSI can squeeze out of television and hosts.

Isn't it usual that manufacturers submit products for a particular homologation period?

Foreign office advice is pretty generic and not much use, and in fact doesn't suggest avoiding Argentina at all. The notion that the SCB/BSPA would have any better idea of foreign politics is even more laughable, assuming they were officially representing them rather than going as privateers. Running around Europe is very different to other parts of the world, as virtually everywhere is quite civilised and reasonably safe, and most people involved in tourism speak at least some English (which is useful for people who aren't English too!). It's not until you get further east that you start running into corrupt officialdom and rampant criminality, and where it's less advisable to do things independently. I've never had any problems in Latin America myself, but it is different and there seem to be more complications in getting things done. On the Malvinas thing, it seems to depend on where you go in Argentina, because there's also a sizeable ethnic English community there too. I don't think I'd really rely on official advice, but ask other riders who'd been what their experiences were.

Of course it is. There are kart engines that rev up to 15,000 that will run competitively for 10 hours or more, but the issues come when people start fiddling with the components and squeezing the tolerances, not to mention mucking around with the carburetion. That's when things stop running as long or as reliably.

Has Riga been dumped already as a venue?

Just about every racing engine that comes out claims to be longer lasting and more economical, but it's not long before someone puts different parts in them or changes something that requires more frequent service intervals. Would seem a big if...

Argentina has again been ramping up the 'Malvinas' rhetoric over the past year.

Speedway, given the current state that it's in, needs to be focusing on the countries where the sport is established and has something of an established fan base. Spain/Catalonia is not in that category. Wasn't there also an attempt to introduce speedway to Portugal a few years ago? What became of that?