norbold

Exactly the point I was making. Thank you.

Exactly, iris.

People have been complaining all the time about Bomber being picked. In fact many people have been complaining about him even this year when he's actually qualified. Mine was not an anti-Swede comment in favour of Brits. It's the Poles and the Danes who have missed out.

Both THJ and Linus Sundstrom are commercial picks and very little to do with finding the top 15 riders in the world to contest the World Championship.

Andy Smith's last year in the Grand Prix was 2002.

I'm sure someone can put me right here, but weren't wildcards intoduced when they ended the qualifiers just to stop Andy Smith qualifying year after year?

The talk at the end of last year was whether Jarek Hampel would be champion in 2014.....

Maurie Mattingly was third. He had 12 points, the same as Trevor Redmond and lost to him in a run-off.

You're such a spoilsport, Phil. What will the conspiracy theorists do now?

I was genuinely asking the question but with the thought in my mind that the 9th place rider invariably gets a pick for the following year, but I don't actually know that to be the case for sure, which is why I was asking.

If what's the case?

With regard to Troy Batchelor getting a Wild Card, does anyone know the answer to the question I sort of asked earlier. How many times has the ninth placed GP rider NOT been given a Wild Card for the following year?

That depends how long the ban is surely. If the ban is a short one (assuming he gets one at all), he may be able to go through the qualifiers. If he's as good as he's made out to be he will no doubt qualify for 2016; if he doesn't he won't be good enough anyway.

Does anyone have any statistics on how many times the no. 9 has been given a wild card for the following year?

That's how to ride a match race. Great ride by Nicki.

Yes, they stick a camera in his face and then apologise for the language. What do they expect in that situation? Incidentally, my sympathies are with Nicky over that decision.

Well done, Greg. Brilliant. No doubt now one of the top three American riders of all time...Jack Milne, Bruce Penhall, Greg Hancock. But in which order?

Tracks I used to go to...New Cross , West Ham , Harringay , White City , Hackney . Not even the stadiums left. No hope!

I remember the Provincial League well, though I didn't see much of it as my teams were mostly in the old National League, but I did get about half a season of Provincial League racing at New Cross in 1963 before they closed. Good old Reg Reeves, Jimmy Squibb and Stan Stevens. Also Geoff Penniket as it happens. I did see the Provincial League Riders' Championship at Harringay in 1961. This was when Trevor Redmond, easily the best rider on the night, was cruelly robbed of the title when he shed his chain on the fourth bend of the fourth lap in his last race when heading for a 15 point maximum. Incidentally, that was the last meeting ever held at Harringay.

First of all let me say that I am at one with all those who say that Ward should be suspended, fined and certainly not be allowed to take part in the 2015 GP series. However, there IS a legal IF whether we like it or not. Ward admitted to drinking the night before BUT if it is found that the equipment used to test him was faulty, he could get off on a technicality. I certainly hope that doesn't happen but you can't say there is no IF about it as clearly there is.

As I said before, if Ward is found guilty by the FIM his only recourse is through the Court of Arbitration for Sport. If he is found not guilty, his recourse for compensation may be through the same route or possibly through the Swiss court as that is where the FIM is based. However, Swiss courts have been reluctant in the past to get involved in these sort of issues and that's probably why a number of International sporting bodies are incorporated there.

Lindgren, Batchelor et al. This keeps coming back to the idea that if you can't get in the top 8, you're not worthy of a place in the top 15.

That was because the dispute was with the AMA, who the court said were acting as agents of the FIM, therefore they were allowed to sue the FIM. In this case the dispute is directly with the FIM; the ACU have nothing to do with it. But in any case the laws concerning international sporting bodies have changed significantly since the 1970s The only option open to Ward if the decision goes against him is to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport which has the supreme international authority to rule in sporting matters when the international governing body of a sport has made a ruling. There is no other course of appeal open.

Why is that making two and two equal five? There is no European court that an issue like this can be taken to. That seems to be making four to me.

Which European Court are you talking about?