PHILIPRISING

AS someone who attends most of the GPs including those in Slovenia I honestly don't think that is the case

WHICH is exactly why Barry Briggs, who rode for Yamaha in America many moons ago, couldn't persuade them to produce a speedway engine. The market simply wasn't big enough.

No bog standard obviously ... sounds like Tee Mills Tours

I AGREE to a point. Nothing that is said here or in the media will have any bearing on the case. The FIM's lawyers will have to prove their case while Ward's lawyers attempt to dismantle it. And that seems to be where we are right now.

I WOULD state that I have no more knowledge of this than anyone else. But there have been recent signs from the Ward camp that he is confident of riding again in 2015. For sometime there has been a feeling (nothing more) that the lack of judgement from the FIM suggests that there is a technical flaw in their case. What I do know categorically is that there are some within the corridors of power in Geneva who are fearful of the consequences of the Ward case being thrown out and the FIM then being subjected to legal action by Ward with regard to loss of earnings, sponsorship, etc.

MANY of you who attended Wimbledon, Poole and Rye House and bought copies of Speedway Star at these tracks will be saddened to know that the ever-cheerful Eddie Toogood, who sold our magazine there, died late last week. Eddie was a lovely guy who, in fact, was mechanic for Barry Briggs from his second season at Wimbledon until he joined Southampton.

THE CCP Director (which, incidentally, isn't a full-time paid role) doesn't attend all SGP rounds ... Ilka Teromaa was Jury President in Latvia. And as is the procedure at the FIM the Ward case was immediately handed over to their legal guys. Sounds like you have some sort of vendetta against Armando but this one was never in his jurisdiction.

NOW you are being silly ... who said he was a cack-handed imbecile with dodgy testing equipment jumping at the chance to remove the star attraction? NOTHING to do with Armando, who wasn't there and the whole matter was taken out of the hands of the CCP commission months ago.

NO... MANY are still missing the point. Plenty of guilty people 'get off' in all walks of life through technicalities. I am certainly not defending DW, far from it, but the longer this goes on the more likely it is that the FIM case is not water-tight and, whether we like it or not, that could result in him walking away without any ban. As to Gavan's point about the off-duty policeman. No one is suggesting he was randomly walking about testing people but the fact is whoever is charged with carrying out the tests has to have the right credentials and it is possible that this man did not according to the letter of the FIM regulations. As one who was there, the actual metre readings were not publicly disclosed but the informed chatter was that Ward was not dramatically over the limit and may well have passed had the test taken place later. It is not hard to see why a lawyer charged with getting his client off would grasp at anything that he believes nullified the prosecution's evidence.

WHAT you say may be perfectly sensible but, lawyers being lawyers, it's not hard to see some flaws. Let's not forget that much of what happened that day, after the Riga fiasco, was rushed and hastily arranged. Was the breath machine properly calibrated and certificated prior to use especially if it was in the hands of an off-duty policeman who wasn't there in an official capacity? As previously said, the fact that this as dragged on and been repeatedly postponed does suggest it isn't cut and dried. HAVE re read it and stand by what I say. POLICE officers who do carry out alcohol tests at GP rounds are not moonlighting. They are there as part of the requesite police presence and their participation in the testing is pre-arranged, as it would be with a doctor, and as stated in the regulations. They cannot be carried out by any Tom, Dick or Harry...

BUT that only applies after an official caution. Without it even a confession bears no weight presumably. In essence, the only thing that Ward admitted to was having drunk alcohol the night before and that he had failed the test as carried out on the day. None of which, I would imagine (no lawyer) would be deemed irrelevant or inadmissible should the procedure be found to be flawed.

BUT you wouldn't expect an off duty policeman to conduct a roadside breath test at the scene of an accident for example. I can confirm that the test was, indeed, carried out by a local policeman and that in itself isn't unusual. Quite often they are traffic cops. Does it matter whether he was off duty or not? Probably... it would only require a chink in the procedural chain for Ward's lawyers to mount a challenge to the validity of the test. The fact that two other riders tested negative would have no bearing surely?

INTERESTING tweet ... only adds fuel to the conjecture that the FIM might not have all their ducks in a row.

BUT without the desire to be the very best, which we know he can be, he will never have the recognition that someone with his talent deserves. Very disappointing...

THIS is going to run longer than the Mousetrap... it will certainly be incumbent on the FIM to explain, when this sorry saga eventually reaches its conclusion, why it has all taken so long.

BUT it's a new year!

THE FIM didn't give the rights away they sold them for several million dollars, as they do with most other disciplines.

BRIGGO celebrated his 80th birthday on Tuesday with a round of golf near his home in Dana Point, south of Los Angeles. He shares a birthday with Tiger Woods amongst others. Told me this afternoon that he had a telephone call from the Mauger family in Queensland and Ivan actually sang happy birthday to him. Two great rivals but also great friends. BB was very touched although whether Ivan, suffering from dementia, knew who was on the other end of the line is not certain.

I DO believe that there are moves afoot by the FIM to disengage themselves from WADA as far as alcohol offences are concerned. WADA's obvious remit is to try and catch those cheating by taking performance enhancing drugs which one would imagine in the strictest terms does not include alcohol. Not sure whether this will have any impact on the Ward case. This is not to say that the FIM do not take alcohol offences seriously but rather that they feel the matter should rest with them and not require the intervention of WADA.

THERE is no guarantee that we will know anything on Thursday even if the hearing actually takes place ...

SOME might say unsuccessfully...

I WOULD have thought, but perhaps not, that the one thing we can all agree on is that this matter has been poorly handled by the FIM (as some of their own officials will privately admit) and should have been resolved much sooner.

I RESPECT your opinion but plenty of people believe it is possible to produce an engine that will run for much longer between services and prove far more economical for riders at all levels without any decrease in performance as compared to a GM. At present GM have a virtual monopoly, which is always a dangerous thing in any market, and who knows if they face serious competition they might have to bring down their prices. Of course, the actual market isn't that big compared to other motor sports. I was told that less than a 1000 engines are sold each year which may sound a lot but isn't when you think that a company like Yamaha could probably knock those out in a week... hence their dis-interest, along with Honda et al over the years. Anyway, time will tell. This new prototype may never go into full production, it may not be viable, may not get the funding it undoubtedly will require but ultimately the proof will be in the pudding. But I do think that your comment that it will "double costs" is purely speculative and without any foundation.

WHY will it make people pay more? It's not the job of engine manufacturers to attract people through the gate but if they can help reduce rider costs then that has to be a step in the right direction.

WAS always the intention to alternate but a lot of work being done at the Riga track so wouldn't be surprised to see it back in the near future and not just for a SGP... WOULD be a long trip by bus ... normally takes around three hours by car on sub-standard roads