PHILIPRISING

TRY reading it again ... on second thoughts don't bother.

THIS fixture now perfectly illustrates the problems afflicting the Elite League these days. Should have been a real stadium filler with Darcy Ward, Tai Woffinden and the Pawlicki brothers on parade. No guests can compensate for their collective loss.

SOMETHING similar (it was bottom two) was used when the GP first started in 1995 but it was subsequently felt that riders should be able to plan for a full season and base their sponsorship and TV exposure on that as well

Not sure what Freddie brings to the series right now on or off the track. Seems a very different person now than he was a couple of years ago. Series needs new faces but recent injuries could contrive to see Freddie get in again.

WOULD have thought you only had to look at the points scored by the respective fast track riders last night. This is a major flaw in the scheme in my opinion. Some like Garrity are up to it ... others can barely get round. Would work much better if all fast track riders were on a similar standard but there is a huge disparity and that can play a crucial role in the result as it did last night.

ONLY just seen this post ... will chat to him about it on the golf course next week

WHAT about if someone dies with one?

BSI and FIM work together over wild card picks but FIM have to sanction the choices...

UNFAIR on Poole and their supporters not Ward himself

JEPSEN Jensen must be in with a shout

RE semis... if you simply replaced a rider who has qualified for the semis but was then injured and unable to take his place with the next in line that rider could go on to win the actual meeting, which is unacceptable surely? Of course we all want to see four riders in each semi and from memory I think only having three in one (as we did on Saturday) has only happened once before. According to the local promoter there certainly wasn't "several thousand" unsold seats on Saturday. WITH Ward unlikely to add to his total Iversen could still retain his top eight place. If not, a wild card would be nailed on.

BOTH Chris Louis and Kelvin Tatum said today that the injuries he has sustained are VERY serious, being on his clutch hand, for a speedway rider.

JUST heard from the Hancock camp that Greg will ride in Vojens. Believe he broke one finger and dislocated another and his hand was a bit of a mess. Not only the World Championship at stake ... also his remarkable record of 177 consecutive GPs, never having missed one. That must rank as one of speedway's greatest achievements. Drove back to Berlin this morning in the company of Chris Louis and kelvin Tatum. Both agreed that Greg's injuries could have been much worse. In trying to lean his bike over to scrub off speed and lay it down he actually came off worse than he might have done had it just hit the fence. Also both these seasoned campaigners believe that most of the crashes we are now seeing - including the Hancock/Iversen one last night, Woffinden's at Eastbourne, Morris at Coventry - are directly related to the on-going problems caused by the current silencers. And both also agreed with an earlier post here that the new regulations regarding mudguards are a nonsense and on Saturday actually did Hancock more harm than good. Also just heard that Niels had a MRI scan in Poland this morning and his knee ligament damage is quite severe. Might not see him in action again this season. But you just never know with these speedway boys.... GIVE the kid a break ... early season injury which he is only just getting over and his father suffering from a serious illness. Good to see him back with Michael on Saturday. Think he will kick on from here. Incidentally, another reason why many riders (of all nationalities) are not currently enamoured with EL racing in the UK is the standard of tracks they have to ride. Coventry's at home to Swindon recently is a case in point.

SADLY more than that ...

GREAT performance by Zmarzlik, very mature, confident but let's not forget that this was on his home track. Might be too soon to throw him into the 2015 series but surely his time will come. Update on Greg just before midnight here in Gorzow: not as bad as first feared. Just been told he has broken one finger and dislocated another. Looking at the TV replays his hand and arm were sucked into the rear wheel of Iversen's bike. Could have caused serious damage. Hope he rides in Vojens to maintain his 100 per cent record but it has thrown Woffinden a lifeline.

A TWO year ban, which is possible, would in the eyes of many effectively end Ward's speedway career. I am quite aware you were expressing your view ... I simply pointed out that it isn't shared by many in the various conversations being spouted here in Gorzow amongst fans, officials and riders. Doesn't mean you are right or wrong....

BANNED for six months would mean he couldn't race in the Australian Championship and therefore not enter the qualifying rounds for the GP Challenge in 2015 ... so would have to come through the various rounds and the 2016 GP Challenge for 2017. That's assuming he wouldn't be afforded a wild card place of course.

THE weather forecast for Zielona Gora tomorrow (Sunday) is not that good and as an FIM event the race-off date is Monday ... when Poole are at Lakeside in a TV fixture. Being suggested here (with a pinch of salt - maybe) that the Poole team in the Champions League bears little resemblance to their EL team so they could fulfil both fixtures!

I MUST say that I don't find your views to be that widely held as far as I can judge here in Gorzow amongst fans, officials and riders. I would say that most people think that if the FIM had, in fact, acted swiftly and banned him for six months, that would have sufficed in this instance. It would actually be quite a severe penalty if as a result Ward found himself out of the Grand Prix series until 2017 at the earliest. Of course, on this forum especially there are those who hate all things Poole and Ward in particular but I am not convinced that is the opinion of the majority. Even his fellow competitors, while not condoning his behaviour, don't want to see him banished forever and many think that compulsory alcohol tests for all riders before every SGP would be a better consequence of what happened in Daugavpils. Of course, Ward has no right to be judged differently from a rider of lesser ability but speedway as a whole is better with Ward racing than not and trying to achieve that objective while at the same time giving him a harsh lesson is, in my opinion, the way to go.

YOU don't have to be an Einstein to speculate that possibly the delay in the FIM passing judgement could be because of legal implications. Just as the police stopping and breathalysing motorists have to conform to certain procedures so too do members of the FIM and their legal guy will no doubt have been going over everything that took place in Daugavpils with a fine tooth comb. As you can imagine, there is a veil of silence over what goes on in Geneva and Ward's case is actually now outside the jurisdiction of the CCP (Track Racing Commission). I would say that from off the record conversations and judging the mood of many here in Gorzow, a six months ban would fit with the consensus of opinion although many are sceptical that Darcy, as contrite as he obviously is, will actually learn a valuable lesson. Only time will tell. I don't feel there is any great mood, at least amongst the speedway fraternity, to ban him for longer just as many here believe that Dudek should be dealt with leniently as a young first offender and that he will, in fact, learn by his mistake which does appear to have been naive at worst.

MAKE sure you take the right route and it is dual carriage way all the way now... you actually start by heading north (Hamburg) on A11, then A10 towards Frankfurter-Oder and then the A11 again which runs all there way to Gorzow. Did it in just over two hours today. PITY they cannot pretend that his full name is Cyferdinov and sneak Emil in! Sorry, going for a lay down now... CAN understand why Tai gave it a try (less than a lap) but having signed on he can only be replaced by one of the meeting reserves. Piotr Pawlicki was on stand-by. Would have been nice to see how he fared in such company.

THAT'S true but what is still not clear is whether that would have been the end of it and no further punishment available to the FIM. Now his case will be heard by the International Disciplinary Commission at which from what I can gather in Gorzow today Darcy will be entitled to attend with legal representation. Very costly of course but if he feels that all the correct procedures were not strictly adhered to he might consider it money well spent.

SORRY been out all day so only just catching up. I am pretty certain that in the case of Stefan Danno he was taken to a police station where a blood sample was taken. This wasn't the case with Ward in Daugavpils. I imagine that at the FIM International Disciplinary Court he will be allowed to attend and have legal representation. That's where the fireworks could begin...

VERY different scenario and it was actually SVEMO who suspended Danno for eight months and the FIM didn't dish out any penalty of their own. WILL enquire but the majority of Tesco stores stock SS as do many Asda and Sainsbury supermarkets.

TOO late to include much in SS this week. Just seems that if everything was cut and dried the FIM would have made a decision by now and we would know about it.