PHILIPRISING

MORE than you might suspect ... give them some degree of certainty, this is when we need you, this is when not.

ONLY a part of the track, on the outside and well away from bends one and two, was being watered on Saturday morning and at that stage no decision had been taken either about practice or the meeting going ahead. It was the decision of the FIM Jury, including the referee and Race Director, along with BSI and the local promoter around noon on Saturday that no amount of remedial work could salvage the track, particularly in view of the impending rain which duly arrived (photo in Speedway Star this week). There was a delay of around 60 minutes before making an official announcement while it was determined whether the TV trucks could get to Daugavpils and accommodation could be found before rubber-stamping the move. The choice was between a total cancellation or moving the event to Daugavpils. Not satisfactory for many, of course, but the idea that BSI could lay on transportation, not knowing how many fans (not just British of course) there were and where they were, is a simply not practical. But as far as the promoters, BSI and the FIM were concerned it was the lesser of two evils. Please don't think I am not sympathetic to all those who lost out in every sense last weekend because I am.

FANS aren't exactly getting value for money as it is. Could always add an additional heat. Don't see five riders per team as opposed to seven being less of attraction.

BUT we are not talking about three riders ... Why is it that Manchester United attract more fans than Hartlepool. They both play football. You may not care about seeing the top riders racing in the EL but there are plenty who do, many of whom have already voted with their feet and given up on a product that is Elite in name only. I fully agree that the top stars don't guarantee top racing all the time but I cannot believe that riders like Woffinden, Iversen and Zagar, to name but three, don't influence attendances at not only their home track but also when riding away. But fans need to know that when they attend a meeting they know the teams will not be riddled with guests, etc. I fail to understand why riders who choose to race elsewhere get such stick. It's not their fault that the British fixture list is such a haphazard affair. Instead of telling them to 'get stuffed' we should be trying to formulate a system that offers them reasonable employment in return for a definitive number of meetings. Young British talent isn't going to materialise overnight. Despite all its lavish rewards and development schemes even soccer isn't exactly awash with stars of tomorrow. We need to be realistic and try and work with not only the riders but the Danish, Polish and Swedish leagues as well to minimise fixture clashes and to devise a system that allows British teams to field their own riders from a squad rather than the constant use of guests, r/r and those doubling up to the degree that some do now.

SOUNDS like a plan ... radical maybe but what we have right now isn't working and people are deserting in droves.

SURPRISED at you ... that's not what I wrote at all.

DON'T think they could be considered "performance enhancing" whereas for athletes or cyclists, for example, that might be the case. Not recreational either. Don't know Dudek at all, never met him, but plenty of people saying that he is a bright, dedicated young man who has inadvertently stepped over the line and will, hopefully, be dealt with leniently if that is the case.

THAT was announced on Sunday evening ... keep up! YOU'RE all heart... IS that correct about Dudek? My understanding (could be wrong of course) is that he was taking fitness supplements that unbeknown to him contained a substance on the banned list. Nothing to do with being quicker out of the start. Not sure there is a drug for that.

CHATTING to Tai en route to Riga last Thursday I think he has realised that a fixed night in the UK is impossible but it remains top of his wish list!

And no doubt you will be warming your hands on the dying embers of the Elite League ... most of them have cleared off already and where has that left us?

BUT it doesn't have to be ....

DON'T think that is as big an issue as some make out. If each rider knew what fixtures he was in he could plan accordingly and also have stuff on hand if he was required as a late replacement (injury, illness or even a team change, which would add something different) WHERE would that leave Sky? A super league with eight teams (Belle Vue, Coventry, King's Lynn, Lakeside, Leicester, Poole,Swindon and Wolverhampton) racing twice home and away with squads, no guests, and using vacant dates for some secondary competition without top riders against PL teams. We just need some thinking outside the current box which is rapidly becoming a coffin for the Elite League at least.

NOT so... report from Jury in Latvia has to be sent to FIM HQ in Geneva who must then convene Medical Commission to act upon it. THREE times?

WOULD get more commitment from a squad rider than a guest most likely

SAY again, no different to what we have now. A squad system doesn't have to only apply to number ones, of whatever standard. It could at least get rid of guests and maybe even rider replacement. Surely that is a step in the right direction?

And I should add it wasn't that old... COULD it be any worse than what we have now? A less regimented system for team compilation would probably help as well. Of course it would require the promoters to work as one and therein is the most significant flaw. But there has to be drastic action this winter (wish I had a pound for every time I have written that) and some real leadership. How many teams this year will fail to complete their fixtures, especially before the cut-off dates? It's a shambles... ECHO that...

BUT in essence that isn't any different to what we have now. Lindgren and Holder aren't racing in the EL and would only do so substituting for one who is. There are, in fact, other riders suffering from fatigue like Tai. Iversen, for example, looks worn out. All that travelling must take its toil. As a side issue, chatting to NKI while fiddling our thumbs in Riga, he mentioned that when he sold the van previous to the one he has now, it had done 660,000 kilometres with "one careful owner!"

BUT, like it or not, there are still people out there who want to see the top riders racing in the Elite League. If "shared number ones" for want of a better phrase, are on the same deal where is the additional cost?

BUT would he be in the SGP?

MITAS supply tyres free of charge at each GP ... pits chatter I've caught up on suggests that the compound of the Golden Tyres while very good from the start is more suited to a rider of Greg's style (classic, old-school) than the more modern techniques.

VERY much doubt that Monster will have any say in what the FIM Medical Commission come up with although they might fund a lawyer to plead mitigating circumstances. But their speedway sponsorship is irrelevant. An immediate ban is not in the power of the FIM Jury and the case has to go before the appropriate panel. It would be no different with a rider failing an alcohol test prior to a league meeting. You cannot just take their licence away without due process.

DO you honestly think that Ward would come back after 14 months out, which would probably mean he couldn't get back into the SGP until 2017? Just asking the question... Cannot agree that six months would be no punishment ... would cost him top eight place in SGP, deny him a place in the Australian Championship and therefore a chance to reach the 2015 GP Challenge

TOUGH to separate heart from head. Fact is he failed a mandatory test. Not by much and if the test had been four hours later would probably have passed. But it wasn't and he didn't. Obviously he cannot be made a special case because of his exceptional on track talent so my head says at least six months, maybe longer with part suspended. I really do fear for him if he is out of the sport for longer. Visions of Kelly Moran keep entering my head. Would like to think that he would use any time out of the saddle to get his knee fixed, get properly fit and to turn over a new leaf. Pigs might fly I suppose...

I ATTEND all the rider briefings at SGP events...

THREE riders, names determined by a ballot at the Jury meeting, are tested for alcohol prior to every SGP event around an hour before the scheduled start.