E I Addio

That isn't the issue. If Lambert had taken your line and said something like " I don't want to ride in the British u/21 's because I am looking for a higher standard of competition" I doubt whether anyone would seriously complain. But that's not the reason he gives. He is throwing a strop because there is a BSPA rule that riders under the age of 15 are not allowed to race 500cc machines, and he thought the rule should be waived especially for him. It no different to claiming that he should be allowed to hold a driving licence under the age of 16 because he thinks he is a good driver/rider. Speedway Star are as much to blame for even giving him time of day but it doesn't alter the fact that it was a very ill-advised comment to make and shows neither him nor his parents in a very good light,

Fair enough. Not the first time Speedway Star have over-hyped something e.g Briggo's comments on dirt deflectors. As others have said, let's hope Lambert learns to keep his mouth shut and do his talking on the track in future. As I said before, according to Speedway Star Germany are an exception to the norm in letting riders that young compete on 500cc machines.

The wrong context ? Come on, your comment was "the whole thing reeks of jealousy", not just one or two posters on this thread. If you are well aware that there are restraints on 14-year olds and you knew Lambert was challenging those restrictions, why not say so in your post instead of talking about the "whole thing reeking of jealousy"? Not one single poster has knocked him on the grounds of ability, The OP was about him mouthing off in the press bout not riding for his country (which he hasn't been picked for anyway) because he had to follow the same rules as youngsters in most other countries. You are entitled to your opinion but don't start falling back on the "whole thing reeks of jealousy " argument when clearly that is not what people are saying at all.

Ah , so we are down to the "everyone's jealous of poor little ol' Kings Lynn argument". What rubbish. Even Lambert himself doesn't cite that as a reason.. Its pretty clear that 90% of those posting on here either haven't read the article of haven't read it properly so let's be clear on exactly what he is complaining about. Speedway Star paraphrases his complaint as follows :_ "Lambert feels the fact that he was unable to compete on a 500cc machine in his homeland and then only in the National League has not helped his progress" and then quotes him as saying "The reason I'm racing in Germany is because they wouldn't let me race here at a young age" So we so the issue is that Lambert was not allowed to compete in this country on a 500cc machine at the age of 14. GRW23 wants us to believe that it its jealousy but actually its the rules. Not only the rules in this country but the rules in most speedway nations. In fact as SS points out Germany are "very much the exception rather than the norm when it comes to letting 14 year olds race as seniors." SS also points out that "The Aussies won't let their juniors ride on a 500cc machine until they are 16 " ie a year later than the BSPA do, but I can't see that many of them have been held back by it. So there you have it. Despite Lambert trying to tell us that it is just the BSPA and despite GRW 123 making a fool of himself by claiming it is jealousy against Kings Lynn the British rules on not allowing 14 year olds to race on 500cc machines is pretty much in line , it seems, with the rest of the speedway world except Germany. The World Champions of 2012 and 2013 had to follow the rules, as did Darcy Ward who is a very likely World Champion in waiting. I don't remember them going crying to the press about it and I don't remember them refusing to ride for their country because of it. But apparently that's not good enough for young Master Lambert who thinks the rules shouldn't apply to him. There is another aspect to all this, as Speedway Star points out that some will concerned about ""exposing 14 year-olds to the inherent risks that come with riding a 500 cc bike with no brakes" In all honesty does anybody think it is a good idea to have 14 years olds , barely out of puberty, still at school still going through serious growing spurts, to race a 500cc bike against seniors or should we have a rule that says " You can't race a 500cc machine until you are 15 unless your name is Robert Lambert", which seems to be what he is moaning about. Certainly if the BSPA's rules are wrong about not allowing 14 year olds on 500cc bikes than a lot of other speedway nations are wrong as well.

Read the post properly Sid. The point being made is that Tai is the role model for young riders to follow. Focussed on the job, doesn't go washing dirty linen in public. Never heard him whingeing in the press.

I have to agree 100% with Steve on this one. Apart from his comments in SS Lambert has not been backward in coming forward with similar opinions on twitter in the past What Master Lambert is too young and too dumb to realise is that long before he arrived most sports have had a history of precocious youngsters with pushy parents who think they can wag the dog and they usually finish up coming unstuck. To give Darcy Ward his due, his little misdemeanours have always been off track and as a speedway rider he has never gone round thinking he is bigger than the sport. The other thing Lambert and his parents don't seem to realise is having a talent at 16 is one thing , having the dedication to stay ahead of the pack at 21 or 22 is a different matter. By all accounts Lambert is talented but it seems he hasn't yet decided how he will manage this ability. Either he can go down the Tai Woffinden route or he can tip it all down the same drain as Kenny Carter and Michael Lee tipped theirs.

Shouldn't be too difficult to organise a pricing policy on the lines of :- Adults £17 Students from well off backgrounds £16-50 Students from working class backgrounds £13 Kids from deprived areas £5 People whom have never had a chance in life £1 The Great Unwashed FREE.

Lewis Bridger now has "Hagon Shocks " plastered all over his Kevlars and I understand he is back in partial favour and I believe Ritchie Worrall may be getting some support.

All very true plus the fact that most things in life are more exciting when they are new and when you first discover them, that's why so many of us are still saying the music of our youth was better than today. And a lot of it is perception. I actually lost interest in in speedway in the late 80's/90's when some people claim it was exciting, as at the time I had become bored with it , but then my life was pretty full with other ventures and distractions at the time . I do think you are right about strung out races though. The thing that I noticed most when re-gaining my interest in the sport after a break was that the second strings seemed to have got a lot better and were on the pace much more, which I put down to modern machinery. Finally I think the easy access to the sport in TV takes away some of the excitement. If you only saw a star rider two or three times a year you would make sure you were there for it and even if he won from the gate the mere build-up to the race would get the adrenalin going and you would think it was a great night, now we see them every couple of weeks in the GP's plus league matches from all over the place, and we see even the World Champions getting last places at times, a lot of the tension/drama/ call it what you will is not the same. I still enjoy, but in a different way to before.

Good point. We have seen half a dozen rival organisations in boxing all with their own version of the world championship at the same time all with different champions, we have seen cricketers go for the money outside the established international sport, we now have moto-cross run by an organisation to rival the ACU and on a smaller scale we have even seen a pirate league in speedway in the past. When you have rival organisations like we have now in speedway you can't rule anything in and you can't rule anything out. The FIM and their TV broadcasters need to get their act together to get it sorted . Its only a trickle now but if next year riders like Lindgren and Bjerre for example were to follow Emil and Gollob the SGP would start to look a bit uncompetitive. The lower order of the SGP line-up doesn't look all that great even now.

I tend to share orions view. If and I stress IF Emil has a blinder of a year then whoever wins the title will have the question hanging over him of "Would he still have won if Emil had been there?". You are correct in saying a rider who doesn't compete shouldn't have the title of world champion but whether the winner can be said to be the best rider in the world without Emil there will be the subject of debate for years to come.

Seems like Walter Mitty has completely flipped.

I think you are being just a tad harsh on a bloke you don't really know but I don't want to be an apologist for him and I certainly don't wantt to finish up sounding like Sidney so perhaps I'll quietly leave you to your opinions and do my best to remain neutral.

I have to give Darcy his due. He came and rode for nothing at the Lee Richardson Memorial, (as did all the other riders) put on a great show and rode brilliantly for his max. Could have justifiably ridden at half pace put really went for the result and helped to make to occasion a memorable one. He didn't have to come and ride but he came and did the occasion proud. That must always stand to his credit and I admire him for it.. Some of his past off track behaviour is regrettable but we can't hold that against him forever. It is quite amusing that people who have never met him somehow think they know exactly what he has to do to take the 2014 World Championship. I don't think one should underestimate his ability in all departments as far as the sport is concerned. The Lakeside -v-Poole challenge match at the start of the season has been postponed because Darcy has to ride in Poland that day. That speaks volumes for the mans crowd-pulling power. Without him Poole are just another team as far as the turnstiles are concerned and have been replaced with a match against Swindon. All top riders have fans who like them and those who don't, for no particular reason. Nonsense to suggest that Darcy is popular or unpopular because he is captain of Poole . Its not the Poole captaincy the fans have an issue with. Its the promoter.

Briggo was a bit of an inconsistent gater but when he was on form he was out of this world. I still have the programme from the last of Briggos British Championship wins at West Ham. The number 2 gate wasn't working that night , everone on No2 except Mauger was coming third or last. Mauger struggled to a second place in a relatively weak heat. Then Briggo came out on No2 gate for his fourth ride and waltzed away from the start as if the rest were on moped's . I have never seen gating like Briggo was doing that night. He collected a brilliant 15 point max without breaking sweat and without getting his bike dirty and that included beating Mayger, Ronnie Moore and Nigel Boocock. To my mind there has never been a rider to touch Briggo when he was on his best form, except arguably Darcy ward. The trouble was Briiggo was not always at his best, and I think part of the problem was that at times he relied too much on natural talent and let the mechanical side of things slip a bit. Mauger on the other hand didn't make it to the top until his late twenties and he seems to have done it by getting his machinery spot on with top tuners etc. I think the greatest tribute to Briggs is that Ivan Mauger said that if there was no Barry Briggs there would have been no Ivan Mauger because Ivan knew that if he was going to get to the top Briggs was the one he had to beat and he spent years working out how he was going to beat him.

I have tried to find the alternate video (taken from behind the riders) on youtube but it seems to have been taken off, which is a pity. I have seen it though and I have to agree with the previous poster who says that from that angle it shows no contact. With respect Grachan, your explanation depends on Carter being wrong about his leg being taken away. Of course, in the heat of the race and heat of the moment he could be mistaken but then again he was the bloke on the bike, so his explanation should be given at least the same weight as yours. I doubt if anyone knows the 100% truth but I don't think there is enough information to say with any certainty that the ref made the wrong decision.

OK, wait till the season starts and I'll put my mind to it. I think it will be a bit like writing to the Bournemouth Echo and suggesting that there is an outside possibility that Matt Ford is not the greatest thing since sliced bread,, and will get a similar response .i.e. straight in the bin, as others here have already said.

That was the last straw for me. I have supported the magazine for a long time for what it represents but after that fiasco I( cancelled my subscription. It didn't need to contain a controversial article but a piece putting both sides of the argument and an interview with some of the main people involved e.g Phil Morris , Danny King, Muddlo, and especially Tony Steele whom was ultimately responsible for the farce would be just the sort of thing to interest the fans but the chance was missed. Pleasing some of the people most of the time would be a good ambition to have. Quite honestly Philip, with people having less disposable income how to you plan to attract readers with stories that are to a large extent simply pulled off the internet and very little information of comment that fans can access anyway. After cancelling my subscription last September I did buy some individual copies because I did enjoy the article son Freddie Williams, PC, Chris Pusey etc because they contained information that was not generally in the public domain. Those sort of interviews or informed comment is what makes a magazine interesting not a load of turgid letters from "Disinterested of Tunbridge Wells " or "Ex-Fan of Chorlton-Cum -Hardy " prattling on about the selection of draft riders or some such moan that we can read on the internet anyway. The whole magazine has the feel that it is published by people who have no interest in attracting an increasing rather than decreasing readership. The fact that we even have a thread like this would set the alarm bells ringing on almost any other journal.

The letters page is the pits. It seems as if they sort out the most uninteresting letters or those that more or less repeat the same as last week. I can't remember the last time read a really thought provoking letter.

That figures, especially as they have trouble paying the riders on time, and when they do get paid they seem to be out of pocket riding for their national team. Why are we in this international competition if we have to run on a shoestring ? Like anything else in life, if a jobs worth doing its worth doing properly. If you can't afford it don't do it.

Sidney you are unbelievable. You read one word and your brain interprets it as something different. Where did I say Rosco was any body's fool ? I said he was not the sharpest tool in the box. That doesn't mean he is stupid it means (in my opinion) that there are better. As you never tire of telling us the forum is all about opinions but you don't seem to like it when someone has an opinion different to your own. Read the post. I said Rosco is enthusiastic and speaks the riders language so he is probably the right man to pull the side together at this stage of things. How is that patronising ? I also said I think Phil Morris is the best man for the job if we get to the stage of having a truly competitive side. So you don't like Phil Morris. Its still my opinion based on the way he is widely respected for his work with the youngsters, and the way he took a very average looking Brum team to the top of the league and still got them to perform well when they weren't getting paid, if you watch Phil at work in the pits he is on to the riders keeping them focussed and encouraged all the time, much more than any other manager I can think of. Rosco's problem IMO is he is too volatile when things start going wrong. Sorry you don't like honest opinions mate, but that's as I see it. If you disagree that's fine with me, but if you want everybody to agree with you there is no point in being on this kind of forum.

1. I am not on twitter and don't intend to be. Anyone who goes on there knows its a channel for abuse so it seems sensible to keep away. 2. I am not the Team GB manager so your second point is irrelevant. but whoever takes the job has to be able to deal with criticism with a bit of dignity, otherwise they just bring themselves and the sport into disrepute. Muddlo would have a lot more respect if he could just rise above that kind of personal abuse., and bring a bit of dignity to the job. 3. I don't have a personal grievance against him but I do think he is a well over-rated TM. Because the Lakeside pits are open to the public before and after the meetings you get to see a bit more of what goes on than a lot of places. My personal view is that in recent years Poole have had two great captains in Dave Watt and Chris Holder and in my opinion it has been those two , especially Holder that has stamped his authority and personality on the Poole team. If you watch people like Peter Adams or Phil Morris at work there is no doubt about who is in charge, and it aint any of the riders. But anyway the point of this particular thread is who is suitable to be Team GB manager. Muddlo hardy showered himself in glory. I don't think Roscoe is the sharpest tool in the box but he is enthusiastic and he does speak the riders language, so at this stage of things he is probably the right man to pull the side together and give the riders some passion but if we ever get to the stage of having a truly competitive team then I do think Phil Morris is the one for the job,

So what do you think the problem would be ? Chapman wouldn't allow them to use the track ? That is the only conceivable problem and even that seems unlikely. Could it be Muddlo just didn't think of anything like that ? One thing we have learned about Muddlo following hi public comments about Darcy's indicretions, and especially since he has been on twitter is that he can't handle any sort of criticism or complaint, talks a good fight but is very slapdash in his approach to many things. When the TM lacks leadership qualities he is not going to get the best out of his riders, hence the poor performance against USA and Latvia.

Unfortunately Torun is not in England so that is not a fair comparison, but a good meeting is a good meeting whatever track it is on. You can't make a sweeping statement that one is better than another. Last August in Heat 15 of the Lakeside -Poole meeting Lakeside needed a 3-3 to take all three points, Ward and Hancock made the gate then Hancock was passed first by Peter Karlsson the inside then by Piotr Swiderski on the outside. Great end to the meeting. I think you could safely say you wouldn't see that happen if Greg made the gate at Torun! There are many, many factors that go to make a good meeting and it is nonsense to make sweeping generalisations. They all have exciting and boring meetings. Amazing how the amateur track curators think that dirt is the answer to everything. If you put dirt down nothing will happen until you put some water with it. Getting the right amount in the right weather conditions is not an exact science and takes a lot of experience which even then can be messed up by a change in wind direction or the sun unexpectedly coming out just before the start. The "experts" than turn up and moan that the trackman is useless because there is not enough dirt, but in fact the amount of dirt tends to be pretty much the same week to week, it is the weather that changes Oh dear, sounds like Gavan touched a raw nerve

Good points. It reminds me of an old saying in road racing that applies equally in speedway, which is that good riders are fast riders who have discovered that the ground is hard and slow down a bit. To my mind Tai , in 2012 managed to tread the very fine line between going fast enough without over-cooking it. Darcy hasn't yet fully got used to the idea that the throttle works both ways although nobody would deny he is one of the most gifted riders ever to sit on a speedway bike, but at the very top level it does seem he needs to refine his undoubted talent a little Interestingly (and as far as I can work out) Tai is one of only 7 riders to have won the WC at his age or younger. Of those seven only Peter Collins and Michael Lee failed to go on to at least one other title. Collins was never quite the same after his bad leg injury the year following his title win and we all know how Lee threw his career away. Statistically there is no reason why both Tai and Darcy shouldn't collect multiple titles if they stay reasonably fit. Incidentally, Tai reminds me of Peter Karlsson in many ways. People talk bout Tai being a good gater but I seem to have seen him in a number of GP's where he has missed the gate then hung back , looked for the gaps, picked his line, found the grip and gone from last to first or second coming off the second bend. That is exactly what PK does and I think it takes a particular talent that not everybody has. At first I thought Tai was just lucky but it seems to happen too often to be just luck May be its coincidence but maybe Tai has learned something from the master.craftsman