E I Addio

See the Poole 2014 thread in the EL section.

I think many of us echo those sentiments. My first reaction was that it beggars belief that any sportsman at any level should think there should be no punishment at all for breaking the rules, but on reflection I suppose you have to acknowledge that he rides for a promotion and resides with a team manager who seem to believe that rules only apply to other people.

What strange line of argument. If there were "several" and only two likely to ride that day the rest could do as they like as they were not "on duty". We keep hearing about all these riders that habitually get plastered on the night before a GP but they all seem to slip through the net except poor old Darcy. How strange. Ronnie Moore left the sport for 2 years and came back to win the World Championship. He then retired for 6 years and came back as a world class rider. Darcy's problem is his life style. He can get away with it at 22 but probably not for many more years. He has an exceptional constitution that enables him to live the party life and not be affected in the way that most people would but it can't go on forever. as soon as he puts on a bit of weight his problems will start, just as they have for plenty of other riders.

Common knowledge ? So how does the average punter on the terraces come by this "common knowledge" . Or do you mean "common gossip " to be more precise ? If it is that widespread, how come its always Darcy that is the one getting caught ?

I am just wondering if he might escape a ban on the basis that he didn't actually race in that condition. I was thinking back a few years to when Leon Madsen ( Hmm another Poole rider, pattern emerging here) got caught with an illegal silencer but if I remember correctly he was given a fine but escaped a ban because he was caught when warming the bike up so he hadn't actually raced with it. Anyone remember all the details of Madsens punishment ?

Compulsory measuring of engines would probably stop more misdemeanours. They are never checked.

They probably did. Whenever there is any sort of situation like this the press will always phone up some rent-a-mouth and ask for a quote, and Muddlo is always more than happy to oblige. Its just that on the basis of his past comments he has been become a bit of an embarrassment to the sport and to Ward. Bottom line is that Muddlo is just a hired hand in the least significant of the three clubs Darcy rides for. He is doing Darcy's tarnished reputation more harm than good by getting involved. I notice Ford has the good sense to keep quiet until a clearer picture emerges.

What has Muddlo done here you ask ? Actually he has not done much as you correctly say. The problem is that the man has made such a fool of himself on previous occasions with his stupid comments on behalf of Ward that nobody takes him seriously anymore. Darcy is perfectly capable of speaking up for himself and I thought came over fairly well in his TV interview yesterday, and , as others have said , it took a bit of courage to do that. . The trouble is Middleditch has made himself look a buffoon in the past and that in turn tarnishes peoples view of Darcy. Its a bit like the boy who cried wolf now. Every time Muddlo opens his mouth he will seem to be putting his foot in it. He is just an idiot and should take a back seat and let Darcy fight his own corner.

In many parts of the world there is zero tolerance on drink-driving. The UK has one of the more lenient drink /driving laws probably because of the political strength strength of the brewing industry. .. As I said before there is probably not a branch of motor sport anywhere that has anything other than zero tolerance. For example , from the start of 2014 there are mandatory breath tests for all competitors in the British Touring Car Championship. This is a section of the website explaining why :- " As any amount of alcohol in the blood stream can affect a person’s ability to drive and make decisions, a strict ‘zero tolerance’ limit will now be imposed by organisers TOCA to ensure the maximum levels of safety are maintained at all times" One can only hope that speedway is not trailing behind the rest of the world on this Some people obviously take delight in the fact that its Darcy but the reality is there is a breach of the rules and if he gets lenient treatment why shouldn't the next one? Unfortunate for Darcy but the sport has to be seen to be bigger than any one rider.

What a bizarre line of reasoning. Its like saying a burglar didn't take much so he was unlucky to get caught on CCTV. The facts are that even a small amount of alcohol can affect the parts of the brain that control the sense of balance and the ability to process incoming information. These functions a pretty important to someone riding a motor bike without brakes at 80mph on a loose surface. I doubt that there is any form of motor sport in the world that has anything other than zero tolerance of alcohol in competition. This is not an attack on Darcy but ANY rider turning up for any meeting at any level is a danger when the brain functions controlling balance and information are impaired.

Ed Kennett got a six month worldwide ban and a £2500 fine for using an illegal silencer. Should a similar penalty be imposed on Darcy for being over the limit? Taking Kennett's ban as a yardstick should Darcy get more, less or the same ? What do people think ?

Devil Worship, child sacrifice, voodoo, witchcraft, sorcery, poisoning neighbourhood cats and stealing old ladies handbags according to what I have heard.. Oh , and cheating at speedway.

I thought young Bens win in the re-run of heat 4 was the race of the night . With Kim Excluded and Ben off gate 4 it looked like a good chance of a 5-1 to the Aces but the way Ben hunted down first Neilson then Richie Worrall was what speedway is all about. The going out and beating Worrall from the gate later in the meeting was an excellent performance. Nice to see Adam Ellis looking more confident ' His confidence seemed to dip a bit after some nasty falls earlier in the season but he seems to have changed his style now. No more hanging off the bike like Chris Holder, instead he had arms and legs neatly tucked in and looked much more in control of the bike. Reminded me a bit of Matej Zagars style. People go on about NL riders watering the league down but I thought Ben and Adam were really good value tonight. Stefan Neilson did a decent job for the Aces as well. Lewis looked very determined for his paid 14. If only he could turn that on more consistently.

All I would say is that all the teams with GP riders have been accommodated at Lakeside on non GP weekends so I doubt they would try to make an exception for BV who they should expect to beat even with Zagar.. The absence of Zagar is going to knock a few dozen off the gate and hit the takings so I guess they would want Zagar in if they could. He has had some stunning meetings at Lakeside , especially in his Swindon days and is probably one of the very few , apart from Darcy whose presence can increase the crowd.

But surely Belle Vue knew they would have a weakened team when they submitted their dates at the start of the season. They knew Cook has PL commitments every Friday and they knew Zagar was in a GP this week-end. Don't know the situation with Cov, but with the rain off's Lakeside have no more available dates. .

Away average at Poole 2.5

What's happened to Starman ? He hasn't been on here since last night . Do you think he has maybe fallen down one of those big holes in the Poole track ?

Mikkel Bech has injured his wrist mountain biking and apparently will be out for the next 6 matches. Add to that his Danish Championship rounds and we'll hardly be seeing him again this season, plus Kim Nillsson will also miss one meeting for the Swedish championship. , Danny King fills in for Bech in one match while Rory Schlein , who now seems to ride for Lakeside more than he rides for Kings Lynn will cover most of the others. And when the music stops we find that Dave Watt jumps into Peter Kildemands seat for Swindon against Eastbourne tonight while Watt's team mate at Lakeside, Adam Ellis, will be riding for ..err... Eastbourne. Lets hope they all remember which Kevlars to wear. Hope you kept up with all of that. Crazy !

Well Neil Machin got it wrong. They didn't change the rules to get the rider THEY want, they changed to get the rider MATT FORD wants. I don't see any of the others rushing round to sign riders at No 25 or below in the draft. If several of them were wanting to change I could understand it.

Whatever terminology you use this proposal/request/ demand didn't just float down from outer space one day. Two thirds of the way through the season someone suddenly decides the rules need changing and its so important it has to be done now, not at the AGM. It does smell a bit.

You never quite know what to believe but FWIW I don't think its anywhere near as prevalent as people on here like to claim. The thing is its one thing to claim a rider is deliberately dropping his average but if he is a consistent performer on a variety of tracks he puts himself in a good position to negotiate a more lucrative deal next year. Also riders talk and promoters talk so if word gets round that a riders is a bit lazy or a disruptive influence in the team it gets harder for him to find work. So all in all I think a little of it goes on but not on a grand scale, although some may disagree. I have the Malcolm Simmons DVD and he talks very frankly about his career after he had retired so he had no reason to lie but one thing he did say is that it is very difficult for a rider to reduce his average without it being noticed.

Hang on, who notified the change to the promoters? Do you know why the change was initiated so late in the season ? Presumably someone must have proposed the change ?

I think that is one of the major points being overlooked. Even if (and I stress IF) everything else were above board it is very unfair, in any sport to start tinkering with rules after the start of the season, even worse when th season is running to a close.

It doesn't work like that. The actual pay structure varies from rider to rider and from club to club so there's no hard and fast rule but generally speaking they get a signing on fee upfront at the start of the season. Most don't get start money so last place pays zero. Top stars sometimes get a regular wage instead of points money. When Nickki Pedersen was at Peterboro a couple of years ago he was reported to be on £3,500 per meeting but probably only him and Rick Frost know what the true figure was. I did hear that Peter Karlsson was on a wage at Lakeside so you can see the problem when a top man is on a top wage but not top scoring points. Riders who are on points money get different rates per point according to their role in the side. A top heatleader will be getting a lot more per point than a second string, As to your point about Bomber, guest riders are usually on a guaranteed minimum then get paid for whatever they score above that, so your guest might be guaranteed the equivalent of say 8 or 9 points even if he only scores 2 or 3 but if he scores 15 he gets paid 15. Then there are other variations, for example some riders get paid a higher rate but pay for there own mechanics others might be pad a lower rate but the club pay the mechanic. They need a new back tyre every meeting but some clubs pay for the tyres and some don't so there are all kinds of variations.

Well, well. well. It seems according to Compton himself any lack of abilty to score is nothing to do with his injury , its due to bike problem, which he only got sorted out just before he joined Poole . Funny that. But it still begs the question of how a rider plummeted down the rankings when his apparent lack of form was merely due to "bike problems". Would these have been the same bike problems that afflicted the whole Poole team in 2009 and only got sorted out after Hans Anderson joined ? http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/11392170.Poole_Pirates__New_recruit_Compton_determined_to_make_most_of_Pirates_chance/?ref=var_0