Dave the Mic

As opposed to who?

Agree, I hope he gets in. He has improved no end in the last couple of years. Batch has been a great addition to the series and Noddy is a a recent world champion. Personally I'd rather Ward got overlooked. Might give him a wake up call. If he qualifies by right he deserves his place. Period.

What hogwash. So in your view it should be a closed shop? Choose 15 riders every year and not let anyone else have a chance to qualify? Brilliant. Rules are in place and have been for some time. The top 8 get through, 3 from the challenge and 4 picks. It's called luck, injuries happen, it's part of sport, any sport. And in case you hadn't noticed, AJ won the last GP.

You really are a very unpleasant person. What right do you have to decree who "has no business being in the GP"? If he qualifies by right, and I hope he does, if only to spite all those who post vitriolic comments about him on here, then he deserves hi place as much as the next person. Get over yourself. He is entitled to compete as much as the next person, if nominated, regardless of what you think. Correct, they will.

I can't believe the Ward sycophants on here, it's truly unbelievable. He's not a little boy lost, he's a grown man. A grown man who is a professional sportsman in a dangerous sport and the fact that he does the things he does - drink, drugs to name two - shows that he's immature and irresponsible beyond words and has scant respect or consideration or for his racing peers. Had he not been caught, he would have happily raced a lethal weapon at 70 plus mph sideways in close proximity with three other racers, who would have been blissfully unaware that one of their opponents was racing with reactions less than razor sharp as he was under the influence. Before anyone says the amount over the limit should be taken into consideration, that's cobblers. It is proven that alcohol in your blood slows your reactions. What a great idea that is whilst racing speedway. What a dullard. As I said in a previous post, the punishment should be severe, no matter who he is. The fact that he is high profile should be of no influence one way or the other. Sadly, that he is high profile, racing in the UK for the club he does and with the sponsor he has, he will probably be let off with a slapped wrist. If on the other hand, justice is served and he gets a long ban and decides to walk away from the sport, so be it. It can do without someone who turns up to race in that condition. They wouldn't accept it in any other Motorsport, so why should we in speedway?

I can't believe anyone is actually defending him here. He drank, clearly more that enough, the night before he had an afternoon race meeting. He was breath tested & failed. End of story. It matters not if it was Darcy Ward, Tai Woffinden, or even, for example a junior rider at NL level. There is no excuse & there should be no mercy. Whoever it is should be punished severely, which should include a lengthy ban. FFS, they race motorcycles with no brakes, inches away from three other people at ridiculous speeds - isn't it dangerous enough, without racing with dulled (however slightly) reactions? As for Middlo, what a prize bell end. There are no mitigating circumstances. I also agree that Dudek should be banned.

Like I said, yawn. Do you practice?

Think you're rather missing the point. British GP, wild card from Russia? Surely a British GP should have a British wild card? Just like all the other GP's have a home wild card. Regarding Harris, you obviously think that the result of next season's British Final is fixed then, with Harris a shoe in for the best non GP British rider slot that usually means a wild card place at Cardiff. These conspiracy theories about Harris are pathetic. Yawn.

Will it? And who would that be, pray tell? A Russian wild card for the Cardiff BRITISH GP. Really?

I have to be honest, much as he seems a very nice young man and is clearly an excellent rider, I don't see why he should be offered a place in the GP in 2015. He turned down a place this year, and chose not to contest the qualifiers, whatever the reason doesn't really matter. Plenty of riders would have liked his place in the series and they have contested the qualifiers this year to get in for next and he would get a place handed to him on a plate having put two fingers up at the SGP on two counts. It probably all boils down to money and if thats the case I'd rather have someone in the series who wants to be in it.

It's all to make money. "Most" stadiums in speedway don't have these rules & it has never been the norm at speedway at any track in the UK or anywhere else TBH in the past. They will tell you it is about safety, but it's all about money. It may be the stadium owner, the event organiser or Santa Claus but it is about money, because if it wasn't, then A) They would let you take food & drink in, and/or The prices for the drinks & food inside wouldn't be a rip off. I have attended big meetings both at home & abroad & it seems it is a modern day phenomenon. Having attended numerous World Finals, British Finals, various other World Championship rounds & big meetings, the only place I have ever not been able to take drinks in is Cardiff. I was at Marmande for a World Long Track Final round last year & whole families were arriving with cool boxes, crates of beer, wine, massive food hampers, tables & chairs, picnic rugs, the whole nine yards & this at a venue that gets absolutely packed. There was no issue with anyone & no trouble due to alcohol. I can certainly see why larges boxes etc are not allowed into all seat venues, but not other venues. There is no need, it all boils down to money. Interestingly, it is a point of law that if you are at such a venue, they must provide tap water free of charge without exception.

Agree with all that has been said, apart from the sad Robins fan blaming Scott for their crap season when he was there, of course it was all his fault. And this thread has what to do with Harris, exactly?

What a great thread. I can imagine lots of people with lots of reasons, choosing a variety of different tracks, for a variety of different reasons and Alan's take on it is cool. For me, it's such a simple, yet complex answer. It would be Exeter's County Ground every time. Not for the racing, especially, as it was sometimes awful, sometimes brilliant and the CG wasn't everybody's cup of tea. For me, though, it is about more than just the racing. A combination of the speed, sometimes fabulous racing, the greatest of all time, Mr Ivan Mauger, seeing three of the most exciting racers ever, Vaclav Verner, Richard Green and Mark Loram in their prime, a homely club with a real warmth, a stadium full of character, with a real history and a host of memories with which I could fill an encyclopaedia. Mostly though, Exeter Speedway was my community. It was where I found a love of speedway and cut my teeth watching the sport with which I have had a love affair which has lasted, unabated for 40 years. Friendships forged that have lasted for decades. I owe the County Ground an awful lot and what saddens me most is that I can never pay it back.

This is a great and interesting thread. Not sure I would say I was wrong about him, but I certainly didn't see him being where he was, but as he made progress I was just pleased we had a young English rider coming through. As someone else said earlier, what is scary now, is how good he has become and how many titles he could go on to win. Clearly he needs to avoid serious injury, but even when hampered last year, he still came through to win. What really impresses me in terms of his racing, is his attitude, his dedication, the way he has completely changed his focus and got his his head right and come through an incredibly difficult time with losing his Dad, who was clearly his best friend, and also questioning whether he should take his life in a different direction. He has a good racing brain, which will only improve, he is generally quick, fearless, smooth and clever on the track and clearly has a good team and great machinery. As someone else has said, he has a bit of the Jason Crumps about him. Crumple had early issues of a few kinds but came though that to become a truly great rider and Tai is going the same way. In response to Pedaler, are you joking? Ok,he has a load of body art and I personally find it distasteful, but judging him as a person on that alone is as shallow as it gets. He is a fine young man. He conducts himself well in front of the camera, clearly loves his family and appreciates those around him. Never mind the fact that he has done a load of appearances at various places to visit those less fortunate than he and of course he did his bike ride last year and has huge plans for GOSH this year. Not a role model. You must be kidding, what a great example to youngsters he is, having come through adversity, truly made something of himself and being more than happy to put himself out to do things for those who need help. If only there were more like him.

I don't think the issue is so much the crash, although Pedersen was clearly at fault as he was never going to find a gap there and as such I think it is reasonable to say his actions were reckless at best. The issue is his disregard for others safety - he must have known he was at fault, but he didn't even attempt to check on Zagar's well being, which any decent person would have done. Not to mention his bravery at kicking someone with his steel shoe on and then running to hide behind his pit crew.

Difference being Pedersen had his helmet on, so a slap was never going to do any real damage, whilst kicking someone with a steel shoe on is the height of bravery! As is racing off to hide behind your pit crew. And they were not level-you were clearly watching a different race. Zagar was in front and chose the line he was entitled to, whilst Pedersen carried too much speed going into the turn and it was always going to end in tears. Your view suggests that Zagar should have just stepped aside and waved Pedersen through. What a load of cobblers

How anyone can defend Pedersen is beyond me. It's not as if incidents involving him taking other riders off are rare, is it is quite commonplace. He has scant regard for anyone's safety and even when clearly in the wrong seems to feel its all someone else's fault. The incident with Zagar on Saturday was just another in a long line of examples highlighting the issue. There was no gap to go through, so he tried to create his own and totalled Zagar in the process. What struck me was he got up, went to sort his bike out and wouldn't have thought any more of it had Zagar not confronted him. No apology or concern for the well being of the man he has just cleaned up. It's fair to say that Zagar should not have raised his hands to Pedersen, but correct me if I'm wrong Pedersen was still wearing a helmet, so I think he was always going to be ok, whereas kicking Zagar whilst still wearing your steel shoe was bang out of order and this along with his then racing off to hide behind his pit crew, tells you everything you need to know about Pedersen. Can't deny his ability and bravery on a bike, but as a human being he doesn't have a great deal going from him.

"Super" Simmo. Never has a nickname been so apt. A genuine loss. RIP Simmo.

It was a tragedy and no mistake and although i would just like to correct you TWK, that it was actually 1976 that we lost Tommy.

Thanks for that, Roogames website has a completely different address!

I found an old copy of FS in a drawer when I moved recently, but it doesn't seem to work on my laptop. Does anyone know if there are compatibility issues with newer versions of Windows, or if the makers of the game are still around? I have tried contacting them, but the e-mails just seem to bounce back. Thanks

There was definitely ice speedway in Ulan Bator, the largest and capital city of Mongolia. It would have been in the early 80's, although I would have to check exact dates. Mongolian riders even raced in the ice speedway world championships at around the same time. I have records of this somewhere, but have just moved house and so they are probably boxed! I'll try and find them and provide more detail. I think riders were something like Chinbat, Batsengel and Erkembayar (spelling?) I'm sure there was ice speedway in Kazakhstan in the 90's too.

Interesting reading your comments about Jason, as they reflect mine almost completely. I did a dream team on Speedway Plus a few years ago:- I would never class Crumpie, like his Dad before him, as one of my favourites, but I admire him in many ways. For his steely determination to succeed & achieve his goals, the way he has worked hard to curb his temper & channelled those energies into his racing, his absolute dedication to his chosen profession, his qualities as an ambassador for the sport & his undoubted qualities off track as a family man. I was delighted for him that he recently won his second world title as he has been so deserving of it & he would undoubtedly have won more had he raced in a different era, for in many ways he has been a little unlucky to be at the very top at the same time as Tony Rickardsson.

I didn't either, nor did I say they were, I was merely pointing out to Tony that if he was concerned about people commenting that they were he shouldn't have put them on an open forum without the full detail. I also fully appreciate that some juicy bits need to be included for it perhaps to seem a worthwhile read to some & I wasn't criticising Tony for posting it. I was simply saying that he cannot complain about people taking a snippet out of context if the full context isn't published. I don't debate that the entire article isn't interesting, indeed it is.

On another point tmc:- Backtrack is an excellent publication & I am a keen subscriber, which will continue. I don't much like some of your columnists & don't always agree with some of what is said, but nonetheless, the magazine is a great link to the era I recall with the most fondness in my 40 years of watching speedway. I would like to make two points on a post you made earlier. You say James wasn't being personal, but like a previous poster, I feel it became personal the minute he derided fans for not "putting their arse on the line". Well, being a promoter for 5 minutes doesn't qualify in that category for me & I rather suspect that over 40 years of attending speedway, paying entrance fees, buying programmes, food, souvenirs, sponsoring riders, travelling & goodness what else, visiting virtually every track the length and breadth the country & lots more besides, would suggest that over that 40 years, through 3 recessions, I have put in my fair share of my hard earned - I dread to think how much - & I resent the implication of a 5 minute speedway promoter wonder that speedway fans don't contribute, so can't have a say. Secondly you say his comments have been taken out of context. That's as maybe. However, you put soundbites of his interview from Backtrack on a national speedway forum, not for the good of the public but, I suspect, in an attempt to sell more magazines, which is fair enough. However, this is a forum, the very definition of this is to provoke discussion & debate, which has happened. You may not agree with all that is said, but people on here are passionate & forthright & when they feel criticized or offended & they have the right to say so. If you are fearful of your subject being taken out of context because the snippet isn't being looked at in full context, perhaps you should have considered this before posting part of the interview that has created such feeling. You can't have your cake & eat it.