M.D

To be fair on that point Steve, I was in the pits that night and the track was not safe and riders from both camps did not want to ride but did agree to give things a go. It was clear that the track was not safe and was called off for good reasons.

I got this email today about the rain off at Gosford, the Aussies sure know how to name and shame. Mick Poole writes: "I am embarrassed to call myself a former speedway rider. Now dont get me wrong I am all for rider safety and I know exactly how dangerous our sport can be having sustained career ending injuries that would cause these so called professionals to pee in their pants. "The track was indeed patchy after a heavy downpour at 9.30pm the night before.......my 63 year-old father, Terry, started the grader at 10am on race day.....He did not stop working on the track until 7.30pm without a break, after the riders did not want to practice. The riders also provided advice on how they wanted the track prepared, which he complied with, only to be told by the riders to prepare the track in the exact opposite manner to what they had requested previously. "The riders (after hearing the spiel from MA that motorcycling is dangerous, etc and if you are not happy with the track you're welcome to go home without penalty) in my opinion held a gun to the MA officials head, threatening legal action if the meeting went ahead. These riders I believe should be suspended for their actions. "They brought our sport into disrepute pure and simple. Since when has the tail wagged the dog?" "Leigh Adams offered to test the track for them and them he got shot down in flames by these fairies. If these guys are professionals why couldn't they have at least tried the track.......I have a 13-year old son who races junior speedway and dirt-track whom I worry about him every time he puts his helmet on. A rider from Queensland came down to ride his 350cc speedway bike and said he didn't travel all that way not to have a ride - he was told by the fairies to 'shut up mate, you are only on a 350'. What a joke, nice one girls. "I will say Leigh Adams, Adam Shields, Travis McGowan, Todd Wiltshire, Craig Watson, Chris Holder, Mark Jones and Jason Doyle as well as some others were willing to try. I wonder what would happen if these guys get the privilege to ride in a GP on tracks similar to what was on offer and try to hold a gun to Ole Olsen's head? Shame on you SPEEDWAY RIDERS, you should all take up netball. If any of you feel the need to try and explain yourself, you have my number, you know who you are." (end) Rod Colquhoun writes: "...the (Australian Championship) Gosford round was held to ransom by a few riders who managed to root what would have been a pretty good series. The riders in question have not been named elsewhere but I feel it my duty to blow the whistle on the offenders and give my view on their reasoning. "RORY SCHLIEN is fast gaining a reputation as a pain in the ass and this view was enhanced at Gosford. He came close to getting knocked out (literally) last time Gosford held a round when he decided he didn't like the track and threw a tantrum. The kid can ride, but he carries some serious baggage. I would say he was the ringleader at Gosford. He was almost equal in points with Todd Wiltshire in the race to win the new bike (first non-GP rider) and his dislike of the track surface made him doubt he could fend off Todd that night, so he urged cancellation of the meeting. Piss weak. "Note: He did four flying laps at Coventry a couple of months ago in a pair of boxer shorts, so surely he cannot put safety at the top of his list of priorities? "DAVE WATT is a talented bloke, but save for a few good rides at Gillman he failed to fire a shot all series. I think after his Mildura performance (well below expectations) he just wanted to go home and a possible rain-off at Gosford was the easy ticket. Dave has just signed for Oxford in the UK and I think promoter Aaron Lanney will feel more like a kindergarten teacher than a promoter when trying to sift through Dave's needs. "JASON LYONS was a pale shadow of himself during the whole series and I personally hoped he would (have) saved some pride by pulling out of the competition after Mildura, a place at which he normally shines. Further discussion revealed a broken wrist as well as a few other problems which prevented him from committing fully to the task at hand. Sadly, one of Australia's most robust characters took the easy way out at Gosford. "Personally disappointing for me, as I am a huge fan of Lyons. "KEVIN DOOLAN is not a bad rider, but his opinion on this night should have been kept to himself. There were far more qualified people to cast an opinion on the track than Doolan, but mud sticks and he did his share of talking, when silence would have been much smarter. "'There were also varying degrees of dissent from Troy Batchelor and Simon Stead(UK) and I am not looking to save face for them, but they were not as vocal as the four. "When you consider that the last placed rider in each round of the title gets $400 it makes their desire to cancel all the more baffling." (end) * The above comments appear in the latest issue of Speedway Racing News (Jan 25-Feb 8). The publisher David Tapp, under the title of "Speedway's night of shame", also writes on the opening page: "I can't ever recall being ashamed to call myself a speedway fan but this unthinkable scenario occurred at Gosford Speedway on Thursday night January 12, 2006. For the first time in a life time of following speedway I was appalled and disgusted by a sequence of events that did more damage to speedway's credibility in more than three decades of watching the sport. "...the track commentator announced over the public address system that the event wouldn't be going ahead, because a handful of riders had declared the track too dangerous to ride. "You need to be aware that a fair bit of rain had fallen the night before, but no rain whatsoever fell on the actual day of the event. "A handful of riders, each full-time professionals.......said a winrow (pile) of dirt that had been left by the track curator (the promoter) up against the fence was too dangerous. As was another winrow graded about one metre in from the infield. Apparently they created an inherent risk. Furthermore, at the exit to turn two was a wet, patchy part of the track that may have posed a risk to riders. "Race Director Ivan Golding and Referee David Mills together asked the Gosford Promoter (Terry Poole) to remove the winrow he had left against the fence because of safety concerns. Poole attempted this, but his efforts to stockpile so much wet earth proved in vein. "According to Golding he, in conjunction with Mills, decided at 6pm the meeting would not go ahead, yet an announcement to the public was not made until 7.30. You could just imagine how cheesed off the paying public were. I even spotted the great Steve Waugh sitting in the crowd, waiting patiently with his family as this embarrassing comedy of errors unfolded. "I have never seen such a rudderless ship in my entire life. No one was in charge and seemingly no one had a plan. People had driven from all over Australia or flown in from New Zealand for this event; only to be treated like fools. "To those riders who refused to ride; hang your head in shame. Is it any wonder that the sport of solo racing in Australia is all but dead? You are all professional speedway riders and you would have ridden on tracks far worse in England than at Gosford on January 12, so what was the drama this time? I suspect none of you give a rats about the sport in this country and quite happily stood back and watched as the credibility of the Australian Solo Championship evaporated. "Memo to whoever was running the show. The riders that didn't want to ride should have been told to go and sit in the pits and take no part, allowing the other riders to get out onto the track and put on the best show possible for the assembled spectators. The prizemoney...should have been distributed among those riders that wanted to do the right thing. "Bearing in mind most riders wanted to race and the likes of Leigh Adams and Todd Wiltshire offered to do a few laps to check the track surface. This was deemed inappropriate as commonsense was scarce, during what can be best described as comedy capers. "I spoke to Adams and Wiltshire afterwards and both said the track was fine to race on. Adams said any rider that wasn't up to riding the Gosford surface had no right being in the Australian Championship in the first place. Adams also confirmed that riders present race on far worse tracks in Europe every second week."

Thankyou. He was also in the first world final race finishing third off gate four, and I am told he broke his leg in aussie which ended his riding days. The thing that has made me start to have a look was the article in the speedway star that showed the 'Wal Phillips JAP'. I read a bit about his time testing at the jap factory, he said all the power he could get out of the engines was at the top end of the rev range. A speedway engine needs the tourqe down at the lower end and the power needed to be put down on the surface as best as possible. This seemed to get him thinking and he produced a bike with a JAP engine situated in a lay down position as apposed to the upright. This was in the forty's, the first 'lay down' I would like to find out why this did not work and did Vic Duggan use this bike (I know he tuned his championship winning bike, but was it a lay down?). Any help, riding or after could help me. My Mum is helping out with contacting some members of my family who could help with storys and insight into him, but the more I can get, the better. Tankyou.

I am doing some research into my Uncle Wal phillps. I would be interested to hear from anybody who has information/storys on Wal. Please contact me on my email address below if you can help me out. Tankyou Mark.

Ken, do Motors tv have a contact email so we can email them after the show and make them aware the programe was watched and enjoyed by a wide range of people? Mark

Adam Shields has agreed a contract with a Polish side for 2006. http://www.adamshields.com/discus/messages...html?1133201813