"the Truth Behind The Gosford Fiasco"

[tarabanko]

Firstly 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 appeared in Speedway Racing News (Jan 25-Feb 8

issue), declaring "Speedway's night of shame" and "The truth behind

the Gosford fiasco."

 

The publisher of that magazine, David Tapp, writes:

"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 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 for this event, or flown in from New

Zealand; 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 and 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."

 

* note: David Tapp continued to write more.

 

 

Got this from Aussie Steve Magro

[BWitcher]

This is becoming more of a problem in speedway. Having seen several meetings at Monmore Green held up severely due to a few pansies not wanting to ride on a track with dirt on I can sympathise with the specators at this event.

 

There are more and more riders around these days who can do nothing but ride full throttle on super slick tracks. Tracks that pose a few problems and cause them to have to throttle off and think about their riding are deemed 'dangerous'.

 

It may even be possible that the opposite is possible and that it is/was in fact safer on the trickier tracks as riders were forced to ride slower and more sensibly.

[Ron Butler]

I fail to understand either the need or the desirability of putting that onto this forum. It smacks of an item from one of the more lurid of the British tabloid newspapers or the gutter press Sunday papers.

 

It sadddens me that this otherwise excellent forum has started the descent to such a level!

[Steve Shovlar]

Juicy stuff and the riders involved in stopping this meeting going ahead should hang their head in shame. Well done to Rod C for naming the jerks who caused this mayhem.

 

But it has happened over here as well. Remember the Sky meeting at Eastbourne last year when the Ipswich riders didn't want to ride? I remember Andersen crossing the line after going out in heat one and crossing the line shaking his head, when it was clear to all the track would improve after a couple of heats.

Edited January 25, 2006 by Steve Shovlar

[BWitcher]

Juicy stuff and the riders involved in stopping this meeting going ahead should hang their head in shame. Well done to Rod C for naming the jerks who caused this mayhem.

 

But it has happened over here as well. Remember the Sky meeting at Eastbourne last year when the Ipswich riders didn't want to ride? I remember Andersen crossing the line after going out in heat one and crossing the line shaking his head, when it was clear to all the track would improve after a couple of heats.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yes Steve, and your Poole boys at Monmore.

[SwineTown]

Very Aussie flavour to the denunciations but nonetheless an insight into tense times. If the prima donna element is real and as obstrusive as this then it bodes poorly for the GPs etc and perhaps throws certain other high profile fiascos in a harsher light (PLRC, EB V IW, the called-off GP etc).

 

However, as always, we non-riders are in a weak position on this issue, and I suppose that one can argue that Leigh etc have the skill and experience to deal with all conditions (inc snow at Blunsdon!) but even so...

 

Steve S - the Andersen thing was particularly worrrying - live TV and the armchair brigade got to see exactly what was going on - the terraces would have had to go home and watch to see the dodgy dealings. At home we saw the helmet-cam...

Edited January 25, 2006 by SwineTown

[SwineTown]

Given the fragile Aussie scene and the apathy after the Crump championship I suppose hopes are always high the national champs might boost support and attract young riders and bigger crowds.

[Steve Shovlar]

Yes Steve, and your Poole boys at Monmore.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

What do you mean by that?

[SwineTown]

here comes the anti-poole hijack...

Edited January 25, 2006 by SwineTown

[Steve Shovlar]

here comes the anti-poole hijack...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yep!

 

Perhaps someone can enlighten me, because I was at Wolves for every meeting and don't ever recall Poole riders refusing to ride. Only Ryan Sullivan pulling out due to illness and being unable to see.

Edited January 25, 2006 by Steve Shovlar

[SwineTown]

Still Steve - not sure about the name-and-shame tactic in any area of life. Thoughts?

[Steve Shovlar]

I think its a brilliant tactic and should be used more often.

 

Obviously tensions were running high and when I listened to that radio clip a couple of weeks ago just after it was called off, you could tell by the tone of the reporter that there were unpleasantrys.

 

By the sound of it the track was rideable. It wasn't like the fiasco in Swden where the track was a complete and utter mess and all riders spoke as one. The best thing to have done was to say, the rider who want to ride will, and the pot will be plit between those. Riders who do not ride will receive nothing, and will score zero points. That way a few of the desenters might have backed down.

 

Of course if the track was that bad, Adams et al would have agreed and the meeting would have been abandoned without any of this hoofla.

 

By the look of this report though and the strong words by Mick Poole, backed up by Rod Colquhoun who went a step further, shows how disgruntled they were with the riders shamed in this report.

[SwineTown]

I naively thought that younger riders might heed the wisdom of Leigh and Todd - Like TRick in the abandoned Swedish GP.

 

Is their still a concept of "senior" riders!?

Edited January 25, 2006 by SwineTown

[M.D]

But it has happened over here as well. Remember the Sky meeting at Eastbourne last year when the Ipswich riders didn't want to ride?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

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.

[SwineTown]

Was this when Hans said he was filled in then the helmetcam was clean and clear? I suppose it is the disappointment of a called off meeting making me see sinister cinspiracy....

[AndyM]

Sounds horribly familiar to anyone who remembers the end of the Perrin era at Belle Vue. My sympathies to all innocent parties, notably the spectators.

[Steve Shovlar]

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.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Well Bob Dugard certainly didn't think that as he continued to show contempt for the riders decision by continuing to prepare the track after the meeting was called off.

[SwineTown]

Makes me remember why I enjoy the conference league - very little of this going on and rider safety issues are a little more clear cut.

 

Not that the CL doesnt have its prima donnas - naming no-one of course (cough!)

Edited January 25, 2006 by SwineTown

[coma]

Not trying to play devils advocate or anything but lets reverse the situation for a minute.

 

Lets say the few that wanted to ride had convinced the "pansies" to ride on a track they weren't comfortable with. Then there was a crash and we get another Ashley Jones incident.

 

Who would take responsibility for pushing the riders into taking part when they clearly weren't interested?

 

Who would be the first to moan when insurance for the next meeting was either double what it was or they were unable to get any insurance ?(rising insurance has been an ongoing issue in Oz during recent seasons, or so the promoters there keep telling us)

 

Who would be the one to tell somebodys wife / parents / kids one of their family had been pressured into riding and were now dead?

 

I know its a dangerous sport and if you ain't got the balls you should pack up and go home etc etc...........!

But on the other hand its already dangerous enough without taking any extra risks.

 

If these riders were such pansies, why did they fly halfway round the world to take part in a series which was hardly likely to pay for their airfares/ bikes/ expenses?

 

I'm not supporting what the riders did, just looking at it from a different point of view.

I guess I expected a little more consideration to safety since Ashleys death, but some people don't seem too bothered! or maybe the track was fine and they are just a bunch of pansies.

[M.D]

Well Bob Dugard certainly didn't think that as he continued to show contempt for the riders decision by continuing to prepare the track after the meeting was called off.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

No he did not, he was trying to get the sawdust off the track, a thing that blighted Eastbournes home form for the next month or so untill it was relayed before the Swindon match on july 30th.