Referee Needs To Go To Specsavers

[BWitcher]

What a shame that this imbecile ref ruined what was an eventful night.................... or is it?

 

imo a few things shined a light into a shady area where most of us would fear to look.......................... not excluding Nicki for tape touching............ not taking the time to watch a replay of a race finish that was obviously very tight but involved a rival of nicki's (this adding to said rival not qualifying)............... excluding two guys for incidents in the first bend that involved Nicki................ inexplicably playing games with the time taken to raise the tapes in the semis

 

Why was this guy given Tony Steele's quota last season? Why was he obsessed with cutting Nicki a break with every incident? Who is it that is responsible for choosing the referees? What nationality is this 'employer'?

 

 

the sad fact is that he took the spotlight tonight...... he wrecked leigh Adams season....... he protected nicki P in 3 separate incidents which allowed him to score 4 more points than he probably would have .....not to mention taking points away from others..................... and he discredited a sport in what should be one of its finest hours with the worlds media watching

 

Despite nicki choosing to adopt age old Hans Neilsen tactics of making sure that if he doesnt get to the 2nd bend first that someone takes him out............... and clearly coming across too early in both incidents...... in fact in the second he had already been smacked by hans due to veering across early................... despite all of these tactics it still should have been all 4 back........... the ref was under no pressure to do anything else and yet he allowed the scenario where the worlds media who are already less than convinced about speedway have walked away scratching their heads about the over complex and seemingly unfair rules

 

the important thing for me here is the shady area where few of us really want to look....................... why were the tapes held for longer in the semi's? what was the justification because from my angle it looked dodgy and one of the oldest tricks in the book.................. why wasnt the all 4 back option chosen as it would have been in 99% of other similar cases? ................... why wasnt nicki excluded for tape touching?

 

something smells and it is time that the GP's were cleaned of all biased dodginess going on in the background .............. if they cant do it fairly they shouldnt do it at all

 

Disagree with everything you say, apart from the bias towards Pedersen.

 

The all 4 back should never have been a consideration. It was not bunching in either incident.

 

As for holding the tapes longer.. whats the problem? There is no ruling over how long the tapes should be held. If anything it should be varied so that riders cannot predict it.

 

Edited to add... The replay WAS watched before the result was announced. Just because the graphics came on screen declaring the result does not mean the result was declared. That was just TV production. In the stadium we were told we were waiting for the replay.

Edited June 29, 2008 by BWitcher

[Debbi]

The fans by the ref's box were certainly letting him know their thoughts on his dubious decisions!

 

This ref is a disgrace, once a rider (especially Nicki) know's he can get away with moves like this they will do it again and exploit it as much as they can. Get rid off this guy before he makes the Gp's an even bigger joke than they are now!!!

 

I don't know if it came across on the sky coverage but you couldn't hear Nicki's interview in the stadium for all the booing!!

 

I am also unsure how he gave Greg the victory over Leigh because sitting opposite the start finish line it was Leigh by a very small margin - regardless of the replay on sky (why is it at a funny angle when they do there slow mo?) and I was supporting Greg!

[spook]

lol well each to their own opinion bwitcher.........I dont seek approval........ I know what I witnessed tonight and it is not good for the sport

 

who said all 4 back has to be for bunching? is it not actually the case that a ref can bring all 4 back at any point during a race? ............. the misconception amongst fans is that there is a rule that all 4 back can only happen in the first couple of bends................... the basic facts are that incidents happened which resulted in exclusions that we just do not see and were engineered and profited from by a certain Mr Pedersen............... all 4 back is there to not force refs into a decision... to provide that leeway that incidents often need

 

re: hancock/adams heat ............ what you say does not change that a result was given and not only was it the first of two decisions that went against Leigh but once again it also in the long run worked for nicki...................... if as I suspect the FIM do not believe in the existence of dead heats and shared points then they need to re evaluate their rules as those guys could not be split........ i'm suprised that the lower number on the bib didnt get the point considering other rules

 

there is no issue with holding tapes for longer................ i'm all for refs being random with this to stop the rollers and creepers................ however he wasnt random was he?............ he was consistent throughout the meeting and waited until the 21st heat to start playing silly buggers ..... and yes Nicki Pedersen was in ht21....................... there was no need for it and he made himself and the sport look silly in ht22..................................... it seems to me that there was an agenda in place ..... the same agenda that saw Nicki touch the tapes but even if the ref didnt see that it was most certainly an unsatisfactory start....... funny how after the tapes were touched though that it wasnt brought back and the race was rushed through as if nothing had happened

 

I would be very interested to see if the Speedway Star have been prepared to run the risk of ruffling a few feathers over this by asking questions on the separate incidents to the applicable people

[BWitcher]

I agree with you regarding the bias towards Nicki.

 

All I am saying is, all 4 back should never have been considered. Nicki caused both incidents and should have gone.

 

The length the tapes were being held is neither here nor there, no idea why you are going on about it.

 

You stated that the result was given without a replay, it was not.

 

And as for your murky theories, they are rubbish. He's just a rubbish referee.

 

There is no benefit to the series in Nicki running away with things, if anything it would benefit from him having a bad night to bring others back into contention (as in the end has happened a little) and increase ticket sales in later GP's.

[Alcoholic Mathematician]

When Nicki Pedersen was going through his "bowling ball" stage, he regularly benefited from gaining restarts after being the cause of carnage on the first bend.

 

Last night he twice manufactured situations where, having not made the gate and got across in front of the others into the first turn, he was able to make enough contact with one of the others that he could gently slide off, unscathed, and gain a restart. Not only did he gain restarts, he had the added bonus that the referee was so foolish that he excluded Adams and Bjarne Pedersen as the causes of the stoppages. Ninety-nine times out of one hundred both races would have been restarted with all four, as very few referees, even Tony Steele (who is highly regarded for some reason), would have excluded Pedersen as the real cause.

[Stoaty]

No it shouldn't.

 

The all 4 back rule is for BUNCHING. i.e. when several riders bunch together and one RUNS OUT OF ROOM.

 

This was not the case, Pedersen had the entire track to ride on, but chose both times to ride into the side/back of other riders.

 

The all four back rule is for an unsatisfactory start. If someone anticipates the start the ref stops it and puts all four back. Where's the bunching in that?

[JohnPhelan]

Three lessons need to be learned from last night's GP, but in reality, they won't be.

 

1- Wojaczek is incompetent and should be removed from the FIM list. He won't be.

 

2- The "Danish Influence" referred to by Leigh Adams is real, and just has to be neutered. Nicki Pedersen seems to be the main beneficiary of it, and his gloating conduct after Bjarne Pedersen was excluded confirms that he knows it! Olsen has all the power, and he won't give it up.

 

3- The track-builders haven't yet mastered providing a consistent racing surface on temporary tracks. No change there then!

[Alcoholic Mathematician]

I posted earlier without completing my point. Last night's decisions were so favourable to Nicki Pedersen that they appear to have been more than just incompetent refereeing.

[Vince]

No, because it was Pedersen's fault on both occasions - and he drops it way too easily when he could stay on the bike.

 

Don't know how many Speedway bikes you have ridden but in at least one of those incidents it would have been impossible for him to stay on in my opinion, I don't think too many would be willing to take a chance on falling deliberately with all those ruts waiting to hurt you either. All 4 back both times would have been my decision and the ref is the worst ever without a doubt.

[Vince]

who said all 4 back has to be for bunching? is it not actually the case that a ref can bring all 4 back at any point during a race? ............. the misconception amongst fans is that there is a rule that all 4 back can only happen in the first couple of bends................... the basic facts are that incidents happened which resulted in exclusions that we just do not see and were engineered and profited from by a certain Mr Pedersen............... all 4 back is there to not force refs into a decision... to provide that leeway that incidents often need

 

I always thought that if a race was stopped after the first corner that somebody had to be excluded as the cause of the stoppage. I can think of many incidents where a rider has been unfairly excluded in a 'racing incident' because somebody had to go.

[Howard Devoto]

This was awful ref'ing and I think the guy has form. What was Tony Steele doing stood behind the ref? Presumably as his Assistant Ref? A truly dreadful performance from the officials.

[Alcoholic Mathematician]

What was Tony Steele doing stood behind the ref?

I guess there wasn't a convenient fence for him to sit on.

[severnsider]

Along with most people on this thread I can't believe that Leigh and Bjarne were excluded. The replays show clearly they were very close to the white line whereas Nicki have moved sharply left. The only reason Bjarne went so wide in the first bend was that he was straighten up after Nicki hit him.

 

No doubt that Nicki should have been excluded for touching the tapes also.

 

I have some sympathy with Leigh's "Danish influence" comment, especially where Nicki is concerned. It is very clear so far this season that he is getting all the variable decisions going his way. It wasn't just tonight but there was also the semi final in Leszno where even by his own comments Nicki fell off when he could of stayed on. It was clear Jason made contact with Nicki but he fell well after this collission and the picture in the speedway star showed Jason was well ahead before Nicki fell.

 

All of the decisions have had a great affect on the GP table. Nicki has a 10 point lead but it could be very very close indeed if the decisions had all not all gone on way.

[BritPete]

Is the referee really an idiot?.....Or is Olsen the puppet master here?

[iris123]

Along with most people on this thread I can't believe that Leigh and Bjarne were excluded. The replays show clearly they were very close to the white line whereas Nicki have moved sharply left.

While i agree it should have been all 4 back,i do think Leigh moved out and firstly caused Holta(?) to throttle off to stop a clash and then continued out and met Nicki if not half-way then 40% Leigh-60% Nicki of the way.He didn't stick to the white line for sure.Terrible decision though

Edited June 29, 2008 by iris123

[Dietbowers]

I`m totally dismayed by the fact that even if this "referee" had his two for the price of one glasses on,he would stll have got the decisions wrong.

It`s been a long time since I have seen such an inept performance from the refs box.

[Blazeaway]

I thought the ref got everything spot on all night. The only thing missing was a couple of exclusions for the ginger git.

 

 

As for the AJ start incidents the blame should lie at the star marshalls door for not making him come up to the tapes properly. AJ was so far back from the tapes he ws almost in friggin Newport.

[PTDragons]

Despite nicki choosing to adopt age old Hans Neilsen tactics of making sure that if he doesnt get to the 2nd bend first that someone takes him out...............

Spook - I think you have hit the nail on the head there, both incidents with Adams and Bjarne should have been all 4 back at best or Nikki excluded. Awful refereeing.

 

As for holding the tapes longer.. whats the problem? There is no ruling over how long the tapes should be held. If anything it should be varied so that riders cannot predict it.

As for holding the tapes BWitcher, the problem is that all night, the ref was consistent with the tapes going up then changes it for the most crucial heats by holding.

[iris123]

I thought the ref got everything spot on all night. The only thing missing was a couple of exclusions for the ginger git.

There has to be one.Just wish i had thought of it

[Eastie]

1/ Nicki should have gone for the tapes incident and the ref whacked the tapes up as soon as he touched them.

2/ The Adams dead heat incident was called before they even gave the freeze frame.

The ref just presumed that Hancock had won it before he reviewed it.

 

3/Nicki v Adams incident 8 times out of 10 it is all 4 back and the other 2 times out of 10 the rider behind is excluded for not getting to the corner 1st and throttling off.

 

4/ Nicki v Bjarne incident ditto ditto felt sorry for Bjarne as had a brilliant meeting.

Didn't realize they dont have all 4 back in Polish speedway

 

What would have happened if Nicki or Crumpie had come out of gate 1 and wiped out say Eddie Kennett in gate 4 .

Would that Polish twit have excluded them as well?? We know the answer to that .

 

It does make you wonder if this ref had instructions through his earpiece from certain people as I cant see how a ref could get to the top of his profession with decisions like that.

Regarding the dead heat incident, Adams went up to Olsen and asked to use the phone to speak to the ref and Olsen said " the phone lines are down" how convenient

Edited June 29, 2008 by Eastie