Darcy Ward

[XTC38L]

Really? So hes banned for next season...you think he'll be counting the days till he can resume his speedway career? Of course he won't - he'll probably be lost to the sport. What he needs is PROPER guidance from his peers and ex-riders like Crumpy .

 

I'm assuming you enjoy watching him ride, as a lot of people do - whether they're his fans or not - so from a speedway point of view it would surely be better if he was able to continue?

Unless of course you're one of those strange people* who delights in seeing someone talented fall flat on their face?

 

 

 

* Oh look - there's one!

 

 

 

Thank you for the information - makes a change to see FACTS on here.

How many chance do you want to give him? He's had way to many already and its time he pays the price for his actions. As far as proper guidance goes he's had plenty but it hasn't sunk in as he always has a way to get away scot free Edited August 17, 2014 by sm00th

[Star Fever]

Why do you say this? Do you think he has some other career that he would be itching to move into if his speedway one was put on hold for a year?

 

Obviously Havvy was banned for a year for his drugs offence and he did sit and count the days until he could race again, then went off and won the World Title. There is absolutely no reason why Darcy couldn't do the same IF he does receive a ban.

No just guessing - but there were rumours (on here probably) that he was getting fed-up with speedway anyway so its possibly an inspired guess?

 

 

 

I haven't seen one rider condone what Darcy Ward did. I wonder if that's cos it's their lives on the line. If in doubt read Steve Hones post 2 above this one.

Fans entertainment comes a very poor second to rider safety.

Don't suppose they would condone it no (nor do they condone dangerous riding but there's a few that do it and seem to get away with it with minimal punishment) and I'd be highly surprised if Darcy Ward was remotely 'drunk' at the time of the test - he just didn't meet the test requirements and was unlucky enough to be tested. So its highly contentious to presume that he would have endangered another rider whereas there were riders in today's GP that are regularly 'rougher' than others even without alcohol!

 

And Steve said 'something illegal' which I assume doesn't mean alcohol.

Edited August 17, 2014 by Star Fever

[The White Knight]

Darcy must be around Chris Holder and the other GP boys,but i just dont understand him having Alcohol on a GP weekend,Surely Holder or whoever must see this and warn him of his actions.Also being sponsored by Monster,why the hell didnt he drink their products to stop him dehydrating? ITS LABELLED MONSTER ENERGY so if any drink can do the trick that can.

Does anyone else think that there must be some other staff mixed in to get a bad test,i cant see Dacy sitting in a public resturant with the GP circus in town drinking alcohol,surely hes not that stupid!!

?????

[Debbi]

Does anyone else think that there must be some other staff mixed in to get a bad test,i cant see Dacy sitting in a public resturant with the GP circus in town drinking alcohol,surely hes not that stupid!!

 

Didn't stop him last year in the restaurant and bar of the hotel in daugavpils, he was staying in the same hotel as the travel plus group! It was commented on then that he was in the bar 'til 2 in the morning!

[E I Addio]

 

 

Don't suppose they would condone it no (nor do they condone dangerous riding but there's a few that do it and seem to get away with it with minimal punishment) and I'd be highly surprised if Darcy Ward was remotely 'drunk' at the time of the test - he just didn't meet the test requirements and was unlucky enough to be tested. So its highly contentious to presume that he would have endangered another rider whereas there were riders in today's GP that are regularly 'rougher' than others even without alcohol!

 

 

 

 

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.

[Star Fever]

 

 

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.

 

If 'the facts are that even a small amount can affect the brain' then why isn't the drink/drive limit at zero also? It may well be in the future but it hasn't been for years and I've never read anywhere of an accident caused by, say, a glass of wine or half a lager.

 

And your alliteration to a burglar is pointless - I've already said that yes he was in the wrong, I just don't agree that he should be hung drawn and quartered.

Edited August 17, 2014 by Star Fever

[sommelier]

I would travel the end of the world to watch Ward ride, but enough is enough. Washed my hands with him now!

[waiheke1]

^{Dont want to defend darcy, clearly he has been stupid (agsin) but...}

Kelly moran is one of the most loved speedway riders of all time, one of the "characters" that we are told modern speedway is lacking. Yet he was reputedly so pissed one meeting that he fell at the first bend every time.

A one meeting gp ban (in addition to the one just missed) would be about right imo.

Hope he sorts himself out, would be such a waste if he ends up another mike lee (and lee at least won a world title).

^{Edit: One match GP ban assumes not drunk at test time, but rather a very low positive reading. If he was say over the drink/drive limit, then a ban for the rest of the season would seem appropriate.}

 

If 'the facts are that even a small amount can affect the brain' then why isn't the drink/drive limit at zero also? It may well be in the future but it hasn't been for years and I've never read anywhere of an accident caused by, say, a glass of wine or half a lager.

 

 

plenty of people advocate a zero tolerance level for drink driving. And a diss-proportionate number of accidents involve people who are under the alcohol limit, but have alcohol reading, that's precisely why some argue for zerol tolerance... Edited August 18, 2014 by waihekeaces1

[speedwaysliders]

Does anyone know if Darcy has a manager,or a member of his pit crew(they all look young)that takes overall charge,like say in Emil S, Or T Gollob camps? .Like a lot of others have said,i love to watch him race,but surely people like Middlo whos been there and done,or even someone like Jason Crump would be ideal for him,because Darcy wouldnt dare step out of line.

[waiheke1]

Darcy must be around Chris Holder and the other GP boys,but i just dont understand him having Alcohol on a GP weekend,Surely Holder or whoever must see this and warn him of his actions.Also being sponsored by Monster,why the hell didnt he drink their products to stop him dehydrating? ITS LABELLED MONSTER ENERGY so if any drink can do the trick that can.

Does anyone else think that there must be some other staff mixed in to get a bad test,i cant see Dacy sitting in a public resturant with the GP circus in town drinking alcohol,surely hes not that stupid!!

You do know that most energy drinks contain caffeine, which is actually dehydrating, don't you? Darcy surely not that stupid???? ROFL!

[Star Fever]

^{Dont want to defend darcy, clearly he has been stupid (agsin) but...}

Kelly moran is one of the most loved speedway riders of all time, one of the "characters" that we are told modern speedway is lacking. Yet he was reputedly so pissed one meeting that he fell at the first bend every time.

A one meeting gp ban (in addition to the one just missed) would be about right imo.

Hope he sorts himself out, would be such a waste if he ends up another mike lee (and lee at least won a world title).

Agreed

plenty of people advocate a zero tolerance level for drink driving. And a diss-proportionate number of accidents involve people who are under the alcohol limit, but have alcohol reading, that's precisely why some argue for zerol tolerance...

and i bet most of those disproportionate accidents also involve idiots who drive too fast or totally irresponsibly too, but has little or nothing to with the half a lager they've had....that's the trouble with 'plenty of people' - they target the easiest thing to blame. "He had a drink? OMG -HANG him"

[screm]

How long is that likely to take I wonder and can he ride in the meantime?

 

Innocent until proven guilty.

CORRECT

SEEN Darcy back here in Riga and he is distraught. Doesn't change anything but he certainly isn't taking it lightly. Any ban will ensure he misses a top eight place in the SGP this year and rule him out of a wild card place in 2015. He might also miss the Aussie qualifiers for the 2015 GP Challenge which means that unless a wild card pick is forthcoming at the end of the 2015 campaign the SGP in 2016 will also be out of the question.

 

I`m sure he is, though its very easy to be distraught after being caught.

 

Maybe on Saturday evening he was distraught as a newt.

[wealdstone]

As far as we understand this incident arose following some upsetting family news. Not sure what that news was but most I am sure would have some sympathy. That being the case the sensible thing would have been to withdraw from the meeting as he was not in the right frame of mind. After that he could have spent all night and the rest of next day in the bar with impunity is so desired.

 

.Darcy despite other incidents in recent past shows no sign of learning from his mistakes or any sign of maturity. I fear that arguably the greatest natural talent for a long long time will throw away what should have been a glittering career.

Edited August 18, 2014 by wealdstone

[Former devil]

As far as we understand this incident arose following some upsetting family news. Not sure what that news was but most I am sure would have some sympathy. That being the case the sensible thing would have been to withdraw from the meeting as he was not in the right frame of mind. After that he could have spent all night and the rest of next day in the bar with impunity is so desired.

 

.Darcy despite other incidents in recent past shows no sign of learning from his mistakes or any sign of maturity. I fear that arguably the greatest natural talent for a long long time will throw away what should have been a glittering career.

Agree totally with this post. It takes more than natural talent to be a world champion and i fear he doesnt have the strength of character to achieve that and as you say he doesnt seem to have learnt from past mistakes. Edited August 18, 2014 by Former devil

[oldace]

 

 

.Darcy despite other incidents in recent past shows no sign of learning from his mistakes or any sign of maturity. I fear that arguably the greatest natural talent for a long long time will throw away what should have been a glittering career.

 

That certainly is the way he seems to be headed but at 22, with the right guidance, he could (assuming this doesn't spell the end of a glittering career) still turn his self around.

 

Quite simply though he needs to get rid of those who seem to just want to blow smoke up his arse, like Middlo, and get someone in his camp who can help. He doesn't need apologists willing to make excuses for each misdemeanor, he needs someone not afraid to tell him what a fool he is and impose a proper routine on his life and career.

 

A young guy with no brains, lots of money and fans purring over his every move is a recipe for where we are today unless his career gets the right guidance, sadly Darcy, to date, hasn't had it

[Odds On]

In no way am I defending Darcy Ward but I do think he could be the unlucky one here, we've all seen or heard about riders having a few beers after a meeting and then riding the following day....another example is when a rider wins a meeting, nice bottle of champagne on the rostrum, a few bottles with the pit crew/sponsors etc etc...

 

The verdict and punishment will be interesting, the publicity this could bring to the sport could be damaging but lets be honest the sport is just about on its arse anyway so the old saying of any publicity is good publicity could never more be truthful.

[chucks]

I would travel the end of the world to watch Ward ride, but enough is enough. Washed my hands with him now!

well said il,l drink to that

[speedibee]

I'm not condoning any rider having alcohol in his system but do we know how much alcohol there was ?. In many sports the reading to stop a participant racing is lower than allowed to drive a car in the UK.

 

If he was over the drink/drive limit then it's a very sad day but maybe the reading was low. It would be good to know the facts before being too harsh on Darcy Ward.

If he was only just over the limit thats alright then . Darcy is not to blame at all it was the authorities setting the limit too low , he didn't know he was over and he had bad news as well so lets just forget it , after all he's one of the worlds best and an exciting rider to watch so just let him off . I bet Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button go out and have a skinful hours before an F1 race especially if they have had bad news , it's just whatyoung people who are professional sportsmen do these days after all .

Erm...Surely the part of the regulations that you are quoting is irrelevant.

That refers to refusing to submit a sample or tampering with doping control.

Having said that, the standard ban for a first offence IS 2 years.

 

However, how does regulation 10.4 fit in with failing an alcohol test?

There is no question of him trying to enhance his performance with alcohol and I am sure he can explain how it entered his system

 

10.4 Elimination or Reduction of the Period of Ineligibility for Specified Substances under Specific Circumstances

Where a Rider or other Person can establish how a Specified Substance entered his or her body or came into his or her possession and that such Specified Substance was not intended to enhance the Riders sport performance or mask the use of a performance-enhancing substance, the period of Ineligibility found in Article 10.2 shall be replaced with the following:

First violation: At a minimum, a reprimand and no period of Ineligibility from future events (competitions), and at a maximum, two (2) years of Ineligibility.

whats for the second violation because he has already admitted to smoking pot , although he didn't get tested

 

Really? So hes banned for next season...you think he'll be counting the days till he can resume his speedway career? Of course he won't - he'll probably be lost to the sport. What he needs is PROPER guidance from his peers and ex-riders like Crumpy .

 

 

 

Whats is he going to do then ? Brain surgeon , airline pilot , captain of industry . I doubt he has the brains for more than collecting trolleys at ASDA , and could'nt even behave himself long enough to hold that job down

Edited August 18, 2014 by speedibee

[E I Addio]

 

If 'the facts are that even a small amount can affect the brain' then why isn't the drink/drive limit at zero also? It may well be in the future but it hasn't been for years and I've never read anywhere of an accident caused by, say, a glass of wine or half a lager.

 

And your alliteration to a burglar is pointless - I've already said that yes he was in the wrong, I just don't agree that he should be hung drawn and quartered.

 

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.

Edited August 18, 2014 by E I Addio

[OveFundinFan]

It would be a sad day for the sport if all he gets is this one day gp exclusion and a 3,000 euro fine. Yes I know the report has gone of to FIM, I just hope they do what is right and I would ban him for 12 months from yesterday and if he wants to ride in gp's again he enters the qualifiers in 2016 meaning the earliest back in gp would be 2017.

That would give him enough time to think about his actions and get himself sorted with some real friends who will tell him what he doesnt want to hear when thats needed.