screm Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 I have every sympathy for Ward, if the news about his parents splitting up are true, being so far away from home when something like this happens must be upsetting. But to the best of my knowledge nobody has found the answers to any problems at the bottom of a beer bottle, so if Ward took to drink to find his solace then he was looking in the wrong place and if the FIM do the right thing he will pay a heavy price for his actions. If we are all guessing what kind of punishment we should see, IMO Ward should be banned for the rest of this GP series and from his various league teams, and have no wild card for next season, but he should be free to do the qualifiers for the 2016 series and come back to league racing from the start of next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybikespeedway Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 As he rides on an Australian licence isn't it up to MA to ban him pending an FIM hearing? Slightly off topic. I've just come back from watching the Battle of Britain flight and the Canadian Lancaster display at Marham and it crossed my mind that the crews that flew in the Battle of Britiain were the same age as Darcy Ward. Makes you think doesn't it? Back in the 60's I worked with a man who was ground crew at Biggin hill in the Battle of Britain, he always said it was a good job pilots were not Breathalised as very few would pass, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star Lady Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 Back in the 60's I worked with a man who was ground crew at Biggin hill in the Battle of Britain, he always said it was a good job pilots were not Breathalised as very few would pass, I'm not disputing that but they were different times. I was just pointing out what those brave lads did at the same age as Darcy. Probably shouldn't have made that comment but the sight of those planes made me very very proud and somewhat emotional. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OveFundinFan Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 If we are all guessing what kind of punishment we should see, IMO Ward should be banned for the rest of this GP series and from his various league teams, and have no wild card for next season, but he should be free to do the qualifiers for the 2016 series and come back to league racing from the start of next season. I would settle for that screm. A lot less then I was stating some many posts back, but yours is perhaps more realistic even though I wont hold my breath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandorum Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 As he rides on an Australian licence isn't it up to MA to ban him pending an FIM hearing? Slightly off topic. I've just come back from watching the Battle of Britain flight and the Canadian Lancaster display at Marham and it crossed my mind that the crews that flew in the Battle of Britiain were the same age as Darcy Ward. Makes you think doesn't it? And those lads drank a lot and I am sure that more than a few would have failed a breath test to get into their planes. But those lads had both courage and character whilst Darcy is a bell end. My uncle was one of those young lads but did not make it through to celebrate the end of it and even though I never met him he was 1000 times the man Darcy Ward will ever be 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybikespeedway Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 I'm not disputing that but they were different times. I was just pointing out what those brave lads did at the same age as Darcy. Probably shouldn't have made that comment but the sight of those planes made me very very proud and somewhat emotional. Not trying to belittle the efforts of our lads life expectancy was very short and stress levels through the roof, but a lot of people on here are going over the top , one story he told me was of a pilot who he did name went into battle with a full bottle of whiskey on return with an Empty fell out of the plane and could not stand after making a perfect Landing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandorum Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 (edited) I'm not disputing that but they were different times. I was just pointing out what those brave lads did at the same age as Darcy. Probably shouldn't have made that comment but the sight of those planes made me very very proud and somewhat emotional. So it should have but to compare the piddling drivel Ward had to offer up as an excuse and those lads is so far off topic to be further than Jupiter. Those men drunk or sober were heroes Darcy Ward is an arce. Not trying to belittle the efforts of our lads life expectancy was very short and stress levels through the roof, but a lot of people on here are going over the top , one story he told me was of a pilot who he did name went into battle with a full bottle of whiskey on return with an Empty fell out of the plane and could not stand after making a perfect Landing But any way you measure it he was still a better man than Ward will ever be. Edited August 21, 2014 by pandorum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 This is bugging me now, probably unreasonably, but the SGP website is very quick to give us news on the Dudek failed drug test but Darcy Wards failed alcohol test is still not newsworthy??? Paul Burbage is a Poole fan, has that got anything to do with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wealdstone Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 Back in the 60's I worked with a man who was ground crew at Biggin hill in the Battle of Britain, he always said it was a good job pilots were not Breathalised as very few would pass, Hardly a relevant comparisom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavan Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 I have every sympathy for Ward, if the news about his parents splitting up are true, being so far away from home when something like this happens must be upsetting. But to the best of my knowledge nobody has found the answers to any problems at the bottom of a beer bottle, so if Ward took to drink to find his solace then he was looking in the wrong place and if the FIM do the right thing he will pay a heavy price for his actions. If we are all guessing what kind of punishment we should see, IMO Ward should be banned for the rest of this GP series and from his various league teams, and have no wild card for next season, but he should be free to do the qualifiers for the 2016 series and come back to league racing from the start of next season. im with you that its upsetting and to be fair if he drinks one night because of that i dont see it as an issue. what bugs me is he found out ' several weeks' prior to the night of the 16th that they had split so Middlo has said. Darcy says he got the bad news on the 16th. Either Darcy is lying and covering up the fact he got pissed Or there is other bad news we dont know about. Sorry but if your parents break up on the 1st , as a professional sportsman in charge of dangerous equipment, you shouldnt be getting drunk on the 16th a night before using the dangerous equipment and using the parent story as the reason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screm Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 im with you that its upsetting and to be fair if he drinks one night because of that i dont see it as an issue. what bugs me is he found out ' several weeks' prior to the night of the 16th that they had split so Middlo has said. Darcy says he got the bad news on the 16th. Either Darcy is lying and covering up the fact he got pissed Or there is other bad news we dont know about. Sorry but if your parents break up on the 1st , as a professional sportsman in charge of dangerous equipment, you shouldnt be getting drunk on the 16th a night before using the dangerous equipment and using the parent story as the reason I agree with you, though Wards club in Poland have been non to happy about Wards partying the night before meetings for some time now, I think its fair to say Ward has been lucky not to caught before now, but caught he has been and what ever the reasons or excuses are he must face up to his actions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwatcher Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 To let him carry on racing now is just a farce. He should have been banned from racing until the hearing was heard. It makes a mockery of the sport if a rider can break the rules, he drank on was breatalised before the meeting he could have become a danger to himself or other riders, that we will never know the outcome of thank goodness. But to let him carry on racing now just shows how stupid the rules in the sport are. He should now be sitting on the sidelines until they make a decision. He should get at least a 12 month ban. He is a total idiot, I just hope that they don't go easy on him he has gotton away with being a total knobhead and he shows no regard for the sport. Until he grows up and start to show that he can start to act as a grown up we are better without him. He is a great rider that should go a long way in the sport, but if he carries on as he is now, his chances of ever becoming world champion are very slight. Because by the time he is 24 he will be finished. I don't think he really has his heart in riding this year. Shame he should have gone to the top of the pile, if only he started to show a bit of regard to all the other riders his promoters and his sponsers, but most of all to his fans. Darcy sit down and take a look at yourself, because you are going to need all the help you can get, from the right people to pull you out of this mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wealdstone Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 Does anybody seriously believe that Darcy would have spent less time at the Bar even if he did not have this sad family news?. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinMills Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 middlo done himself no favours what so ever over this, i too believe its crazy hes allowed to race Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 To be honest though, as much as it is galling to admit, but I expect Darcy to be dealt with leniently. There is no question he is box office and for the GP to be without Emil and Darcy next season would be a bit of a disaster. If they want him in next year it means they can't ban him for the rest of this year, be a bit of a farce to do that then hand him a wild card. I suspect a monetary penalty and a token arrangement where he is subject to routine breath tests at each match he rides in. Before anyone jumps down my throat that isn't what I would suggest, I would throw the book at him, but it is second guessing what may happen Tbh, I could see a ban to the end of tge season, but him still getting a wildcard for next year. He would have missed out on possible medal this year, and thousands of pounds in lost earnings, which may be deemed sufficient penalty? An eight month ban like danno would effectively be the same, given absence of nz gp next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OveFundinFan Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 I wonder how his sponsors feel? If they start pulling out then he will be hit right hard in the pocket. It would be ridiculous if he got a ban for the rest of the gp year and then get a wild card next year - that is no punishment at all. Into the qualifiers he goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horneymikh Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 'couple of drinks' my arse! To still be over the limit when he was tested he either must have had a good few the night before or had a couple only a relatively short while before he was tested. Those saying that speedway needs this tool? Well if thats the case the sport is dead in the water already 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwatcher Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 By rights. He should maiss the rest of this season and all of next season. That would be a fitting punishment. It seems that the way they traet him that he is to Big a name to lose from major speedway. If I was his sponsers I would would now be having more than just second thoughts. Even being attached to him and having your firms advertising on him is nothing but bad publicity. Monster Enery, can't just be sitting back doing nothing about this surely. He has made some very bad press this last few days, and the big companies that sponser him must be curling up and dieing. If I was the Chairman of any one of those companies I would withdraw my sponsership Now. He is not Bigger that the sport, yes a big loss, but speedway will continue without him. A couple of years down the line all he would be remember by would be the stupid way that he acted. A spoilt, childish, brat that went off the rails to many times, that had the world at his feet as far as the world of becoming the top rider. Maybe he did just have 2 drinks. What was failed to be mentioned it was 2 pint glasses of Vodka. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 Anyone who's not wet behind the ears knows what the Aussies are like. I've been at a GP in Poland before where I've witnessed Jason Doyle get thrown out of a bar for eating plants after going around 4/5 tables, putting all the left overs in a glass & knocking it back. A couple of other Aussie riders as well were out of their faces. Doyle was riding next day. It's not uncommon. Ward obviously had a big old session the night before and got caught out. Tough luck, accept your punishment. The lad seems a bit of a prat so won't learn whatever punishment he gets, but the few defending him on here is laughable. You only have to listen to his excuses to see he doesn't give a sh*t. Wasn't hydrated enough? Hahaha 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSC67 Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 If as it has been suggested its fairly commonplace for some riders to go out for "a couple of beers" the night before a GP , then the fact that this event was moved to a Sunday afternoon and not held on a Saturday night wouldn't have helped any "re-hydration" process would it ?, normally they would have had all day to recover from a night out but this time there was only a few hours , I'm not putting this forward this by way of an excuse I have already said on here and elsewhere IMHO its completely unprofessional for a rider to consume any alcohol for up to 24 hrs before any event , one would of thought that after being tested once this season already you would of though that that would 've been enough of a warning unfortunately for Darcy it seem not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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