Derwent

I think this is one of those situations where common sense should prevail. For example, we've all seen scenarios where a rider has hit a rut mid-bend and lost control but managed to regain it and stay upright. However, the loss of control has caused someone behind to lay the bike down or take evasive action where they've come off the bike. Technically the rider behind has caused the stoppage by parting company with his bike, but common sense tells you that the primary cause was the rider in front who lost control and he should be excluded. I think most people would accept and agree with that. Therefore, in this case I think Dudek should have gone as his EF was the primary cause of the stoppage regardless of the sequence of events that followed.

If you are a current BT Broadband customer you can get the full BT Sports Pack for £3 a month.

No, they haven't renamed the river yet

The stadium's official name is Zebra Claims Stadium, as per the bloody big sign on it...

Does it actually matter if he is an "aussie at heart" so long as gives 100% every time he pulls the GB racesuit on ?

That completely misses the point he was making I think. The fact is that the British Final has become an irrelevance, a meaningless title with zero prestige on the world stage. Tai Woffinden competing or not doesn't change that fact. To be British champion means what exactly these days ? This isn't the halcyon days where a British title was worth winning in a field of riders who could all compete internationally, it is in fact a stark reminder of how far the stock of British speedway has sunk. This discussion shouldn't be about the fact that he isn't riding in it, the more important point is why it isn't a priority anymore. Instead people like to have their little knee-jerk reactions instead of thinking about the wider issues that Woffinden is indirectly raising.

What speedway really needs is an outsider in the mould of someone like Barry Hearn coming in to shake things up and make it more marketable. Look what has happened to darts, as an example. They've taken something that was largely seen as an old mans pub game and turned it into a vibrant experience that draws big TV audiences, fills arenas and has attracted massive sponsorship money. Ok, it all a bit "laddish" but if you want to attract the money then you need to appeal to the masses, not to Howard & Hilda sitting in their matching kagouls on folding chairs on the 2nd bend drinking tea from a flask.

From purely a speedway perspective, there was no more entertaining sight on a bike than Kenny Carter in full flow. I know the mists of time can cloud our memories somewhat but at times he could be absolutely mesmerising on the track.

The incident in the final was one of those moves that 9 times out of 10 Hancock would have got away with, he'd have moved Doyle out and got past and we'd be all saying it was a great move. But sometimes it goes wrong and, to my mind, if you're going to take the plaudits when it works then you equally have to take the responsibility when it goes wrong. For that reason I'd have excluded Hancock, he was clearly the culprit on this occasion.

Rubbish, Hancock knew he'd been outgated and deliberately moved out into Doyle.

Eurosport 2 (Sky channel 411 for HD or 443 if not) at 8.45am tomorrow morning

Rubbish, its very easy to cancel Sky, one short phone call. Also, by phoning Sky to cancel you can get some cracking deals to remain with them such as free sports and movies for 12 months etc

Tai not having a great night so far. This stream is good, high quality picture http://esportpl.com/live-3/

The current prize money structure for each GP pays the GP winner $12,000, the 2nd place gets $8,800, 3rd gets $7,200 and 4th gets $6,200. The money then decreases for each position and the 16th place gets paid $3,400 The two track reserves get $1,000 each The total prize money for each GP amounts to $84,500 (~£55k at current exchange rates)

No it isn't, there's video footage of the incident too.

The vast majority of them are not available at the prices shown on the listing page. Clicking through to book them the price adjusts upwards by between 50 and 75% !

Not really. He was suspended at the end of August and the season finished in late October so he's only really been out for 2 months as I don't expect he'd have been doing much racing during the winter (he hasn't ridden in the Aussie Championship since 2011).

That may well be the case but quite frankly any rider who consumes alcohol after officially signing on to the meeting, which they do prior to practice, is asking for trouble as they can be randomly tested at any point after that. From the point of signing on until the meeting is officially declared closed they can be tested, its just common sense to abstain during that period.

The Comets won't be racing at Derwent Park next season............ it's been renamed as the Zebra Claims Stadium.... http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/sport/town/workington-town-s-derwent-park-to-be-renamed-1.1179330

Carl Stonehewer Brian Havelock Mal McKay Simon Stead Lou Sansom Alan Emerson Reg Wilson

Yeah, he forgot his pyjamas so couldn't do that "dive in and pick the rubber brick up from the bottom of the pool" thing.

I seem to recall a Coventry rider (possibly Rick Miller ?) being excluded for not making an effort to race when he was the only rider on track. There had been 3 exclusions and he was the only rider left in the 4th re-run and so he just pulled wheelies to entertain the crowd for the full 4 laps and the referee promptly excluded him !

Not sure why Middlo is blaming the FIM for Poole not getting a replacement. In his own words the riders they wanted either were unavailable or didn't want to do it. Not sure how knowing about the ban earlier would have changed that situation ? So in effect he's blaming the FIM for Poole not being able to get a replacement that they didn't want anyway !

Its not a question of criminal legalities, more civil ones. Say the FIM banned him for a year and his lawyers subsequently found a reason to challenge the ruling, he could then sue the FIM for loss of earnings, loss of sponsorship, damages etc. So the FIM have to be sure they have a watertight case before they issue a ban to mitigate the risk of future action against them.

The lawyers will be looking for even the slightest technicality. For example, when was the testing machine last calibrated ? Were the people who administered the test qualified to do so, had they been properly trained in using the equipment ? Was he given the option of submitting a blood sample for testing ? Had the people involved been near to methanol ? Was the ballot carried out in accordance with FIM regulations ? Was he given the opportunity to be re-tested ? None of which excuses him but the lawyers will be looking for any little loophole that they can find to claim that it is an "unsafe conviction".