Gavan

all i said was you comment ONCE when someone mentions dodgy equipment. its blatantly obvious from your silence on the whole matter that you are in support of Ward

thought you might pop up at some time especially as the thread has started to mention how he could 'get away with it' as your pathetic excuse of a promoter said. for someone who regularly posta all the over the forum im stunned how you cant comment about Ward your own fans are condenming him and how he has probably cost you the league. yet your silence obviously shows your support for him. and the fact you now comment about him getting off speaks volums for your attitude on the matter. grow a pair for christs sake

Marks best 2 seasons were 1999 when he basically won everything and 2000. I agree he was never touted as a serious contender but then he did come 5th in 1999 after missing a round and having a shocker in 1 of them after crashing. He was only 5 points off of a rostrum place which he surely would have got if he had rode in the 1st one. 5 points behind a true great in Nielsen and ahead of the likes of Adams Crump and Hancock. Think its fair to say the top 2 in Rickardsson and Gollob were ahead of everyone. In 1999 Mark Loram was arguably int he top 5 riders in the world the same in 2000 so he was a contender in my opinion

Mark Loram was not a lucky world champion i wish people would stop saying that. The gp series every year rewards the most consistent rider that is fact. In 2000 Mark was the most consistent rider. He made every semi final that season. The gp back in 2000 was a six series as opposed to double that now. So that made it more likely then that you could be world champion without winning one. You still could today i guess. Mark Loram wasnt as good as say Tony Rickardsson but he took his chance and wasnt lucky. The only part of the system that was flawed was the fact that if you kept winning you had the best gates. Do people think Mark would have been more deserving if he had say won 2 of the rounds and had a couple of 9th place finishes thus still amounting the same points total? 6 different tracks and was top 8 every time. A deserved World champion without doubt. The thing is Mark could have at least made the rostrum in 1999 when he missed the 1st gp as he wasnt in the series but rode in the next 5

I like Ward the rider but Ward the person is throwing his life away. If this was Tai or anyone else I would still be saying they need a ban. Problem with Ward is he has so many past indiscretions that it shows what he is like. This isn't just a one off mistake in his career he has a whole list.

Page 70 something and people are still defending what happened. Unbelievable

i don't get where you getting the wild cards from. Ward I would imagine will get one if not banned and drops out the top 8. Batchelor or Lindgren look like they will get in on merit. After all the chances they have given Lindgren Harris and Jonsson then maybe they will give Jarek another chance. I can see the 4 wildcards being Ward Hampel MJJ and maybe Zmarlik. Lets face it they have history for putting in the same riders year after year. Hampel has been up there for many years so probably deserves 1 wild card year

spot on he should have had an immediate worldwide ban until the case was heard. Should not have been allowed to ride for any of his clubs. The fact Ward is a great rider is irrelevent The fact Ward should be in the gp's is irrelevent. The stature of a rider who fails a breath test should have no bearing on the outcome. I have no issue with Ward riding in next years gp's either by holding on to a top 8 place or a wildcard, but he should be banned for the rest of this season as a minimum. <trolling removed>

If Poole had done the right thing when this happened and sacked Darcy when it happened they would have had a replacement by now. They didnt and now they pay the price for that. Nobody to blame but Darcy Ward and Matt Ford simple. I do love hearing Ford moan though lol toys out of pram is so funny!

Matt Ford has shown his true colours as if we didnt know them already. By hoping Ward gets away with it he basically condones riders being over the limit. What a pathetic response. It's a win at all costs attitude as usual and to he'll with anyone else. What would he say if it was Iversen for example? He would be the first to cry for a ban! The man is beneath contempt

What a disgusting attitude from Matt Ford. Wouldn't expect nothing less. The man is already putting British speedway on its knees and now makes statement like this. If ward is allowed to ride in Gorzow the other riders should take a stand and refuse to race. What if a certain rider loses the world title because ward beats him in this round? It's a farce from day one and has dragged on because its Ward. If this was a Smolinski or Bjerre for example it would have been sorted by now. If Darcy Ward rides in this gp the sports credibility is gone for good. Matt Ford do yourself a favour and shut up. If the lying cheating dispicable club turn up at your track make your feelings known people

IVERSEN KASPRZAK ZAGAR ZMARLIK 30 POINTS GORZOW

Easy answer really Nielsen or Gundersen and at a push maybe Jonsson in 1992. Others would have won the odd round but over a 10 gp season the 2 danes were miles ahead

i know what you mean but Mark didnt win many races. many people on here always commented on Rickardsson winning of gate one then having gate one again and again thus having the best gate every time. If you came 3rd you went into an eliminator and if you then came second you had a poor gate next time. In the current system you dont have to win a gp to be world champion its all about consistency in the meetings that count. In 2000 Mark was a deserved world champion in the system that was being used. The one-off world final was often won by a rider who wasnt neccesarily the best rider in the world that year. Jonsson in 1990 and Rickardsson in 1994 spring to mind

why was the system flawed I don't get your reasoning. It was the system where 1st and 2nd went through. It benefitted Rickardsson more than anyone who won a race of gate 1 and pretty much kept it through to the final where as Mark had to scrimp and feed on scraps and start from all different places on the grid. It was the same for everyone and Mark made every semi that year so in the gp's he was a deserved world champion. True around the leagues Rickardsson was the better rider but he had the same chance as Mark to be world champion but missed out. The system meant the most consistent rider was world champion and that in the gp's was Mark Loram. If Tai goes on to retain his title can we honestly say that he is the best this season as his league performances have been dreadful. He is if world champion the most consistent rider in the gp's which is where it counts

Which Pole do you see challenging? Kasprzak? possibly Hampel? Had his chances Janowski? Need to be in it and isnt good enough yet Dudek? Possibly Cant see the Poles challenging got to be in it first

Talking about speedway but the old grass track days were the best. I was about 7 and have no idea where the meeting was but my uncle was British Sidecar champion in 1980 His name was Ray Andrews and the driver was Dave ' Ben' Heath. Anyway on the way back from the meeting we stopped at a service station and Dave Heath, Ted Tucker and Dennis Teasdale were there along with Jeremy Doncaster, Simon Wigg and i believe Chris Baybutt. As a 7 yera old i found it highly amusing when these 'stars' kept taking the food from the service counters and passing it backwards along the line to the end guy who would then walk off. Eventually only the only guy who paid for anything was the guy at the front who was Trevor Pye, Steve Smiths passenger. Good times

is he? Mark won the Commenwealth title and world semi final in 1994 when i believe he would have been 23. Darcy is talked about as a multi world champion by those who think its due to his age. He cant gate similar to Mark which at the very top level is an achilles heel. You need to be ultra consistent like Mark was in 2000. Darcy isnt at a stage where like Greg and Tai he makes regular finals. Mark was just below the very very top level but the standard around then was so much better than now. In 1995 Mark came 6th behind Neilsen Ermolenko, Rickardsson, Hamill and Hancock. How many world titles among them? Below him were Gollob Havelock, 2 other world champions, and Louis who the previous year was 3rd. You dont get lucky winning a gp series. you can on a one off final but over 6 rounds or 12 as it is now it tends to be the best who win it. Nobody talked about Mark as a multi world champion because of the era he was in and the class around him. There still isnt much in the way of credible up and coming oppostion. When Greg and Nicki retire it should be a 3 horse race between Tai Iversen and Ward.

i originally asked if anyone had a bad word to say about Mark... you replied Norrie Allan Ward is probably only 2nd to Nicki Pedersen for the rider not liked by his colleagues. Its not a hatred and dislike to Ward, who is probably the most exciting rider in the world at the moment. Doesnt mean he should get away with what he has done though. And i stand by by arguement that Darcy will only be remembered for what he was like off track rather than what he did on it unless he changes his whole outlook. And no he isnt as good as Loram

yes i probably know Norrie Allan better than yourself seeing as my uncle used to sponsor Mark when he was 15 at Hackney right through untill he moved to Kings Lynn in 1990. We followed Mark almost everywhere from the early days until he moved to Wolves and Exeter and from our base in Essex it was to far. Both Mark and Norrie Allan cam to my aunties funeral in February 2000 and yes they got on fine. Until Norrie demanded more money from Poole to keep Mark there and he ended up losing his spot to Tony Rickardsson. As i say name me a rider past or present who has a low opinion of Mark. Im still waiting? its not a who knows who better but yes we were close to the Loram family. We still sit with the same family at Ipswich whose youngest daughter is married to Jeremy Doncaster's son. His step sister is Joanne Louis who was Marks partner in the 90's. Mark is often at Foxhall and always stops for a chat to ask how the family all are. As i say professional on and off the track, Darcy has a lot to learn

No Mark isnt as good as Ward.....................he was better. he used his brain when overtaking rather than wind it all on like Darcy. watch how many times he used to line riders up before making a long straight and flying past. got his wheels in line better than anyone i can remember watching. Darcy isnt yet in Marks league for ability from the back. Hasnt yet mastered true control and over rides and crashes an awful lot. Mark has a world crown as well. professional on and off the track. Not sure ive ever heard any fellow rider have a bad word to say about him.

far more naturally talented yes he is better rider? No that is jusged on results. was jimmy white a better player than Steve Davis because he had more natural ability? No talented yes racer yes team rider? not in Hancocks class Mark Loram had by far a better racing brain then Darcy. how many times did Mark miss the start and have to make quick decisions? how many times did Mark crash when coming from behind as opposed to Ward. Mark won one title. Ward as yet has none. So people saying Darcy is better than Hancock or Woffy are wrong. Its not about who puts bums on seats. Christ Loram was unreal to watch but Rickardsson was the better rider. At the moment Darcy will not be rembered in 20 years time while the record books will always remember the best Did nobody watch the Grand Prix before Latvia. Watch Gregs racing brain when he keeps Darcy behind him not once but twice. Darcy was outrode. Cant remember what gp it was but Hancock also overtook Ward in one gp race as well so he can overtake when needed give it a rest with the Poole thing it has nothing to do with Poole. any rider caught over the limit should have an immediate 8 month ban the precedent was set. Nothing to do with what team he rides for. The fact this thread has dragged is due to some Poole fans thinking he just needs a slap on the wrist

well done Glasgow always nice to see Workington get beat due to your own forum troll in Jenga who funnily enough hasnt commented!!

Not the best rider in the world not consistent enough. Most entertaining though. yet i dont get why people on here say he shouldnt get to bigger ban because of who is he is! yes Greg Hancock and Tai Woffinden to name 2

speedway can afford to lose anyone who is either on drugs or over the alcohol limit. The way you talk you make it sound like because Ward is in the top 10 in the world we should treat him differently!