robinsgirl

Can you give an example of when you thought Nicki should not have been exluded and was? likely, possibly sounds convincing, those top riders are always jamming their footrests into the airfence clumsey blighters Yes, that plainly shows he didn't have time to 'ease off the throttle' thereby going slowing his spin and going faster for that instance.

Do you condone Nicki continually riding into other riders? If you think Hancock dropped it on purpose you've never come off a bike at that speed. Anything can happen to you

There is no doubt in my mind that one of the weapons in Nicki's arsenal, along with his hard riding, is that he gets in the other riders heads and messes with them over time. Sometimes this is going to backfire on him and this is one of the occasions. It shows that even the most professional of riders will crack, I'm sure Greg will and does regret what happened as it shows for everyone including Nicki just how much he is mentally thrown off by Nicki. I can't remember a time when a world class rider has been held in disrespect by so many of his peers than the last 5 to 10 years or so with Nicki. Nicki seems to be able to mostly handle his rivals opinion of him and use it to his advantage. Certainly keeps us entertained!

I think that whichever team had won the league championship with this circumstance occurring, British Speedway would do nothing. Very messy scenario and I think it will be dodged.

He'll be British when he wins the World Championship again. Sometimes he has to make a decision based on his income, like many top riders do, and sacrifice where his heart is so he can earn a good living while he can. I'm sure if he could earn even 75% of what he does in foreign leagues he would consider staying in British speedway.

I felt that in the interview Ward was very 'neutral', as if he didn't really want to be there. I agree that he would come across better if he was humble, but that's difficult if it's not genuine

What is it with this forum & Ward..... mentioned on every other thread.....posters using his photo as their profile photo... aaargh.

Yes but I agree with part of your post! :-)

Not the place to be discussing Nicki P on this thread, his circumstances are nothing like Ward' circumstances.

or conversely if he wasn't good at speedway he may be trouble free now! Everyone can speculate.

from home office spokesman on speeway gp site ..."The Home Office continually and routinely monitors all licensed sponsors to make sure that those applying to come to the UK for work are eligible and that a licensed sponsor genuinely wishes to take them on." How can the member sponsors comply if they haven't had the workshops/ training required? And yes, I can see that the BSPA would not have been big on ensuring they have followed the rule. I still think its a stupid time for the workshops, seems like after the horse has bolted.

It's concerning that the UKVI raise their concerns during the Christmas/ New Year period when many sports are not active, then throw down a mandatory workshop of the rules right during the time when clubs are re-meeting to plan ahead. surely the UKVI should have been doing checks and caught this and assisted the clubs back on track mid year. Then there is a chance clubs could 'clean up their act' as far as sponsorship of competitors is concerned. Someone who hasn't been doing their job has has a sudden 'wake up' and is using a big stick to right the ship in one hell of a hurry, with little concern for the timing!

In regard to the Aussie GP wildcard.... sounds like the reference I read and mentioned on here was wrong... the wildcard will not be tied to the first non GP placegatter. Link to GP site article ..http://www.speedwaygp.com/news/article/3858/aussie-sgp-statement

I see that the highest finishing non GP rider in the Australian Championship will be awarded wildcard at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Good experience for someone I should say....

Bit of a contradiction..... "If I can't qualify for the GP's myself, I don't want to be there"

I'm hoping that his punishment is such that he gets no wildcards in 2015 but can still do the qualifiers and it will remain to be seen if he is good enough to make it to 2016. I think his skill on the bike will be, but where his head is consistently will be the biggest challenge. I personally don't think he has the focus to succeed over a full season. Time will tell. The discussion on here is interesting.. the pro Darcy's keep softening the issue that he was caught by bringing points like the Grand Prix time was moved blah blah .... A professional would be always be anticipating the different possibilities of start times.No excuse. ..the Anti campaigners sprout biasing words like 'he had a skinful' just to make it sound as bad as they possibly can. Ah well it's something to read in the winter!

Mirror what everyone has said. I really look forward to the updates..... and it never ceases to amaze me regarding the number of meetings that the team covers. Thank you all very much.

Look like most people say Darcy Ward is not worth debating, the majority? say we're better off without him! We'll just have to spend 126 pages discussing someone else. Whats Nicki been up to? :-)

If this is what it turns out to be then in future he should be tested more often and any transgression it be a lifetime ban IMO

Put the fans first for a change as without us there will be no UK speedway. What does putting the fans first mean??

Actually I don't think it was his gating as much as the track seemed to suit his style, he camr from the back to win. I think everything will have to fall his way to win another. Time will tell.

Sounds like it's come from your bottom.

I thought when they had the contracts agreed and signed they take some of these events into account. If not I agree that Ward should be riding for Poole.

I think the Poole management and Ward would have looked at date clashes within the year and have their strategy in place. Ward values British speedway but also has to satisfy international demands on him, that being either to further his own personal experience at that level or to satisfy sponsors interests. I'm sure he'll ride in more Elite League meetings than is average.

Thanks Ray, I'll keep digging!