ouch

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

It is not nessessary, mate The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

Yes.

No I won't. Mate.

Yes.

Interestingly, the volunteer application form states main race meetings will be Friday or Saturday with practice on Sunday.

Joe Screen.

Did you mean next next week?

Maybe and I'm going a left field here, he raced on regardless of the rule book in the hope of getting away with it. Stranger things have happened.

It certainly is open to debate. I've referenced Kennett and his silencer issues. His defence was that a member of his mechanic team was the cause and this individual then "fell on his sword". It's not without it's merits that Kennett wouldn't have known about the mechanical side of things. One thing riders will be aware of is the rules pertaining to their safety kit. Whilst mechanics don't need to bother about it, it's one thing that the riders will defiantly look after. Newman got to the start and began to have trouble with his faulty goggles. He should have returned to the pits but knew this would have seen him excluded under 2 minutes and incur the disadvantage of a 15m start. Knowing the rules about his safety kit, he decided to ride anyway with an llegal set up safety wise. The lads grown up round Poole and will have seen that cheating gains you an advantage so he consciously took the decision to ride on illegally. He knew he didn't have goggles on and he knew that the rules state that to participate in the race he needed goggles on. It was no accident but a case of not so much gaining an advantage but by disregarding the rule book he dodged a disadvantage.

Must admit I'm taken aback by the definition some have of cheating. I've not looked it up as I didn't need to as early on in like I thought I had a handle on it by watching Wacky Races, Herbie etc. The baddies cheated but ultimately never gained an advantage, Dick Dastardly being a repeat offender. Never once at the end did I think, their not cheats just misunderstood. The innocents of youth. I do though I find it odd that many could watch this kind of thing and be rooting for the baddies. They say everyday is a learning day. I'm off to catch a pigeon.

So your intention is to cheat but if you then fail to gain an advantage it is no longer cheating? Whilst I'm at it if a tree falls in the woods whilst nobody is about, does it make a noise? By using the phrase more often than not would you therefore admit breaking the rules can also be carried out intentionally?

Try being from Manchester! The sporting capital of Europe if not the World.

Just putting to one side the start line/15m aspect I'll ask again is it ok to break the rules/cheat in sport if an advantage has not been achieved?

They could have informed Lambert his deflector was missing/faulty and he could have returned to the pits to rectify the problem, at the same time incurring a 2 minute disqualification. Unfortunately it got missed by the officials until after the race finished and his points were subsequently removed. You can substitute Lambert and deflector with Newman and goggles in the above as both fit the scenario.

The problem is Newman didn't suck it up and start 15m back. He instead choose to ride with illegal kit. One of the last riders to do that was Kennett with his silencer or Lambert with his dirt deflector and both had their race points deducted.

Or just sweep it under the carpet. Coincidently the same carpet the fans leaving the sport wipe their feet on on the way out.

Starting from the gate offers more of an advantage than starting 15m back. In my opinion.

Sorry mate.

Those are much improved figures on what has gone before and very heartening to read. Where was the information from as I'd like to have a look. Previous years can be seen hear. http://www.methanolpress.com/elite-league-sky-sports-speedway-viewing-figures-up-22-4-in-2014-but-still-second-worst-ever/ and http://www.methanolpress.com/tag/sky-sports-speedway-viewing-figures/

If a cheat doesn't change a result, is it ok?

I think it will be 10 to 15 years after he's gone before we will fully appreciate Fords "achievements"..

So we should set out to cheat but hope that it's missed? Things do get missed but processes are in place to rectify such glaring errors. That's why during my time in the sport well over 100 results have been amended following an investigating into rule breaking.

Or we could just compete as per the rule book. You know, I never thought I'd be offering that as a option to someone on a sporting forum, I just thought it was a given. Funny old world.