chunky

He didn't "get away with one"; several riders did the same, and NONE were punished. The reason was that the white line was not THE white line, but was one that was added during the meeting, and one that interfered with the known racing line. That is why NOBODY was penalised. Here, he was penalised despite others not being ready to race during at the end of the two minutes. That is what is wrong here, and why people are unhappy. Inconsistent and seemingly biased refereeing. Steve

And who didn't exclude any of SEVERAL riders to do that, because there were several white lines... That was CONSISTENT and GOOD refereeing... The problem here is that SEVERAL OTHER riders - including those in the same race - were not punished for an identical offence. Steve

So Tai DIDN'T lift? Hi DIDN'T run wide ON HIS OWN? He didn't hit the fence ON HIS OWN? So Cook WASN'T in front, and IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRACK? I take it you have speech-to-text, because with eyesight like yours, you obviously can't see your keyboard... Steve

Oh, come on... Please don't spoil brummie's prejudiced views... Steve

He was "ready to race"!!! Steve

For those who think Hancock is a spent force? Steve

Could have been SO much worse... Steve

I didn't know he had tried to blame the ref for that? A totally irrelevant comment... Steve

Perhaps in Poland, there might be... Steve

It doesn't matter whether they are at the tapes or not; they have to be "ready to race". Steve

Exactly... Steve

Nope. As Philip stated, they have to "be ready to race", not just "at the tapes". As was just confirmed on the commentary. Steve

I also think it is interesting that the commentary has now been "silenced"... Steve

But that shouldn't make any difference to a "rule"... Steve

The rules are there apparently for the ref to apply how and when he feels... Steve EDIT: As was just said, the "rule" wasn't applied in Heat 18

My thoughts exactly. As I said, Greg was "at the tapes", but he was nowhere near ready. Steve

Greg was at the tapes, but he certainly wasn't ready... Steve

You've seen it now, so what do you think? I think Tai was ready before Greg... Steve

If the tracks aren't consistent, and the riders aren't consistent, why should the refs be any different??? Steve

Nobody wants to read crappy posts from "hating tarts" on here either... Steve

Okay, found it now; thanks! Just wasn't sure exactly where to look... Steve

That's more of what I was thinking... Adds a little bit of interest with an "us against them" feature. It would be a help to see the whole evening's programme. Steve

Very interesting! Of course, there were no "official" teams in 1928, so that was probably some kind of representative event. You only have a small snippet of the pic here, but were there any other similar events on that programme? Where was that, incidentally? I had a look on the Speedway Researcher website, and didn't find anything. I know that George Reynard rode at some of the northern tracks, and had ridden at Rochdale the previous Saturday... Steve

Right, two-valve uprights, black leathers and monkey masks, all things that can be reintroduced and will bring the crowds flocking back? Get rid of TV or live-streaming, and that will bring the crowds flocking back? Rebuild Hyde Rd, Plough Lane, County Ground, Dudley Wood, Waterden Rd, The Shay, Blackbird Rd etc? That would bring the crowds flocking back? I miss holiday camps, the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Specials, the Kursaal, the family butcher, going to footy and changing ends at half-time, paraffin lamps and gas mantles, and Payne's Poppets, but just because there are bunch of us oldies who feel that we have gone in the wrong direction,, they are not going to turn the clock back for us.... Steve

I know that youngsters need to get the experience, but other than a handful - a very small handful - of riders over the years, very few have benefited from being thrown in at the deep end. Sure, they have potential, but chucking them in against top riders usually does nothing other than destroy their confidence and end a promising career before it has even started. Look what happened back in the 80's (I can't remember what year), when they introduced the "compulsory junior"; it achieved absolutely nothing. Incidentally, please don't just claim that us "older fans" are "out of touch with things". I am one of those, and I am only too aware that things have to change, but I just don't know what the solutions are.... What I do know is that throwing kids to the lions, and putting out a sub-standard team resulting in a tedious and one-sided match is not one of them. Steve