January 21, 2015
An online petition has been launched to press racing authorities to lift a ban on Nanango-born speedway rider Darcy Ward to allow him to ride in the 2015 international season.
The champion has an impressive list of sporting achievements to his name but has also been caught up in several off-track controversies in recent years.
Ward, 22, won the world U21 speedway championship title in 2009 and 2010, and the Australia U21 title in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
In 2012, Ward and a friend were charged with assaulting a teenage girl but were found not guilty by a British jury.
In 2013, Ward won the Speedway Grand Prix of Denmark and the historic “Golden Helmet of Pardubice” in the Czech Republic, one of the oldest motorcycle speedway competitions in the world.
However, in the same year, he appeared in Ipswich Magistrates Court in Queensland on a drink-driving charge.
In August last year, Ward allegedly failed a pre-meeting alcohol test at the Latvian Speedway Grand Prix.
The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) temporarily suspended Ward from all racing but a final hearing into the incident has been delayed.
- Related article: Speedway Rider Cleared Of Assault
- External link: Change.org
