Post by admin on Jun 19, 2015 7:33:49 GMT
I can never be arsed to watch Swedish Speedway bit it appears that there were handbags or worse last night?
TEAM HANCOCK RACING STATEMENT
First of all, I would like to apologise to the fans, management and sponsors of both Piraterna and Dackarna for the way I reacted last night to being knocked off my bike by Nicki Pedersen in Heat 15 of what was a great match.
It wasn’t right for me to react in the way I did, however it is not the first time something like that has happened to me and I felt my safety was put in danger, and I reacted out of self defence. Anybody who knows me as a rider knows I don’t just crash like that, I want to stay off the floor like anybody else and the last thing I want is to come off my bike at high speed. I enjoy a good, hard, fair race the same as anybody else but too often the line is crossed.
In previous times I have not wanted to get involved or react, but this time I can’t sit back and let Nicki get away with it. He has been at the centre of major disputes with plenty of riders over the years and plenty have voiced their opinion of him, but it’s finally time to stand up and make a point because this is not what we need in the sport.
After the re-run of Heat 15 last night, I was cleaning my goggles and packing up my equipment when Nicki approached me and asked if I had a second. Naturally, I didn’t particularly want to chat but before I could say anything he told me that he didn’t do anything wrong and it was a fair move. This was clearly to provoke me, and I lost my cool and headed over to him to confront him again before I was stopped by, among others, my Piraterna team-mate Chris Holder. I was angry and was shouting at Nicki, I don’t know what was said specifically but as you can imagine it was far from complimentary.
As I was held back I noticed that Nicki had his phone in his hand and was recording the whole thing. He purposely approached me, said something to provoke me and recorded the reaction. He completely set me up, for whatever reason, and was stood there grinning at me while doing it.
After that incident, he walked past a crowd of people, many of them children, and put his middle finger up. How do I know this? I was told by my own kids, who were in that crowd.
He is making a lot of accusations in the press, but people need to know the character of this man. He will stop at nothing to gain an advantage in this sport, and that includes putting his fellow riders at serious risk. We know Nicki rides hard, we know he can be dangerous, but enough is enough now.
Maybe he feels like, by making us angry, that gives him an advantage when he gets to the tapes. But for all the bravado, the look in his eye when I approached him, both times, was pure fear. You could see in his eyes the fear, he backed up very quickly and then as soon as he is surrounded by people, he grins and pretends it doesn’t bother him. I’ve done my research, I have spoken to several people extremely close to him and his camp, and I’ve since found that this is something he has always done. Even as a youngster, I have been told by various people this was a trait of his. I genuinely believe Nicki has a different mentality to anybody else who races in this sport.
He doesn’t see other riders in the race, he just sees what he wants to see and that puts us in danger. If he feels like he can get in front without hurting himself, regardless of whether he’s going to hurt somebody else, he will do it. This is the guy we have to share the track with.
I have had so many messages of support by fellow riders, many of whom have shared incidents with Nicki too. I know my reaction was wrong and for that I apologise, but for so long we have stood back and allowed this man to put riders in danger and I feel like now, enough is enough.
Lastly, I want to thank all of the fans who have supported me. I’m aware of some campaigns to raise funds to pay my fine but I wouldn’t feel right taking the money of other people, I take full responsibility for what I did and I will pay for it. I am extremely grateful for the gesture and genuinely appreciate it, but I would ask that any money raised goes to the Brett Downey Safety Foundation, a US charity that campaigns to make track racing safer for all involved.
Thank you for all the support, and I can’t wait to see my fans in Cardiff for the British Grand Prix on July 4.
Team Hancock Racing
TEAM HANCOCK RACING STATEMENT
First of all, I would like to apologise to the fans, management and sponsors of both Piraterna and Dackarna for the way I reacted last night to being knocked off my bike by Nicki Pedersen in Heat 15 of what was a great match.
It wasn’t right for me to react in the way I did, however it is not the first time something like that has happened to me and I felt my safety was put in danger, and I reacted out of self defence. Anybody who knows me as a rider knows I don’t just crash like that, I want to stay off the floor like anybody else and the last thing I want is to come off my bike at high speed. I enjoy a good, hard, fair race the same as anybody else but too often the line is crossed.
In previous times I have not wanted to get involved or react, but this time I can’t sit back and let Nicki get away with it. He has been at the centre of major disputes with plenty of riders over the years and plenty have voiced their opinion of him, but it’s finally time to stand up and make a point because this is not what we need in the sport.
After the re-run of Heat 15 last night, I was cleaning my goggles and packing up my equipment when Nicki approached me and asked if I had a second. Naturally, I didn’t particularly want to chat but before I could say anything he told me that he didn’t do anything wrong and it was a fair move. This was clearly to provoke me, and I lost my cool and headed over to him to confront him again before I was stopped by, among others, my Piraterna team-mate Chris Holder. I was angry and was shouting at Nicki, I don’t know what was said specifically but as you can imagine it was far from complimentary.
As I was held back I noticed that Nicki had his phone in his hand and was recording the whole thing. He purposely approached me, said something to provoke me and recorded the reaction. He completely set me up, for whatever reason, and was stood there grinning at me while doing it.
After that incident, he walked past a crowd of people, many of them children, and put his middle finger up. How do I know this? I was told by my own kids, who were in that crowd.
He is making a lot of accusations in the press, but people need to know the character of this man. He will stop at nothing to gain an advantage in this sport, and that includes putting his fellow riders at serious risk. We know Nicki rides hard, we know he can be dangerous, but enough is enough now.
Maybe he feels like, by making us angry, that gives him an advantage when he gets to the tapes. But for all the bravado, the look in his eye when I approached him, both times, was pure fear. You could see in his eyes the fear, he backed up very quickly and then as soon as he is surrounded by people, he grins and pretends it doesn’t bother him. I’ve done my research, I have spoken to several people extremely close to him and his camp, and I’ve since found that this is something he has always done. Even as a youngster, I have been told by various people this was a trait of his. I genuinely believe Nicki has a different mentality to anybody else who races in this sport.
He doesn’t see other riders in the race, he just sees what he wants to see and that puts us in danger. If he feels like he can get in front without hurting himself, regardless of whether he’s going to hurt somebody else, he will do it. This is the guy we have to share the track with.
I have had so many messages of support by fellow riders, many of whom have shared incidents with Nicki too. I know my reaction was wrong and for that I apologise, but for so long we have stood back and allowed this man to put riders in danger and I feel like now, enough is enough.
Lastly, I want to thank all of the fans who have supported me. I’m aware of some campaigns to raise funds to pay my fine but I wouldn’t feel right taking the money of other people, I take full responsibility for what I did and I will pay for it. I am extremely grateful for the gesture and genuinely appreciate it, but I would ask that any money raised goes to the Brett Downey Safety Foundation, a US charity that campaigns to make track racing safer for all involved.
Thank you for all the support, and I can’t wait to see my fans in Cardiff for the British Grand Prix on July 4.
Team Hancock Racing
