Lee Richardson

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Former Grand Prix star Lee Richardson has called time on his international career after confirming that he does not want to be a part of the Team Great Britain set-up any longer.

From Speedway Star

Peter Collins was banned years ago for taking a similar stance, and he had a serious injury which prompted his decision.

Should any rider be allowed to do this, or should their national federation take action against them ?

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I think once a rider passes a certain age (say 30 for instance) it should be entirely up to him when to say the time has come for me to step aside - I no longer feel able to compete at that level. It may be that he is no longer motivated by the thought of riding at that level - as we get older we all know when we no longer wish to participate in whatever activity we formerly found a lot of enthusiasm for. Its no different to my brother an HGV driver saying to his boss I no longer wish to do the continental runs of 4/5 days but am happy to carry on for a few years until retirement driving in the UK. He did, his boss understood and that is what happened.

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Maybe he's got a sicknote

Seriously though, I know that when Rob Lyon experimented with having a younger squad, Rico was firmly on side with the idea, and was in the pits at Peterborough encouraging them on. It wouldn't surprise me therefore if this was a factor in his decision making - making way for the next generation.

Rob Lyon's article in the Speedway Star recently seemed to suggest that there is very little, if any, support from the BSPA to bring the youngsters on. Maybe Rico feels that by stepping aside, it might encourage the BSPA to provide more support if they want to be in any way competitive at international level. It certainly wouldn't surprise me if that was a factor.

Kev feels differently, I know, but I thought Rico was top drawer last year. He is extremely fit, he has a first class set up (the best I've seen outside of the GP series) and I think he could easily have gone on for another few years at International level. Whether he wants to or not is a different matter of course, and I do feel that anyone should be able to withdraw when they feel the time is right - whatever their reasons for doing so!

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Could it also be that to compete at WTC level a rider needs "better" equipment than when competing at league level. If that's so at Richardson age it would not make financial sense to invest any more cash for 2 possibly 3 meetings per year.

I'm not his greatest fan (very slight understatement : but IMHO it should be wholly the decision of a rider at his age.