RESULT: RIETEMU BANK LATVIAN FIM SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX

DARCY WARD was forced to sit out the re-scheduled and relocated REITEU BANK LATVIAN FIM Speedway Grand Prix round after proving positive to a pre-meeting alcohol test, and could well face further disciplinary action once the FIM Jury have completed their enquiry.

Ward was due to ride at number 15 in the meeting which was orginally scheduled to be held on Saturday evening in the Latvian capital city of Riga but was sensationally moved to Daugavpils, when it became apparent that track safety issues prevailed as late as Saturday lunchtime.

The organisers gave themselves a monumental logistical headache in switching the venue for the following day but were still able to get everything in place of a 3pm start time on the Sunday.

But Ward failed the pre-meeting breath test and admitted "I have been very silly. I have had a difficult time with some bad personal news and I didn't eat properly at dinner but had a couple of drinks. Consequently I didn't hydrate properly and I was found positive when selected for the breath analyser. It's the worst day of my life and it will never happen again."

Ward's enforced absence left him losing big ground on the championship leaders as former world champion Greg Hancock broke through the 100 point barrier and how holds a 28 point advantage over Ward, who is only 12 points inside the safety zone of an automatic place in next year's championship. Ward watched on as his late replacement Kasts Puodzuks raced to 9 points from the heats to book a place in the semi-finals.

His former Poole team-mate Krzysztof Kasprzak won the meeting from Nicki Pedersen (2nd) and Hancock (3rd) whilst Kenneth Bjerre reached his first final since 2011.

Kasprzak's second win of this year's series pits him in fifth place, whilst the reigning world champion Tai Woffinden had to be satisfied as a beaten semi-finalist and an 8 point haul, and he now trails Hancock by 5 points.

2012 World champion Chris Holder made his return to GP racing after having sat out the previous two rounds through injury, scoring 6 points and missing the semi-final cut by two points.

1. G.Hancock,M.Smolinski,M.Zagar ,N.Iversen
2. K.Bjerre,N.Pedersen,T.Batchelor ,T.Woffinden
3. K.Kasprzak,C.Holder,F.Lindgren ,C.Harris
4. J.Hampel,K.Poudzuks,A.Lebedevs ,A.Jonsson
5. N.Iversen,F.Lindgren,T.Batchelor ,J.Hampel
6. T.Woffinden,K.Kasprzak,G.Hancock ,A.Jonsson
7. K.Poudzuks,N.Pedersen,M.Smolinski ,C.Holder
8. C.Harris,M.Zagar,A.Lebedevs ,K.Bjerre
9. C.Holder,N.Iversen,T.Woffinden ,A.Lebedevs
10. G.Hancock,T.Batchelor,K.Poudzuks ,C.Harris
11. F.Lindgren,A.Jonsson,K.Bjerre ,M.Smolinski
12. N.Pedersen,K.Kasprzak,M.Zagar ,J.Hampel
13. N.Pedersen,N.Iversen,A.Jonsson ,C.Harris
14. G.Hancock,K.Bjerre,C.Holder ,J.Hampel
15. K.Kasprzak,T.Batchelor,M.Smolinski ,A.Lebedevs
16. M.Zagar,K.Poudzuks,T.Woffinden ,F.Lindgren
17. K.Bjerre,K.Kasprzak,K.Poudzuks ,N.Iversen (rtd)
18. N.Pedersen,G.Hancock,A.Lebedevs ,F.Lindgren
19. T.Woffinden,M.Smolinski,J.Hampel ,C.Harris (rtd)
20. A.Jonsson,T.Batchelor,M.Zagar ,C.Holder
SF1 N.Pedersen,K.Bjerre,M.Zagar ,T.Woffinden
SF2 G.Hancock,K.Kasprzak,K.Poudzuks ,T.Batchelor
Final K.Kasprzak,N.Pedersen,G.Hancock ,K.Bjerre

K.Kasprzak 17 (3,2,2,3,2,2,3); N.Pedersen 18 (2,2,3,3,3,3,2); G.Hancock 16 (3,1,3,3,2,3,1); K.Bjerre 11 (3,0,1,2,3,2,0);K.Poudzuks 10 (2,3,1,2,1,1); M.Zagar 9 (1,2,1,3,1,1); T.Woffinden 8 (0,3,1,1,3,0); T.Batchelor 8 (1,1,2,2,2,0); N.Iversen 7 (0,3,2,2,R); A.Jonsson 6 (0,0,2,1,3); C.Holder 6 (2,0,3,1,0); F.Lindgren 6 (1,2,3,0,0); M.Smolinski 6 (2,1,0,1,2); J.Hampel 4 (3,0,0,0,1); A.Lebedevs 3 (1,1,0,0,1); C.Harris 3 (0,3,0,0,R);   D.Ward NS (0,0,0,0,0)

Championship Standings:  G.Hancock (103); T.Woffinden (98); N.Pedersen (86); N.Iversen (81); K.Kasprzak (76); D.Ward (75); M.Zagar (75); J.Hampel (63); F.Lindgren (63); C.Holder (61); M.Smolinski (59); T.Batchelor (57); A.Jonsson (55); K.Bjerre (50); C.Harris (29);