8:24am Thursday 3rd July 2008
BRITISH Grand Prix referee Marek Wojaczek may have "robbed" Leigh Adams of his final chance to become world champion.
That is the opinion of a top speedway referee following the Millennium Stadium fiasco on Saturday.
More than 50,000 spectators could only watch on in amazement as Wojaczek made a series of blunders which severely changed the course of the meeting.
Twice his controversial decisions centred around Robins captain Adams, ruling him second in what seemed like a dead heat with American Greg Hancock, and then excluding the Aussie when Nicki Pedersen clipped his back wheel.
Adams was quick to condemn Wojaczek after the Grand Prix, labelling him "incapable", with Swindon boss Alun Rossiter also calling for the official to be stood down.
And an English Elite League referee has backed their claims, revealing that colleagues were equally bemused by his performance.
"There were 12 UK referees there (the British Grand Prix) and they were all perplexed at some of the decisions Marek Wojaczek made," said the official, who wished to remain anonymous.
"And with the benefit of having the TV monitor at your side to assess it was even more astonishing.
"I'm sure he did use the technology available to him, but it certainly seemed odd.
"Many referees would have said put all four back in the first time and warn Nicki that he was given the benefit of the doubt.
"But the second time there's no benefit of the doubt, so he would have been excluded. You've got to set your ground rules out.
"The alternative would have been to exclude Nicki first time round.
"It's up to the FIM (whether Wojaczek is stood down), although it has been done before so I see no reason why it couldn't happen again."
Wojaczek is in line to over-see the Latvian and German Grand Prix's later this year, with the Gelsenkirchen event the big end-of-season finale.
And the English referee questioned whether his Polish counterpart should be taking charge of such a high-profile event.
"He's going to be doing the last Grand Prix of the season, and will be judging in one race with a prize fund of $200,000 - that's a lot of responsibility to take," he admitted.
"There was a lot at stake for the riders on Saturday and the decisions changed things a lot.
"Bjarne (Pedersen) was robbed of Grand Prix points and he's now struggling to qualify for next year's series.
"And did he rob Leigh Adams of his final chance of becoming world champion?"
The Advertiser has been unable to contact Wojaczek for comment.
The original meeting last Thursday was rained off September 4.
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