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SOMERSET promoter Debbie Hancock is relishing the prospect of the Rebels’ move into the SGB Premiership next season.Just a week after claiming the former Premier League title, the Oaktree Arena side were confirmed as members of the re-branded top flight for the 2017 season.Hancock said: “Although we are a relatively young club in speedway terms, having only been formed in 2000, we would like to feel that we are also a club with ambition.“After 15 seasons in the sport’s second tier of racing, the last five years of which have been highly successful by way of the titles won, we felt that the time was right to move up into the sport’s highest level of racing in the UK.“With Rye House also making the move into the Premiership, geographically the move into top tier made sense as, if we had stayed in the second tier of racing, our nearest team would have been Peterborough, which is not exactly local to ourselves.“By competing in the Premiership, we will have the attraction of local derbies against the likes of Swindon and Poole, plus clubs like Wolverhampton, Coventry and Leicester are not a million miles away from the Oaktree Arena.“This was not a decision the club have taken lightly, and we would not have agreed to join the newly formed Premiership if we didn’t think that it was the right move for the club, both on and off the track.”
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THE new owners of Brandon Stadium have confirmed a new lease has been signed enabling Coventry to continue racing next season.The Bees’ venue has been sold for development but the leader of Rugby Borough Council, Michael Stokes, opened talks with landowners Brandon Estates Ltd to secure a new one-year lease, with the possibility of two further years subject to conditions. Brandon Estates has also agreed to sponsor the Bees next season.Cllr Stokes said: “It is clear that the situation the Bees and the other stadium users find themselves in is not ideal, but the lease that has been offered to them is a good compromise that will allow speedway and stock car racing to continue at Brandon for at least another year.“After meeting fans’ groups earlier this year and hearing their concerns first hand, I am delighted to have been able to bring all of the interested parties together to allow an offer to be made.”
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SCUNTHORPE have announced the return of Ryan Douglas to the Eddie Wright Raceway for the 2017 season.The 23-year-old Australian will head into his fifth season with the club as the Scorpions their place in the re-branded SGB Championship.Promoter Rob Godfrey said: “I can’t think of a better way of starting our team planning for 2017.“Ryan is an easy rider to deal with, and he had a good season in 2016. He reached the No.1 spot for the first time, and ended the season at the top of our averages. “He also won the individual event at Peterborough during the Fours weekend, which was a very welcome piece for silverware both for Ryan and for the club. It’s great to have Ryan back at the Eddie Wright Raceway once more.”
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KING’S Lynn boss Rob Lyon says he feels refreshed after the big shake-up to British Speedway - and is targeting major honours with the Stars in 2017!Lyon is pleased with the long-term prospects arising from this week’s AGM and is now looking forward to the new SGB Premiership campaign.He said: “We need to look after ourselves and not worry about what anyone else is doing and we think we've come up with something that is going to be hugely beneficial for everyone in British Speedway in the long run.“2017 is a fresh start for everyone and I genuinely believe that this is the start of a much, much brighter road for us all.“It's all good and positive, it's encouraging and there's certainly a refreshing feel to it all as well. I'm confident next season will be a much, much more enjoyable time for the Stars and we're going to put together a highly competitive team capable of bringing the major honours back to King's Lynn again!”
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SWINDON CEO Mike Bowden has declared the major revamp of British Speedway as “very positive” following a landmark BSPA AGM.Bowden was attending his first-ever AGM as promoters spent three days voting through major changes to the sport, with the Robins set to take their place in the SGB Premiership.Bowden said: “There are people in that room who have been promoters for nearly 40 consecutive years at the same club, so I did a lot of listening and learning.“Clearly I have my own views about how the sport should develop and how Swindon should be involved in that. “Overall it was a very positive conference. The bringing together of the race format is a very sensible step and makes the whole sport look much better to the paying public. They don’t have to get their head around two completely different ways of doing things in the two leagues, so that is a good thing. “The rebranding of leagues is something that is a big step forward and allows us to use a combined brand when we go and talk to potential sponsors.”
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IPSWICH promoter Chris Louis has given his backing to new team-building regulations for the 2017 season.Clubs in both the SGB Premiership and Championship will use figures based on former Premier League averages, with ex-Elite League only riders seeing their averages multiplied by 1.4.Louis said: “It brings a commonality in terms of team building in both leagues and then the conversion figure will be adjusted in May when they are both up and running and we can see what it is. “It was a team building formula, it’s simple and it works, and that’s why they are going to Premier League averages so that everything is done the same way. “It had to be done because the previous Elite League format had confused the averages and they needed to fall in line with Premier League averages. Furthermore, the base average is now two as opposed to three and the No.7 rider has to be British but does not have to be a two-pointer in our league.”
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SHEFFIELD promoter Damien Bates has described this week’s AGM as the most encouraging he’s ever been involved in - and is now setting to work on his Tigers team for 2017!The Owlerton outfit, who were runners-up in the Premier League this year, will be a part of the revamped second tier now known as the SGB Championship.Bates said: “I’m more than happy with how things went and it’s definitely been the best AGM I’ve been involved in.“It was really productive; there was no arguing, no major disagreements and everyone really seemed like they wanted to work together to make our sport better again.“The promotion/relegation battle at the end of the season is something that excites me. It gives teams at both levels something to play for and something to avoid at the same time, depending on which league you’re looking from, and it’s good to see something fresh that we haven’t seen for a while.“There’s no doubt about it, under this new structure, I’m going to be sitting down more-or-less straight away to try and build a team that will not only win the Championship, but who could also upset the odds and get promoted to the Premiership at the end of next year as well!”
