It’s that time of year again. The nights are getting lighter, and the smell of methanol will soon be in the air. That’s right, its time for the start of the Speedway season. Tomorrow night (Thursday) at 7:30pm, the Redcar TLS Bears will welcome the Stoke Potters to the South Tees Motorsports Park in the Premier Trophy.
The Premier Trophy is traditionally the curtain raiser to the season, with all the teams divided into Geographical groups. Each team races each other team in the league home and away and the sides who top each group will go through to the Semi Finals. The Bears are in a tough group this year, alongside Newcastle, Stoke, Scunthorpe and Sheffield but they will still fancy their chances of progressing. Indeed, the Bears would have most likely progressed further in this competition last season if it wasn’t for the injuries sustained by Gary Havelock and Matty Tressarieu.
Stoke come to the STMP after having lost 51-42 away to Newcastle on Sunday evening. Lee Complin top scored for the Potters that evening with 12 points, and he is likely to lead the Potters charge on Thursday as well. Lee is one of the most exciting riders to watch in the league, and should provide great entertainment for the fans. Complins only real support against the Diamonds came from Ben Barker who amassed 10 points. Stokes two debutant Danes had mixed evenings up at Brough Park. Klaus Jacobsen failed to scores in his four rides, whilst Jesper Kristiansen scored a very respectable 6 plus 2 bonus points from his four outings. Much will depend on how these two go on Thursday as to how close Stoke will push the Bears. Emiliano Sanchez had a slightly disappointing night on Sunday, only scoring 5 from his 4 rides, although he is just overcoming an injury and is a rider that has done well at South Tees in the past. Stoke do look to have a very decent pairing at reserve though, with Barrie Evans and the ever-young Mark Burrows. Evans notched 5 at Newcastle, whilst Burrows scored 4 and fell once. Burrows rode for the Cleveland Bays last season so has experience of the track, and was if nothing else very entertaining to watch.
For the Bears, it will be the first competitive action of the season after all having a few laps at last weeks Press and Practice day. They will be led by Teesside legend Gary Havelock and James Grieves, who will both be hoping to start the season off with big scores. Grieves is delighted to be back with Redcar this season, agreeing to ride as soon as he was approached. He will no doubt be hoping to reclaim his rider of the year award from last season. Grieves and Havelock should receive good support from Chris Kerr and Josh Auty, with both riders more than capable of upping their averages this year. It is indeed a massive year for Kerr in particular, who needs to achieve an 8 point average otherwise he will have trouble renewing his work permit. Aussie Ty Proctor competes the top 5, and he impressed onlookers at last weeks practice. He described the track as perfect and stated he could not have moved anywhere better, and hopes are high that he can do a decent job for the Bears. He should certainly be exciting to watch with a all action style. At reserve, Dan Giffard will hope to start the season off as he ended last season. He has beaten the best around the STMP and on his day could be the strongest reserve in the league. He will be partnered by Arlo Bugeja, who has spent big during the winter on new equipment. He will be hoping for a more successful spell this time around and hopes are high that he will be amongst the points.
It should be an exciting clash on Thursday evening, with Stoke being one of the most exciting sides in the league and the South Tees track being so fair, but I can only see a Bears win by 8-10 points.
Lineups (Riding order to be confirmed):
Bears
1) Gary Havelock ©
2) Ty Proctor
3) James Grieves
4) Josh Auty
5) Chris Kerr
6) Dan Giffard
7) Arlo Bugeja
Stoke Potters
1) Klaus Jacobsen
2) Ben Barker
3) Jesper Kristiansen
4) Lee Complin
5) Emilino Sanchez
6) Barrie Evans
7) Mark Burrows
For those that can’t attend the meeting but would like to keep up to date with what is happening, visit the fans forum .
Live Updates will be carried out on this site, updated after every race. You will need to register to view this forum, but it only takes a few seconds.