On The Skids - Speedway 2019

[Greenlander]

Well that was a very enjoyable meeting. Nothing in it between the three teams, but Eastbourne were the most consistent and deserved to nick it. Individually, Ben Morley who races for the Isle of Wight pretty much showed everyone else how to ride the track. He was unfortunate to get squeezed out in the extra heat and clip the side boards but with all four riders abreast of each other coming out of the second bend something had to give. Pleasingly it meant local hero Henry Atkins got to win the Dash for Cash which rounded off the night perfectly.

[Greenlander]

I forgot how good speedway smells.

[Ray de Galles]

I've been to Grand Finals that have sold out and some of the early Rye House fixtures in the Premiership did too but not in advance, granted. Hope you have a great night tomorrow, Greenlander.

Leicester have announced they are hosting a return meeting with Scunthorpe this Sunday so I've got a ticket for my first British Speedway in over a year.

[Greenlander]

The Three Team Tournament on Tuesday is now a complete sell out. When was the last time a speedway meeting in the UK was able to say that.

[Ray de Galles]

I have my eye on that October 17th fixture against Eastbourne. Might make it down earlier but I take my daughter to university on September 11th which proves distinctly unhelpful for taking in a fixture.

In fact, if crowds are allowed in and there's any chance I can get a ticket I may even watch Plymouth that afternoon as I've somehow never managed to get to Home Park. If not, maybe the Plymouth Parkway fixture.

[Greenlander]

More than half the tickets for the three teamer sold already. Still no idea what that actually means though. With 1000 or so in it gets is pretty full, but it's usually nearer half that.

[Greenlander]

SEPTEMBER

TUES 8TH Plymouth v IOW v Eastbourne (Gates 5pm First Race 7pm): Three Team Tournament

TUES 15th Reserved

TUES 22ND Plymouth v Young Lions GB U21 Select Team (Gates 5pm First Race 7pm): Challenge

TUES 29TH Reserved

OCTOBER

SAT 10th Colin Hill Memorial Trophy (Gates 4pm First Race 6pm): Individual

SAT 17th Eastbourne HG Aerospace Eagles (Gates 4pm First Race 6pm): NDL Challenge

SAT 31ST Reserved

[Ray de Galles]

I'm up for it if tickets can be secured.

[HeavyDracula]

Ooh, tempting...

[Ray de Galles]

The DCMS have already announced it's at Ipswich's Foxhall Stadium (probably chosen for it's huge banked terracing) on September 26th. Rumoured capacity is 2,000.

[Third rate Leszno]

"BRITISH Speedway can confirm we have received confirmation that a government 'test event' with spectators can go ahead.

Representatives of the British Speedway Promoters Ltd have been in regular contact with the department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport regarding this issue.

We are heartened by this news and plans are being put together for a proposed 2020 British Final. We hope these plans can reach a successful conclusion for a late September event and a further update will be provided in the very near future."

[Greenlander]

Further Plymouth to be released later today. I do know the first meeting will be the three teamer on the 8th as the weather for the remainder of this week and into the next is looking poor.

[Greenlander]

Sept 8: Three Team Tournament - Plymouth v IoW v Eastbourne
Sept 22: Plymouth v GB Young Lions

More to follow...

[Ray de Galles]

Excellent news, that's three consecutive days of racing now, all when I'm on holiday! Hope to see you in September.

[Greenlander]

Gladiators get Green light

August 21, 2020

Plymouth Gladiators Speedway are delighted to announce that we have met all of the necessary Local Authority and relevant Speedway Governing Body(s) criteria to stage NDL level Meetings in front of Covid 19 restricted Crowds.

All matches will be All Ticket Online Ticketing to be purchased in advance of each Event; under strict Covid 19 guidelines with full social distancing and necessary safety measures in place.

We propose to commence on Tuesday Evenings, commencing on Tuesday 1st September.

Further information and a draft list of planned Fixtures will be announced early next week.

We would like to thank every one involved in assisting us to reach this point, and look forward to seeing some LIVE speedway and a big, Covid compliant, crowd soon.

https://plymouth-speedway.com/gladia...t-green-light/

You beauty, I'm inordinately excited by this news. I don't care about the standard, it's some live sport to watch at last.

[Greenlander]

Still waiting for some hard news, though it would appear reading, between the lines, that the council are satisfied and we now await SCB approval.

[Ray de Galles]

Kings Lynn confirmed for Round 4 of the GB Youth Championships on Sunday August 30th with limited crowd allowed. Round 3 at Belle Vue still provisional, strangely.

[Greenlander]

Well that's handy. I presume the 'proper' fixtures will be published on the speedwaygb site but I'll put them up here when known.

[Ray de Galles]

Good to hear, I will try to make it down in September, if not earlier. Conveniently, my eldest starts at Exeter University next month.

[Greenlander]

Plymouth are awaiting confirmation from the local authorities for permissions to run. It should have been announced Thursday but has was put back to this coming Tuesday. If successful, and the promotion are confident that all relevant procedures are in place and anticipate only minor adjustments, racing may commence before August is over. This will consist of NDL challenges and individual trophy meetings. Also on the cards are sidecars, quads and F2 speedway (?) plus the Exeter Falcons who race in the MSDL. Hopefully weekly meetings until the weather starts to deteriorate in October.

Online ticket sales only, masks to be worn by all spectators and possibly some live streaming as well. It'll be Tuesday nights as the traffic in and out of the south west has been atrocious on a Friday for weeks now. If successful, fixtures won't be too long in coming. I suspect they're already pencilled in.

[Ray de Galles]

Scunthorpe v Leicester on Bank Holiday Monday (August 31st) is the first National League level fixture to be announced and is open to the public with a limited amount of tickets on sale in advance .

I'm meant to be on holiday (though that could be cancelled with all the quarantines being imposed) otherwise I'd go up.

Scunthorpe has already successfully hosted a leg of the GB Youth Championships with a crowd as mentioned above, Leicester hold the next one (currently planned as behind closed doors) on the 22nd and Belle Vue looks likely to be the venue on the 27th, hopefully with spectators admitted.

Any progress with Plymouth fixtures, Greenlander?

[Ray de Galles]

Scunthorpe are hosting (and advertising as open to the public through limited advance sales) a leg of the British Youth Championship next Sunday too.

Leicester are making noises about holding one-off NL level meetings when their local lockdown is eased too.

[Third rate Leszno]

Scunny and Berwick have both made positive noises about racing, Berwick have lots of space to allow a well-distanced crowd.

[Greenlander]

Sounds like Leicester and Belle Vue were due to take part.

[Greenlander]

Plymouth Gladiators Statement:

The Promoters and Directors of Plymouth Gladiators Speedway have made the following statement; following the news that the planned short National Development League season due to start in mid August has now been cancelled, due to stricter controls and Covid 19 measures being enforced / reenforced by the Government in the past 48 hours:

“We are naturally disappointed to hear the news that the NDL season has been cancelled. We fully understand and support the BSPL in making this decision especially as two of the Teams likely to take part in the NDL are in specific lockdown areas in Leicester and Manchester; and others may be subject to specific added measures.

We are progressing well in talks with the Public Protection + Environmental Health Department of the City Council regarding the Permits / Approval to stage Speedway and Motor Cycling Events at the Coliseum; and also to commence some Events as part of the PACE (Plymouth Arena Community Events) project that we recently announced.

We expect to have various approvals in the next 7-10 days relevant to the guidelines for Covid 19 as they exist at the time of these inspections.

We remain committed to staging top quality Speedway Events in the next few months only if it is safe and viable to do so, subject to all of the necessary approvals.

These may involve Speedway Team Challenges at NDL level with our recently declared Team, Individual Trophy Events and other forms of motor-cycle sport, such as MSDL (Falcons) Speedway; Quad; Sidecar and F2 Speedway.

We will assess and monitor the situation in the next few weeks prior to announcing any Fixtures and plan to continue the successful fortnightly Private Speedway Practice sessions in the meantime.

We are not able at this stage to admit spectators to these Practice Sessions, but will hopefully have positive news soon.

Thank you for your fantastic support and patience and we will do all we can to stage Speedway when we can do so.

https://plymouth-speedway.com/plymou...s-statement-2/