NDL AGM
SIX teams will contest the 2026 National Development League including the welcome return of Buxton Speedway to official competition.
The Hi-Edge Raceway last staged league racing eight years ago with the club having become long-serving members of the third tier.
They are now being re-launched as the Bulls under the stewardship of the vastly experienced Laurence Rogers, and they were accepted into the NDL at this week’s British Development meeting, with an SCB track inspection due to take place at the Derbyshire venue in the near future.
Buxton will be joined in this season’s competition by defending champions Oxford Chargers along with fellow existing members Edinburgh Monarchs Academy, Leicester Lion Cubs and Middlesbrough Tigers, whilst King’s Lynn Young Stars switch from the parallel NDT competition which ran in 2025.
There is one NDL competition this season, and the teams will build to a points limit of 42 with seven riders in a team. Teams will meet once home and once away with the championship being decided based on the league table, with no play-offs.
The following regulations will apply:
* For riders who completed 2025 with an average in both NDL and NDT, the NDL average will apply for 2026. Any rider who has an existing NDT average but not NDL will use their NDT average.
* Riders new to the NDL will enter on a 2.00 average, a reduction from 3.00 which applied last season.
* Riders who achieved an average of under 3.00 in 2025 will start the 2026 season on their actual average, subject to a minimum of 2.00.
* From the 2025 regulations, teams were permitted to include a maximum of one rider with a Championship average of 4.00-6.00 if that rider was not declared in a Championship or Premiership team. This regulation will be removed for 2026, and a team could therefore include more than one rider who falls into that category, subject of course to the points limit.
* Where ‘no facility’ is utilised for an absent rider in a team’s top five, this will be either a 3.00 or below Unattached Rider, or a rider with an established NDL average of 3.00 or below, subject to SCB Regulation 013.1.6a (a guest must have the same or lower MA than that of the absent rider).
* Where ‘no facility’ is utilised for an absent rider who is 6th or 7th in a team’s averages, this will be a 3.00 or below Unattached Rider, subject to SCB Regulation 013.1.6a (a guest must have the same or lower MA than that of the absent rider).
All NDL regulations are subject to SCB approval.
As part of the British Development regulations, all clubs not competing in the National Development League must participate in at least one of the following alternatives during the season: National League Riders Development Individual, Midland Development League, Northern Junior League, Second Half Open Invitation or a standalone British Youth Championship Round.
2026 NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Buxton, Edinburgh, King’s Lynn, Leicester, Middlesbrough, Oxford.