Category: Bears News

Fans can upgrade on Friday against Poole for just £12 extra!

This will be in The SG Petch Suite on the start finish line.

For an additional £12 on top of your usual entry cost, payable in the lounge. The benefits will be a full buffet plus a hot drink, a meeting programme, a drink from the bar, a meeting host, plus seating on the balcony and the chance to visit the centre green for 2 heats!

Prebooking is required, anyone interested please email indrinkel@msn.com, this will be on a first come first served basis

The dates for the KO Cup Final against Poole have now been announced.

The first leg will take place at the ECCO Arena on Friday 7th October, with the second leg at Poole on the 12th

Redcar produced a battling display full of grit and heart as they took a 49-41 win over the Edinburgh Monarchs but despite victory on the night the Bears suffered a 85-95 aggregate defeat. Erik Riss made a miraculous return from injury with 11 whilst Kasper Andersen top scored for Redcar with 11+1. Sam Masters hit 12+1 for the victorious visitors.

Redcar started the meeting with a heat 1 win as Erik Riss started his return from injury successfully to defeat Sam Masters after the German star passed Lasse Fredriksen in the early stages but with Jordan Jenkins at the back, no advantage could be gained. Nevertheless, the Bears fans did not have to wait long for a heat advantage as Kasper Andersen and Kyle Newman took an extremely comfortable 5-1 to start the Redcar comeback in heat 2.

The comeback continued in heat 3 as Jenkins took an impressive win whilst Kye Thomson and Leon Flint had a magnificent battle which was won by Thomson who took 2nd but with the Bears gaining a 4-2 they cut the Monarch’s aggregate lead to 12 points.

Drama followed in an enthralling heat 4 as Charles Wright gated and the skipper was joined by Andersen until the Dane was passed by Josh Pickering. Pickering then set after Wright and passed the Redcar man with a cute cutback on the 4th bend of lap 3 but Wright was not done and he hit the front of the backstraight of lap 4 before Pickering went extremely wide alongside Wright attempting to win the race and crashed out gifting Andersen second and suddenly the Bears were within 8 of Edinburgh.

After a track grade the Monarchs hit a 5-1 of their own as Masters was joined by Fredriksen who passed the Bears guest Flint on lap 2 to put Edinburgh back into a double figure aggregate lead. After a shared heat 7 won by Wright, Edinburgh struck a killer heat 8 blow. Kyle Newman gated but suffered mechanical issues which gifted Jacob Hook and Fredriksen the win and suddenly Redcar only had a 4 point lead on the night.

After Pickering won a shared heat 9 Redcar kept their hopes alive with a heat 10 4-2 as Andersen took a mightily impressive win with Riss in third. Masters won a shared heat 11 as the lone Monarch after Fredriksen crashed out and was excluded which left Redcar 12 behind with 4 heats remaining.

The home support still believed and heat 12 initially gave them more hope as Flint and Andersen both gated until the Dane was passed by a supremely quick Thomson who then set after Flint but left himself with too much to do which gave the Bears guest his first win of the night.

Redcar were left needing 3 5-1’s in the final 3 races to secure qualification but heat 13 could only provide a 3-3 as Riss impressively won but Wright could not pass Masters or Pickering despite giving it everything which effectively sent Edinburgh through to the semi finals. The Monarch’s progression was confirmed in heat 14 despite Redcar hitting a 5-1 with Newman and Jenkins riding well to hold off Adam Roynon.

Heat 15 saw Edinburgh rub salt into the Bears wounds with a 5-1 of their own as Pickering and Masters both passed Riss on the backstraight of lap 1 to finish the meeting with a bang for the visitors.

Redcar Bears = 49 (85)

1. Erik Riss = 11
2. Jason Edwards R/R
3. Leon Flint (G) = 7
4. Jordan Jenkins = 7+1
5. Charles Wright  = 8
6. Kyle Newman = 5+3
7. Kasper Andersen = 11+1
8. Danny Phillips –  DNR

Edinburgh Monarchs = 41 (95)

1. Sam Masters = 12+1
2. Lasse Fredriksen = 5+3
3. Kye Thomson = 7+1
4. Adam Roynon (G) = 3
5. Josh Pickering = 9+1
6. James Sarjeant = 1
7. Jacob Hook = 4

Redcar co-promoter Jamie Swales has challenged his side to repeat their 54-36 success over the Edinburgh Monarchs when the two sides clash in this evening’s second leg at the ECCO Arena with tapes up at 17:00.

Edinburgh took a 54-36 win last night to put themselves in control of the tie but the Bears did defeat the Scottish side by the same scoreline in the KO Cup semi-final tie a matter of weeks ago.

The co-promoter has laid down the challenge to his septet to repeat their fantastic 54-36 recent victory over the Monarchs, “ We need to do what we did in the KO Cup match, we need to attack from the off. In the KO Cup match we got ourselves firmly in control and controlled the meeting from there and we need to do that again.”

Swales said, “ We have got to take it to them from the off as they are a good side. I do not expect Sam Masters to have a bad a night as he did a few weeks ago (Masters scored an uncharacteristic 4 on his last visit to Redcar) but we need to make Edinburgh have a bad night like last time. Our boys have to be up for it from the off.”

The former rider also addressed the concerns of the supporters with the fixture taking place on the same day as a Middlesbrough FC fixture, “ It’s not ideal that we are clashing with Middlesbrough but our meetings average 90 minutes and with Middlesbrough kicking off at 19:45 that gives the supporters plenty of time to walk the 1.6 miles from the track to the stadium.”

Swales also explained why the clash could not have been held on another date, “ There are a few reasons why we couldn’t do the fixture on another date, “ Firstly, we could not run on Friday as Edinburgh have the priority on Friday’s, we couldn’t run on our normal alternative night of Sunday due to the British Final taking place and we could not put the meeting back a week as we have an obligation to conclude the tie as soon as possible to avoid running the play-off final in November like last season.”

Another potential option for fans looking in from the outside was to bring the meeting forward to earlier in the afternoon but Swales explained that this option was also not viable, “ We can’t run earlier in the day, the riders don’t like the track earlier in the day, the track doesn’t react the same as it does for an evening meeting and therefore the set-ups are wrong. The main reason was that the medics cannot arrive until later in the afternoon. Stokesley and Nitherdale shows are on and there is a karting event on next door. They will finish mid-afternoon and then they (the medics) will head over to cover our meeting.”

Redcar are without Lewis Kerr after his crash last night with Leon Flint guesting in his place, whilst Erik Riss makes a welcome return to the fold for the Bears at number 1. On the other side of the pits, Adam Roynon comes in to guest for the Monarchs in place of Paco Castagna who is racing in the Italian National Championships whilst the Monarchs are also sweating on the availability of Kye Thomson who also came to grief last night.

Redcar “Agilia” Bears
1. Erik Riss 8.58
2. Rider Replacement for Jason Edwards
3. Leon Flint (guest) 8.00
4. Jordan Jenkins 4.93
5. Charles Wright 7.44
6. Kyle Newman 4.39
7. Kasper Andersen 4.10
™: Jade Mudgway


Edinburgh Monarchs
1. Sam Masters 10.58 ©
 2. Lasse Frederiksen 4.00  
 3. Kye Thomson 6.60
4. Adam Roynon 4.93 (G)
5. Josh Pickering 8.92
6. James Sarjeant 3.68
7. Jacob Hook 4.00
™: John Campbell

Edinburgh took a healthy 54-36 win against a patched up Redcar Bears as they put themselves firmly in the driving seat ahead of this evening’s second leg at the ECCO Arena. On a night of few passes on a slick circuit, Josh Pickering top scored for the Monarchs with a brilliant 15 point maximum whilst Charles Wright top scored with 10 for a Redcar side who were left cursing their bad luck after a torrid evening north of the border.

Edinburgh started the night with a 4-2 as Sam Masters took the win with Lasse Frederiksen holding off Aaron Summers for third. Heat 2 saw Kasper Andersen and Kyle Newman gate on a 5-1 until 3 riders bunched together which sent Jacob Hook, Andersen and Newman crashing into the fence. Newman was fine with Andersen left battered and bruised with a slight knee concern after a few minutes on the deck.

All 4 riders were invited back for the re-run but unfortunately for the Bears, the Monarchs reserve pairing gated for a maximum to send the hosts into an early 9-3 lead. Kye Thomson made it 3 Monarchs winners from 3 with a tapes to flag win whilst Paco Castagna claimed third to extend Edinburgh’s lead to 8.

The first shared heat of the quarter final arrived in heat 4 as Pickering won but with Lewis Kerr and Kasper Andersen in second and third respectively, the gap remained at 8 points. After Redcar’s first heat winner arrived in heat 5 courtesy of Summers, Edinburgh stretched their lead to 10 points with another 4-2 as Masters defeated Kerr whilst Frederiksen passed Newman on the last lap for third.

Edinburgh’s 4th 4-2 of the night arrived in heat 7 as Pickering won comfortably with Wright in second and Sarjeant in third. More bad luck arrived for the Teessiders in heat 8 as Newman gated with Andersen in the mix only for the Dane to collide with Fredriksen causing both to crash with the race being stopped in the interests of safety. The re-run saw Newman break down at the gate with Andersen in second but with Jacob Hook in third, Edinburgh’s lead was an eye watering 14 points.

More bad luck hit the Bears as Kerr crashed heavily in heat 9 whilst attempting to pass Thomson and Castagna with the Bears star taking a nasty tumble. Kerr was forced to withdraw from the meeting with the Silver Helmet holder feeling the effects of the crash. Thomson was excluded from the restaging after being deemed the primary cause of the stoppage with Jenkins coming in for Kerr. Castagna gated to take an important win to keep the Monarchs in a 14 point lead.

After back to back shared heats won by Masters and Pickering respectively, Redcar took their first heat advantage of the night in heat 12 as Wright and Newman both gated to take an extremely comfortable 5-1 to reduce the arrears to 10 points. Edinburgh’s masterful top 2 immediately returned the compliment in heat 13 as they hit a decisive 5-1 to put the Monarchs 14 in front.

Kyle Newman provided the moment of the night for the travelling Bears fans with a fantastic outside pass on Sarjeant in the closing stages of lap 1 to take a deserved win but with both Monarchs finishing ahead of Jenkins, Redcar remained 14 behind. Heat 15 saw the pairing of Masters and Pickering claim a potentially crucial 5-1 to round off a fantastic first leg for the Monarchs as they head to Redcar with a sizeable 18 point lead to defend.

Jamie Swales was naturally disappointed with the result, “ It was definitely a disappointing night for us, we went into the meeting with high hopes but unfortunately it all started to unravel for us in heat 2 with Kasper’s fall. Things then went from bad to worse with engine problems and Lewi having to withdraw through injury.”

Edinburgh Monarchs = 54

1. Sam Masters = 13+2
2. Lasse Fredriksen = 5
3. Kye Thomson = 5
4. Paco Castagna = 6+2
5. Josh Pickering = 15
6. James Sarjeant = 5+1
7. Jacob Hook = 5

Redcar Bears = 36

1. Aaron Summers (G) = 5+1
2. Jason Edwards R/R
3. Charles Wright = 10
4. Jordan Jenkins = 3+1
5. Lewis Kerr = 3+1 (Withdrawn)
6. Kyle Newman = 8+1
7. Kasper Andersen = 7+1

Redcar boss Jade Mudgway has challenged his side to go to Armadale in the first leg of the play-off quarter-finals and improve on his side’s 47-43 KO Cup defeat in mid-August. Redcar will be wary of a hungry Monarchs side who will be after revenge after the Bears dumped the Scottish side out of the KO Cup just two weeks ago. The clash takes place this evening at 19:30 hours with the clash being streamed live by the British Speedway Network.

The Kiwi promoter said, “ I believe we can go one better than last time and that’s what we have got to be aiming to do! We are definitely capable of a better result but Edinburgh are a strong side so we will have to be on our game.”

The former Bears reserve is also disappointed to be without Jason Edwards and Erik Riss for the clash with Edwards still recovering from his shoulder injury he suffered whilst racing for Mildenhall. “ It’s not ideal going into the play-offs without our full 1-7 but we have just got to pull our bootstraps up and get on with it.”

The absence of Edwards can only be covered by the rider replacement facility and Mudgway believes the facility can work for the Bears, “ We have 3 riders in Jordan (Jenkins), Kasper (Andersen) and Kyle (Newman) who can do the job for us in covering Jason. Jason will be a big miss in the pits and on track but hopefully the 3 boys can cover him well.”

Mudgway is also confident that Aaron Summers (The Redcar guest at number 1) will do the job for his old side, “ I have no concerns in regards to Aaron coming in at number 1. Aaron is really good around Armadale, he is in great form and he has had a good year. I’m quite happy with the selection we have made.”

The Bears boss is also happy to see Jordan Jenkins scoring consistently good points in the Premiership as well as in the Championship for the Bears, “ In the second half of the season, Jordan has really stepped things up and hit some form. I’m really proud to have him, he has found something that works for him and it’s great to see him improving.”

Mudgway remains realistic about the chances this evening, “ I would be satisfied with a 48-42 defeat but I do believe we have the riders to go to Armadale and do better than that. At the same time, Edinburgh are a good side and they could easily win by more than 6 points. At the end of the day, it will come down to who wants it more on the night!”

Edinburgh are at full strength ahead of the crunch clash with Sam Masters and Josh Pickering sure to perform well on their home circuit. As mentioned, Redcar bring in Summers for Riss whilst rider replacement will be used to cover Jason Edwards. 

Edinburgh Monarchs

1. Sam Masters 10.58 ©

 2. Lasse Frederiksen 4.00  

 3. Kye Thomson 6.60

4. Paco Castagna 4.93

5. Josh Pickering 8.92

6. James Sarjeant 3.68

7. Jacob Hook 4.00

™: John Campbell

Redcar “Agilia” Bears

1. Aaron Summers 8.58 (G)

2. Rider Replacement for Jason Edwards

3. Charles Wright 8.00 (C)

4. Jordan Jenkins 4.93

5. Lewis Kerr 7.44 

6. Kyle Newman 4.39

7. Kasper Andersen 4.10

™: Jade Mudgway

We can now confirm following the sad passing of HRH Queen Elizabeth II, the Play Off Quarter Final 2nd Leg at Redcar scheduled for Sunday 11th of September has now been postponed.

Further details on future fixtures will be announced in due course.

Following the sad passing of HRH Queen Elizabeth II, the Play Off Quarter Final 1st Leg at Edinburgh scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed.

Further details on future fixtures will be announced in due course.

Redcar produced one of their best performances of the season in front of a large crowd to demolish Edinburgh 54-36 (97-83 on aggregate) to progress to the KO Cup final for the second time in three years. Charles Wright made a successful return from injury with 13+1 whilst Josh Pickering hit 13 for the Monarchs.

Richard Lawson continued his scintillating form with a heat 1 win whilst Jason Edwards gained a creditable third place to give Redcar their first heat advantage.

The original staging of heat 2 was brought back with James Sarjeant receiving a warning for an unsatisfactory start. In the restaging, Redcar went ahead in the tie with a superb 5-1 courtesy of the new reserve pairing, Kasper Andersen and Kyle Newman both passing Sarjeant with the Edinburgh reserve then retiring with bike problems.

Charles Wright’s return to form started with a bang in heat 3 as the skipper stalked Kye Thomson for the first lap before making a calculated pass up the inside on the 2nd bend of lap 2 to take the win and with Jordan Jenkins in 3rd, Redcar went 16-8 up and 4 points ahead on aggregate.

Edinburgh had their first heat winner in heat 4 as Pickering stemmed the Bears winning flow but no heat advantage could be gained for the visitors as Redcar packed into the minor placings.

Edinburgh were left cursing their luck after an eventful heat 5. Sam Masters was leading comfortably and with Lasse Fredriksen looking likely to pass Jenkins, Edinburgh were set for their first heat advantage. Despite Fredriksen indeed passing Jenkins, Masters dramatically slowed on the final lap to gift Wright the win and hand Redcar another 4-2 heat advantage.  

Nevertheless, the Monarchs fans did not have to wait much longer for their first heat advantage though as Pickering made it back to back wins by holding off Lawson whilst Sarjeant overcame Edwards for third to give Edinburgh a potential springboard.

Determined to stay in control, Redcar immediately returned the favour with their 4th 4-2 of the match as Lewis Kerr continued his fantastic form with a win after an early battle with Paco Castagna whilst Newman had to settle for third after his own battle with the Italian.

Edinburgh hit a fantastic 5-1 in heat 8 to reduce the aggregate gap to 2 and send shockwaves throughout the ECCO Arena as Fredriksen and Sarjeant combined to bring the Monarchs right back into contention.

Wright took another win with Pickering becoming his latest victim in a shared heat 9. Lawson settled some of the crowd’s nerves as he passed Thomson at the conclusion of lap 1 to take the win whilst Edwards defeated Castagna to double Redcar’s aggregate advantage to 4. Another 4-2 followed in heat 11 with a fantastic battle involving Masters and Newman. Kerr gated and rode off into the sunset whilst Newman stormed up the inside with his front wheel on the bend 4 grass to pass Masters but the Aussie returned the favour 1 lap later to limit the damage for the visitors.

By now, the tie was getting away from the Monarchs who struggled for consistent backup for their main man, Pickering. Heat 12 was another killer blow for Edinburgh. Sarjeant, coming off a paid win was deemed to be moving at the start and after already receiving an earlier warning was excluded from the re-run with the Monarchs boss, John Campbell electing to send out Sarjeant’s reserve partner, Hook in his place. Wright won again and with Andersen in third, Redcar were 8 points up overall with only 3 races remaining.

Kerr inflicted a rare defeat on Pickering in heat 13 with a fantastic win and with Lawson in third, Redcar were nearly there!
The mathematical qualification was secured in heat 14 as Andersen and Newman combined for a perfect exhibition of team riding to keep Castagna behind them for Redcar’s 10th heat advantage of the match.

Heat 15 was won by the impressive Pickering but Edinburgh could not gain a consolation heat advantage as the brilliant Bears packed into 2nd and 3rd.

The atmosphere was fantastic from start to finish, the riders can feel it. The noise you make is vitally important, so from Redcar Speedway, thank you and as Lewi Kerr says, “Redcar have the best fans in speedway!”

Redcar Bears = 54 (97)
1. Richard Lawson (G) = 11
2. Jason Edwards = 2
3. Charles Wright = 13+1
4. Jordan Jenkins = 2
5. Lewis Kerr = 10+1
6. Kyle Newman = 6+2
7. Kasper Andersen = 10
 
Edinburgh Monarchs = 36 (83)
 
1. Sam Masters = 4
2. Lasse Fredriksen = 5
3. Kye Thomson = 6
4. Paco Castagna = 3
5. Josh Pickering = 13
6. James Sarjeant = 3+1
7. Jacob Hook = 2+1

Redcar’s team boss Jade Mudgway has urged his side to bring the same, vibrant energy that saw the Bears qualify for the play-offs into tomorrow’s crucial KO Cup semi-final 2nd leg at the ECCO Arena with tapes up at 19:30. After a tight first leg at Armadale, the Bears are 4 points down heading into the all important 2nd leg.

The Kiwi said, “ We have to start faster at home, we all know that but if we can bring the energy that we had at Plymouth then that will help. We need to get out of the gate in heat 1, start fast and carry it throughout the match.”

The former Bears rider is also treating the match as a normal match despite the 2 legged nature of the tie, “ I think we’ve got to treat it as a single match, we will take it race by race but we will obviously be trying to score as many points as we can.”

Mudgway also praised the spine tingling atmosphere that was generated at the ECCO Arena in the closing stages of the Scunthorpe match with the Kiwi hoping that can be replicated against Edinburgh, “The crowd could see that we were really trying in heats 13,14&15 and the crowd hadn’t given up on us either. You cannot underestimate how important it is to have that support and how much it helps when the crowd believe.”

Due to the new averages being released, Erik Riss moves into the number 1 position for Redcar whilst the skipper, Charles Wright moves to 3. Jordan Jenkins also moves into the main body of the team at number 4 after his recent impressive form whilst Kasper Andersen moves into reserve. 

Erik’s absence will again be covered by the reliable in-form Brit Richard Lawson who did a stellar job for the Bears at Plymouth on Tuesday. 

Redcar are hopeful of being able to welcome back Wright and Jenkins with a late decision being made on their availability. 

Club bosses have a guest lined up for Wright. If Jenkins is deemed unfit then Redcar will have to use the rider replacement facility with Jenkins now 4th in the team averages. 

Edinburgh line up with a full 1-7 with the dangermen Sam Masters and Josh Pickering sure to be threats throughout the evening. 2021 Bear James Sarjeant also makes a return to the ECCO Arena. 

Redcar “Agilia” Bears

1.Richard Lawson   8.58 (G)

2 Jason Edwards.    4.39

3 Charles Wright.     8.00  ©

4 Jordan Jenkins.    4.93

5 Lewis Kerr.             7.44

6 Kyle Newman.       4.39

7 Kasper Andersen. 4.10

Team Manager Jade Mudgway

Edinburgh Monarchs

1.       Sam Masters 10.58 ©

2.       Lasse Fredriksen 4.00

3.       Kye Thomson 6.60

4.       Paco Castagna 4.93

5.       Josh Pickering 8.92

6.       James Sarjeant 3.68

7.       Jacob Hook 4.00

Team Manager John Campbell