Category: Bears News

FAN VIP
For this week’s British U21 Semi Final we are opening the Bruce Forrester Lounge to the fans.
Upgrade your ticket to VIP for an extra £12

Full Buffet
1 x Drink Voucher
1 x Programme
Access to Lounge
Balcony Seating

If this interests you, book your place with Ian Drinkel on 07827293866 or indrinkel@msn.com

I’m very sorry to tell you all that I will be standing down as promoter of Redcar Bears Speedway, which I announced in our programme on Sunday. I owe it to you all to explain my reasons.

I’ve had a memorable 11 years with the Bears, initially as team manager, before taking on a promotional role at the end of 2018. It’s been an honour to take the reins of the club I’ve supported since childhood, but recent pressures and the frustrations I detailed on Sunday, have caused me to call time on my future here, so this will now be my final season.

Running our club takes a huge time commitment, something I’m sure many people could not fully appreciate – it is equivalent to a full-time job, but one that I do not get paid to do, nor do I have any ownership of the club. This means I have to work full time in addition to my promotional role in order to pay the bills, something that is not sustainable in the long-term.

The last few months have put a huge strain on my personal life and mental well-being. Additional pressure due to Covid has made everything much harder, and it is simply impossible for me to continue the way I have been. I’m very fortunate to work for a company that has made massive provisions to allow me to continue until the end of the season – without their backing this would not be possible. Agilia’s support of our club has gone way beyond sponsorship, and I cannot thank them enough.

I can promise that my decision will not affect Redcar’s season – I will continue to work hard for us until the end of the year, when I will hand over to my co-promoter Jamie Swales, who I am currently working closely with. It brings me great pleasure to tell you all that our club is in a great position right now and I’m very proud of my achievements over the last 3 years. I hope it is apparent that I’m extremely ambitious and hard-working, and I believe that the sport’s perception of our special club has changed for the better as a result. Other than my family and friends, nothing is more important to me than Redcar Speedway – I first set foot on the terraces of Middlesbrough Speedway’s Cleveland Park as a baby, and I’ve been in love with our club ever since. That will never change.

I won’t go into detail about my recent frustration with the SCB as I’ve already done that. However, I would strongly encourage our governing body to make any future decisions consistently. A failure to do so, as evident in their ruling of the Birmingham V Redcar KO Cup 1st leg fixture, only brings the credibility of our great sport into question and demotivates promoters who work hard for their clubs. Our governing body has a duty to represent the sport and its members fairly, by ruling consistently, transparently, and without prejudice or bias. I don’t believe all of those principles were adhered to on this occasion. We deserve to be treated equally – being treated differently to others before us without any explanation is something that I cannot accept. It is unfortunately the final straw for me.

I have several people who I’d like to thank for their support since I took over the club at the end of 2018. Firstly, to our loyal sponsors who without, our club could not survive. We are extremely fortunate to have 8 partners who have shown belief in our vision, and I am forever grateful for the faith they have shown in me, and the confidence they had that I would deliver on my promises. Next to our staff, most of whom are volunteers, who have stood by me and the club over the years. They are an amazing bunch of people who have never asked for anything and give their time for the benefit of our club.

Thanks also to our directors, who have always done everything needed to keep our club alive. It’s been nothing but a pleasure working alongside them – I stress that we have always had, and still maintain a very good relationship. Also, to my co-promoters Jade Mudgway and Jamie Swales, who I can always count on to be by my side and are two of the best friends anybody could wish for.

Finally, a massive thank you to all our loyal fans who have supported us through thick and thin. We have a special fan base who have been incredible to me during my time as promoter and you have made it all worthwhile. It really has been an incredible journey we have been on together. I will still be at the MPA every week, even after my work is finished here. I feel touched and am overwhelmed by the messages of support I’ve had since Sunday – there are too many to reply to individually, but I’ve read every one of them!

I’d like to finish by wishing all of my co-promoters at the BSPL good luck for the future. They all work incredibly hard for their respective clubs, have always made me feel very welcome and are very passionate, not only towards their clubs, but towards British Speedway. I hope they all experience the success they deserve.

Here’s to a great and successful season for the Bears and massive thanks to all of you!
Jitendra Duffill

Please note that this statement and the opinions within it are mine, and not those of Redcar Speedway.

The Redcar “Agilia” Bears came out 47-43 winners over the previously unbeaten Glasgow Tigers in a pulsating Sunday evening encounter at the Media Prima Arena. The Bears heat 15 heroes were the heat leader pairing of Jake Allen and Charles Wright who roared past former Grand Prix star Craig Cook to take the 3 league points for the Bears. 

In the early stages of the meeting the Bears were cursing their bad luck which began in heat 2 when James Sarjeant made the gate before shedding a chain on the back straight of lap 1 which handed the Tigers a 5-1 which sent them into an early 4 point lead. Heat 3 saw the first contender for race of the night with Jake Allen and Ulrich Ostergaard both fighting for the race win with the lead changing hands numerous times before “The Brisbane Bullet” got the better of the former Bear on the final lap to secure a shared heat for the Bears. Heat 6 saw further bad luck when Jake Allen fell when in a promising position but Charles Wright came good for the home side in the re-run for another shared heat. Heat 8 saw Broc Nicol and Tigers guest Leon Flint combine for a big 5-1 for the Tigers which sent them into an 8 point lead. With the Bears being 8 points down Jade Mudgway used his tactical substitute in the form of Charles Wright and the decision paid dividends as the Bears hit their first 5-1 of the evening. Heat 10 saw the Bears close the gap further with a 4-2 heat advantage despite Glasgow initially gating on a 5-1. The Tigers extended their advantage in Heat 12 as Ulrich Ostergaard got the better of Jake Allen and Sam Jensen got the better of Jordan Jenkins to send the Scottish side into a 4 point lead. Heat 13 saw Craig Cook fly from the gate to take the win but with the Bears packing the minor placings the gap remained at 4. 

Heading into the final 2 heats of the evening the Bears knew they needed to pull a rabbit out of the hat to grab anything from the meeting and the pairing of Anders Rowe and James Sarjeant did just that with a big 5-1 heat advantage. Rowe made a majestic move around the outside of both Tigers on the opening bends to take the win whilst James Sarjeant came second to bring the scores level. A special mention must go to the former Somerset man Rowe who elected to jump onto his 2nd bike and the decision proved to be the correct one. Heat 15 saw a frankly unbelievable speedway race, one of the best final heats the Media Prima Arena has ever seen! The Bears were up against it as the Championship pace setters had choice of gates and chose gates 1+3 but Redcar did not let this affect them as Jake Allen made a pearler of a start and Charles Wright flew around the outside of Craig Cook on the 2nd lap to cap an unbelievable evening of speedway and give the Bears a 47-43 win. 

We caught up with Bears team boss Jade Mudgway who had this to say on the evening’s entertainment, “Full credit to the lads tonight, they got stuck in when things weren’t going our way and that is the mark of a team. What pleased me was that we didn’t roll over and hand it to them, we made a few technical changes and things came good in the end. I’m really proud of the team for digging deep. Even though we had some mechanical issues we didn’t let that affect us and that was really impressive. I would have actually chosen gates 1+3 if I had the choice but when you have a team of racers like we do who are willing to ride the fence for you it’s fantastic!”

Redcar “Agilia” Bears = 47

1. Charles Wright – 2, 3, 3, 3, 1′, 2′ = 14+2

2. Jordan Stewart R/R

3. Jake Allen – 3, 3, FX, 2′, 2, 3 = 13+1

4. Anders Rowe – 1, 0, 1, 3 = 5

5. Michael Palm Toft – 2, 1′, 3, 2 = 8+1

6. James Sarjeant – R, 2, 0, 2′ = 4+1

7. Jordan Jenkins – 1′, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0 = 3+1

Glasgow “Allied Vehicle” Tigers = 43

1. Craig Cook – 3, 2, 2, 3, 1 = 11

2. Broc Nicol – 0, 1′, 3, 1′ = 5+2

3. Ulrich Ostergaard – 2, 3, 2, 3, 0 = 10

4. Justin Sedgmen – 0, FX, 0, 1 = 1

5. Ricky Wells – 3, 2, 1, 0 = 6

6. Sam Jensen – 3, 1′, 0, 1 = 5+1

7. Leon Flint (G) – 2′, 1, 2′, 0 = 5+2

Tickets for the British U21 Semi-Final, taking place at the Media Prima Arena this Thursday, are now on sale. This is a great chance to see some of the exciting British youngsters who can go on to become the future stars! Season ticket holders will have this meeting included as part of their ticket.

Advance ticket prices – available online here:

Adult £13 + £1 booking fee
Concession £10 + £1 booking fee
Children £1 + £0.50 booking fee

On the gate prices (must be booked in advance with Ian Drinkel on 07827293866):

Adult £14
Concession £11
Children £1

Programmes £2.50

We hope to see as many of you in attendance as possible.

The Redcar “Agilia” Bears are aiming for payback when they take on Championship pace setters the Glasgow Tigers this evening, (5pm start). The Bears are in confident mood after recording an important away win against the Berwick Bandits on Saturday night. The Tigers are sure to cause problems for the Bears as they are undefeated so far this season. The Scottish side have also defeated Kent and Birmingham on their travels in the past week. The battles between the two number 1’s in Charles Wright and Craig Cook are ones not to be missed!

We caught up with the Bears in-form reserve Jordan Jenkins who had this to say ahead of the meeting “I’ve been looking forward to getting back on my home track all week. I feel I’m getting better every week and I’m hoping we can get revenge on Glasgow after they beat us on Friday night.” 

The Bears continue to operate rider replacement in the absence of Jordan Stewart whilst Glasgow having originally booked Drew Kemp will bring in Leon Flint as a guest replacement for the injured Jack Smith, due to Drew’s mandatory isolation. 

Redcar “Agilia” Bears. 

1. Charles Wright (c)        9.35

2. Rider replacement for Jordan Stewart

3. Jake Allen                7.26

4. Anders Rowe.         4.27

5. Michael Palm Toft  8.18

6. James Sarjeant.     3.90

7. Jordan Jenkins.      2*

TM Jade Mudgway. 

Glasgow “Allied Vehicles” Tigers

1 Craig Cook (c).      10.06 

2 Broc Nicol              5.32

3 Ulrich Ostergaard 6.09 

4 Justin Sedgmen   5.27

5 Ricky Wells            7.02

6 Sam Jensen          4.92

7 Leon Flint (G)            3*

™ Cameron Brown

The Redcar “Agilia” Bears picked up a massive away win against the Berwick Bandits as they ran out 42-48 winners at Shielfield park. The star man for the Bears was their captain Charles Wright who hit a brilliant paid maximum including a last gasp win on the line in heat 15! Jordan Jenkins also starred for the Bears with an impressive score of paid 12.

The meeting was a topsy-turvy affair as the lead swung both ways throughout most of the meeting. Initially, the meeting was delayed by around 30 minutes due to an electrical fault with the starting tapes. The opening 2 heats were shared before the Bears took a 4 point lead after heat 3 as Jake Allen and Anders Rowe (who did brilliantly to stay on the bike after nearly colliding with Allen) combined for a 5-1. Heat 4 saw Berwick hit back with Summers and Flint combining for a maximum heat advantage. The 5th heat of the evening saw Wright make a fantastic pass on Danny Gappmaier on bends 3 and 4 of lap 1. The Bandits yet again showed their mettle by bringing the meeting level as Danny Gappamier caught James Sarjeant on the line for a Bandits 4-2. Heat 10 saw the race of the night as Jordan Jenkins flew from the tapes to take the win but the action was all happening behind him as Charles Wright passed Berwick skipper Aaron Summers on the 4th bend of lap 3. In heat 13 the Bears heat leader duo of Michael Palm-Toft and Charles Wright struck a significant blow in heat 13 by recording a maximum heat advantage. Heat 14 saw Jordan Jenkins continue his astounding form with another tapes to flag win meaning the Bears had a 4 point advantage heading into heat 15. Heat 15 saw another Bears heat advantage as Charles Wright somehow pipped Jye Etheridge on the line before crashing into the air fence for his paid maximum. Bears fans will be relieved to hear Wright suffered no ill effects from the crash.

We caught up with a jubilant Jordan Jenkins who had this to say on his evening “I’ve never seen the track before so it was a case of getting used to the track in my first 2 outings. I then changed things quite drastically with the bike and it worked. Overall, it’s just a confidence game and if you can find the right lines you can do well. Being on the bike is good as it helps me become a better rider and tonight was a good night’s work!”

Berwick Bandits = 42

1. Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen – T, 2′, 2, 0 = 4+1

2. Coty Garcia R/R

3. Jye Etheridge – 1, R, 2′, 3, 2 = 8+1

4. Dany Gappmaier – 0, 2, 1, 3, 1′, 0 = 7+1

5. Aaron Summers – 3, 1, 1, 1 = 6

6. Kyle Bickley – 2, 3, 0, 0, 2 = 7

7. Leon Flint – 1′, Fx, 2′, 3, 3, 1′, 0 = 10+3

Redcar Bears = 48

1. Charles Wright – 3, 3, 2′, 3, 3 = 14+1 Paid Max

2. Jordan Stewart R/R

3. Jake Allen – 3, 1, 2′, 3, 2, 1 = 12+1

4. Anders Rowe – 0, 2′, 3, 0, 0 = 5+1

5. Michael Palm Toft – 1, 1, 1, 2′ = 5+1

6. James Sarjeant – 2, 0, 0, 0 = 2

7. Jordan Jenkins – 1′, 0, 2, 3, 1′, 3 = 10+2

The Redcar “Agilia” Bears continue their whistlestop northern tour with a visit to Berwick before they head home for a return fixture against the Glasgow Tigers. Tonight’s meeting is sure to be a close encounter with Berwick looking to improve their home form after a disappointing defeat to Birmingham in the opening weeks of the season. The Bandits, who have 6 riders returning from their 2019 side, will be itching to exact revenge on the Bears after the Teessiders came out with a 43-47 win on their last visit to the Scottish Borders. The Bandits are still without their Argentine star Coty Garcia who is currently locked down in Argentina and they continue to run rider replacement in his absence. Additionally, the Bears will also continue to operate rider replacement in the absence of Jordan Stewart. 

Bears co-promoter Jamie Swales is looking forward to tonight’s battle, “I’m looking forward to going to Berwick, it’s a professionally run club and the track is always prepared well so hopefully we can go and put on a show for them. They’ve had a tough start to the season on track but that doesn’t mean we can let our guard down, they have a solid looking team led by our old friend Aaron Summers, and they have one of the best reserve pairings in the league. We all saw what Flinty (Leon Flint) is capable of last week, and with Kyle (Bickley) beside him they managed to score half of the teams points in their recent away match at Poole but at the time of writing we are still unbeaten this season and I see no reason why we can’t carry that on in this fixture.”

Berwick “Fire Training Services” Bandits

1. Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen
2. Rider Replacement for Coty Garcia
3. Jye Etheridge
4. Dany Gappmaier
5. Aaron Summers ©
6. Kyle Bickley
7. Leon Flint

Team Manager: Gary Flint

Redcar “Agilia” Bears

1. Charles Wright © 
2. Rider Replacement for Jordan Stewart
3. Jake Allen
4. Anders Rowe
5. Michael Palm Toft
6. James Sarjeant
7. Jordan Jenkins

Team Manager: Jade Mudgway

The Redcar “Agilia” Bears suffered their first league defeat of the season against a strong
Glasgow Tigers side as the Tigers put in a strong all round team performance to put the
Bears to the sword.

The opening heat set the tone for the evening as the Tigers pairing of Cook and Nicol flew
from the tapes for a maximum advantage in heat 1. Heat 4 saw the Bears rising star Jordan
Jenkins make the gate before he was eventually usurped by Ricky Wells and the Tigers’
impressive guest Danyon Hume. Heat 6 saw an electrifying tussle between Charles Wright
and Ulrich Ostergaard with the former using the outside line to take the chequered flag.

Heats 7 & 8 saw the Scottish outfit march into a 16 point lead with back to back maximum
heat advantages. Jade Mudgway used a tactical substitute in the form of Charles Wright in
heat 9 and the decision was justified as Wright passed Justin Sedgemen on the back
straight of lap 1 after picking up drive and the captain was joined at the front by Michael
Palm-Toft for the Bears first 5-1 of the evening to keep the Teessiders in with a shout of a
league point. Heat 10 saw a rare occurrence as “Mr Maximum” Craig Cook’s colours were
lowered by Jake Allen who rode fantastically to keep Cook behind him.

After a break for track grading Bears reserve James Sarjeant joined the party by defeating
Ricky Wells for third place to help the Bears to a 4-2 heat advantage with Charles Wright
once again taking the victory from the tapes. The twelfth heat of the evening saw an
excellent race as Danyon Hume, Jake Allen and James Sarjeant had a titanic battle for 2nd
place, a battle which was won by Jake Allen. Heat 13 saw the Tigers effectively clinch the
win as Charles Wright was passed on the back straight of the final lap by Craig Cook who
took his tally to 11 for the evening. The Bears’ hopes of a league point were extinguished
after a 5-1 reverse in heat 14 as Sam Jensen and Justin Sedgmen combined to hold off the
challenge of Anders Rowe. The final heat of the evening was a shared heat as Craig Cook
took a tapes to flag victory whilst Wright and Allen packed the minor places.

The man of the match for the Bears was Charles Wright who picked himself up from a
disappointing heat 1 to score 14 points overall and heading into matches against Berwick
away and Glasgow at home the form of the captain will be extremely important to the Bears
chances.

Glasgow Tigers = 52

1. Craig Cook 3, 3, 2, 3, 3 = 14
2. Broc Nicol 2, 2, 3, 1*, 0 = 8+3
3. Ulrich Ostergaard 2, 2, 1, 3 = 8
4. Justin Sedgmen 0, 0, 0, 2* = 2+1
5. Ricky Wells 3, 3, 0, 0 = 6
6. Sam Jensen 3, 2*, 2, 3 = 10+1
7. Danyon Hume (G) 0, 2, 2, 0 = 4+2

Redcar Bears = 38

1. Charles Wright 1, 3, 3^, 3, 2, 2 = 14
2. Jordan Stewart R/R (=3)
3. Jake Allen 3, 1, 1, 3, 2, 1* = 11+1
4. Anders Rowe 0, 1, 0, 0, 1 = 2
5. Michael Palm Toft 0, 1, 2, 1 = 4+2
6. James Sarjeant 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0 = 4+2
7. Jordan Jenkins 2, 1, 0 = 3
8. Danny Phillips = Did not ride

The Redcar “Agilia” Bears head north to take on the Glasgow Tigers who are currently sitting pretty at the top of the SGB Championship. The Tigers are the league’s in-form team and thus this will be a tough evening for the Bears. Both teams are currently undefeated but the Tigers have had the more convincing victories to date with big away wins at Kent and Birmingham respectively.

The Tigers are missing former Bear Jack Smith who has an arm injury which he suffered on Tuesday at Kent, Poole Pirate’s Danyon Hume guests in his place. The Bears are back at full strength as Anders Rowe has returned from his GB pairs bronze medal in Poland.

Additionally, Jade Mudgway has opted to switch the Bears riding order in the continuedabsence of Jordan Stewart. Rider replacement will operate at number 2 whilst Anders Rowe moves into the number 4 position.

Bears team manager Jade Mudgway is excited at the prospect of fixtures against the in-form Championship side, “Tomorrow’s meeting away at Glasgow is going to be a very hard one. Glasgow have been unbeaten home and away so far this year but the Bears are up for the challenge. There is nothing sweeter than beating an in-form team at home so we will try and do just that! I think we are going there at the perfect time for the Bears to be honest, Charles Wright has just come off getting some big points for Belle Vue and Michael Palm Toft is in fine form as well. Additionally, James Sarjeant knows the track really well and Jordan Jenkins has hit the ground running in his first year in the Championship. We also have Anders Rowe back and he is sure to boost the team. Finally, Jake Allen will thrive on the Glasgow track with his all out riding style. I think there is everything to play for and it will be a very tight match!

Redcar Agilia Bears.

1. Charles Wright 9.35 (C)
2. Jordan Stewart 5.74. (Rider replacement)
3. Jake Allen 7.26
4. Anders Rowe. 4.27
5. Michael Palm Toft 8.18
6. James Sarjeant 3.90
7. Jordan Jenkins 2*

TM Jade Mudgway

Glasgow ‘Allied Vehicles’ Tigers

1 Craig Cook 10.06 (C)
2 Broc Nicol 5.32
3 Ulrich Ostergaard 6.09
4 Justin Sedgmen 5.27
5 Ricky Wells 7.02
6 Sam Jensen 4.92
7 Danyon Hume 3*

TM – Cameron Brown

The Redcar Bears picked up a solid 46-44 first leg win over a strong Brummies side in the KO Cup. The Teesside outfit made the perfect start with 3 5-1’s in the first 3 races as the Brummies were left reeling by a hungry Bears side. Heat 4 saw another heat advantage for the Bears with Jake Allen getting the better of Erik Riss. Heats 5 and 6 saw the Brummies creep back into the contest with successive 4-2’s courtesy of their dangermen Chris Harris and Erik Riss. Heats 8-10 saw the Bears maintain their 12 point advantage with 3 shared heats.

Heat 11 saw a contentious refereeing decision as Chris Harris was out of shape on bend 4 and collided with Jake Allen, much to the dismay of the paying public Allen was excluded and this started the Brummies comeback as they hit a 5-1 going into the interval. Heat 12 saw man of the match Michael Palm Toft take the chequered flag and with James Sarjeant in 3rd this gave the Bears a 4-2 heat advantage.

Heat 13 saw the dynamic duo of Riss & Harris cause nightmares for the Bears as they hit a big 5-1 for the visitors. Heat 14 saw the race of the night as Jake Allen went from last to first to pick up a vital win for the Bears but heat 15 kept the tie close going into the 2nd leg as the spearhead of Harris and Riss hit another 5-1 to leave the tie finely balanced.

Jade Mudgway was deflated when asked for comment on the meeting “I am disappointed that we let Birmingham back into the meeting in the second half as we had a strong grip on the meeting up to and including heat 10, we just didn’t make the starts and Birmingham were just quicker from the tapes which has ultimately led to a closer result than I was hoping for.”

Redcar Bears : 46

1. Charles Wright – 2′, 2, 3, 1, 0 = 8+1

2. Leon Flint (G) – 3, 2′, 0, 2, 0 = 7+1

3. Michael Palm Toft – 3, 2, 3, 3, 1 = 12

4. Jordan Stewart – R/R (LF-2′, JS-0, JJ-0, JA-3) = 5+1

5. Jake Allen – 3, 3, X, 0, 3 = 9

6. James Sarjeant – 3, 0, 1, Xt, 1, 0 = 5

7. Jordan Jenkins – 2′, 1, 1′, 0, 1 = 5+2

8. Alex Goldborough – Did Not Ride = 0

Birmingham Brummies : 44

1. Chris Harris – 1, 3, 3, 2′, 2′ = 11+2

2. Valetin Grobauer – R/R (PC-R, JS-1, PC-3, AM-2′) = 6+1

3. James Shanes – 1, 1, 2, 2, 0 = 6

4. Ashley Morris – F, Fx, 1′, 2′, 1′ = 4+3

5. Erik Riss – 2, 3, 2, 3, 3 = 13

6. Paco Castagna – R, 1, 1, 3, 1′, 2, 2 = 10+1

7. Jack Thomas – 0, 0, 0 = 0

8. Luke Muff – Did Not Ride = 0