Category: Bears News

Bears promoter Jitendra Duffill attended this years British Speedway AGM earlier this week and is pleased to confirm that the Redcar Ecco Bears will come to the tapes in next years Championship League. With the Premiership League now operating on protected Monday and Thursday race nights, the Bears have no option but to change their race day. It is confirmed that Redcar will now run on a Friday night in 2019 with Sunday used as an alternative race day.

Team building is currently under way and a full press release will be made at the weekend.

The BSPA are delighted to report that the 2018 AGM has successfully concluded and has delivered a number of positive benefits for 2019 and equally importantly, stability going forward.

British Speedway in 2018 has achieved tremendous success in the International and European competitions. The British Premiership, Championship and National Development Leagues have entertained a growing and more diverse audience by consistently delivering speedway of the highest quality.

It is clear from the data received from our media partners that British Speedway remain fit for purpose as a sports product. On this basis the BSPA have identified that the evolution of the regulations combined with delivering general stability through the sport, and a league structure that enables a clear progression pathway, are some of the key objectives for the short and medium term.

The following 2019 actions are designed to deliver against this criterion:

• New Limited Company -The BSPA has now agreed to transition to a Ltd Company from the 1st December 2018. The new company will be; The British Speedway Promoters’ Association Ltd. In accordance with British accountancy requirements, the BSPA business will submit timely audited accounts to Companies House. All current business assets will be transferred in their entirety and the association remains financially viable. The articles of association have been approved at the AGM.

• BSPA Management Committee – These roles now transition to the role of Director in the new LTD Company. For continuity of leadership during this transition period, it is decided that for the next 12 months, all current roles such as President, Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Management Committee members all transition to the new Ltd Company, with Chris Louis nominated as a reserve Director.

• BSPA Communications – To ensure that the good work of the BSPA is communicated correctly, the BSPA will pilot a monthly press release generated by the Directors.

• The International Speedway League Bureaux (ISLB) – Agreement has again been reached that Great Britain has secured ‘protected rider’ race days for Monday and Thursday within the European events calendar. The British Premiership League will race on Mondays and Thursdays for 2019. This will assist each team to present a more consistent rider line-up to their supporters.

• GB Speedway Team – has delivered a fresh brand image and new look to the GB Speedway Team, that has delivered success both on and off track. The BSPA are delighted to confirm that Rob Painter and his team at VRX Motorsport will continue to run, in accordance with the BSPA licence terms and condition, GB Team Speedway through to the contract renewal in 2020. In addition, the BSPA have agreed that Alun Rossiter and Neil Vatcher will, under the same licence conditions, retain their roles through to 2020. They are GB Speedway Team Manager and Young Lions U21 Team Manager respectively.

• GB Speedway Team Test Matches – Every effort will be made to stage 3 GB based test matches during 2019.

• The BSPA League Structures for 2019 will be; (NB to support the progression of riders who have progressed through the National Development League, all riders will receive a 2.5% reduction in their average)

Premiership League – Commencing April 2019
• 7 Clubs
• 7 Rider teams
• 42.5 Average
• Minimum rider points average of 3 ‘achieved’ and not assessed
• 15 heat events
• League – home and away twice + Play-offs
• New ‘Premiership Supporters Cup’ with 1 race ‘fans nominated’ via social media – Full details to follow but 1st event provisionally scheduled for 8th April
• Each Club to stage one round of the British Youth Championship in 2019

Championship League – Commencing April 2019
• Conversion rate for 2019 will be 1.5, 2020 will be 1.6 and 2021 will be 1.7
• Up to 12 Clubs
• 7 Rider teams
• 38.0 Average
• 15 heat events
• League – Home and away once + Play-offs
• Shield – 3 Groups of 4 + Winners of each group + best runner-up
• Knock-out-Cup

• National League – AGM to be held on the 28th November 2018

• 2019 Premiership Clubs
• Poole
• King’s Lynn
• Belle Vue
• Swindon
• Wolverhampton
• Peterborough
• Ipswich

• 2019 Championship Clubs
• Berwick
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow
• Redcar
• Sheffield
• Scunthorpe
• Newcastle
• Somerset
• Leicester
• Workington
• Two National Development League clubs will be joining the Championship and both clubs will be formally announcing their elevation over the next few days.

• National Supporters Club Group 
• The BSPA is looking to establish a national supporters club group. Each official or designated supporters club, will be invited to nominate one liaison member from their club. The purpose is to provide supporters with a mechanism to express views, share ideas and have an active communication channel with the BSPA. More information to follow with the aim to be active before the commencement of the 2019 season.

• Rider ‘doubling down’ and rider progression opportunities
• For a number of reasons, the BSPA has activated a phased 5-year plan to create a clear progression ladder for up-and-coming riders. In addition, the plan will gradually reduce the number of ‘doubling down’ riders between the Premiership and Championship Clubs. For 2019 the Championship Club rider average has been reduced to 38 points. The average conversion rate from Premiership to Championship will be 1.5. This conversion rate will increase (For example 1.6 in 2020) by one tenth of a point each year until the rate reaches 2.0.

• Speedway GB press office report
• New Style website peaked at 139,500 hits per day
• Facebook in excess of 20,000 likes
• Twitter has in excess 25,000 followers
• Instagram followers of 2,481

BT Sport
• Are a valued partner again for 2019
• The coverage has attracted an average of 98,000 unique viewers
• Viewership of speedway on BT Sport has increased 41% year on year

Redcar director Brian Gladders travels to Speedway HQ tomorrow with Jitendra Duffill to see what the future holds for the Bears in 2019 as the BSPA meet once again to discuss the sports blue print for the next few years. With Kevin Keay having stood down as a promoter at the club news is eagerly awaited by Bears fans as to who may take up the promoting position and what the league’s may look like next year.

On his decision to step down Kevin said “I’d like to thank the many fans who have sent messages wishing my wife and I well for the future. We tried our best to move the club forward and gave it everything we had but when you feel you can do no more and the directors have a different agenda then it’s time to stand aside. Let’s just hope the club and the sport are able to make some positive moves very soon and Redcar has a very bright future. I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the fans, the sponsors and the volunteers at the club for all their backing over the last two seasons and we wish the club and the fans all the best for the future.”

With regret it has been decided by the organisers that this Sunday’s scheduled Ben Fund Bonanza planned for Redcar will not go ahead, with the eagerly-awaited tenth staging now being held over until 2019. Of course the original intention had been to hold it at Peterborough in March but that was called off early due to the very bad weather around that time.

The Redcar event has been a different story as SRBF Chairman Paul Ackroyd explained: “Our reason for calling off Sunday’s event is that we don’t want to present a meeting which isn’t up to the standard we have set in the past and doesn’t give supporters value for money. “When we booked Redcar for 7th October there were no other meetings on the BSPA calendar. The Showground at Peterborough wasn’t available and Redcar was kindly offered. However subsequently other matches have been organised, and the strong field we had planned has been depleted due to riders being forced to withdraw for various unforeseeable reasons. “It would not have been right to ask fans to come in the large numbers we always hope for. We will come back better and stronger, because our injured riders need us to do that. Discussions have already been taking place.”

The organisers wish to thank those who had worked hard on the meeting or agreed to sponsor, and riders such as Steve Worrall and Chris Harris who have been regular competitors and were due to ride again. The decision means that Ben Barker, currently on the injured list, will be able to maintain his ever present record.

Aussie International star Sam Masters took the glory at the Media Prima Arena on Thursday night, winning the Silver Helmet.

The night was curtailed early however, after home favourite Ben Barker crashed in the final. He received treatment on the track for a suspected shoulder injury, and the meeting was then abandoned due to the time curfew. The positions were then decided on the points scored over the 5 rides, with Thomas Jorgensen second and Aaron Summers third.

Best wishes go to Ben Barker – we will update on his condition when more details are known.

These two Redcar Bears race jackets were being auctioned off at the end of season wake. The 2018 jacket is currently at £85 and the 2017 jacket at £75. If anybody wants to bid , send a PM to the Redcar Bears Facebook, or contact the speedway office you have till the end of the meeting on Thursday. Also being auctioned off is this replica Boro Bears jacket signed by Nigel Pearson and Kelvin Tatum . All the money raised for the jacket will go to the speedway riders benevolent fund. The current bid is £30.00.

Thursday’s rearranged Teesside Silver Helmet meeting , sponsored by Agilia Infrastructure Ltd , has a slightly different look to it from last week’s line up but what a quality field it is. Australian international star Sam Masters makes a rare appearance on a Championship track and he is joined by Glasgow star Paul Starke with Sheffield heat leader Kyle Howarth also joining the field.

Full line up; 1 Kevin Doolan
2 Jordan Stewart
3 Kyle Howarth
4 Kasper Andersen
5 Tero Aarnio
6 Ulrich Østergaard
7 Thomas Jorgensen
8 Paul Starke
9 Ben Barker
10 David Howe
11 Aaron Summers
12 Jye Etheridge
13 Sam Masters
14 Rafal Konopka
15 Jacob Bukhave
16 Charles Wright.

Saturday the 29th Sept sees another meeting at the Media Prima Arena with the NJL Riders Championship taking place at 1pm with a set of 125 support races. Entry is FREE although donations towards costs are welcome.

As the rain put paid to the Teesside Silver Helmet meeting, sponsored by Agilia Infrastructure Ltd, until next week we look forward to tomorrow evenings ‘End of Season Wake’ at the Blue Bell Hotel in Middlesbrough.

Bears riders in attendance will be Jonas and Mikkel B. Andersen, Jordan Stewart , Ben Barker and Thomas Jorgensen with a special guest appearance by former popular Bear Rafael Konopka. 

Their will be a raffle, a short auction of a race jacket or two and presentation of awards including the Bear of the Year award won by Ben Barker last season.

There are just a few tickets left which can be reserved by contacting Claire James or take the risk of paying on the door (£10).

Teesside Silver Helmet at Redcar has now been postponed until Thursday 27th Sept due to horrendous weather forecast .
We apologise for any inconvenience .