Category: Bears News

The Agilia Infrastructure Ltd sponsored Teesside Silver Helmet takes place this Thursday to celebrate 90 years of speedway on Teesside. The evening will include 22 hotly contested races with 16 riders taking part with the top two points scorers seeded direct to the final with a semi -final for the next four highest scorers. The will be two ‘ end of season ‘ type races with the competitors being kept secret till the last possible moment to protect them from their wives! Special guest’s for the evening will include Steve Wilcock , all time record appearance holder on Teesside and the voice from the box Bernard Gent a former announcer at Cleveland Park well know for his “Five loverly points” catchphrase along with former team manager and announcer Tony Coupland who always has a story to tell.

The full rider line up is ( subject to change):
1. Kevin Doolan Berwick & Australia
2. Jordan Stewart Redcar & Australia
3. Josh Pickering Edinburgh & Australia
4. Danny Maassen Germany
5. Terro Aarnio Newcastle & Finland
6. Ulrich Østergaard Peterborough & Denmark
7. Thomas Jorgensen Redcar & Denmark
8. Jonas B. Andersen Redcar & Denmark
9. Ben Barker Redcar & England
10. David Howe Berwick & England
11. Aaron Summers Berwick & Australia
12. Jye Etheridge Berwick & Australia
13. David Bellego Swindon & France
14. Rafael Konopka Poland
15. Jacob Bukhave Denmark
16 Charles Wright Sheffield & England
Reserves: David Wallinger ( Stoke)
Gav Parr ( Redcar )

The end of season wake will take place at the Blue Bell Hotel, Ladgate Lane in Middlesbrough the following evening. Tickets are just £10 to include food and can be reserved by contacting Claire James or on Thursday evening at the track.( subject to availability) Special room rates are available.

Redcar Ecco Finishing Bears promoter Kevin Keay will be appearing on BBC Tees this evening with a review of the Bears season. In what was a difficult year, the Bears ended the season well and Keay will appear at around 18:50 to give his thoughts on the season.

Redcar Ecco Finishing Bears ensured they would not finish bottom of the league table, with a hard fought 47-42 win over Sheffield on Friday night. 

It was a good all round performance from the Bears, with Thomas Jorgensen top scoring with 10 points on his move to the number one position. There were valuable contributions by the while side once again though in what has been a good end to the season. 

Sheffield battled hard throughout, none more so than ex Bear Charles Wright who rattled off four straight wins on his way to 17+1.

Redcar Bears = 47 

1. Thomas Jorgensen – R, 3, 3, 2, 2 = 10
2. Nike Lunna – 3, 2′, 1, 1 = 7+1
3. Dimitri Berge – X, 3, 3, 1, 1 = 8
4. Jonas B Andersen – 3, 0, 2′, 3 = 8+1
5. Ben Barker (C) – 3, R, 2, 1′ = 6+1
6. Coty Garcia (G) – 2, 2, 0, 0 = 4
7. Jordan Stewart – 0, 1, 3, 0 =4

Sheffield Tigers = 42 

1. Charles Wright (C) – 2, 2, 1′, 3, 3, 3, 3 = 17+1
2. James Shanes – 1′, 2, 2, 1, 0 = 6+1
3. Kasper Andersen – 2, 3, 1, R, 2′, 0 = 8+1
4. Todd Kurtz – R, 1, 1, 2, 1′ = 5+1
5. Kyle Howarth R/R – (CW-2), (TK-1), (KA-1), (JS-0)
6. Connor Mountain – 1, 0, 0 = 1
7. Broc Nicol – 3, 0, 0, 2 = 5

The Redcar Ecco Finishing Bears have to make a last minute change to the side as Mikkel Andersen has declared himself unfit after last weeks crash.
Coty Garcia has agreed to step into the number six position for tomorrow’s big match against Sheffield whilst another rider is being sought for the Workington fixture on Saturday.

Due to a last minute cancellation the Platinum Lounge is once again open for fans who wish to take advantage of its excellent facilities , free tea/coffee, match day programme and centre green visit for just £10 extra.
“Last weeks visitors all asked about a season ticket just for the view alone so it must be good.” said co- promoter Kevin Keay.

Bookings can be taken in the evening or ring the club hotline .

The Redcar Ecco Finishing Bears go into the crunch fixture with the Sheffield Tigers on Friday with a touch of controversy and a point to prove on what will be a titanic battle both on and off the track. With the winner of the fixture possibly avoiding the ‘wooden spoon’ position in the league table both sides are determined to get the win although the Bears do have the away fixture at Workington to add to their total.

Promoter Kevin Keay has registered a complaint against Sheffield using R/R for the missing James Shanes at Scunthorpe last Friday where the Tigers gained a valuable league point but accepts that it’s unlikely anything will be done about the result. “The rule is clear that they were not allowed a facility, just like Redcar had to contend with earlier in the season for Theo Pijper , but the rule has been ignored because he was representing Britain ( again not covered by the rules). Whilst I believe there should be such a rule in these circumstances there isn’t, so why should one side be handicapped but not Sheffield?. Yet another lack of clarity regarding the rule book” Stated co-promoter Kevin Keay. “We simply need to beat them on the track fair and square and then throw the rule book in the bin! It will be a tough task as Sheffield have a great record at the Media Prima Arena but we are improving week by week and with a full side, no mechanical mishaps and a little bit of luck we are more than capable of getting the league points we so desperately require.”

Following the big match the line- up for the Agilia Infrastructure Ltd sponsored Teesside Silver Helmet will be announced in the Bears bar with the rider draw being made live.

Redcar: Thomas Jorgensen, Nike Lunna, Dimitri Berge, Jonas B Andersen, Ben Barker, Mikkel B Andersen, Jordan Stewart
Sheffield: Charles Wright, James Shanes, Kasper Andersen, Todd Kurtz, Kyle Howarth, Connor Mountain, Broc Nicol

Redcar Ecco Finishing Bears continued their recent good form, with a fine 52-38 win over local rivals Newcastle at the Media Prima Arena on Thursday night.

The Bears started slowly on the night, and were down 1 rider after Mikkel B Andersen took a nasty fall in heat 2. He spun round on bend 3 whilst leading, and great riding by both Matthew Wethers and Carl Wilkinson to lay their bikes down helped avoid any further injuries to the Dane. After 5 heats the Diamonds led by 4 points, although they themselves were down a rider after a controversial heat 6 clash between Barker and Tero Aarnio. The Bears man made a move up the inside and appeared to make contact with Aarnio, who hit the second bend airfence hard. The referee though adjudged the Newcastle man to be at fault and excluded him.

From that point on the Bears took control of the meeting, and never looked like losing. Some great racing from Barker, Nike Lunna and the sponsors man of the match Thomas Jorgensen ensured the 3 points went to the Bears, despite some spirited performances from Stuart Robson and Matej Kus in particular. 

Bears manager Jade Mudgway was delighted with his teams performance:

Well what a brilliant win after a shaky start. With the track in perfect condition, they all got to it. Newcastle gave us a good fight but our Bears wanted it more. I can’t single out one rider for a stand out performance they all put there bit in. And there is nothing better than getting one over Newcastle. I would like to send a get well soon to both Tero Aarnio and Mikkel B Andersen both having heavy crashes tonight.

Redcar Bears : 52 
1. Ben Barker — 2, 2′, 3, 2′, 3 = 12+2
2. Nike Lunna — 1′, 3, 1, 2′ = 7+2
3. Dimitri Berge — 0, R, 3, 3 = 6
4. Jonas B Andersen — 2, 2, 2′, 2 = 8+1
5. Thomas Jorgensen — 3, 3, 2, 3, 1 = 12
6. Mikkel B Andersen — Fx WITHDRAWN = 0
7. Jordan Stewart — 3, 0, 1, 3, R, 0, 0 = 7

Newcastle Diamonds : 38 
1. Stuart Robson — 0, 3, 2, 3, 1′, Xt, 0 = 9+1
2. Ludvig Lindgren — R/R (TA-3, MK-1, SR-2, AM-1)
3. Matej Kus — 3, 1, R, 1, 2, 2 = 9
4. Ashley Morris — 1, 2, 0, 1, 1 = 5
5. Tero Aarnio — 3, 2, Fx WITHDRAWN = 5
6. Carl Wilkinson — 2, 1, 0, 1 = 4
7. Matthew Wethers — 1′, 1′, 0, 1, 0, 3 = 6+2

The much anticipated 2018 NJL 4 team tournament has been rescheduled for Saturday the 15th of September at Redcar (2pm start). The 7 league clubs of Ashfield, Berwick, Edinburgh,Newcastle, Peterborough, Redcar And Workington will be joined by former NJL league & 4TT champions Castleford.
The competition will once again showcase 32 of the best youth riders in the country (16 125cc, 16 500cc) over 36 heats to decide the champion. We have managed to run this meeting for 5 seasons totally free for both the riders and spectators alike, in order to do this we rely heavily on the fantastic sponsorship we have received in previous years.
If you’d like to be the meeting sponsor, or sponsor one of the teams, be a team manager for the day or contribute any amount no matter how small please get in touch with Northern Junior League via Facebook

Redcar Ecco Finishing Supplies Bears this week play host to their nearest rivals, as the Newcastle Diamonds make the short journey to the Media Prima Arena on Thursday (7:30pm start).

The Bears will be looking to build on their thrilling 45-44 win over Workington last Thursday, in their quest to avoid finishing bottom of the league. The Bears currently sit 1 place, and 2 points above Sheffield with 1 meeting in hand so will be looking for a win to give them a bit of breathing space.

Looking back to the meeting last Thursday, it had a little bit of everything. Bears team manager Jade Mudgway was delighted with his sides efforts, and even had a word of praise for the early evening rain!:

“The track was actually perfect. the rain really helped produce a perfect racing surface. Some looking at Workington’s away form may have thought they would walk away with the win, but the bears and our fans knew better. We dug deep in heat 15 with some superb team riding to get the 3-3 needed to win the match by 1 point. Massive credit has to go to Nike and Ben for their brilliant team ride under so much pressure.”

Looking ahead to this Thursday’s meeting, and the Bears are once again at full strength. Newcastle are without their Swedish Star Ludvig Lindgren, they will operate Rider Replacement in his absence. It is a team packed full of Media Prima experience however, with three ex Bears in Stuart Robson, Carl Wilkinson and of course Matej Kus. Mudgway is expecting a tough meeting, but knows his side will give everything to get the win over their A19 rivals:

“On to this week against our old rivals the Newcastle Diamonds with some well-known faces from the media prima arena they will be a force to be reckoned with. But rest assured there is no team we like beating more and every one of our bears will give everything that’s have to send them packing.”

Redcar: Ben Barker, Nike Lunna, Dimitri Berge, Jonas B Andersen, Thomas Jorgensen, Mikkel B Andersen, Jordan Stewart.

Newcastle: Stuart Robson, r/r for Lindgren, Matej Kus, Ashley Morris, Tero Aarnio, Carl Wilkinson, Matthew Wethers.

We hope to see as many of you there as possible for what should be another great meeting!