Speedway on Saturday!

NEWS Friday 18th September 2020, 10:20am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Armadale will stage the first competitive Speedway meeting in Scotland in 2020 when the fourth round of the British Youth Championship takes place on Saturday at 4pm.

It will be an event without fans due to the current restrictions, but supporters can still view it thanks to the Monarchs' EMTV Channel. Cost is £5 through the club website. The club have been testing their Live Streaming facility over the past year or so and view it as an essential ongoing boost to the club's finances.

As in all walks of life, development of youngsters in Speedway is important and if it can be avoided, should not be halted in the current situation. The Monarchs' promotion have worked hard to comply with Government guidelines and put this event on and this will come to fruition on Saturday.

British Under-21 manager Neil Vatcher is the driving force behind this Youth Championship and in welcoming him and his riders, Monarchs' promoter John Campbell says "We will have 28 riders on Saturday and although we have a couple who will have travelled less than an hour to get here, there will be others who have travelled from the very south of England to be with us and from all parts in between. It's a tremendous effort from all competitors and with ages ranging from 8 to 16 it is easy to be optimistic about a bright future for British Speedway."

In spite of the absence of fans there will be a programme for the event which will also be available through the website. Important to keep collectors happy!

There will be four classes of competition, 500cc, 250cc and two categories at 125cc. There are 32 heats in total including a final heat for each category, and as this is the fourth round in the series we already have an idea of the riders to watch out for.

Not surprisingly the Leicester twins DAN and JOE THOMPSON have been the most prominent riders at 500cc level. The duo were due to line up as Premier League champions Leicester's reserves this season, and they have recently committed to becoming full-time speedway riders, a brave move.

There are a few who will be snapping at their heels though, including ELLIOT KELLY, now a King's Lynn rider, who won the 2019 Caledonian Riders' Championship at Armadale. He is progressing well.

Another pair of brothers who should do well are SAM and HARRY McGURK. Harry was runner-up last year in the Northern Junior League Riders' Championship and has National League experience, while younger brother Sam is on a similar path.

Newcastle's ARCHIE FREEMAN and DANNY SMITH have also impressed on previous visits to Armadale.

Leading lights in the 250cc class are LUKE HARRISON and MAX JAMES, Luke having won all of his heats in the last two stagings of the Youth Championship.

The local interest might be highest at the 125cc level as Theo Pijper's two boys ACE (14) and STENE (11) ride in these categories. Both have made appearances this summer in the finals of their events. In Ace's group the highest overall scorers so far have been far-travelled BEN TRIGGER from Plymouth and SONNY SPRINGER who comes from Maidstone.

A programme has been produced for the event and this is available via the club website.