hawks 1975

Hopefully I'll complete it this time! Luke Killeen 7.73 Oxford Freddie Hodder 6.44 Belle Vue Max James 5.70 Leicester Jody Scott 5.31 Oxford Mickie Simpson 4.23 Sheffield/Scunny Luke Crang 3.61 Leicester Harry McGurk 3.00 Belle Vue total 36.02 Many thanks once again for running this - let's hope for a safe season for all the lads.

Try again! Connor Coles 7.79 Edinburgh Like Killeen 7.73 Oxford Freddie Hodder 6.44 Belle Vue Max James 5.70 Leicester Luke Crang

It won't be the same this year without my team in the NHL, but here goes: Connor Coles

Last season I was led to believe that the promoter was only allowed to hold two meetings per month where paying spectators were allowed in at Iwade. Given that Crayford have already announced that they are riding out of Iwade in 2024, perhaps that might explain why Kent Kings, sadly, look to only have one meeting per month?

Crying shame that Iwade will not be in the NDL next year - Si has confirmed that nobody has expressed an interest in running it. A solid, loyal group of fans now have no club. After an impressive first season, Si had only bad luck this year - allied to family health issues - and the powers that be seemingly went out of their way to make things more difficult. Now Iwade is no longer a SCB track. I believe the plan was to operate under the Nora banner and involve some 'nomad' tracks like Lakeside and Eastbourne, utilising three existing tracks, but with Mildenhall now under new ownership, I wonder whether Iwade and the Isle of Wight can still go it alone. I had hoped that a six team league, with say Lakeside riding with Iwade out of Iwade; Rye House at Mildenhall and an Eastbourne side on the island might have worked. Now it appears there will be no venue for speedway in a huge catchment area between Oxford and Poole where once there were so many. Finally, a huge thank you to Si Kellow for the last two years. There was always a friendly vibe at Sunshine Speedway on Sunday afternoons at little old Iwade and that was down to Si - a promoter who was always in amongst the patrons and regularly welcomed the visiting fans.

So Si has said that he's hoping to have 4 of last season's team back for 2023. Which 4 do the fans want? I'd love to see Alfie back, but will we go with a such a strong top two again? Ben Morley I would guess is a certainty, and I would suspect Joe Alcock is also, given his starting average, albeit it's a gamble that he can return and produce the form he was showing prior to his nasty smash. My fourth bet would be Connor King, who showed plenty of spirit after he joined. Our having such a strong top two did us proud at Iwade in all those last heat deciders, but our lack of strength lower down saw us struggle away. Given the loss of Plymouth, and the possibility of Mildenhall riders also becoming available, the choice of riders might be such that a more balanced side is preferable. What would the Iwade faithful prefer? Personally I would like to see Jack Kingston in the seven, and a young hopeful at reserve. Is Sonny Springer too young still? Si did brilliantly last year to get such a side together so late in the day. This year he will have more time and choice. I'm looking forward to it already, as I look out at the snow!

It looks like the Nora 'League', now a four team tournament, gets under way at Sittingbourne this coming Sunday. The launch of the Nora 92 No Brakes League all seems very low key, I had to really delve deep to find out who was due to be riding for the four sides, and two of those listed - Jake Turner and Connor King - are both doubtful. The lack of communication/publicity hardly augurs well for a healthy attendance for the opening match at Iwade. I don't believe there was any mention of it at last Sunday's Kent v Berwick meeting - I know it is not run by Si Kellow, but surely there could have been something about it to tempt fans who may not know anything about Nora. Given how pro-active the Isle of Wight promotion are - and it is their baby I believe - I am surprised. Will this weeks Speedway Star even mention it - or will the powers that be have muzzled them?! With Alfie Bowtell, Alex Spooner, Ben Morley and Rhys Naylor all turning out for the other three sides, Kent fans might struggle to support the home Sittingbourne quartet! Let's hope it all goes off without any problems - good racing and everybody safe at the end of it.

Where is the official announcement?!! No mention of this on the British Speedway web site! Do we know how much they have fined Si Kellow? Absolutely ridiculous. The guy doesn't deserve this extra hassle - without him there would be no speedway at all round here.

I forgot - we love the 4TT handicap option! Team mangers - in discussion with their riders - picking an opposition rider to be handicapped - brilliant! Rhys was ecstatic to be selected!!

Brayden came over from his base in Denmark for the day and certainly showed his class as befits a 22 year old rider competing in Poland - well done to Barry to get him over at such short notice to replace Henry Atkins. It's always great to see new riders. The other late substitute was Luke Harris who replaced Jake Turner, and he ended up topping the Plymouth scoresheet! Not bad for a lad who I believe mainly rides on the grass nowadays. I've always loved the fours format and congratulations to Barry Bishop and his team for overcoming all the obstacles to get his show up and running. Hopefully he can grow this concept from this beginning. One issue he has is that team speedway depends on fans getting behind their team, and that can only grow in time - especially where yesterdays teams largely had no connection. One question to Barry - are the same riders likely to ride in every meeting? Well done to all those volunteers who got yesterday meeting on. A special mention to the track staff - on such a sunny, windy day, it could have been a dust bowl - it wasn't.

Thankfully the fixture is listed in the Star, and there is even a column announcing the launch of the league. Hopefully the two replacements for King and Turner are of similar ability and we get an afternoon of close racing. Good luck to all those involved in this new venture .

An Amateur League? With Bowtell, Morley, Atkins etc riding? I think not.......!

1. Jordan Jenkins 9.47 Oxford 2. Connor Bailey 8.86 Workington 3. Lee Complin 7.27 Mildenhall 4. Nathan Ablitt 7.20 Kent 5. Max James 3.00 Leicester 6. Luke Harrison 3.00 Workington 7. Luke Killeen 3.00 Oxford Total 41.80

Think you could be spot on there, Come On The Skipper, unless Si has got a new three pointer up his sleeve!

Feared he was! We'll have to wait a while longer - he's a prospect.

Strength in depth Dave 1075, but perhaps not the top end strength for away? How about: 1. Alfie Bowtell 10.67 2. Joe Alcock 4.36 3. Jack Kingston 6.45 4. Connor King 4.16 5. Ben Morley 9.29 6. Jacob Clouting 4.07 7. Sonny Springer hopefully, or Chris Watts 3.00 total 42.00! I notice that Jack Kingston had the 9th best away average in the league! He goes well at Iwade, could be a trump card.

I also rate Ben Trigger, and I wonder whether another of last year's Centurions might be in the frame in Rhys Naylor?

I've always advocated allowing referees to use their discretion and allow all four back where a 'racing' incident occurs. Too often we see two riders clash as they take different lines off a bend, and come together. How many times do we hear Kelvin etc call it a 50-50, and how difficult a call it is for the ref to exclude one of them. As it stands, a rider trying to 'race' is often penalised, yet we as fans want to see RACING! I would go further, and where an incident occurs on the third or fourth lap, I would allow the ref the discretion to have a re-run with just the two who fell, and they would fight it out for the positions they were in when the race was stopped. How many times do we see a re-run where the rider who was leading by a mile ends up missing out. Should the rider who was well back in fourth spot be allowed the chance to win the race just because two at the front clashed? Allow refs to exclude where a rider has deliberately brought off another, or just made a mistake and come off, but allow riders who want to race to do so. Speedway would be the winner.

I must echo what has been said already. As a Backtrack reader from issue one, it was always an interesting mix with some excellent insights and recollections. The John Berry column was outstanding and subsequently contributions from Malcolm Simmons and currently Martin Rogers gave the magazine a real edge. All backed up with some excellent photos from the archives. Tony deserves huge credit for producing such a quality mag for over 100 issues, and if it is the end, all we can say it a big Thank You! NB love the comment re Finn and Cass the Gas enjoying each others company at reserve - but then it was always entertaining at Waterden Road!

Thanks Islander 15 for once again facilitating this bit of fun! Here goes: Jack Smith 8.70 BV Joe Thompson 8.52 L Sam Hagon 5.75 O Sam McGurk 5.25 BV Sam Bebee 5.16 M Ben Trigger 3.57 P Sam Woolley 3.00 K 39.95

What's so special about Oxford?! I can understand why Scott, Troy, Cameron and Jack Thomas are there, but now all of their so-far-announced NDL side have Central Park history! Jordan Jenkins, Nathan Stoneman, Jacob Clouting and Ben Hopward, and even young Hagon was due to ride for us before Covid! I guess a fair few Kent fans will be making the trip to Cowley on a regular basis (the Oxford promotion hopes!)

Strong top two, but not sure what Alfie's average would be. If it is that high, would it mean Danno riding as a third heat leader? If he is a second string, then the side could be quite strong. As for the other four, I'd like to see Jack Kingston back - he showed real promise at Central Park for short while, and I think I'm right in saying that he knows the Iwade track pretty well. Len was reported as saying he would do all he could to help - given his contacts, I hope he is - does anyone know?

As ever, thanks Islander for setting it up - hopefully next season we can all enjoy a NDL season with more meetings throughout the year, and no early season ending injuries for those we pick!

Great news, but wrap up warm - it can howl across Iwade! But then it did nearly every night at Arena/Lakeside.......

Now we know Kent will have a minimum of six home meetings in the National League, we can turn our thoughts toward what sort of team they might build. My initial thoughts were that Dan Gilkes and Rob Ledwith would spearhead the team, giving them confidence gaining rides in this league to assist them when things got tough in the championship . However, if Len’s plan is to ride three of the home fixtures when the Championship side is away at Poole, Birmingham and Somerset - and to continue his admirable record of presenting weekly speedway at Central Park - does this scupper such team building? Would we be allowed a guest, or two?! Does anybody out there know? I would love to see Jake Mulford back, and assume Alex Spooner would be. Somebody who I believe actually deserves a team spot at a higher level, and who would attract a few Lakeside fans to Central Park, would be Alfie Bowtell, whilst Jacob Clouting surely deserves another chance at reserve. Does anyone know if the very promising Nathan Ablitt can be tempted back? The only problem I can see is that the stand alone sides, with potentially ten or more meetings, might be more attractive to riders not doubling up, and that might limit Kent’s options?