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Isle of Wight 2022

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Good to see from the website (warriors-speedway.com) that there will be a full summer season of racing at Smallbrook Stadium in 2022. 

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2022 Fixture List

Following a highly successful 2021 season of varied on-track activity, the Wightlink Warriors Shale Track Racing Club have today announced their NORA Motorsport race programme for 2022 with eleven consecutive weeks of racing over the peak summer months starting on 23 June. In fact thirteen meetings are currently planned with two events taking place in the weeks commencing 1st August and 15th August.

Commenting on the programme of events, co-owner Barry Bishop said, “We had a fantastic summer of racing at Smallbrook last year and the feedback from those who visited us endorsed our vision of providing exciting racing alongside non-stop family entertainment.  

The format of our meetings was ideal and so when Martin (Widman – co-owner) and myself sat down to prepare for 2022 it was right that we replicate what went well, but with some new innovations for our supporters to enjoy. In addition to conventional speedway featuring our Warriors and Wizards, we had no hesitation in including the Grass Track solo’s to do battle for the Island Masters series title and a brand new Open Championship event to round off our season in September.

Sidecar speedway has always been well supported when it been staged on the Island and so in response to both rider and supporter input, we will be giving the ‘chairs’ a meeting in July.

We also want to give more track time to the female speedway riders and have agreed to stage a Ladies British Final in August that we hope will bring together the top riders from up and down the country and that will sit alongside the NORA British Open Championship that was so dramatic last year and whilst mentioning Championships we are delighted to be hosting the NORA British Upright Championship for the first time in August.

Additionally we have been working with our friends in the UK Flat Track community. A couple of the Flat Track riders have been practicing at Smallbrook and have really enjoyed our big, fast circuit and their  impressive laps have encouraged us to include Flat Track as part of our race night offering this year.

We will be unveiling our Wightlink Warrior team members shortly. They will be operating at a level equivalent National Development League standard. We are also actively engaged in building the Wightlink Wizards team and will provide the names in due course.

Please remember that meetings can be subject to late alteration or cancellation so it is always best to check before starting out on any time consuming journey. Our media colleagues, social media platforms and website will be updated with all the breaking news as it happens and so I would ask all supporters to keep a close eye out for the latest information and as always we will be happy to hear from those with any questions via email to   speedwayontheisland@yahoo.co.uk      ”.

Fixtures:

23rd June            
Warriors Three Team Tournament – Round 1
Wizards Team Challenge (opposition to be
confirmed)
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races   
(bikes up to 160 cc)

30th June             
Island Masters Series Rd 1
Upright Engine Speedway Qualification
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development Races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

7th July                 
Nora 500cc British Sidecar Speedway Final
Flat Track Racing
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

14th July              
US Style Handicap Speedway – Individual Meeting
NORA Womens British Open Championship –
R1
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

21st July                
Island Masters Series – Round 2
Upright Engine Speedway Qualification
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

28th July               
Warriors Three Team Tournament R2
NORA Womens British Open Championship –
R2
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

2nd Aug                
NORA British Open Championship – Individual   
Meeting
NORA Womens British Open Championship –
R3 and Final
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development Races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

4th Aug                 
US Style Handicap Speedway – Individual  
Meeting
Wizards Team Challenge (opposition to be
confirmed)
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

11th Aug               
NORA British Open Upright Championship –
Individual Meeting
Flat Track Racing
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

16th Aug                
Warriors Three Team Tournament – Round 3
 Blast From The Past
 Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

18th Aug              
Island Masters Round 3 (Individual Meeting)
Wizards Team Challenge (opposition to be
confirmed)
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

25th Aug                
Speedway Best Pairs
Flat Track Racing
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

1st Sep                 
NORA British Open Championship (Grass
Track)
Blast From The Past
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races  
(bikes up to 160 cc)

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7 hours ago, barrybishop said:

2022 Fixture List

Following a highly successful 2021 season of varied on-track activity, the Wightlink Warriors Shale Track Racing Club have today announced their NORA Motorsport race programme for 2022 with eleven consecutive weeks of racing over the peak summer months starting on 23 June. In fact thirteen meetings are currently planned with two events taking place in the weeks commencing 1st August and 15th August.

Commenting on the programme of events, co-owner Barry Bishop said, “We had a fantastic summer of racing at Smallbrook last year and the feedback from those who visited us endorsed our vision of providing exciting racing alongside non-stop family entertainment.  

The format of our meetings was ideal and so when Martin (Widman – co-owner) and myself sat down to prepare for 2022 it was right that we replicate what went well, but with some new innovations for our supporters to enjoy. In addition to conventional speedway featuring our Warriors and Wizards, we had no hesitation in including the Grass Track solo’s to do battle for the Island Masters series title and a brand new Open Championship event to round off our season in September.

Sidecar speedway has always been well supported when it been staged on the Island and so in response to both rider and supporter input, we will be giving the ‘chairs’ a meeting in July.

We also want to give more track time to the female speedway riders and have agreed to stage a Ladies British Final in August that we hope will bring together the top riders from up and down the country and that will sit alongside the NORA British Open Championship that was so dramatic last year and whilst mentioning Championships we are delighted to be hosting the NORA British Upright Championship for the first time in August.

Additionally we have been working with our friends in the UK Flat Track community. A couple of the Flat Track riders have been practicing at Smallbrook and have really enjoyed our big, fast circuit and their  impressive laps have encouraged us to include Flat Track as part of our race night offering this year.

We will be unveiling our Wightlink Warrior team members shortly. They will be operating at a level equivalent National Development League standard. We are also actively engaged in building the Wightlink Wizards team and will provide the names in due course.

Please remember that meetings can be subject to late alteration or cancellation so it is always best to check before starting out on any time consuming journey. Our media colleagues, social media platforms and website will be updated with all the breaking news as it happens and so I would ask all supporters to keep a close eye out for the latest information and as always we will be happy to hear from those with any questions via email to   speedwayontheisland@yahoo.co.uk      ”.

Fixtures:

23rd June            
Warriors Three Team Tournament – Round 1
Wizards Team Challenge (opposition to be
confirmed)
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races   
(bikes up to 160 cc)

30th June             
Island Masters Series Rd 1
Upright Engine Speedway Qualification
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development Races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

7th July                 
Nora 500cc British Sidecar Speedway Final
Flat Track Racing
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

14th July              
US Style Handicap Speedway – Individual Meeting
NORA Womens British Open Championship –
R1
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

21st July                
Island Masters Series – Round 2
Upright Engine Speedway Qualification
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

28th July               
Warriors Three Team Tournament R2
NORA Womens British Open Championship –
R2
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

2nd Aug                
NORA British Open Championship – Individual   
Meeting
NORA Womens British Open Championship –
R3 and Final
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development Races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

4th Aug                 
US Style Handicap Speedway – Individual  
Meeting
Wizards Team Challenge (opposition to be
confirmed)
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

11th Aug               
NORA British Open Upright Championship –
Individual Meeting
Flat Track Racing
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

16th Aug                
Warriors Three Team Tournament – Round 3
 Blast From The Past
 Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

18th Aug              
Island Masters Round 3 (Individual Meeting)
Wizards Team Challenge (opposition to be
confirmed)
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

25th Aug                
Speedway Best Pairs
Flat Track Racing
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races
(bikes up to 160 cc)

1st Sep                 
NORA British Open Championship (Grass
Track)
Blast From The Past
Pee Wee bike and Youth Development races  
(bikes up to 160 cc)

I'd rather have a season in the National League than this any day

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38 minutes ago, topsoil said:

I'd rather have a season in the National League than this any day

As it happens the NDL is shaping up to be fairly well balanced and could be one of the better seasons for a little while. That said the diversity that IOW offer as a weekly spectator is pretty special and something that most clubs would undoubtedly be envious of.....a fixture list drawing a good home crowd without the curse of away expenses. Once again IOW lead the way.

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17 hours ago, Sings4Speedway said:

As it happens the NDL is shaping up to be fairly well balanced and could be one of the better seasons for a little while. That said the diversity that IOW offer as a weekly spectator is pretty special and something that most clubs would undoubtedly be envious of.....a fixture list drawing a good home crowd without the curse of away expenses. Once again IOW lead the way.

There's no way I can agree with this. Almost 50% of the fixtures are Island Masters (the same riders in each?) or 3TT (the same teams?). Flat track racing and grass track bikes on shale does nothing for me. Just glad it's not my local team.

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2 hours ago, topsoil said:

There's no way I can agree with this. Almost 50% of the fixtures are Island Masters (the same riders in each?) or 3TT (the same teams?). Flat track racing and grass track bikes on shale does nothing for me. Just glad it's not my local team.

Variety is the spice of life. If we all liked the same things life would be pretty boring.

IMO one thing the sport can do is provide a bit of variety in some if not all the meetings.

How many former regular attendees posting on this forum have said 15 heats and endless laps by a Massey Ferguson is one of the reasons they no longer attend. The sport needs to win back these supporters while also attracting new ones, 8 riders doing a few Flat Track demos may attract some who wouldn't go.

At the end of the  day the same old format being done every meeting isn't getting a new generation of fans through the door.

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2 hours ago, Triple.H. said:

Variety is the spice of life. If we all liked the same things life would be pretty boring.

IMO one thing the sport can do is provide a bit of variety in some if not all the meetings.

How many former regular attendees posting on this forum have said 15 heats and endless laps by a Massey Ferguson is one of the reasons they no longer attend. The sport needs to win back these supporters while also attracting new ones, 8 riders doing a few Flat Track demos may attract some who wouldn't go.

At the end of the  day the same old format being done every meeting isn't getting a new generation of fans through the door.

If it's for you, it's for you. To me, this is just a series of gimmicks, rather than a sport. Each to their own.

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44 minutes ago, topsoil said:

If it's for you, it's for you. To me, this is just a series of gimmicks, rather than a sport. Each to their own.

Same could easily be said about British Speedway as a whole. 

Whilst IOW don't claim to have all the answers they are at least posing a few questions and getting people talking. 

The meeting types and formats clearly won't work a lot of places as they simply don't have the track to accommodate it but to successfully run an alternative to league speedway has to be applauded even if it doesn't directly appeal to you.

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9 hours ago, topsoil said:

If it's for you, it's for you. To me, this is just a series of gimmicks, rather than a sport. Each to their own.

Speedway in the UK is more "sports entertainment" than a bona fide sporting contest where who wins has relevance, kudos, publicity and financial reward..

Therefore, it makes perfect sense to embrace this and build on it by using the "core product" of the racing as its "centre piece" and then building an overall entertainment package around it...

With hopefully, "something for everyone" being the box that gets ticked as this means a more likely repeat visit....

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We fully appreciate that we are not for everyone. However we have embraced the European/US style of speedway meetings (and I have been to both of them) which last year worked very well, and we hope for the same this year.

Personally I dont see the point to say this or that and that along with "glad its not my club" and not have actually experienced what our race nights are about and include. It is so easy for us Brits to put something down rather than saying well done, that is brilliant, good effort, congratulations... sadly it is a known Brit trait :( However, the simple fact is, and again we fully appreciate that it is not for every speedway/motorsport fan, but the overwhelming result of the year was that people really enjoyed what we put on, loved the atmosphere, and returned.

Imagine what could be done without restriction, or fear for riders/clubs being penalised. 

Our view of the sport remains the same, keep supporting your clubs where you can, attend where you can and provide constructive feedback to your clubs about what you want to see on a race night. Thats exactly what we did.

All the best all and thank you all for you feedback, it helps us grately.

Edited by barrybishop
added info
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This will be excellent.....

NORA British Upright Speedway Championship

The NORA British Upright Speedway Championship comes to Smallbrook Stadium in 2022. This brand new event will see two, eight rider qualifying rounds (30th June and 21st July) each featuring different riders with the top six from each qualifier competing in the Grand Final on 11th August. Depending on the riders scores on Finals night, they will then race-off in C, B and A finals with a ‘winner takes all’ A final determining the outright champion.

The Championship co-ordinator Lee Coleman said," I am really pleased to be associated with the Wightlink Warriors and proud to help behind the scenes with the British Upright Speedway Championship.

The Upright category is attracting more and more interest and this is an exciting opportunity for all the Upright riders to race for a National title on the Island. In fact I wish it was happening a few years ago as I’d have entered myself!

Any Upright Speedway riders out there wishing to take part can drop me a message via my Facebook page, or email   speedwayontheisland@yahoo.co.uk   and we’ll be in touch!"

Wightlink Warriors co-owner Barry Bishop added, "Last years upright racing was very well received by the fans and riders alike, so we are thrilled to extend our initial taste of upright racing to bring forward the NORA British Upright Speedway Championship and whilst I can’t announce just yet who has requested to participate I am sure speedway fans are going to be delighted."

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We are also extremely proud to be leading the way for female inclusion in the sport....

NORA Women's British Speedway Championship

The Isle of Wight’s Smallbrook Stadium will host the first NORA Women's British Speedway Championship during the Wightlink Warriors 2022 Shale Track Racing fixtures. The brand new competition will see eight of the UK’s top female speedway riders racing in a three round series on July 14th, July 28th and August 2nd. Cumulative scores will then be used to determine the top four riders who will then race-off at the end of round 3 in a dramatic ‘winner talks all’ Grand Final to decide the first Women’s Champion.

Being the first female British Championship in the sport, it’s sure to generate a lot of interest from riders, fans and sponsors alike. Warriors co-owner Barry Bishop added, "We have always ensured that speedway is accessible to anyone here on the island and we are delighted to see the number of females participating at a competitive level. Female participation has grown significantly over the last 15 years or so, following on from the Two Fat Submariners Ladies Only Speedway School. That baton has now been taken up by Alan Critcher and we are delighted that he has agreed to be our meeting coordinator for the 2022 championship which I know will get a lot of interest throughout motorcycling and is another great result for the Isle of Wight. With two Island based racers in Steph Whitlock and Anastasia Sallee hoping for selection, who knows, maybe we will have a local favourite on the podium. Now, we cannot wait to get started and to finalise the competitors. There will be lots of opportunity for businesses to align with all the events at Smallbrook Stadium in 2022 through various sponsorship and marketing packages which will be available shortly."

Championship Co-ordinator Alan Critcher said, ""It has been a long held desire of mine to see a structured, meaningful and competitive opportunity for lady riders. In 2021 the seeds for such a competition were sown when, on two occasions, the Isle of Wight staged some Ladies Only Races as part of their regular meeting framework. The interest generated by these races has resulted in the Wightlink Warriors promoting the 2022 NORA Women’s British Speedway Championship. This will be contested over three separate rounds, with riders scoring points, based on their finishing position in their three programmed races at each round. At the conclusion of the third round, the top four riders by virtue of their aggregate points scored, will be seeded to the Grand Final, to be raced on the same night as round 3. The winner of the Grand Final will be the 2022 NORA Women’s British Champion!!! My personal thanks go to Barry & Martin, for their acceptance & promotion, of this truly ground breaking Womens British Championship."

Any lady riders wishing to take part should contact Alan Critcher via Facebook Messenger or email       speedwayontheisland@yahoo.co.uk    and the organisers will be in touch.

 

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While the Isle of Wight's announcements are always interesting, surely this thread should be confined to "The Way Ahead" or "General Discussions" as -- currently -- the island events have absolutely nowt to do with the National League?

Not that I wouldn't welcome the Islanders back into "real speedway" (and the National League) in a heartbeat.........

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6 minutes ago, crescent girl said:

While the Isle of Wight's announcements are always interesting, surely this thread should be confined to "The Way Ahead" or "General Discussions" as -- currently -- the island events have absolutely nowt to do with the National League?

Not that I wouldn't welcome the Islanders back into "real speedway" (and the National League) in a heartbeat.........

I agree... someone can create something under Nora Speedway... that will be just perfect......

We stage "real speedway" thank you...real speedway that includes youth racing at every meeting, real speedway races at every meeting with other categories, real speedway that includes new rules for the benefit of the sport as a whole, real "inclusive" speedway.... real speedway full stop actually.... but then I like passing, action, characters, interaction, shale, and so on... so we have "real speedway" and the Islanders were defunct some 7 years or so ago :)

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