crescent girl

Yes, you have. "Full and personal control" means sitting astride the bike.

Another 500-odd subscribers get another e-Newsletter from Berwick tonight: MATIC ON THE WAY! As our 48th season of speedway gallops towards us -- just four-and-a-half-weeks until our opening meeting at Shielfield Park -- we have been talking (rather awkwardly, as Google Translate appears to have some difficulties going back and forth from the Slovene language to English) to new recruit Matic Voldrih. Matic tells us he feels his preparations for his first season in the UK are going fairly well. "There are a lot of things going on in order to be fully set up for when I get to Berwick" he explained this morning. I'm just back from the Czech Republic, where I had to go to buy some speedway equipment. I need two additional engines, which are going to be ready for me soon". I had wanted to have some practice on one or other of our tracks here in Slovenia, but the weather has been very bad, lots of rain and I'm not sure if I'll be lucky in that respect". "I will arrive at Berwick and settle into my accomodation in Tweedmouth about March 12th, and will immediately arrange for practice on a British circuit that Saturday". "Right now, I am still working at my winter job every day, and go to the gym here three times a week to get in good physical condition". "I obviously hope I will get used to the tracks in the UK, their shape and surface, as they are different from the tracks in mainland Europe --- and I also hope that I will learn English quickly! I am already working on this -- in the meantime we are relying on Google to translate me!" VIP CLUB MEMBERSHIPS INCREASING: For whatever reason, a recent surge in VIP Club membership applications is gratifying. Are you in the Club yet? Speedway is an expensive sport to stage, and -- as is currently being proved by need for the formation of a brand new Club at Glasgow and this week a Supporters Trust at Edinburgh -- turnstile income alone can no longer balance the books at any track in Britain. As a result, if groups of fans can get together and provide funds -- by running regular raffle draws and other fund-raisers in conjunction with the promotion -- such infusion of direct funding can go a long way to ensuring the continuation of speedway at your local circuit. On behalf of the promotion, Ryan Anderson recently confirmed that every tenth sign-up to the VIP Club will receive free entry to the meeting of their choice during 2015, as well as getting several incentives to join up. When season-ticket holders join as VIPs, they will receive a free pass for a friend to use. For an annual membership fee of £20, VIP supporters will be afforded the opportunity to make a privileged pits visit for a few heats during a meeting, and then spend a further couple of races viewing proceedings from the centre-green. Members will also be invited to make the presentation of a VIP award to one night's most-entertaining rider and -- if they have kids who attend matches -- can nominate their young 'uns to be mascots. Ryan also explained that plans were in the pipeline for further 'treats' coming the way of VIPs, and suggested "watch this space". "These won't be the last wee extras we've got up our sleeve for VIPs" he confirmed. "We want to draw together our fantastically-loyal and enthusiastic family of Berwick's Dixon Building Bandits fans, and what'll happen is, the more VIPs we sign up, the better the scope of benefits to members". Already announced is the offer that VIPs will receive a 50% discount of tickets for dances, etc, organised by the promotion, on certain nights they will receive a generous discount on merchandise from the Club Shop and on booking hospitality will be granted 10% discount if a full party (30+ visitors) is booked in. To join the VIP Club contact Lani Rae on lani@berwickbandits.co or call her on 07775-227535. DOOLAN'S DONKEY NO MORE: When Kevin Doolan referred to his old bike as a "donkey" last year, the phrase stuck -- despite Kev investing heavily mid-season in engine tuning tricks which allowed our ever-cheerful Aussie finishing the season in style -- but he is now taking pains to emphasise his days on top of the donkey are long-finished! "Yes mate, the old donkey's off to the glue factory!" he told us this week. "Instead, I've got a couple of sleek, slick, speedy thoroughbreds ready, all servived and ready to go!" "I'm not too keen on messing around in this weather, so I haven't been out on them yet -- I'll wait until just before the start of the season, then get in a solid week of spinning wheels on proper tracks". 2015 TICKETING: Commercial boss Lani Rae has her usual bag of super ticket-deals waiting for you this year in the shape of regular season ticket deals, and the highly-popular five- and ten-meeting mini-season tickets. To let you plan your speedway viewing in 2015, we can confirm our regular admission price will be £15, with concession admission £11. As always, all children are admitted free. A full season ticket for fifteen meetings (all 12 Premier League and three League Cup matches) costs £199 (concession price £149) and you can download application forms from our club website. The ten-meeting books are £139 (£99) and five-match deals only £70 (£50). These five- and ten-meeting tickets are handy gifts for family and friends, and can be obtained by contacting Lani on 07779-227535 or on e-mail at lani@berwickbandits.co. MORE NEW RULES: Having explored some of the amendments to the regulations governing Premier League speedway in 2015 in the last Banditmail, we thought we might take a look at a few more tweaks this time around. Let's see..... This year the bikes will have attachments to their silencers called heat shields. These are designed to prevent anyone getting burned by a hot exhaust if they come in contact, and as such have to be a nod to further safety in speedway. Note: If a heat shield falls off during a race, the rider won't be disqualified -- although to our eyes, a heat shield flying off and whizzing back towards a following rider creates a whole different risk situation! Next, there are to be no more helmet-carrieras -- if in-race footage is wanted, a camera will have to be fitted to the bike itself. As has been pretty-widely circulated, riders aren't allowed to get off their bikes at the starting-gate to dig out a trench. What this means for riders with wee short legs, I don't know -- Derek Sneddon or Steen Jensen might have had real problems if they'd been racing in 2015. But apparently it is OK to spend time smoothing a path away from the gate, as long as a rider stays astride his steed! If he gets off for a shuffle, he'll find himself suffering the same punishment (15m handicap or exclusion) as if he had touched the tapes. Then there are re-runs. If there's a false, or unsatisfactory start, riders are to be banned from going back into the pits -- if they, or their mechanics want to fiddle with a clutch or something, they'll need to do it on the track within a strictly-imposed two-minute warning. If a rider is disqualified for tape-touching or the like, the same rule will apply, except there will be an extra minute allowed for the line-up to be adjusted. HOSPITALITY -- A WARNING! In view of our Saturday-night home dates now being confirmed (see website) we can obviously invite you to fpick your favoured night to take advantage of our superb Hospitality deals during 2015. We are happy to report a number of good Bandit-people have already jumped on the Hospitality bandwagon, booking themselves in for one of this year's Saturday-night parties! Of course we still have many dates to be snapped up -- why not be one of the snappers? Only £35 per head (with a minimum of ten guests) which includes your stadium admission, a free programme, a pre-match group photograph with one of the Bandits, a supervised visit to the infield during racing to see what it all looks like from a very different perspective -- and of course, our legendary buffet meals with generous complimentary refreshments! Maybe you've been meaning to take a friend, family, customers or colleagues to Hospitality "one of these nights" but haven't quite got around to it, well -- now's your chance, but you'll need to book your Saturday party sooner, rather than later............ Contact the lovely Lani on 07779-227535 or lani@berwickbandits.co to reserve your place(s) in the Suite -- you certainly won't regret it -- and we'll be pleased to have you join us! THEO PIJPER: Although Theo raced as a Bandit for only a short period (in 2007) he has been a respected visitor since first arriving in Scotland in 2002 to join Edinburgh Monarchs, and spending a couple of years more recently on loan to Glasgow Tigers. All of which means we are happy to advertise his long-awaited Testimonial will take place as the season-opener up at Armadale on Friday, March 20th. This despite Theo having this week joined Scunthorpe Scorpions as a stop-gap replacement for injured Australian Ryan Douglas. While the full line-up, or indeed the format of the meeting, has not been announced, we do know Claus Vissing was one of the first riders to be named for the event. (In fact, Claus' appearance will be sponsored by the Dixon Building Bandits!). We will be reporting on further additions to the field in our Banditmail issues leading up to his big night.

Practising, or just watching?

Whoosh!

As sung by Joni Mitchell. About Exeter, Hull, Bradford, Newport, Ellesmere Port, etc, etc......

Have to say it: Good post!

The poster above quotes rule 16.1.2 which says that an arrangement can be made to give Panthers priority if he belongs to an NL club. What's not to understand here?

No unauthorised rider can appear on any track at which even one paying spectator is still present -- 'closing the meeting' means nothing other than the meeting referee's offski. Imagine the financial implication stemming from the scenario of a bike going into the crowd and injuring paid-in spectators, and the rider had no right to be there? Promoters carry huge Employers Liability insurance of up to £10 million in respect of claims -- which would be totally invalidated by a non-legal rider appearing in any second-half. A 'closed door' practice is allowed, usually termed 'non-competitive training' but only if there is an ambulance, a driver and ambulance attendant present.

Insurance liability?

plenty of reading in tonight's Banditmail.......... LUKE BACK IN ANGER: Our young recruit Luke Crang, who has spent many winter hours in the gym working his way back to fitness after sustaining back injuries while racing for Workington at Redcar last July, has now been back on his bike in anger, pushing himself to confirm his return to rude health. Luke reports no ill-effects, and will continue to find track-time wherever he can in the coming weeks leading up to the season's start. He is also racing in the National League this year, and will be on parade at Brandon for the Blaze's press day on March 13th. NEW REGULATIONS: As the new season approaches, we thought we should go over a few minor amendments to the regulations governing Premier League speedway in 2015. None are game-changers, and some seem (in our eyes) unecessary, however the powers-that-be want to refine a few things. Let's see..... Firstly, if a home team wins a match -- whether by one point of forty points -- they will be awarded three league points. If they win by six points or less, the visting team will get a bonus point, but this year a win is a three-pointer, regardless of the scoreline. We will see less black-and-white helmets this term. In PL matches, a losing team can only use the tactical facility once, it being available when a team is ten or more points behind the opposition in heats 5 through 12 (inclusive). The tactical facility willl not be available during the PL play-offs, in the KO Cup or the later stages of the League Cup. The PL play-offs will again be contested by the top six clubs in the final table. However, the format of the play-offs is refined. This year the third-placed club faces the sixth finisher in one quarter-final and finishers four and five meet in the other. The winners then progress to semi-finals, where the winners of the first quarter-final face the table-toppers, and the runners-up race against the team coming out of the second quarter-final. Obviously, the two winning semi-finalists then contest the Premier League Championship Grand Final. One other minor adjustment -- welcomed by traditionalists -- is the full-time return of the yellow-and-black helmet to replace yellow for the fourth rider in a heat. This at the request of referees, who have found it difficult to distinguish between white and plain yellow covers under murky conditions. BENFUND BANDITS: Two of our Dixon Building Bandits will get an early-season run-out on Sunday, March 8th in the annual BenFund Bonanza event, to be staged this year at Swindon. The meeting will comprise a quadrangular tournament between Australia, England, Denmark and Poland. The Danes have announced Thomas Jorgensen in their team, and Ben Barker -- who has the magnificent record of turning out in every single Bonanza meeting so far staged -- will be in the English squad, alongside Edinburgh ace Craig Cook and Glasgow's latest big-money signing Richard Lawson. In addition to the BenFund event, Ben will have another meeting under his belt before arriving at Shielfield for our Press & Practice session (on Saturday 21st March) when he will be at Ipswich -- his 2013 club -- to take part in the Witches' annual Billy Sanders Memorial event on Thursday 19th. MUSIC POLICIES: While we are aware that spectators come to Shielfield Park on a Saturday night to watch motor-bikes going sideways rather than attend a disco, we have at times received intense communications from customers who want to comment on the music played between races. Of course, we carefully read all suggestions, and in this instance find that -- of the minority who care -- there is virtually no common ground! Experience tells us there are about 5% of our weekly audience who want bang-up-to-the-minute thumping modern pop, hip-hop and house music, 5% who want the hit sounds of their rock'n'roll youth and a further 5% who seek gentle background music without any interference to their chatting! But that in truth, the remaining 85% don't give a hoot what we play..... In short, we certainly cannot please everybody -- but will continue to provide as variable a mixture of music as possible between races, incorporating old ones, gold ones, new ones and blue ones -- and we will continue to pass all requests for any particular artistes or musical styles to our presentation team. Enjoy! KO CUP: This season's Premier League KO Cup competition will be sponsored by Travel Plus Tours. In the first round, your Dixon Building Bandits have been drawn to race Ipswich Witches (home leg is on May 9th, away return at Foxhall Heath on Thursday, 21st). The winners of this tie will face either Rye House or Workington in the quarter-finals. PRESS AND PRACTICE: Our official Press'n'Practice session this year will take place on Saturday, March 21st. All contracted riders will be in attendance of course, and will take to the track after their usual photo-calls and media interview sessions. The Track Shop will be open, and sales of VIP Club memberships and our various season ticket packages will be available. THEO PIJPER: Although Theo raced as a Bandit for only a short period (in 2007) he has been a respected visitor since first arriving in Scotland in 2002 to join Edinburgh Monarchs, and spending a couple of years more recently on loan to Glasgow Tigers. We also remember last year, as the rain lashed down on Shielfield and we desperately dragged our track covers out to try to get the planned GP Challenge meeting on, Theo -- who was to be racing -- was right in there among our soaked staffers, pulling covers around with the best of them! All of which means we are happy to advertise that Theo Pijper's long-awaited Testimonial will take place as the season-opener up at Armadale on Friday, March 20th. While the full line-up, or indeed the format of the meeting, has not been announced yet, we do know Claus Vissing was one of the first riders to be named for the event. (In fact, Claus' appearance will be sponsored by the Dixon Building Bandits!). We will be reporting on further additions to the field in our Banditmail issues leading up to his big night. RICKY'S MEET: As we have previously noted in our Banditmail, there will be a meeting at Sheffield on Sunday, March 22nd (the day after our press'n'practice session) to add to funds raised for the rehabilitation and continuing recuperation of our grievously-injured Bandit Ricky Ashworth. Detail;s of the event are now emerging, and some of the names of riders taking part. Our own Ben Barker will be racing for Ricky, along with (among others still to be announced) Simon Stead, Freddie Lindgren, Peter Karlsson, Jakob Thorsell and Chris Harris. The meeting itself will be a 20-heat individual event, plus two semi-finals and a final. VIP CLUB MEMBERSHIPS BUILDING UP: With only six or so weeks until the bikes first roar again, it is tremendous to report the Bandits' promotion's initiative in setting up the new VIP Club is being rewarded by memberships coming in - are you in the Club as yet? Ryan Anderson announced the first of what will be several extra offers to boost membership of the new VIP Club, announcing that every tenth member signing-up to be a Bandits' VIP will receive free admission to the regular-season meeting of their choice during 2015. "This won't be the last wee extra we've got up our sleeve for VIPs" he confirmed. "We want to draw our fantastically-loyal and enthusiastic family of Berwick Bandits together, and what'll happen with this part of the deal is that every tenth VIP, member number 10, 20, 30, etc, will quite simply be invited to come to the next meeting -- or another night if they can't make it -- as our guest. When season-ticket holders join as VIPs, they will receive a free pass for a friend to use" "We will have further benefits for members in addition to what's already been announced" Ryan went on. "But we wanted to tell people about the free ticketing idea right away, so they can apply for membership sooner, rather than later, and hopefully get one of the lucky numbers!". For an annual membership fee of £20, VIP supporters will be afforded the opportunity to make a privileged pits visit for a few heats during a meeting, and then spend a further couple of races viewing proceedings from the centre-green. Members will also be invited to make the presentation of a VIP award to one night's most-entertaining rider and -- if they have kids who attend matches -- can nominate their young 'uns to be mascots. Further, VIPs will receive a 50% discount of tickets for dances, etc, organised by the promotion, on certain nights they will receive a generous discount on merchandise from the Club Shop and on booking hospitality will be granted 10% discount if a full party (30+ visitors) is booked in. To join the VIP Club, and those who have already signed up -- and you just might be a 'tenth member' -- contact Lani Rae on lani@berwickbandits.co or call 07775-227535.

Interesting -- it was well-known that old Jimmy was as gay as they came!

Maybe there won't be this year!

Productive Staff meeting on Saturday. Looks like a couple of new faces in pits this year.

Sparkafag surely isn't. As for the other one however......

As do Scotland, Wales and Ulster.....?

Steve Worrall is a Belle Vue rider, bought him last year.

Or less likely to throw a punch. Jason Garrity had a go at Deek last season, ended up with a very sore face.

For 'services to rule-fiddling'?

Actually, it seems the BSPA do have their house in order, and have clarified the d/u regulations quite clearly before a wheel is turned.

Wrong question, Paulco. He can't apply for anything until his prospective employers have an approved certification from UKVI.

Like the title of my Gene Clark album, Taffy: Two Sides To Every Story.........

Good news! Tonight's Banditmail e-newsletter reports: MAIN TEAM SPONSORSHIP SECURED We are delighted to report that our beloved Bandits will be fully-sponsored for the 2015 season by K.Dixon Building Services, based at the Ramparts Trading Estate. This invaluable investment, added to the roster of Associate sponsors who have already endorsed their backing of the club's efforts this year, gives the Bandits an invaluable financial boost as the new season approaches. K.Dixon Building Services are well-established and well-respected in the Berwick area. The company was started by Kevin Dixon and his wife Vicky in 1996 and the business has now grown into a strong and prosperous company employing a staff of more than 40. The company coversan area from the north-east of England, up through the borders and into Southern Scotland. "As well as welcoming Kevin and Vicky into our speedway 'family' at this time, we should acknowledge the invaluable input of our friend Malcolm Leighton in putting the deal together" said George Hepburn. "This is a company renowned for the highest quality and finish in each field of work which is demonstrated by the numerous professional accreditations they hold. Having them on board is going to be a terrific help to us this term". *Kevin and his family are, of course, great speedway fans, and have kindly sponsored meetings at the speedway before this" agreed Berwick's Commercial Manager Lani Rae. "They backed the FIM Grand Prix Challenge we staged last season (see our picture of winner Linus Sundstrom with Kevin Dixon, his family and friends after the FIM event) and have also committed to helping many local resident groups, school sport teams and local junior football teams over the past years". "They also host an annual coffee morning at their premises' with proceeds going to Macmillan Care". Kevin ,Vicky and their four children Reece, Megan, Shay and Nyall are all looking forward to supporting Berwick Speedway this season and seeing a successful team in action -- aren't we all?

A wee bit of a playground squabble going on here, I think. Facts: In a mid-season match against Rye House in 2012, in Heat 2 the Rye House reserve Jason Bunyan was leading but got into trouble as he was passing the pit gate, locked right up and high-sided. The Berwick reserves, Robert Branford and Robert Ksiezak both piled into his bike. Bunyan was excluded, Ksiezak was taken out of the meeting, as was Branford (after taking a start in the two-man re-run, despite a knee injury, and limping around for two points. Neither Branford or Ksiezak raced again that season, in the case of Ksiezak the crash did indeed end his career. These are the facts. Observations: Whatever Robin is thinking of, it wasn't the night of Gjedde's return. It was the night Berwick's remaining four heroes (Alden, Aspregren, Smith and Bellego I think) defeated a full Rye House squad 50-39, despite having only one rider in over half the races.

Fair post. Really? And your alternative signing would have been........?

From Banditmail: MEET MATIC! Following ongoing concerns over the situation of a work permit visa for Australian teenager Jake Allen, your Bandits this morning changed their plans and finalised our 2015 line-up with the acquisition of 26-year-old Slovenian international Matic Voldrih. Matic has not ridden in the British leagues before and comes to Shielfield Park on the recommendation of his fellow countryman, Grand Prix star Matej Zagar. Zagar has been acting on Voldrih’s behalf in the dealings with Bandits' co-promoter Dennis McCleary, who says "We have had good reports about him from Matej who is very keen to get his fellow-countryman into UK racing and over the past 10 days or so, more or less since the Australian visa thing erupted, discussions have been going back and forth” “Matic will be based in Tweedmouth all season. His bikes and equipment will come over -- it is quite a long trip -- by road before the middle of March" "We appreciate British speedway, and indeed the whole UK set up, will be new to him -- he currently speaks very little English -- but he certainly should adapt to our big circuit. Fans like to see new faces, and of course he will join the club's list of rider-assets after completing a set number of matches" Matic Voldrih comes from the picturesque ski-resort of Kranjska Gora, a town on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region of northwestern Slovenia, close to the Austrian and Italian borders. He has already raced in the FIM GP Challenge qualifiers, European Championship rounds, Italian Championships as well as in his own country and in open events in Slovakia, Latvia, Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic. George Hepburn welcomed the signing, saying Matic would quickly learn of the warmth and good feeling of the Berwick public. "It is such a shame that for the third time in four years, we've 'lost' a rider from our declared 1-7 before the season has even begun" he said today. "But Matic Voldrih will be an able replacement for Jake Allen, and I'm sure the fans who stand on the third bend will already be at work, creating a big Slovenian flag!" The signing, which of course remains subject to BSPA ratification, leaves the new-look Berwick septet (in no particular order) as: Ben Barker and Luke Crang (England), Thomas Jorgensen and Claus Vissing (Denmark), Kevin Doolan (Australia), Matic Voldih (Slovenia) and Alex Edberg (Sweden).