Cubsforever

That a very simplistic view of track preparation and who's decision it is. Knowing four ' track- men' from around the country only one gets paid and they all prepare the track to the home riders requirements, not the crowd. Even when Redcar had a paid track man, not everybody was happy and Redcar is built on rubbish tip with no special base and sits next to a large river which creates its own issues. Scunthorpe is a great racing track but it's not deep, it's the type of shale they use that some riders don't like. Personally I think it's good, but it certainly does not attract a bigger crowd because of track preparation although it produces great racing. The internet is full of praise for the quality of racing at Redcar this season. It appears every season we have a struggling team the racing is good because the home riders have to fight for every point. Even Mr.Havelock's biggest critics who have attended recently have made comment on the quality of the racing. Peterbrough was not prepared for the crowds benefit but was prepared very well for the whole weekend by very knowledgable track staff. It appears Redcar and many others don't do what you want them to do, probably all for the same reasons, lack of cash and riders demands.

The riders decide how they want a track preparing, and that's usually the case at all tracks. They want it how it is, slick! , Hence the improved performances from the home riders. When it was deep they didn't like it, neither did the majority of the fans watching. Track maintenance is a black art and you will never prepare a track that suits all 7 riders. Rain was forecast from 10am that day, it didn't come, so watering wasn't as heavily done as it usually is but the track was still good. Plenty of effort goes into that track, from volunteers who don't get paid a penny. The budget at Redcar is well known so there isn't a paid track man or any paid staff at all. Personally, and I was stood in the pits, I saw plenty of overtakes for those riders who know who to do it and thought it was a great match and none of the riders made any complaint about the track ( plenty of former Bears on show). Even Bjerre didn't complain! Having seen the World Cup meeting last night from Belle Vue, on a deep track, there was little or no entertainment at all! The days of deep tracks are gone ( sadly) as modern machines and riders can't ride them.

Despite another league defeat last night there were signs of encouragement for the young Stockton Van Centre Redcar Cubs side who went down to Northside Stars by 24-12 in a hastily ran NJL match. Heat one saw the Stars experienced pair of Rothery and Millar storm to a 5-1 with the seemingly cursed William O'keefe suffering yet more mechanical issues. Heat two belonged to the 125 lads and Cubs Elliot Kelly and Alex Goldsbrough showed improved form but were unable to prevent Corbin Pavitt winning the race for a shared heat. Heat 3 saw Carl Basford have a lightening start to split the Stars pair with O'Keefe struggling on his second bike. Another Stars 4-2 in heat 4 with Alex missing the gate but Elliot grabbing second place. Stars took another 5-1 in the last 500 race with George Rothery getting an impressive maximum 9 points from his three rides. The final heat was shared 3-3 as Pavitt also scored a maximum leaving the final score as Cubs 12 Stars 24. It was good to see improved first turns from the Cubs side and shows that their recent practice laps weren't wasted. Cubs scorers; Elliot Kelly 6, Carl Basford 4, Alex Goldsbrough 2&2, William O'Keefe 0. Stars; George Rothery 9, Corbin Pavitt 9, Lewis Millar 5&2, Gregor Millar 1. The Cubs would like to thank everyone who bought a Cubs badge last night to help fund the running of the side.

Having a six hour round trip to watch this meeting I'm just glad it took place and no one got injured. The weather conditions played their part and the riders got on with it and should be applauded for that. I must comment on the antics of the ' entertainer' ( I use the word loosely) on the centre green. I have no problem with his efforts to liven things up but some of his behaviour directly in site of the riders at the starting gate was questionable. Does he have to jump around and wave his arms? ( I think he would claim he was dancing?) just as the lads are trying to concentrate on the tapes. A bit off putting for the riders ( and yes, I did ask some of the riders about it) Perhaps they could erect a pole for him to girate around, to the rear of the starting gate! Minor complaint as otherwise I enjoyed the meeting ( no real racing but genuine effort from all riders to get on with it) and its presentation.

Redcar will be hosting a practice session on Saturday 6th August for riders with their own equipment and appropriate licence. It will run from 10.30 till 2.30 ish., cost is £40 Contact Brian Havelock for further details 07889 886389

Next home fixture is the 28/7/16 against Northside Stars. I am trying to revive second half races and will be running a Minimum of two races each time there isn't a junior match, alternating between 125's one week and 500's the next. Home fixtures. 4/8-Berwick 11/8-Workington Away 13/8/--at Northside (a.m.) and Workington (p.m.)

Carl Basford's score should have read 1. &1 from his three rides.

Yes.

The Stockton Van Centre sponsored Cubs suffered a heavy defeat at home to a strong Halifax 'Golden Fleece' Dukes last Thursday evening and are now at the wrong end of the Northern Junior League. The Cubs were simply outclassed from the starts and not helped with mechanical gremlins suffered by Elliot Kelly resulting in a 28-8 thumping. Extra practice sessions are being planned and it is hoped that the side won't have to wait to long to turn their enthusiasm into match points. Cubs scorers William O'Keefe 4, Jack Wright (guest) 3, Carl Basford 1, Elliot Kelly 0. Dukes scorers Joe Lawlor 9, Jordan Palin 9, Sam McGurk 6&3, Chris Hay 4&2.

Don't believe all you see on the updates site. There was some very close racing in several heats and how often do you see Mr.Stead get beaten around his own track? If Bears No.1 had actually scored like a number 1, Tigers might have had major problems.

Redcar will be hosting a practice session on Saturday 25th June for riders with their own equipment and appropriate licence. It will run from 10.30 till 2.30 ish., cost is £40 Contact Brian Havelock for further details 07889 886389 There will not be any bikes for hire on this date.

Redcar will be hosting a practice session on Saturday 25th June for riders with their own equipment and appropriate licence. It will run from 10.30 till 2.30 ish., cost is £40 Contact Brian Havelock fir further details 07889 886389 There will not be any bikes for hire in this date.

The Hartburn Garage sponsored Cubs side went down to a costly defeat at local rivals Newcastle Gems this evening by 20 - 12. Any hopes of pulling off a win were dealt a severe blow at the very first bend of race one as William O'keefe came to grief and injured his knee and elbow ruling him out of the rest if the meeting. in the rerun Josh Embleton was looking comfortable for the win until his engine died leaving Cubs Carl Basford to win his first ever race for the Cubs on a 500 machine. Race 2 had the youngsters out but the fast and experienced pair of Freeman and Wright were just to quick for the Cubs duo resulting in a 5-1 to the Gems. Race 3 was a two man race as William O'keefe was ruled out and Embleton had withdrawn with no machine to ride. Carl Basford showed how much he's improved with a steady win over Pate to leave the score at 9-7. Race 4 had more drama as first Wright fell whilst leading then Cubs Elliot Kelly came to grief whilst 2 nd leaving the race awarded 3-2 giving Alex Goldsbrough his first points of the night. Race 5 saw the two man Challange recommence and Carl was leading again for 2 laps only to make a mistake entering lap 3 allowing Dale Pate to sneak through and claim the win. The final race saw the Gems pair out pace the Cubs duo leaving the final score as Gems 20 Cubs 12. We wish young William O'Keefe a speedy recovery and hope Elliot hasn't caused his grandad too much financial strain in the repairs department. Gems scorers; Freeman 9, Pate 8, Wright 4&2, Embleton 0 Cubs; Carl Basford 8, Elliot Kelly 2, Alex Goldsbrough 2, William O'Keefe 0.

A Redcar Cubs 500cc select side travelled to Glasgow today to take on the Ashfield Giants in a challenge match. The Cubs were represented by the Basford boys with Kieran Douglas adding some heat leader power and local Glasgow lad Blair Smith making up the side. Heat 1 saw Ryan MacDonald being blamed for a tape infringement and was put off 15 metres. Ben Basford took a comfortable win from MacDonald and Whelan with young Smith at the back. Heat 2 saw an impressive win from Kieran Douglas from the Glasgow pair with Carl Basford repeating his ' looping ' offence of last Thursday , at the gate. Heat 3 saw the Giants sneak in front with a 4-2 win from Ryan MacDonald and Kev Whelan over Douglas and Smith. Heat 4 had Ben get his second comfortable win over McIlkenny and Miller putting the score at 13-11 Heat 5 proved to be a decisive race with the Giants getting a 5-1 win from Whelan and McIlkenny over Carl and Smith. The final race saw MacDonald get his revenge over Ben, who missed the gate, with Douglas a good third leaving it a 3-3 Meaning the Giants won the match 21-15 A good match with all the riders giving it their all . The match scorers were; Giants: Ryan MacDonald 8, Mark McIlkenny 6&1, Kev Whelan 5&1, Lewis Miller 2&2. Cubs; Ben Basford 8, Kieran Douglas 6&1, Carl Basford 1, Blair Smith 0.

The Stockton Van Centre Cubs finally got their season underway with a narrow defeat to the Castleford Spensite Castles tonight. The match was tight through out with two evenly matched sides but the Castles sneaked the win by 19 points to 17. Heat 1 saw Cubs Carl Basford loop at the start leaving brother Ben to win the race from Gavin Parr and William O'keefe. Heat 2 was impressively won by Sam McGurk with Elliot Kelly coming from behind for 2nd place from Archie Freeman . Race 3 saw Ben Basford win again with William O'Keefe 2nd with a battling third from Carl Basford . Race 4 saw Sam McGurk win with Elliot Kelly again fighting through for 2nd from Freeman with Alex Goldsbrough pushing him all the way. Race 5 saw Ben Basford get his 3rd win , O'Keefe another good 2nd with Carl Basford again pipping Gavin Parr for third place leaving the score even at 15 a piece going into the last race. heat 6 saw Sam McGurk streak away for an easy third win Kelly a good 2nd but Alex Goldsbrough, although improving with every ride, unable to grab the vital last point from Freeman leaving the Castles with the win , 19-17. A very entertaining match with no falls and plenty of overtakes watched by a very healthy crowd. Cubs- B.Basford, 9, E.Kelly 6, C.Basford 2, A.Goldsbrough 0 Castles- S.McGurk 9, W.O'Keefe 5&1, A.Freeman 3, G.Parr 2

Redcar can't sign any Australians or Americans as they no longer have the appropriate licence.

Redcar will be hosting a practice session on Saturday 21st May for riders with their own equipment and appropriate licence. It will run from 10.30 till 2.30 ish., cost is £40 Contact Brian Havelock fir further details 07889 886389 There will not be any bikes for hire in this date.

Castleford have unfortunately withdrawn from the NJL due to issues with the S.C.B. It is hoped that they will still feature in some challenge matches throughout the season.

Berwick fixtures 30th April Halifax 7th may Newcastle 14th May Castleford 28th may Redcar 18th June Northside 27th August Workington Northside/Castleford fixtures (1). 16/4/16.Newcastle (2). 14/5/16 Halifax (3). 4/6/16 Berwick (4). 2/7/16 workington (5). 13/8/16 Redcar (6). 24/9/16 Castleford double/header (All meetings double headers for the away team except meeting 6 when Northside and Castleford face one another.) Halifax fixtures 3 june Berwick, 19 June Northside, 10 July Castleford, 4 September Redcar. TBA Workington and Newcastle Redcar fixtures 14/4 Newcastle 28/4 Northside 19/5 Castleford 7/7 Halifax 4/8 Berwick 11/8 Workington Newcastle Fixtures Sun 1st May Redcar Sun 8th May Berwick Sun 5th June Halifax Sun 12th June Workington Sun 31st July Northside Sun 14th Aug Castleford Workington 14-5-2016 v Halifax 2-7-2016 v Castleford 6-8-2016 v Newcastle 13-8-2016 v Redcar 28-8-2016 v Berwick (TBA Northside)

Redcar speedway intend to run a training session on Saturday 23rd April starting at 10.30 am until 2.30 ish . Session is for those with their own equipment only and costs £40 for the day. Contact Brian Havelock for further details and weather updates regarding the practice session 07889 886389. Hire bikes are not available on this day.