LATEST NEWS ~ DECEMBER 2007

FRENCH STAR OUT OF BEARS LINE-UP
By Martin Neal, Evening Gazette ~ Friday 21st December 2007
FLYING Frenchman Mat Tresarrieu has been ruled out of the Redcar Bears team for the start of next season as he won’t have recovered from injury in time. But promoter Chris van Straaten plans to keep the bulk of his 2007 team at South Tees Motorsports Park next term. Crowd-pleaser Tresarrieu missed the Bears’ triumphant end to the season after suffering a shattered knee socket and serious ligament damage when his secondary chain snapped and threw him off his machine during practice for the European Grass Track Championships. He has undergone two operations and it has now been confirmed that he won’t be fit to resume racing until around May or June. With the Bears planning to open their season on Thursday, March 20, van Straaten is now piecing together a 1-7 without him.

Jack Hargreaves, who returned to Redcar mid-season, will not be back, having joined Birmingham. It’s a great move for the young Midlander as it’s closer to his home and he’s something of a Perry Barr track specialist and played a big part the Bears’ historic Young Shield final triumph there in October. But van Straaten has revealed he wants to keep skipper Gary Havelock, rider of the year James Grieves, young rider of the year Josh Auty, Dan Giffard and Chris Kerr on Teesside.

“Mat Tresarrieu will not be fit for the start of the season,” said the Bears chief, “and we don’t want to put him under any pressure to rush his recovery. In any case, if we keep Gary, James, Josh, Dan and Chris here, we wouldn’t stay under the average limit. I’m looking to keep those five together - and I believe at least three of them can improve their averages. That leaves us with a reserve and a second string with an average of round five to find - and we have riders in mind.”

While many of their Premier League rivals have been announcing signings for 2008, the Bears have yet to tie down anyone. But van Straaten insists that everything is moving along satisfactorily and added: “You’ll probably find that all seven are announced at once!” Meanwhile the Premier League fixture list should be known early in the New Year. With Oxford failing to agree a rent deal with their stadium landlords, 17 teams will come to the tapes at the start of the season.

CHRIS Kerr has a 2008 calendar just out. The calendars are A4 size and filled with photos from this year courtesy of Graham Platten, Colin Poole and Ian Adam. Priced £6 plus £1.50 postage and packing, they are available from chriskerr_racing@hotmail.com or by phoning 07795 683291.
 

MR PERSONALITY ... HAVVY
By Redcar Speedway ~ Tuesday 11th December 2007
CONGRATULATIONS to Gary Havelock who won the prestigious 'Sports Personality of the Year' award at the Evening Gazette/BBC Tees presentations at the Thistle Hotel, Middlesbrough on Monday December 10th. This was in recognition of his fighting through serious injury and energy-sapping illness to still post a nine-plus average and lead the Redcar Bears to their first silverware on Teesside since 1986. The Bears being the winners of the Premier League's Jack Young Shield Final.

Gary commented: 'When I won the World Speedway Championship at the height of my career - the sport was not receiving the recognition it deserved. So this makes up for it and I am proud not only on behalf of myself but my local club too.'
 

BEARS BOSS HAILS BLUEPRINT FOR FUTURE
By Martin Neal, Evening Gazette ~ Tuesday 4th December 2007
Redcar Bears boss Chris van Straaten has hailed what he says is a magnificent blueprint for the future after the annual promoters’ conference. The key issue decided was to introduce a promotion and relegation system between the Elite and Premier Leagues. In addition the PL points limit was increased to 41.5 and the EL to reduced to 38.5. And that, says van Straaten will begin a process of narrowing the gap in standards between the two leagues.

“I am excited about what is a new blueprint for the future of speedway,” he said. “It’s something that was needed, rather than just patching things up from time to time as we have done. We have been the only professional team sport where there has been no opportunity to climb up the ladder, and now that opportunity exists.”

Whoever finishes top of the PL will be crowned champions - but the top four will go into a play-off competition. The winners will meet the losers of an EL play-off between the bottom two in the final table - the prize being a place in the top flight for the following season. “It’s a long term project,” added van Straaten, “and it will bring the Elite League and Premier League closer together.”

The Bears chief said he also expected the Premier League to split into two at some point. With Reading coming down from the EL and Scunthorpe going up from the Conference League, next season’s PL is guaranteed 17 teams - and that figure should rise to 18 once Oxford have secured a rent deal with their stadium landlords. “I’m not totally enamoured with an 18-team league,” admitted van Straaten, “but it’s a democracy and I’m not going to slate what has happened.” The proposed revivals at Cradley Heath and Leicester would create further need for a split, added van Straaten.

Another change for 2008 is that the aggregate point has been abolished, and teams will now get a bonus point for winning away. “There are four teams who have a distinct home advantage,” said van Straaten, “we know who they are and they always seem to finish near the top. Now we will see teams rewarded for winning away rather than for scoring 60 points at home.”

With the points limit now set, the Bears can now start their team-building plans for 2008. And van Straaten revealed he had made a contract offer to Coventry-owned Josh Auty, who made such a big impression in his debut year of PL racing this season.
 

BONUS POINT SCRAPPED
By BSPA ~ Monday 3rd December 2007
BRITISH Speedway bosses have scrapped the aggregate bonus point – in a bid to encourage more away wins.
A home win will be rewarded with two-points, but an away win is now worth three, with the traditional point for a draw.
Birmingham manager Graham Drury said: “For teams to be successful now they have to win away from home more and not rely too much on home advantage.”
 

PREMIER LEAGUE CHIEFS
By BSPA ~ Monday 3rd December 2007
PREMIER League chiefs have revealed how the team that finishes top will be declared champions – before going into the play-offs.
The play-off system will now be used to establish a winner to meet and Elite League club in a promotion and relegation decider.
Newcastle boss George English said: “Hopefully this keeps the traditionalists happy and it means the league and play-offs are now completely separate issues.”
 

BRITISH SPEEDWAY AGM REPORT
By BSPA ~ Sunday 2nd December 2007
POOLE Speedway co-promoter Matt Ford, one of the most successful bosses of the modern era, has given the new era of British racing his seal of approval. Ford, who admits he will be forced to release either Bjarne Pedersen or Jason Crump on Monday, believes the bigger picture was the most important consideration during the sport's AGM in Coventry over the last four days. The Elite League points-limit has been reduced to create more parity between the clubs - but that inevitably means the likes of Poole, Swindon and champions Coventry will be forced to shed riders.

Said Ford: "The top clubs in the Elite League have done this in the best interests of the sport in general. It's a case of short term pain for long term gain in my view. The imbalance within the Elite League last season could not continue and we all believe these measures, however strong, will bring us a more competitive league next season. Speedway is a fantastic product and we must all go out and tell people that. It's a great sport loved by many people who care passionately about it and we have a system in place where the Elite and Premier Leagues are now closer together which should help the process of promotion and relegation."

And on that subject, Ford - who specifically asked to issue a statement after the AGM to champion the new plans - has unveiled the process. "The bottom two teams in the Elite League will do battle to go into a final against the winner of the Premier League play-offs," said Ford. "The top four Premier League clubs will battle it out to meet the Elite League team in what should be an exciting final with a place in the Elite League on the line - can you imagine the excitement and tension!

"There is also a financial incentive for the Premier League team in that play-off to reach the Elite League - we can't call it a parachute payment because that's when a team gets relegated, this is the opposite! The Elite League was very close to welcoming a new member in the build-up to the AGM but that club ended their interest at the 11th hour. It's now attractive to Premier League clubs to make that move into the top flight. We will have some casualties, none more so than Poole Speedway, my own club. You know the rider who is leaving us and it's hard. Very hard. But we retain a belief that we are doing what is best for the sport.

Promoters need to stop thinking of themselves and move forward for the good of the sport. We will stick together. In recent years we have tinkered with the sport and that's not enough. Here we have a three-year plan and no team in the Elite League can afford to finish in the bottom two. Every match will matter and even now, as Poole co-promoter, I feel more pressure to get my team right."
 
THE PLAY-OFFS:
ELITE LEAGUE TITLE:
TOP FOUR
 
ELITE LEAGUE RELEGATION:
BOTTOM TWO, LOSERS TO MEET WINNERS OF PREMIER LEAGUE FOR PLACE IN ELITE LEAGUE 2009.
 
PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE:
TOP FOUR, WINNERS TO MEET LOSERS OF ELITE LEAGUE RELEGATION PLAY-OFF FOR PLACE IN ELITE LEAGUE 2009.
 
OTHER KEY ISSUES:
TACTICAL RIDE RULES UNCHANGED.
 
ELITE LEAGUE:
Champions Coventry will defend their title against Belle Vue, Eastbourne, Ipswich, Lakeside, Peterborough, Poole, Swindon and Wolverhampton. Reading have elected to move into the Premier League. Points limit: 38.85.
 
PREMIER LEAGUE:
The Premier League have welcomed Reading and have allowed Oxford a limited amount of time to try to secure a deal with their Cowley stadium landlords, the GRA for a return of senior racing to the city.

Scunthorpe have also been accepted, which means the League now has 17 certain starters, plus the hoped-for addition of Oxford.

The line-up reads:
Berwick, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Isle of Wight, King's Lynn, Mildenhall, Newcastle, Newport, Oxford, Reading, Redcar, Rye House, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Somerset, Stoke, Workington.
The Premier League points limit has been voted in at 41.5.
 
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE:
Sheffield's Neil Machin has decided to end his time on Management Committee, and has been replaced by the vastly-experienced Alex Harkess of Edinburgh. Pete Toogood remains Chairma! n for a fourth season, with Wolverhampton and Redcar chief Chris Van Straaten staying as vice-chairman, and other members Colin Pratt (Coventry) and Dave Pavitt (Isle of Wight) keep their seats.
 
COMPETITION INFO:
ELITE LEAGUE KNOCKOUT CUP:
 
PRELIMINARY ROUND:
Wolverhampton v Ipswich

QUARTER-FINALS:
Lakeside v Peterborough, Eastbourne v Wolverhampton or Ipswich, Poole v Swindon, Coventry v Belle Vue.
 
PREMIER LEAGUE KNOCKOUT CUP:
 
PRELIMINARY ROUND:
Scunthorpe v Sheffield, Reading v Oxford.

FIRST ROUND:
Glasgow v Birmingham, Rye House v Newport, Somerset v Newcastle, King's Lynn v Reading or Oxford, Workington v Stoke, Scunthorpe or Sheffield v Isle of Wight, Edinburgh v Berwick, Mildenhall v Redcar.
 
PREMIER TROPHY GROUP STAGES:
 
GROUP 1:
Workington, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Berwick.
 
GROUP 2:
Newcastle, Redcar, Sheffield, Stoke.
 
GROUP 3:
Birmingham, Mildenhall, King's Lynn, Rye House.
 
GROUP 4:
Newport, Somerset, Isle of Wight, Reading.
 
*Promoted clubs, Oxford and Scunthorpe, are not permitted to enter due to potential fixture congestion.
 
SUPER 7EVEN:
A statement detailing the dates and venues of the 2008 Super 7even series will follow in due course.
 

BRITISH SPEEDWAY AGM UPDATE
By BSPA ~ Saturday 1st December 2007
BRITISH Speedway will roar into an exciting new era next March - with bosses predicting more competitive Leagues and promotion and relegation. Elite League chiefs have introduced a new points limit to govern team strengths with the aim of providing a greater parity throughout the nine clubs. Champions Coventry will defend their title against Belle Vue, Eastbourne, Ipswich, Lakeside, Peterborough, Poole, Swindon and Wolverhampton.

Reading have elected to move into the Premier League. Transfer speculation will increase with the new limit of 38.85 as clubs look to build their side with the aim of reaching the top four, and the top-flight play-offs.

The Premier League have welcomed Reading and have allowed Oxford a limited amount of time to try to secure a deal with their Cowley stadium landlords, the GRA for a return of senior racing to the city. Scunthorpe have also been accepted, which means the League now has 17 certain starters, plus the hoped-for addition of Oxford.
The line-up reads:
Berwick, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Isle of Wight, King's Lynn, Mildenhall, Newcastle, Newport, Oxford, Reading, Redcar, Rye House, scunthorpe, Sheffield, Somerset, Stoke, Workington.

The Premier League points limit has been voted in at 41.5. Promotion and relegation between the top two leagues will be introduced, with further details to be revealed at the culmination of the conference on Sunday.

Sheffield's Neil Machin has decided to end his time on Management Committee, and has been replaced by the vastly-experienced Alex Harkess of Edinburgh. Pete Toogood remains Chairman for a fourth season, with Wolverhampton and Redcar chief Chris Van Straaten staying as vice-chairman, and other members Colin Pratt (Coventry) and Dave Pavitt (Isle of Wight) keep their seats.

The conference will end on Sunday, and a further statement, including the comments of chairman Toogood, will be issued that evening.