It was time for ‘thank yous’ all round in the main bar at Kent Speedway club’s Central Park Stadium last Friday with the annual Presentation Event following the CTA Fire Kings’ final home meeting of the 2014 season.

The Sittingbourne-based club’s number one and inspirational skipper Simon Lambert was first up reflecting on the excellent team spirit in the camp which had seen the side finish in third place in Speedway’s National League and come within a whisker of qualifying for the Championship Grand Final.

He said: “It’s been a good year – the track has been good, the fans have given us terrific support and special thanks to all our individual backers and to the club sponsors CTA Fire.  We have achieved more than many expected us to on track and a major part of that has been down to the way we all pull together. Friendships have been made this season which I’m sure will carry on for many years and that says a lot for the great spirit in the camp”.

Co-promoter and Speedway legend Len Silver (the oldest working promoter in the sport and in this year 2014, marking the 40^th anniversary of being the first manager to lead an England team to Speedway World Cup glory) spoke fulsomely of what a fabulous year he had enjoyed at Central Park,

He said: “Personally I have had such a great year working here for Kent Speedway – it is a great place, with a marvellous stadium with excellent facilities and tremendous support from fans, volunteers and the stadium staff alike.  The riders have exceeded expectations out on the track and that has been very pleasing”.

Mr. Silver singled out special praise to two men who work literally tirelessly for the club, adding: “I have to tell you about this week.  After the rain off last Friday and a weekend of torrential rain, we got here on Monday to find the track under water.  Ronnie and Jamie worked ceaselessly as they do every single week to get the track ready.

“Only to find after another deluge for it to be under water again.  So they did it all again and the result was we could stage such a good meeting as this evening’s. Without the hard work all season long, all year long in fact, of Ronnie Stanshall and Jamie Rutter they’d be no Kent Speedway and I pay tribute to them this evening”.

Another valued backer of the club, Buckmore Park Karting donated a magnificent trophy for the top CTA Fire Kings’ point’s scorer: the silverware going to the very popular young rider, completing a second year in Kent colours, Ben Morley.

Then it was time to announce the result of the Kent CTA Fire Kings’ Rider of the Year for 2014.  Supporters had voted in good numbers via text, email, the Facebook page and by post; and the winner was – to huge acclaim in the crowded bar – Danny Ayres.

The Newmarket-based 28-year-old is a newcomer to the sport and his rise to become the darling of the Central Park crowd, a much respected prospect within the NL and an inspiration to his team-mates has been both meteoric and heartening for all to see.  A showman in the grand old style of Speedway (but rarely seen in the sport these days) Danny hugely deserves this latest accolade.

An emotional Ayres said: “I want to thank everyone who voted for me and thank the fans here for their support every week.  To be riding in this great stadium and hear fans chanting my name is just so special. The year has gone beyond all my expectations.  I want to especially thank our skipper Simon and my team mates and also the mechanics for all their help and support because, trust me, when we started we really didn’t have a clue! Also massive thanks to the man who got me started in the sport, Andrew Silver and to Len for giving me a chance here with Kent.  I will be back next year – which you can absolutely count on!”

Danny’s father, David echoed his son’s sentiments later, adding: “We would just like to thank everyone at Kent Speedway: the team for all their help, Mark Morley for always helping with the bike, Simon Lambert for all the advice – what a great skipper he is.  In fact every rider and mechanic has helped me and Danny since we started – and as Danny said in his speech, we really did need the help!  And most of all we want to thank the Kent supporters for the way they get behind the team and drive Danny on.

“He is just loving it and gets a real buzz and I get a real buzz watching it too!  We could simply not have imagined this back in February when Danny literally first started to practice on a Speedway bike  – we hoped then to get a ride in the junior leagues like the MDL and by the end of the season maybe the occasional NL outing – it has been an unreal season for us.”

Looking ahead to Sunday’s NL Fours (the league’s grand finale where quartets from eight sides go into action for the Fours Championship) David commented, “It would be great if the boys could win the Fours at Coventry – they deserve to win some silverware!”

The Fours sponsored by Buildbase is at 2.30pm at Brandon Stadium in Coventry.  Kent, who were runners up in the corresponding event last year, are in Group ‘A’ alongside the holders Cradley Heathens, the hosts Coventry Storm and from Derbyshire, the Buxton Hitmen.  Group ‘B’ comprises last year’s third placed side Mildenhall, their local rivals King’s Lynn, Stoke and Devon.

Pictures supplied by Elizabeth Leslie.