The team from British Speedway’s newest venue head to The Old Gun Site on Sunday as the Kent Royals take on the Workington Comets in the National Development League.
The Royals have been going through a difficult spell recently but will be looking to produce the kind of form that saw them take convincing wins over Berwick and Belle Vue in their opening two home league fixtures. They will however have to do it without the injured duo of Jack Kingston and Rhys Naylor, while new signing Ashton Vale must wait for his official debut as a declared member of the Kent team as he misses Sunday due to a clash with The Masters Grasstrack.
The visitors are back to full strength now, after captain Luke Crang, teenage talent Luke Harrison and reserve Elliot Kelly, having all previously missed meetings through injuries at different stages of the season, are back in the Workington septet.
Sunday’s fixture will see the new averages come into effect and the main change is that once again Rhys Naylor and Connor King swap positions in the side, this means that Connor King drops to reserve which could provide The Royals with a trump card.
With two riders in the top five currently out injured, it means a guest can be used and The Royals have turned to Australian born Matt Marson to come in for Jack Kingston. Matt races in the NDL for the Belle Vue Colts and was the top scorer for the Colts when they visited The Old Gun Site in June, with two race wins on his way to a ten-point score. This means that the rider-replacement facility will be in operation for Rhys Naylor.
Rhys was injured in a crash at The Old Gun Site a fortnight ago and although he finished second in the re-run of the reserves race, he was unable to continue with injuries to his ribs and knee. The rider replacement facility allows the use of the Additional Rider who will take the number 8 race jacket, and the rider that will fulfil that role on Sunday will be 2022 Kent Royal Chris Watts.
Other team news for Kent has seen the release of Sam Woolley, although a popular member of the side with teammates and fans alike, Sam has found points hard to come by in recent meetings, his place in the side has been taken by Ashton Vale with effect from the 7th of August. As previously mentioned, Sunday’s fixture clashes with The Masters Grasstrack meeting, and Ashton’s place will be taken by Eli Meadows. There will still be the familiar trio of captain Tom Woolley and heat leaders Ben Morley and Nathan Ablitt to lead the charge against The Comets.
This week’s visitors to The Old Gun Site are the newest team to the National League, but not a new name to the sport, as we extend a warm welcome to Cumbria’s Workington Comets. It was in 2018 that Workington last took to the shale, at their previous Derwent Park venue, when the Comets swept the board in the SGB Championship, winning the League Cup, Knock-Out Cup and League via the Play Offs. In a sad, but ironic twist of fate neither the Comets nor their opponents Lakeside were to come to the tapes for the 2019 season.
The Comets under previous owner Laura Morgan were withdrawn in January 2019. There were at the time two tracks in Workington, the Derwent Park track and a smaller track at Northside which had been used for training, and a group fronted by Andrew McBain and former racer Steve Lawson set about redeveloping the track at Northside into the venue used by the Comets this season.
Northside is the third venue to be used by Workington having originally run at Lonsdale Park, before moving to Derwent Park, where they had two periods and lastly Northside, where the Royals head next weekend.
Leading the Comets this season is youngster Connor Bailey. 2023 has been a breakthrough season for the Australian born Bailey, who is currently racing in all three leagues. Connor has been supported in the heat leader role by talented teenagers Luke Harrison and Ace Pijper. The experience in the Comets side comes from captain Luke Crang, who returned to the sport in 2021 after a five-season absence. Crang made the move to Northside from Berwick where he’d spent two seasons. Brothers Sam and Harry McGurk came into the side from the Belle Vue Colts. Sam has previously raced around The Old Gun Site, as he clinched his 500cc British Youth title here in 2022.
Speaking ahead of the meeting manager Jamie Willis said “It’s a must win meeting. None of the team are happy with where we currently sit in the table and with Workington just above us, it’s a good opportunity to close that gap”. Looking ahead to the return fixture Jamie added “Hopefully we can get a sizeable lead before we head for the return meeting next weekend”. There was some bad news on the injury front regarding Jack Kingston as Jamie explained “We were unfortunately dealt another blow this week, as after having more tests etc Jack Kingston has been told not to ride for three months. Jack had been hoping to have a practice after the meeting on Sunday with the potential of being back in the team for Tuesday. We will continue to search for a suitable replacement, but even with the extra 1.95 there is a severe lack of available or willing riders.”
The action on Sunday will get underway as usual at midday, as the Royals take on the Comets in a bid to move up that league table. There will also be a second half featuring 125cc and 500cc action.
Teams in alphabetical order.
Kent Royals: Nathan Ablitt, Connor King, Matt Marson (guest), Eli Meadows (Unattached 3.00), Ben Morley, Rhys Naylor – rider replacement, Chris Watts (No.8), Tom Woolley (Capt.)
Workington Comets: Connor Bailey, Luke Crang (Capt.) Luke Harrison, Elliot Kelly, Harry McGurk, Sam McGurk, Ace Pijper
Images courtesy of Amanda Morrison