Another afternoon of high octane, thrilling National Development League Speedway looks set for The Old Gun Site tomorrow as the Kent Royals look to ignite their season against the two times National Development League Champions, The Leicester Lion Cubs.
The Royals currently sit in seventh place in the League table with five points from seven fixtures. However, at the halfway stage of the season for The Royals that could be seen as a false representation, as The Royals have only completed two league fixtures at home, so most of the outstanding fixtures will be raced with a home track advantage, and the fantastic home support the Kent fans provide.
Once again there is an aggregate bonus point at stake, and after the away visit toLeicester at the end of May, it is currently the Lion Cubs who hold the advantage after their twenty-two point victory as they ran out 56-34 winners.
Kent will go into the fixture without the injured Jack Kingston. Jack suffered injuries to his ribs and back in the crash which caused the previous home fixture against Oxford to be abandoned, as both the track ambulance and Chief Medical Officer had to leave the track with Jack and a replacement couldn’t be sourced.
The Rider Replacement facility will be in operation for Jack once again, which opens the door for Kent to name a rider in the number 8 berth, and that rider will be Ashton Vale. Ashton is a familiar face with regulars at Iwade as he cut his teeth through Iwade’s amateur and youth scene and could potentially make his full National League debut on Sunday – he did take a ride for Oxford in our last fixture but with the result not standing he will get a chance to have his debut all over again.
The Rider Replacement facility also sees a shuffle in the riding order with Connor King moving to the number three race jacket for the first time at home, and captain Tom Woolley racing at number four. The Royals will also welcome back Nathan Ablitt, Nathan missed the visit to Belle Vue earlier in the month due to Championship action for Scunthorpe. The additional racing has had a positive influence on the Sussex born racer who scored paid 14 in the fixture against Belle Vue to joint top score. The rest of the team are in place with Ben Morley continuing to hunt down that all time National League points record, currently held by former Sittingbourne Crusaders’ rider David Mason, and reserve pairing Rhys Naylor and Sam Woolley will be hoping to produce the big scores from reserve.
Leicester currently sits in fourth place in the NDL table, also from seven completed fixtures, and will be looking to push on to break into the all-important top two places, which will see them take a place in the National League Grand Final, the Play Off places this season reduced from four teams to two. Recently Leicester have been hit by a mini-injury crisis with injuries to former Kent Royal, Vinnie Foord, second string Tom Spencer and heat leader Joe Thompson. Vinnie has returned to the fold; however, Tom Spencer (broken arm) and Joe Thompson (broken collarbone) are both still sidelined. The Leicester management have decided to use the rider replacement facility for Joe Thompson, as he is currently second in the Leicester averages the way the R/R rule works the remainder of the Leicester are all eligible to take one of Joe’s rides. Leicester are forced to bring in a guest for Tom Spencer, and they have turned to a rider who put in two stunning performances around The Old Gun Site in 2022, Mildenhall’s Josh Warren. In his two appearances at Iwade last season for Mildenhall, Josh racked up a tally of paid 30 points from 30 points so could be a very shrewd choice of guest. Leicester also have one of the strongest number one’s in the National Development League in the shape of Dan Thompson, the twin brother of Joe. Dan currently has registered the most maximums by any rider in the NDL this season. Completing the Leicester side are three talented teenagers, Ashton Boughen, who burst onto the scene at the end of last season with guest appearances for Oxford and Mildenhall having converted to Speedway from Motocross. Joining Ashton in the potential are Max Perry and Max James, both of whom came through the traditional Youth Speedway channels.
Youth Speedway also plays a key focus in the second half of Sunday’s racing, as we have a quartet of 125cc racers who will be battling it out over four races for pride and individual glory. The four stars of tomorrow taking to the shale will be Archie Rolph, who has previously shown what he can do around The Old Gun Site in the British Youth Championships. Joe Brice, who is the nephew of former Canterbury racer Kevin Brice. Leelan Little who’s following in the tyre tracks of grandfather Will, who has graced the amateur scene at both Iwade and Lydd, and Jayden Bailey who is making his first appearances in the second halves at Iwade.
The 125’s will also be joined in action by five riders competing in the 500cc “Second Half Championship” which has been a regular feature of our season so far to give riders opportunities for more track time. The five riders on show on Sunday will be Iwade regular Mick Skinner, 2022 Kent Royal Chris Watts, 2022 Sittingbourne Crusader Nathan Hargrave, Josh Couzins who has been an ever present in the Championship so far, and Ashton Vale who will be hoping to use any previous track time from the main meeting to his advantage.
The action gets underway at the usual start time of midday and there will be a presentation of the Royal Rascals rider of the month.
Line Ups in alphabetical order:
Kent Royals: Nathan Ablitt, Connor King, Jack Kingston – Rider Replacement, Ben Morley, Rhys Naylor, Ashton Vale (No.8) Sam Woolley, Tom Woolley (capt), Sam Woolley,
Leicester Lion Cubs: Ashton Boughen, Vinnie Foord, Max James, Max Perry, Dan Thompson, Joe Thompson – Rider Replacement, Josh Warren.