League newcomers Workington Comets are the visitors to Mildenhall Speedway – proudly sponsored by Manchetts Rescue and Recovery – this Sunday 10th. September – with the DJS Fen Tigers aiming to bounce back and get vital National Development League [NDL] points.
Having dipped out of the top two (the positions they need to finish in to get into the end of season title-deciding Play Offs), Jason Gardner’s charges will have a full set of three points in their sights, having won up at Cumbria back in June. That away win at the new Northside home of the Comets means a win on Sunday will earn the Fen Tigers a bonus point – with the pursuit of all nine points left at their disposal in the three remaining matches basically a prerequisite for the Suffolk side.
Both sides have to make use of the ‘Guest’ facility as Sunday’s match will see important team members unavailable due to a Championship fixture clashing, Redcar hosting Glasgow in the second tier. That rules out the Fen Tigers’ skipper Lee Complin, top scorer in the win at Workington and coming in to cover for the missing Yorkshireman will be the ever-reliable Danny Phillips. One of Complin’s Glasgow team mates is the Anglo-Dutchman, Ace Pijper (whose father Theo is a former Mildenhall rider) and the Scottish-born Ace will be covered by another rider with a famous father, Jacob Clouting from league leaders Oxford.
The Comets have to travel without their talisman and number one, the recently crowned GB Under 21 champion, Connor Bailey. The Perth-born youngster rides for Redcar in the higher division. Coming in as ‘Guest’ at number one will be a rider not seen at West Row for quite a number of years now – even though his name has appeared in the match programme every meeting for over a decade! How so? Well, its Stevie Boxall – who set the West Row track record back in 2013 and has made a successful return to the sport after being out of the saddle for four years. Boxall is a twice League Riders’ Champion and will represent a significant threat to the Fen Tigers’ hopes.
Both teams make changes at reserve. Josh Warren is out for the rest of the season through injury and it’s a home debut as a fully-fledged Fen Tiger for Sam Woolley. Whereas the Comets management were rocked over the weekend with the announcement that one of the two McGurk brothers, Harry in their much vaunted line up has decided to call time on his 2023 season. His sibling Sam is the more successful to date, the Bradford youngster being a three-times GB Youth Champion, last year adding the 500cc crown to the 125cc national titles he’d claimed in 2017 and 2018. Kai Ward comes in at reserve for the visitors where he’s to be partnered by former Fen Tiger, Elliot Kelly. Another rider very familiar to the West Row faithful is a heat leader for the visitors: 16-year-old Luke Harrison made Mildenhall history last term scoring a maximum on his Fen Tigers debut before opting this season to ride for the NDL new boys in the north-west. Their skipper is the experienced Luke Crang.
Captaining the home side in Complin’s absence will be Alfie Bowtell with the rest of the side at full strength. Multi-talented Arran Butcher has been keeping his racing head on with regular Grasstrack action, including taking the 500cc title at the Donut meeting in Essex at the weekend, while Ben Trigger retains his reputation as one of the most well-travelled young riders in GB Speedway finishing on the rostrum in a recent individual championship in Belgium!
Gardner commented,
“It’s been out of our direct control that we’ve gone over a month since our last home meeting but we need to put those frustrations behind us and concentrate on getting the win, the three points and making sure the other teams chasing the Play Off positions know we are still around”.
By the time the meeting gets underway on Sunday, Mildenhall will know who they are facing in the Knock Out Cup Final, as their visitors Workington (having a busy weekend) will have ridden their second leg against Cup-holders Leicester Lions Cubs at the East Midlands track on the Saturday evening.
The action at West Row is on Sunday 10th. September, gates open at 2.30pm, parade at 3.40pm and tapes up on this vital NDL match at 4pm.