The next move to get Speedway racing back at the refurbished Mildenhall Stadium is to be put before the members of the newly constituted Mildenhall Speedway Supporters Trust - and will see the club in its 50th. anniversary year going down the route of NORA sanctioned racing.
Joint co-coordinator speaking on behalf of the Steering Committee, Kieran Philips explains.
"Following weeks of communication between the Trust and the Speedway Control Bureau, our last two emails presenting our revised plans for a foam-style safety fence used in conjunction with the existing air barrier were unfortunately met with silence. As such, we have had to make a decision regarding the Fen Tigers at Mildenhall Stadium. This decision, which we'll be asking Trust members to ratify, is that we will bring Speedway racing back to West Row under the NORA insurance banner. "
NORA stands for ‘National Off-road Racing Association’ and have been involved in recent years in sanctioning Speedway racing at the Isle of Wight track and at the home of the Kent Kings in Iwade – where Phillips’ fellow co-coordinator, looking to bring racing back to West Row after a year’s absence, Steve Ribbons was the driving force.
Using the model used with considerable success at Iwade last term Phillips and Ribbons propose, once given the go-ahead, to stage as many meetings as possible with the dates already agreed with the Stadium owners for 2025 - possible fixtures being mooted at this stage could involve visiting sides from Rye House Rockets, Isle of Wight Warriors, Cradley Heathens, Kent Kings and individual and representative meetings.
Ribbons explained,
"While the NORA regulations are not like the SCB in regards to the track being licensed, we will still have to make provisions to pass this as NORA will conduct a track inspection the same way the SCB do.
“The SCB were concerned about the chances of the Mildenhall air fence lifting upon a rider hitting it. Consequently, they insisted on a foam fence. We have offered solutions to this one, by filling our air fence with foam blocks; then, hey presto the air fence becomes a foam fence. We also offered to put the foam blocks behind the existing air fence so a rider would have to go through both the air fence and the foam fence before impacting the stock car barrier. We also explained that the Mildenhall air fence is secured both top and more importantly at the bottom, so the chances of it ‘lifting’ are minimal.
"I will not have a rider seriously injured on my conscience, but Speedway is an inherently dangerous sport and if you take away all the possible danger no Speedway race would ever come to the tapes! We will do as much as we can to offer riders a safe circuit to race on”.
Phillips is relieved that there’s a breakthrough at last, “It feels good to actually bring the loyal fans in the Trust some good news! It's been a tough situation but one we never gave up on. When we have weighed everything up, going racing under the NORA banner was our only option - it gives us the chance to bring a new era to Mildenhall Speedway. “Steve put the idea out there and not being familiar with it I asked plenty of questions on behalf of the Mildenhall Speedway-going public. Steve had an answer for it all, having successfully done it at Iwade last season and I was confident we could make a real go of it. The months of hard work, all the emails, the messages and 'phone calls between me and Steve feels like it will actually now pay off”
Ribbons concluded,
"As I proved at Iwade last year, racing under the NORA banner is every bit as exciting and is equivalent in standard to the NDL. We have the flexibility to use whatever riders we like, exciting speedsters such as Ben Morley and characters such as the ever-popular Henning Loof! Three out of four last heat deciders in the Kent Kings' NORA meetings last year proves that."
The Trust meeting is to be held at West Row Village Hall on Sunday 22nd. June 2pm start time.