Teesside Silver Helmet – Thursday 14th September – 7:30pm start
This Thursday see’s the running of the Teesside Silver Helmet at the Media Prima Arena, one of the oldest running individual meetings in Speedway. This years event is kindly sponsored by Keith Miller of Ecco Finishing Supplies. The meeting will be ran over 20 qualifying heats, with the top two going direct to the final and places 3-6 into the semi final.
A competitive line-up has certainly been put together for this meeting, with one-time GP rider and a record 7 times British Champion Scott Nicholls leading the field. Plying his trade this year for Rye House in the Premier League, it will be Scotts first visit to Redcar. Last years winner, Thomas Jorgensen, will be hoping to defend his crown on a track he normally rides very well. The Bears in the lineup – Charles Wright, Ellis Perks and Ben Barker will also fancy their chances after some dominant performances around the Teesside track over the last few weeks.
It is a strong field however, and a number of riders will be expecting to top the podium at the end of the night. Another pair of ex-winners, Aaron Summers and Ty Proctor, will be looking to win it for a second time and certainly know the fastest way around the MPA. Newcastle captain Ludvig Lindgren, who made a donation to the Bears at the start of the season after the theft in the clubhouse, is another who on his night can look unbeatable.
Three riders who have had very good years, Richie Worrall, Paul Starke and Richard Lawson are also more than capable of making the podium with all putting in good performances at the MPA this season. Ashley Morris, a late replacement for Jason Garrity, makes it two Newcastle riders in the field and will be looking to cause an upset. Lewis Kerr, who was originally scheduled to take the number 6 bib, has now withdrawn from the meeting, his replacement will be announced as soon as we have it.
The last three riders in the line-up all have links to the Bears. Coty Garcia is rewarded for his great spell earlier in the season with a place. Coty, an injury replacement for Tobias Busch proved very popular with the Redcar crowd and it will be great to see him making another appearance. Jye Etheridge had a spell at the Bears last season, and this season at Berwick has really kicked on. He provided some excellent racing in Berwicks last visit to Teesside and will be looking for more of the same this week. Jacob Bukhave rounds off the field, the popular Dane who had a spell with Redcar last season. Jacob has spent a lot of time this season riding in individual meetings all around the continent, and will be looking to catch the eye here.
Bears co-promoter Jitendra Duffill is looking forward to an exciting meeting:
This week’s Teesside Silver Helmet is shaping up to be an exciting contest. I have to say a massive thank you to Keith Miller from Ecco Finishing Supplies for sponsoring this event which has allowed us to put together a strong field and run a full 22 heat event. There’s also a £500 bonus being offered by Erimus Insurance to the rider giving us the best race celebration which should add a fun twist! If this turns out to be the last meeting here this year it will certainly be a fitting farewell.
Lineup:
1 Charles Wright
2 Scott Nicholls
3 Aaron Summers
4 Ellis Perks
5 Ben Barker
6 tbc
7 Jacob Bukhave
8 Richie Worrall
9 Ashley Morris
10 Ty Proctor
11 Coty Garcia
12 Ludvig Lindgren
13 Richard Lawson
14 Thomas Jorgensen
15 Paul Starke
16 Jye Etheridge
R1 TBC
R2 TBC
Please note, due to the increased costs of running this meeting there will be an increase to admission of £1 across the board.