Spectacular summer of speedway ahead

Plans are going ahead for a summer of speedway racing on the Island as co-owners Barry Bishop and Martin Widman have revealed they will put on a series of sizzling summer spectaculars at Smallbrook Stadium in Ryde.

The two Island teams withdrew from national and regional leagues last month after the board of the British Speedway Promoters Limited imposed new rules without consultation and slashed the overall team strengths to what the Island’s promoters considered an unviable level. But fears that it meant an end to the sport on the Island have been removed with the announcement that there will be a full programme of two wheeled speedway action this summer.

Bishop and Widman resurrected the sport on the Island in 2016 and turned the Warriors into the most talked about club in the country, winning the prestigious World Speedway Riders’ Association Community Club of the Year for an unprecedented two years in a row in 2018 and 2019.
Giving just enough to get fans excited, co-owner Barry Bishop said: “As you can imagine it has been a very busy time for Martin and I to get ourselves into a position where we can update everyone in the direction we are taking the club.

“I am delighted to confirm that there will be speedway in 2021 at Smallbrook Stadium. We are working hard to have a full calendar of events and have already staged preliminary talks with two international bodies. While there are many challenges to overcome, our initial conversations have been very positive and well received.
“As soon as we are in a position to announce full details of what we are planning we will do so. Martin and I are both convinced that we will be putting on speedway in a new and different way which will give those who come to a meeting at Smallbrook one of the best night’s entertainment they have ever had.”