The date for Workington Comets’ first official National Development League meeting at Northside has been revealed.
They will race on Saturday May 13.
The official NDL fixtures have been released with the season starting on Sunday, April 2 with a clash between Mildenhall and Kent at West Row.
The returning Comets have been given Edinburgh as their first League visitors to Northside and promoter Andrew Bain has plumped for a Saturday afternoon (3pm) home race slot.
When the Comets first arrived in Workington in 1970 they raced at home on a Friday night but when they returned in 1999 it was moved to a Saturday night. Now the Comets will switch to Saturday afternoons.
It had to be either a Saturday or Sunday afternoon for now as there are no floodlights. Saturday was the preferred day – as it was the day the Comets last used to run on.
Workington Reds will also be in the main out of season and Saturday avoids any clashes with Workington Town.
The rebranded Monarchs Academy, first official visitors to the new Workington track, race at home for the first time on Friday April 14 when they take on Belle Vue.
The Comets will ride away for the first time on Saturday, May 20 when they visit Berwick Bullets and will stage the return at Northside the following day.
A week later, Sunday May 28 the Comets have the honour of staging the British Under-21s semi-final.
As for the opening fixture in the NDL the Fen Tigers reached the Grand Final last year but had to wait to declare their participation this year, although they have wasted little time in putting together the bulk of their line-up.
Champions Leicester Lion Cubs begin the defence of their title against Berwick at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena on Easter Saturday (April 8), with a busy weekend for the Bullets also including a trip to Belle Vue on Good Friday, April 7 (1pm).
With the NDL title to be decided by a grand final featuring the top two clubs in the league table, the cut-off date has now been set for October 1.
A full list of National Development League fixtures for 2023 can be found here: https://britishspeedway.co.uk/calendar/2023-fixtures-results/
Work is continuing at the Northside track, with the handrails nearly completed. Steve Lawson said the work kept going ‘come rain or shine’.
