Workington Comets fans will have their eyes on Redcar tonight where the Bears host a Newcastle Diamonds Select side at the ECCO Arena.
For among the debutants for the home team will be Workington‘s number one for the season ahead in the National Development League, Australian Connor Bailey.
He makes his first appearance for the Bears alongside fellow debutants former British Champion Danny King, Danyon Hume and Jake Mulford.
Bailey said: “This season, I’m signed with Workington, Redcar, and Sparta Wroclaw in Poland. It’s going to be a very busy season, which will be a contrast from my last two seasons. I’m ready to finally be racing in multiple leagues, hopefully multiple times a week.
“I think that it will keep me sharp, and increase my rate of improvement. My immediate goal with Workington is to establish myself around the circuit. I want to know everything about it, and be as close to unbeatable at home as possible.
“I really want to have a strong year in the National league, and finish up the season in the pointy end of the averages sheet.”
Bears bosses have assembled a strong visiting outfit to test their own team, with the Diamonds led by Steve and Richie Worrall in a septet which has strong connections with the Tyneside outfit who sadly shut their doors last year.
Bears star Erik Riss said: “This match is a good challenge for us as the Redcar promotion have assembled a good, solid team for Newcastle.
“If you want to test something like I am testing an engine on Friday, you want to test things against good riders like the riders I will be facing.”
Meanwhile there was plenty of ex-Workington involvement at last night’s opening Premiership match between Sheffield and Belle Vue.
The Tigers edged out champions Belle Vue 48-42 in an excellent start to the new season at Owlerton.
The Roses clash proved to be a fascinating, topsy-turvy affair with the Aces twice taking the lead, only for the Tigers to hit back with two big 5-1’s in Heats 9 and 11 to go eight points up.
Brady Kurtz and Jaimon Lidsey halved the gap with a maximum of their own for the visitors in Heat 12, but two Sheffield 4-2s followed with wins for Tobiasz Musielak and Lewis Kerr to secure the league points with a race to spare.
Musielak top-scored for the hosts with 12+1 with Jack Holder (9+1) unbeaten from his first three rides, whilst Kurtz struck 12 from six outings for the Aces including three race wins.
Charles Wright was the highest scoring ex-Comet with weight for the Aces with team-mate Dan Bewley adding seven. Kyle Howarth, the Sheffield skipper, scored six.
Anothger former Workington star, Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “It’s always nice to get the first one over and done with and get it out of the way – and it’s always even nicer when you manage to open with a win.
“They were tricky conditions out there but I thought everyone applied themselves really well, both the home and away team. All in all, I think the result was probably a fair result and I don’t think they’ll be unhappy either.”
