Bryn shares this latest from Island Speedway. Ed
Major news emanating from the Wight Warriors headquarters over the weekend is that Joe Jacobs, who joined to club on a temporary basis, has now left the Wight Warriors to ride for Ipswich in the Premier League in addition to being part of the Belle Vue Aces Elite League set up.
Explaining Joe’s departure Warriors co-promoter Barry Bishop said,
“Joe was a great No.1 for the Warriors who fitted in with the team perfectly, and was an instant hit with the fans. However we always knew that his stay with us was temporary and that Joe’s ambition was to gain a Premier League berth that he’s now got with the Ipswich Witches.
“In addition he’s also riding for The Manchester club Belle Vue in the SkySport Elite league spot and that riding in all three leagues was something he felt was too much. All here at the club wish Joe well and we thank him for all he did for us.”
Benji’s back
Benji Compton is set to rejoin the Warriors having been in the side prior to being sidelined through injury early in the season, but he’s not expected to be in the line-up for the next home meeting on Thursday of next week (July 14th).
This is the “Slide in Ryde Pairs” that will see pairings compete over 15 heats, two semi-finals and a final to decide the outcome and there’s still sponsorship opportunities in relation to the naming of the pairings after businesses or individuals for just £100 and anyone interested should email [email protected] as soon as possible.
Fans muck in with drainage work
With two successive meetings falling victim to the ultra-wet weather that hit the UK during the course of what was supposed to be ‘Flaming June,’ and no meeting scheduled for this week that leads up to the British Grand Prix at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium where there’s expected to be a large Wight Warriors club presence, fans of the Wight Warriors might be forgiven from beginning to suffer from withdrawal symptoms.
Given the two postponed matches in less than a week against Kent and King’s Lynn, the Wight Warriors supporters might have wondered what they’d done to deserve such things and turned their attention elsewhere but far from doing so, several went down the track after learning that latest rain off news last Tuesday, mucked in and got their hands dirty in helping out trackstaff and co-promoter Barry Bishop with ongoing work to improve the circuit’s drainage system.
Spreading the word
Those same supporters have also joined a fleet of others in helping spread the word both on and off the Isle of Wight that speedway has returned to the Isle this year and intends to very much be back to stay.
Several initiatives have been implemented to that end including the ongoing distribution of promotional hand flyers to various commercial outlets, in addition to handing them out to individuals across the Island and surrounding areas across the water on the UK mainland and large banners too are going up in various key locations to maximise awareness of racenights.
Speedway followers sometimes criticise the lack of effort they feel that clubs put in to publicise the sport but such criticism certainly cannot be levelled at the current Wight Warriors regime who are always doing what they can to maximise such publicity and that has included appearances at bike museums, shows and rallies where feasible, two being the Towrag Bike and Trike club Rally held at the Warriors venue last weekend and a classic speedway and grasstrack bike show held at Chichester College.
Supporters’ club events
Several functions are being planned by the supporters club for the public too including the next that’s a Racenight on July 30 and the club are looking for a volunteer to come up with fresh ideas for and organise further such events.
Anyone interested in helping do that should have a word with Supporters Club supremo Sue Adams at the next home meeting.
See the Website for more information.
Image: © Adam Extance
