Due to the Sheffield Tigers switching their home fixtures from Thursday evening to Sunday tea-time we decided this year to tag our annual visit to the speedway onto the back of the August ride out into Derbyshire on the 11th August, as Sheffield were hosting the Edinburgh Monarchs at 5.30pm.
As only 4 riders turned out on the actual day and Clare and James had said they'd be giving the speedway a miss this time it was left to Caz and myself to support our 'local' team. We'd hoped people might turn up just for the event, but this wasn't to be.
So, Caz and I headed to Owlerton Stadium in the car as we'd got back from the ride-out by 3pm. Turned out to be not a bad idea as the regular free parking area for bikes at Owlerton has disappeared under a large steel frame construction which appears to be a massive extension to the bar and hospitality facilities at the stadium .... bet it's nice when it's finished.
Racing started 5.30pm and was very close with both teams drawing 6 points each after opening 2 races. Sheffield stretched a small lead in the next 2 or 3 races and showed a master class in damage limitation when due to re-runs (because of incidents) they only had 1 rider in the race but managed to win scoring the 3 points needed to neutralise Edinburgh's 2+1 for second and third. They managed this twice!
The racing itself was very close in a lot of the races with very exciting overtaking (something the know-alls will say doesn't happen in speedway). Edinburgh even managed an overtake between the exit of the final corner and the finish line .... a distance of only a few metres!
Sheffield ended the evening with a team win 49-41 which was only settled by the penultimate race. They'd drawn 45 all earlier in the season at Edinburgh so that was a good result against a strong side.
Great evening out and the only people who lost out were Edinburgh (and those who couldn't make it .... LOL).
And will we return again ..... I would jolly well say so !!!!
Check the Sheffield Speedway website: www.sheffieldspeedway.co
Martin Burgess
Rideout Coordinator