Green Light For Fence Plan & NORA Racing!
Two major steps forward have been made in getting the Fen Tigers Speedway club back on track at Mildenhall Stadium. A meeting of the Mildenhall Speedway Supporters Trust last Sunday (22nd. June) voted unanimously to endorse the proposals to use a bespoke combination of foam barrier and air fence and to apply to the NORA92 approved authority for the necessary insurance accreditation for the motorcycle sport to return to the West Row venue in what is the 50th. anniversary of Speedway opening there.
And with the go-ahead given by the members of the Trust (a legally-constituted Community Interest Company [CIC] – a unique feature in British Speedway), the next stage was for the Stadium owner Deane Wood of Spedeworth Motorsports to meet with NORA92 to get the necessary insurance and other reassurances. That meeting was held the day after the Trust’s approval and went well, so the green light has now been given for the Trust to order the foam blocks needed for a track inspection by NORA, as soon as possible in July.
Steering Committee member Kieran Phillips commented,
“It’s a pair of very big steps forward – the way we have secured 62 trust members all putting in at least £100 and received the full backing of these members to proceed down the routes of a foam barrier in tandem with the existing air fence, well it couldn’t be a clearer indication that people want Speedway at Mildenhall Stadium again.
” Of the 62 members, as acting CIC Secretary Derek Barclay explained at the meeting held in West Row Village Hall, 29 had voted via email in favour of adopting the NORA route to return to active racing and the 27 paid up members in attendance, without a dissenting voice, voted in person to follow this path: thus a 100% vote in a ‘turn-out’ of over 90% - the clearest of mandates”.
NORA Level Racing For A Re-opened Mildenhall Speedway
The next move to get Speedway racing back at the refurbished Mildenhall Stadium is to be put before the members of the newly constituted Mildenhall Speedway Supporters Trust - and will see the club in its 50th. anniversary year going down the route of NORA sanctioned racing.
Joint co-coordinator speaking on behalf of the Steering Committee, Kieran Philips explains.
"Following weeks of communication between the Trust and the Speedway Control Bureau, our last two emails presenting our revised plans for a foam-style safety fence used in conjunction with the existing air barrier were unfortunately met with silence. As such, we have had to make a decision regarding the Fen Tigers at Mildenhall Stadium. This decision, which we'll be asking Trust members to ratify, is that we will bring Speedway racing back to West Row under the NORA insurance banner. "
NORA stands for ‘National Off-road Racing Association’ and have been involved in recent years in sanctioning Speedway racing at the Isle of Wight track and at the home of the Kent Kings in Iwade – where Phillips’ fellow co-coordinator, looking to bring racing back to West Row after a year’s absence, Steve Ribbons was the driving force.
Using the model used with considerable success at Iwade last term Phillips and Ribbons propose, once given the go-ahead, to stage as many meetings as possible with the dates already agreed with the Stadium owners for 2025 - possible fixtures being mooted at this stage could involve visiting sides from Rye House Rockets, Isle of Wight Warriors, Cradley Heathens, Kent Kings and individual and representative meetings.
Ribbons explained,
"While the NORA regulations are not like the SCB in regards to the track being licensed, we will still have to make provisions to pass this as NORA will conduct a track inspection the same way the SCB do.
“The SCB were concerned about the chances of the Mildenhall air fence lifting upon a rider hitting it. Consequently, they insisted on a foam fence. We have offered solutions to this one, by filling our air fence with foam blocks; then, hey presto the air fence becomes a foam fence. We also offered to put the foam blocks behind the existing air fence so a rider would have to go through both the air fence and the foam fence before impacting the stock car barrier. We also explained that the Mildenhall air fence is secured both top and more importantly at the bottom, so the chances of it ‘lifting’ are minimal.
"I will not have a rider seriously injured on my conscience, but Speedway is an inherently dangerous sport and if you take away all the possible danger no Speedway race would ever come to the tapes! We will do as much as we can to offer riders a safe circuit to race on”.
Read more: NORA Level Racing For A Re-opened Mildenhall Speedway