SarahLapworth

I have just read on the BSPA website that Dudley are giving an outing to a 43 year old who is making a comeback. Can I say that I think this is an absolute joke, yes its sentimental that a former Heathens favourite is ridng again but I thought the whole idea of the National "development" league was to give up and coming youngsters a chance and not to give old has beens a jolly (I don't mean any personal offence on you Mark). As coordinator of the Midland League I have been on the phone to nearly every NL team manager until my face turns blue trying to get the better riders the chance that they deserve. If only Messers Pottinger and Pearson would open their eyes they would see talent in the likes of Conor Dwyer, Lee Geary, Tom Woolley and Conor Coles all of whom have all beaten national league level riders in the Midland league this year. What do these guys have to do to get an opportunity? I wish all the best to Mark but in all fairness The NL should be used to bring on raw British talent - isn't that what Nigel Pearson preaches to us every week on SKY? Kelvin Lapworth

Well this explains Kennett's recent run of good form then. As a Coventry supporter I feel the actions of Kennett has tarnished the club and after the winter of uncertainty we had we don't need any more negative press. Cheating is wrong in any sport and its not just the fan's he has cheated but his club, his team mates and his fellow riders. As other's have stated on here Eddie is probably not the only one doing this and a rider I look after knows of at least one other English rider who is doing the same but obviously he won't name names as it would be wrong to do so without 100% proof. I believe Kennett should be made an example of. I know some will say he will learn from this and move on but we should send a message out to others that this sort of cheating will not be accepted. Coventry have done the right thing in stripping him of the captaincy but personally if I was Mr Sandhu I would sack him there and then for bringing shame on the club. We do have Hans Andersen to replace him. cheats never prosper Kelvin Lapworth

After 3 years as a "touring" team - Team Viking will have a new identity in 2012. It is fair to say that there will be no more Viking tours but as most of you will be aware we have entered a team in the new 2nd half Midlands League which is going very well. I want to give the Vikings an identity that can relate to our midland base and therefore from next season we will be known as the "National Cash Advance" Mercia Vikings Why this name? I wanted to use Tamworth Saxons however Tamworth was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Mercia which covered most of the modern day midlands and South Yorkshire (hence our home base Sheffield) and 2 I was never going to drop the Vikings name. We are proud of what Team Viking has achieved and now look forward to giving opportunities to up and coming British riders. Cheers :cheers:

I find it childish that this topic even exists. We have known Richard and his wife for almost 4 years now and in that time I don't think I have met anyone who is so devoted to the sport than Richard. If you take into account The time and effort he puts in to everything at Scunthorpe from managing the scorpions, helping out juniors and running the amateur meetings the guy deserves a medal. I think most of the negative comments on here come from those who have no idea what Richard is about and I would suggest that they get theirselves down to Scunny on a cold wet winters afternoon for an amateur meeting just to see how much enthusiasm he still has when other would stay at home. Richard is a hero to the sport and it is a shame that there are not more like him. :cheers:

Alex has got a new nickname now from the Redcar fans... From now on he is "Dangerous" Alex Edberg Alex seems to like it anyway

Hi everyone I am looking for your opinions please. A lot of people have asked me over the last month if I intend to ever bring back the full Team Viking touring team to these shores. I appreciate that we have achieved a lot in the last 2 years and now have 4 former Vikings racing in the premier league however as I'm sure most of you are aware things went pretty bad for us on our April 2011 tour due to riders pulling out at the last minute and after that I did say enough was enough. I still have that hunger inside me to do it again as I feel we have achieved so much to let it go. Maybe we could look at October or April 2012 but now we are looking at some feedback from YOU the FANS on what you think I appreciate all your comments on this Cheers Kelvin Lapworth Hi everyone

Just wanted to let you all Know that Team Viking academy makes its debut in the Midland League at home to Long Eaton tomorrow night at Sheffield after the premier league meeting. We probably wont be doing a tour until next easter now but plans are on the table to do a bona fide Premier league challenge in October as we will have enough viking riders in the PL at that time to justify it. And yes Wanna and SCB that would include Tommy Jorgensen lol

Right here goes..... Claes has been riding speedway since a very early age and was a Danish champion at 80cc level. He has been riding for Outrup in the Danish liga where he put in some very respectable scores last year and also has some outings for Krakow in the Polish 2nd Division. Claes first came to England at the back end of last year for Team Viking where he top scored for us at Plymouth (only being beaten once all night) and won a round of the Scunthorpe Amateur series ahead of Jonas B Andersen and Robin Bergqvist. He was due to start the season with Plymouth only to be dropped at the 11th hour due to a mix up on averages by the promotion so lets hope Plymouth's loss is the Diamonds gain. As for his riding style from what I have seen he is a fast gater and hates to lose (Typical Dane lol) He can be a bit hard and ruthless on the track - Dont know if thats a good or bad thing GOOD LUCK CLAES

Backless - I think you have made your point clear now, Time to move on Sandie - I have to disagree with you on the SKY meeting. The score would say it was one sided but there was plenty of passing from behind and some good racing compared to the 2 previous tv meetings which I found boring. By the way just seen that you have Joe Screen and Lubos Tomicek guesting for you at Plymouth. We got a lot of stick for using non scandinavians in our matches but you should beat a national league standard side (Devils) I'll be cheering for you on friday - hope you can wipe the smile of Mr Bowdens face

Norman I have personally apologized to the person in question and removed my post and promise never to be a naughty boy again or sarah will never let me watch speedway again

If Team Viking come back and thats a big IF I can assure everyone we will be better organised with riders. I have already had offers of help to run the touring team in the future and one thing that has been suggested is that we make riders sign a binding contract or pay a bond which would make them think twice about pulling out at the last minute. If the meeting was not seen as entertaining last night then we apologise but I have seen plenty of one sided meetings in the past and that was not one of them. The Americans kept up with us and is was not until heat 12 that we could pull clear. Fair enough the Americans are not as strong as before but they are all trying and are a nice bunch of guys so lets give them a chance. It was nice to win though

your welcome Tommy will be Scunny #1 by the end of 2012 i'm sure of that.

The Tamworth Saxons is the Viking Academy in all but name being based out of Sheffield it didnt seem right to call them Tamworth for this year although that may change in the future. A statement regarding the Midlands league will be issued shortly and its gonna be exciting times ahead for 2nd half racing

We would like to inform everyone that this sundays meeting at Newcastle against the USA touring team will in fact be Team Vikings last ever meeting. We have enjoyed the 2 years we have been doing these tours but during our current tour we have faced so many problems and have been let down badly by certain riders. We would like to thank Lee Geary, Alex Edberg and Jonas B Andersen for being commited to the team, without them the following week would not have been possible. Although the tours normally last for 10 days it takes months of planning and when riders drop out at the 11th hour it is almost impossible to get another rider to travel over to replace them plus we have had 2 riders go home whist already over here which has hit the team badly. We are extremly proud of what we have acheived over these 2 years and we hope we have showcased some of the stars of the future. We have made so many good friends out of this and we would never change that but the time has come where myself and Kelvin just don't have the appetite anymore to put so much of our time into something that we are being let down on. We will however keep the Viking name going as we are entering a team in the new Midlands league where we will be based out of Sheffield and we would like to spend our time now helping british riders gain experience and team places. We will also be taking a team to Belgium in June which will consist of 3 British riders and 2 Scandinavians. I would like to thank you all for the support you have all given us and look forward to seeing you all again soon with our viking academy venture. So lets bring on Newcastle and lets go out in style

My message about the texts messages and going home early was regarding the missing Viking riders - Just read it back and was worried you thought it was about the updates

lol no probs Was easier to get updates from you than my hubbie

Believe me it was very annoying. 2 texts messages and one went home without telling us - Very unprofessional

1. Alex Edberg 2. TBC 3. R/R 4. Mickel Solomensen 5. Jonas B Andersen 6. Lee Geary 7. Chris Wildman

Just look for me.

Hiya. Not sure yet. Will get Kelv to put it on when he gets home or I will ask him when he calls and put it on.

I think I will be in newcastle with the guys then so proabably . Are you on Facebook at all ?

Thank you

We all are ! He is such an exciting rider Thanks

Are you Kennys mum then ??? He was so good last year when I saw him ride. I hope all goes well for him Have just checked my diary and Newcastle is the 10th

Thank you That will be a good one hopefully