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how old is bike and engine ?

Reigning champions Milton Keynes put in a powerhouse display at Scunthorpe and showed newcomers Castleford the level they have to strive to reach. Though they had a disastrous start in heat 1 when the unlucky Conor Dwyer fell but thankfully the initial diagnosis that he had broken the same arm proved not to be the case. However Conor was not able to resume racing and was replaced in his other two programmed rides. Castleford had their own problems with Liam Rumsey on new machinery notably slowing until he blew an engine in heat 6 though limping home for a point. Highlight of the evening was the previously unbeaten Max Clegg reeling in Nathan Greaves for the first two laps of the race before making a spectacular pass around the outside in the dirt to claim a 9 point maximum. Castleford 15 Liam Rumsey 2 1 1 4 Lee Springthorpe 1 0 1 2+1 Max Clegg 3 3 3 9 Freddie Owen 0 0 0 0 Milton Keynes 21 Conor Dwyer FX n n 0 Sam Woods 3 1 2 2 8+1 Nathan Greaves 2 3 2 0 7 Danny Phillips 1 2 3 6+2

MDL K O CUP 1st Round 1st Leg ..Thursday April 4th Redcar Bear Cubs 23 Stoke Spitfires 13 REDCAR : .................................. ---- STOKE : 1. Dan Phillips 3 0 2’ 3 8+1 --------- 1. Shaun Tedham R 1 N 1 2. Luke Crang 2’ 3 3 3 11+1 -------- 2. Stefan Farnaby 1 0 1 2 3. Ryan McDonald 1 0 2’ 1 4+1 --------- 3. Emerson Jones 2’ 2 2’ 6+1 4. No rider ........................................---------- 4. Sam Ward 3 1’ N 4+1 Ht 1: Phillips, Crang, Farnaby, Tedham(ret) 5-1 5-1 2: Ward , Jones, McDonald, Phillips 1-5 6-6 3: Crang, Jones, Ward, McDonald 3-3 9-9 4 : Crang, Phillips, Tedham, Farnaby 5-1 14-10 5: Crang McDonald, Farnaby, Ward (ns) 5-1 19-11 6: Phillips, Jones, McDonald, Tedham(ns) 4-2 23-13 2nd Leg at Stoke Sat April 13th

Steve is not coming over > We have a 2nd half at Swindon on the Thursday whilst Gino is at Ipswich as well. We head for Germany on April 25th for the U21 WTC arriving back Mon 29th before the UK tour part starts on the Thursday. Team wise Gino will captain the side with Chris Thomas, Rocco Scopellite, Jamison Dilkey along with Scott Campos (who has an American dad and grandad) whilst we are adopting young kiwi Hayden Sims as a honourary American. Brent Werner will be doing some of the tour whilst Shane Hazelden fills in for Scott Campos at Buxton. There may be one more addition to the tour party which I am awaiting confirmation of.

30/03/2013 Cup match off after Adam Roynon crash The MDL K O Cup match between the City Gearboxes (Coventry) Ltd Vikings and Leicester Lion Cubs at Brandon on Friday night was postponed following the lengthy delays after the Adam Roynon crash in heat 14 of the main meeting. Thankfully Adam has reported that he will out of hospital in 10 days ---and our best wishes go to Royno for a quick recovery. A new date is being worked on for the Cup match with next Saturday's away clash becoming the 1st Leg now.

It is for riders with own equipment at the moment but we hope to develop the opportunity for those without eventually

Pity about the weather robbing us of the Coventry meeting Friday and the practice Sunday but an amazing response already for the next one on Sun April 21st with 25 riders already booked in so this looking like having the FULL sign on very soon. Augers well for the summer (!!) sessions hopefully.

And of course when Mich was at Cradley we had the Anders Michanek column in the Mail as well (wonder who helped him with that!!??? )

Yes Rich --very welcome . Might get you to buy a raffle ticket for the Storm Coat that City Gearboxes have sponsored and are raffling one off with proceeds towards the Storm team

Just had message through that unfortunately with the weather against us Sunday's Training Shool / Open Practice at Coventry is OFF. What a pity as we had 40 riders booked in and it would have been a really good session. Bookings coming in quickly for next one on Sunday April 21st so if you want to get your name down txt me on 07510768392 or07801429304 or e-mail : laurencerogers@blueyonder.co.uk

Thanks Tony for stopping my brain whiz round trying to remember the Mail seller at Cradley --yes Alf Ferkins and his daughter ...always had my copy ready for me so they could get a good plug from me on the tannoy!!

Many thanks to TNM Designs who are sponsoring and providing the body colours for the MDL GP.

We would like to find a sponsor to back a set of race jackets for the MDL GP which can be used in all the rounds. The Sponsor's name would take the top of the race jacket ...any interested parties can e-mail: laurencerogers@blueyonder.co.uk or txt 07501768392

Full for Sunday and April 21st filling up already!!

After issuing an invitation last week to all 2nd string riders, MDL Grand Prix series organisers Laurence Rogers and Kelvin Lapworth have received a very positive response and now have 8 riders confirmed who will have priority to enter all rounds of the series. "The feedback myself and Laurence have received back from the riders and management alike has been very good and I think this is shaping up to be a very interesting competition. The riders all seem very excited about taking part and with the added incentive of a place in the MDLRC for the series champion I'm sure the racing will be very competitive. The main aim of this competition is to develop the 2nd string riders in the league and by racing against riders of the same standard it will help to boost their confidence which is very important". An extra date the series calendar has been added with Rye House offering to host a round on Saturday 27th July. "Although we have the 8 confirmed priority riders we would still welcome entries from those wishing to be first reserves. Not everyone will be able to ride in every round so there will be plenty of opportunities available". Confirmed Riders 1. Adam Sheppard (Milton Keynes) 2. Lee Springthorpe (Stoke) 3. Freddie Owen (Stoke) 4. Danno Verge (Milton Keynes) 5. Conor Mountain (Kings Lynn) 6. Nick Mallett (Coventry-Mercia) 7. James Shanes (Coventry-Mercia) 8. Haydon Ball (Long Eaton)

speedway or football??? speedway every time!! You can watch the highlights of the match later ---probably better doing that anyway!!

i do believe so - our sponsor Gary Drinkwater of City Gearboxes (Coventry) Ltd has offered one of the team coats we have had made with his kind backing with the winners name on in a raffle with all proceeds going to the Storm team. The coats are really smart and will also be provided for the Mercia-Vikings squad and management.

Bit of both as we have a mixture of riders with different agendas booked in

Just amended times for Sunday as been informed we have to finish at 1.30 so we will start at 9.30 and have 4 hours on track. May be able just about to squeeze in a few more bookings as holding one or two which need confirming. Already getting bookings for second session on Sun April 21st!!

almost full for next Sunday --amazing response within hours of announcing it.

Coventry commence Training schools on selected Sunday mornings Following on Coventry’s aim to bring on young riders by entering the National League in 2013 with the Coventry Storm along with a continuation of the Midland Development League with the City Gearboxes (Coventry) Ltd Mercia Vikings, comes more news. Commencing this coming Sunday (March 24th) the club are holding a series of training schools at Brandon aimed at not only giving youngsters track time but developing riders for the Vikings and Storm then eventually the Bees. The sessions will have a sign on time of 9am with the aim to be out on track from around 9.30 until 1.30pm. The cost will be £35 and day licences will be available if required. Bookings can be made , as the numbers will be restricted to allow as much track time as possible, by texting 07510768392 or 07801429304 or e-mail : laurencerogers@blueyonder.co.uk The dates when the schools can be run are determined by other activities at the Stadium especially any car racing on the Saturday night and a full list will be released soon but the next session planned after 24th March will be Sunday April 21st at the same times.

The Midland Development League is increasing its on track opportunities for young riders in 2013. On top of the League contested by seven teams there is a multi cup competition with three Finals for the riders and clubs to aim glory in. In addition a new competition for MDL riders is the Grand Prix contested over a series of five rounds culminating in a Grand Final at Stoke on Saturday August 31st. The overall GP winner will contest the prestigious MDLRC at Leicester on September 28th where each of the seven clubs will be represented by two riders apiece with the final spot taken by the Northern Junior League Champion. The rounds are at Coventry (Fri 26th April) , Stoke (Sun May 12th), VENUE TBC ( June), Kings Lynn (Weds 3rd July)and Belle Vue (Monday 19th August). Commented MDL Co-ordinator Kelvin Lapworth, “This competition will be run over 6 heats with 8 or 6 riders depending on entry. Points scored will be carried over and the rider with the most points over the rounds will be the champion.” “The competition is open to 2nd string riders only (i.e. those that normally ride at 2 & 4). Riders must apply to either myself or Laurence Rogers not later than 2 weeks before a scheduled round and will be on a first come first served basis.” * NB Venue and date for June round now TBC

thanks for that Dave ..as you know I was rushing round all the boys on the practice and was not sure what had actually happened to the motors but was told they had both blown ....thank god it was not as serious as that!

thankfully Brendan had a good practice at Diedenbergen and has been asked to ride for them in a 4TT in Belgium....and yes he was on his 2012 motors !!

Mixed time ..Brendan Johnson "blew" two brand new motors and never got out on track , drove home to Poole to swap engines then headed for the ferry to drive to Germany to practice with Kyle Newman ..dedication!! Rich Franklin was snapping chains and that prevented him from getting in as much practice as he wanted. Trevor Heath had carby and ignition gremlins but still manged some impressive laps. Sarj, Olly G and JJ put in some fast laps whilst Martin Knuckey got better each time he went out on what was a heavy wet track by the end. Roll on March 22nd and the visit of the Heathens! Body colours looked really good and the lads all looked so smart in their coats kindly sponsored by Gary Drinkwater of City Gearboxes (Coventry) Ltd --who is sponsoring the Mercia Vikings in the MDL and all the squad members plus has sponsored all seven Storm riders !!