Usa Touring Team Future Plans

[SteveEvans]

Quite a few people have been asking when we are coming back, so I thought I would bring people up to speed.

 

Our Spring tour completed 2 weeks ago and incredibly, was our 4th trip in just 18 months. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as ever and the welcome we receive from the UK fans is always much appreciated. We raced a record 7 events in just 10 days and got to add another venue to our long list with a visit to Workington which was an excellent track to get to ride.

 

Our team was a great bunch of guys and after a slow start and a disastrous performance at Rye House, we were much vindicated in the 2nd half of the tour, holding the Dudley Heathens to a tied score after 12 heats before we lost it at the end and putting in a very credible performance at Plymouth.

 

We had four teenagers in the squad who got valuable experience. Mike Buman is looking like he could be PL ready within the year, Joey Holt made steady progress and impressed, whilst wild man Dylan Black came on leaps and bounds and improved with every ride.

 

It was admittedly not our strongest team we have fielded and we felt we lacked that out and out number one, which essentially left the rest of the boys all one spot out of position. Such is the problem when your best two riders graduate. But, we run the Touring Team like an actual speedway club and just like in the real world, sometimes your team wins the league, sometime you finish last and we don't regret in any way coming over.

 

So, what for the future? Will we be over in October? At this stage I would say there is a good possibility, but we are changing our gameplan a little on the planning end. The tours are mostly self funded by the riders themselves, though the promoter does significantly bring down the costs with discounted air travel, good deals on bike rentals and fund raising for transportation for the team.

 

Usually when a tour is announced riders express interest and in abundance. We get the races scheduled, fundraise and as time gets closer, we see who is serious about coming or who has raised the funds to come over, who can get time of work or school etc. The team is usually the last thing finalized - American Speedway is traditionally very last minute and on the tour just gone our last two riders were only added one week before we arrived.

 

This time, we are going to get the team named early and let the riders know that a tour will happen IF there are enough riders of the standard who want to come who will commit by mid July at the very latest. Initial response has been very good and the good news is there are some new young names who have a strong interest in coming over. There is a lot of young talent racing in the USA right now and one of the things that keeps me going is the fact that there are probably enough good young riders who have not made it over to the UK yet to fill two teams. If some of the riders we want on the team are able to come, it may well be the best tour yet. But if the team is not in place and committed early, we will simply roll it over until the next time with no sleep lost. The team will have a majority of young riders who are actual prospects though don't rule out a legend or two - the older guard provide an even keel and really help the kids find their feet. It would be hard to imagine a tour without 'Fast Eddie' on board and having first been dazzled by his riding in 1998, I have immense pride to have been the one who brought Castro to dazzle the UK fans at age 50!

 

I would like to thank the many who keep the show on the road - the sponsors, the staff on both sides of the pond, the riders, mechanics and most of all the fans. The past four tours have their ups and downs but there are way more ups than downs. It is an unthinkable amount of work to put this all together but to see the fans having a great time and genuinely appreciating the show is what keeps me and the rest of the crew so dedicated.

 

I will give more news in the summer when we have it. We will be back and possibly it will be at the end of 2011. Thanks again.

[SteveEvans]

Current USA #1 Flat Track Racer Sammy Halbert had thrown his hat in the ring as a possible member of the next American Touring Team! Halbert was interviewed recently after winning the prestigeous Daytona Flat Track race and when the interviewer pointed out he was throwing the bike around like a Speedway Rider, Halbert quipped that "Maybe he should go to Europe and race in the GP's!

 

Former East Coast Promoter Don Dorcey made contact with Halbert who put him in touch with myself. Seems Sammy would love to give Speedway a go. So last friday, with the help of Billy Hamill, Hagon Shocks USA and Joker Machine, we got Sammy on a Speedway bike for the first time. As you can see from below, the results are quite something!

 

Sammy has a hugely busy schedule on the American Dirt Track scene, where he races his Yamaha on ovals of up to a mile at speeds of over 130 mph. However, we plan to get him more seat time and to some actual races this year with the view to bringing him to the UK in October!

 

Take a look - from novice to competent in 3 hours!