As a result of the recent bad weather disruptions, the Isle of Wight ‘Wightlink’ Warriors aim to start their season on Sunday when they travel to Mildenhall for a National Trophy fixture (3 p.m. start).
The Fen Tigers are the reigning Trophy holders and over the winter have been busy re-arranging their team to accommodate several highly rated young British riders. The speedway pundits clearly see the changes as positive moves and class the Suffolk side as genuine title contenders in 2018, so race rusty Warriors will face a very stiff test in their first team outing of the new season.
One Warrior will be particularly keen to get under way with a good performance is former Fen Tiger Danno Verge who was a regular for the West Row outfit last year until a shoulder injury ended his season prematurely. Many observers felt that Verge had done enough to warrant a recall for 2018; however the ambitious Mildenhall management chose to look elsewhere which opened the door for the Warriors to bring the 23 year old to the Island.
Looking at Sunday’s fixture, Warriors Team Manager Jackie Vatcher said, “The bad weather has really scuppered our riders’ chances of any meaningful pre-season practice so we go to Mildenhall rather less prepared than we would have liked. Nevertheless I will be expecting all our riders to do their personal best with 100% effort in every heat. If they show me that I will be happy”.
The expected line-ups are:
Mildenhall: Josh Bailey, Sam Bebee, Jordan Jenkins, Ryan Kinsley, Danny Ayres, Drew Kemp and Matt Marson.
Isle of Wight: Ben Morley, Danno Verge, Scott Campos, Chris Widman, Ben Hopwood, Jamie Sealey and Adam Portwood.