Kent Royals v The Hammers – Tunnel Trophy Challenge
As speedway clubs up and down the country launch their 2022 season, we are delighted to announce that the Hammers will be also back on track in April, after receiving an invitation to resurrect the Tunnel Trophy Challenge against the Kent Royals at Iwade on Easter Sunday, 17th April (gates 10.30am, tapes up midday).
The NDL level fixture will be a meeting of old friends as long-term (and forever) Hammers Ben Morley, Alfie Bowtell and Danno Verge will be lining up for the Royals but we are confident of putting out a very competitive seven Hammers of our own, with Oxford’s Jordan Jenkins and Sam Hagon and Plymouth’s Ben Trigger already committing to the fixture.
We also have agreements in principle with two other exciting NL heat leaders and should be able to announce the complete line-up over the next week or so.
We are very grateful to Si Kellow from the Royals for the invitation and encourage as many Hammers fans as possible to get along to Iwade to support both this fixture and the remaining Royals meetings throughout the season.
Campaign update
Although we may still some time away from the return of the Hammers to our own track in Essex, we are still very active on a number of fronts, including recent involvement in a number of very positive meetings .
Director Mark Sexton attended the Thurrock Business Seminar on Wednesday 9th March where he was able to have discussions with leading political and business leaders about the campaign to return speedway to the borough.
Following these discussions, and a conference call with another leading Council member the following day, we are pleased to report that there is overwhelming political ambition to see us return.
We secured agreement to enact a precise policy strategy that will exert increased regulatory pressure on the current owners of the Arena Essex site.
A recent report in the Speedway Star that the current owners of the Arena Essex site may be reconsidering their 2018 planning application as a result of changes in the local business landscape and relative land values in Thurrock, do appear to have some validity.
On balance, we believe this may be a positive development for us. We still look forward to engaging collaboratively with the current owners and hope that this can happen soon.
Wednesday’s seminar also got our campaign message out to the wider business community and development experts which we are confident will stand us in very good stead as we make progress through the planning phase.
Original Image credit: Tiffani Gravelling