It’s a moment of Kent Speedway history at Central Park on Tuesday 8th. June (6.30pm start time) with the staging of the first ever Speedway Great Britain Championship [SGBC] fixture there – which sees the Kent TouchTec Kings go into action against one of the most highly-fancied teams in the division, the Glasgow Tigers.
For one of the new crop of Kings ushering in this new era at the circuit in Sittingbourne it’s very familiar opposition indeed, as Paul Starke rode for the Scottish side in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. That campaign ended early and painfully for the 30- year-old from Herefordshire breaking both wrists on his British Final debut and the enforced break (pardon the pun!) of then losing nearly the entire 2020 to the pandemic has given him an opportunity to ensure full fitness for the challenge of riding for his new club in 2021.
“A break can be a good thing – it may have taken a combination of unfortunate and strange circumstances, but if you’re looking to take positives away from all of this it’s that I now really do appreciate the sport we have,
“I have spent a long time getting fitter than I have ever been. I want to pick up from where I left off, qualifying as I had then for my first British Final and I think I’m better prepared physically than ever before. I am looking forward to the challenges ahead in this SGBC season with so many top riders in this division. We are all, I think, capable of beating each other but I know I can beat anyone on my day and that’s what I want to do – beat everyone!”
A perfect start to that would be on Tuesday in front of the Central Park crowd who will be thrilled also at the return to the Kings’ side of Ben Morley.
Ben was one of the original Kings’ line up when the sport opened at Central Park in 2013 and quickly established himself as a massive fans’ favourite going on to reach the pinnacle of the National League (the division Kent then contested) by taking the League Riders title and Pairs double in his last season at Central Park in 2015. His return visits either as opposition rider or Guest in the intervening years cemented his reputation as the Master of the Central Park circuit.
Another rider who has always been a favourite of fans at Kent without, in his case, riding for the Kings is Tom Bacon. And finally thanks to the club;s elevation to the second tier, Tom is at last to wear the Invicta racing colours. In many ways Bacon’s situation over 2019 and ’20 has been similar to his new team-mate Starke’s, with the 28-year-old Tom missing much of the 2019 campaign due to a nasty back injury.
“Obviously like everybody else in the sport, I was incredibly frustrated that there was no basically Speedway in 2020 and I would’ve been fully ready for it but what the enforced extra break did give me was some more time to make sure I’m even fitter than I was and I feel the fittest I’ve been in so many tyears. The metal plates which caused me problems when I had my second crash damaging my vertebra are all removed now and that’s a relief”
And Tom is really looking forward to performing in front of a Central Park crowd where’s he’s always been so popular even when an opposition rider,
“I think we’ve built a really good side and the set up at Kent is well worthy of being at this higher level”
Two riders with huge experience at this higher level and way higher still too, are Paul Hurry and new Kings’ skipper, the seven-times British Champion and former Speedway Grand Prix star, Scott Nicholls.
And though Hurry, persuaded by his good friend Scott to return to this level of the sport has ridden for the Kings before, for Nicholls Tuesday will literally be his first look at the Kent circuit.
“Riding for Kent as number one and captain is a new challenge that I’m really looking forward to and these are without doubt exciting times”.
The rising tide of excitement among the Kent TouchTec Kings’ fans is also a palpable thing as we count down to Tuesday’s opening SGBC fixture and hasn’t been dampened even by the news of an unfortunate shoulder injury suffered by the other new signing Cameron Heeps, which will rule the Aussie out on both Sunday’s away match at Eastbourne and Tuesday’s home opener against Glasgow.
And even for the sport’s most experienced promoter, Kent’s Len Silver there’s a great sense of excitement at this new era – though as ever his is taking it in his trusted stride,
“People talk about the step up but to be honest I don’t see it like that I see it as a continuation of what we’ve achieved already in building the sport and making a success of it at Central Park since we opened eight years ago. To welcome such a strong team as Glasgow on Tuesday is a great way to get our SGBC campaign underway at home and it really is an occasion not to be missed”.