First day of practice at Paris 2006

Could this be the shape of things to come? The 2006 season began with the first practice at Paris, today. Approximatly 13 riders took part on a windy and dusty Paris track. Biggest news, of the day, was the return to the track of "The Polish prince" Bogdan(Bobby)Muszynski. On borrowed equipment he only managed a few "Hot" laps but seemed to have the flare of old that a few more Sunday sesions will help to bring back, to reveal the Bobby of old!! He informed me today that he has a brand new G.M and will, not only, be racing at Paris but Welland too. This should make the Welland regulars sit up and look!

See more practice pics in the links area.

New York state news!! and Batavia 06 schedule.

People keep calling me and asking what is happening this year so here is another update...
As of this time there are still no plans for any speedway in the Southern Tier of NY for 06. Champion Speedway will not be running speeday this year. Action Park will not be opening in May and there is only an outside chance of any racing at all there this season. The group represented by Donavon Dorsey has not be able to organize a deal to rent again and Donavon has informed me that he would like to released from the rental contract on the Trackside Lounge as soon as we can find another renter. There may still be the possibility of a buyer for the whole property who is a speedway enthusiast but it is very unlikely that it could be put together in time to save the season for this year. As it stands I have gone out myself and raised over half of the rent money last week for anybody who is interested in running the races. Having said that, we are currently $5,000.00 short from having the entire rent pre-paid for someone. Having the owner of the property extend an offer of any rents being provided or pre-paid for anyone is quite generous. One way to raise these funds would be to sell advertising boards for $250.00 each for the crashwall and just have the sponsor provide the board. That is only 20 boards and that is assuming you don't get any sponsors willing to kick in more than $250.00. This should be quite acheivable but I am not going to go out myself and do the rest of the work. If the people in that area want it bad enough they should get toegther and come up with a way to sell the advertising or raise the cash. Although last years group claims they lost money at the track, I will gladly show any prospective promoter how those loses could have been wiped clean or greatly reduced last year and how we were able to operate the races at the facility for three years with a solid turnout through the backgate, a decent spectator crowd and on a budget that can work. I will also show anyone how your race expenses start up money can be raised with very little effort so that someone can enter into it with very little out of pocket expense. If someone or group wants to do some work and put the finishing touches on this deal that will be great and I will help as much as I can. If not there will be no speedway in the Southern Tier this year. For all the people down there who have either run their mouths about how great they could do it, complained about how things have been done for the past ten years while it has been quite successful or stolen from me or taken advantage of it...it is time to put up!!! It is your choice.
Jason Bonsignore

May 19 East Coast Spring Classic/Patrick Ahlund Memorial Trophy
As of now-NO Racing May 26 Holiday Weekend
June 2 Regular Season Summer Opener
June 9 Hank Bassett Cup Championship
June 16
June 23 Omar Lightner Cup Championship
June 30 New York State Speedway, Quad and Short-track Championship
July 7 Storman Norman Robinson Cup / Robinson Cycle Sales Tribute
July 14 US vs Canada -The Team Racing War!
July 21 Open Date for US Open Championship Rd
July 28 Confirmed date for US Open Championships July 29 Possible Rd
Aug 4 Tent.
Aug 11 Tent.
Aug 18 Tent.
Aug 25 Tent.
Season may continue into the month of Sept

Captain heads Tigers charge

SKIPPER Andre Compton romped to a maximum score to inspire his Sheffield Pirtek Tigers side to a crucial 54-41 Premier Trophy win over a gutsy Glasgow side at Owlerton on Thursday. Compton scored 14+1 from his five outings and rarely looked troubled throughout an entertaining night of racing as Sheffield kept their hopes of a semi-final place alive. The Scottish side were good opposition and provided plenty of entertainment for the fans with Tigers looking to win by more than seven-points to claim the aggregate bonus point. They always looked likely to achieve that aim but Glasgow took it to the last race with Sheffield 49-40 up - a 5-1 for the visitors in Heat 15 would have given them the bonus but Compton teamed up with Ricky Ashworth, who looked particularly sharp in his last two outings, for a Sheffield 5-1 to send the home fans home happy.TIGERS: Andre Compton 14+1, Kyle Legault 10, Ricky Ashworth 9+3, Ben Wilson 8+1, Benji Compton 6+1, Emiliano Sanchez 4+1, Paul Cooper 3+1.GLASGOW: Kauko Nieminen 14, Danny Bird 10, Shane Parker 8, James Cockle 6, David McAllan 1+1, Lee Dicken 1+1, Robert Ksiezak 1. Next action away to Newcastle Diamonds. Monday May 1st.

Kyle in action vs Redcar at Sheffield. April 2006.

Easy home win and bonus point!

TIGERS 56 REDCAR 36. SKIPPER Andre Compton finished a scintillating night's work in the dirt - but only after he'd twice shown former World Champion Gary Havelock the quickest way around Owlerton as Tigers cruised home against the Premier League new boys. Havelock had been unbeaten in his opening two rides before he came face-to-face with his rival for the first time in heat 11, but Compton outstripped him from the start and claimed a superb win. They met again in a stunning heat 13 when Compton proved that his earlier win had been no fluke in what was the best race of the season so far. The former Elite League star made the gate but Compton grabbed a fistful of throttle to go round the boards on the second turn - only for Havelock to re-take the lead with a brilliant third bend pass. But Compton wouldn't give up and roared around the outside on the first and second turns to snatch the lead and claim his fourth win on the bounce. His hopes of a win hat-trick against Havelock ended with a fall in the finale, Compton sliding off as he chased the fast-starting Redcar skipper. It didn't mar a fine individual performance, which included the three fastest times posted at the steel city track this season, while collectively Sheffield had far too much firepower for the visitors.They reeled off five 5-1s to lead 41-19 after ten heats although Redcar did limit the damage with three heat advantages in the last five races, while Tigers were again guilty of throwing away several points as both Kyle Legault and Benji Compton suffered falls.But the win - and bonus point following the victory in Middlesbrough 24 hours earlier was enough to put them top of the northern section of the Premier Trophy and on course for the semi-finals. TIGERS: Andre Compton 12, Ricky Ashworth 10+1, Ben Wilson 9+2, Emiliano Sanchez 9+2, Kyle Legault 7+1, Benji Compton 6+1, Paul Cooper 3. REDCAR: Gary Havelock 15, Tomas Suchanek 6+1, Kevin Little 5, Richard Juul 3+1, Daniel Giffard 3+1, Chris Kerr 2, Jack Hargreaves 2. Next action, Thursday at home to glasgow Tigers.

Tigers score, well, away from home!!

REDCAR 44 TIGERS 46. TIGERS go into Good Friday's Premier Trophy return with Redcar holding a handy two-point advantage after gatecrashing the opening night party on Teeside. Reg Wilson's men left it late to pull off their first away win of the season, and in doing so boosted their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals of the national competition. They had to do it with a man short as reserve Benji Compton crashed out of his first race and was taken to hospital with shoulder and neck injuries, which were not serious - but the younger brother of skipper Andre is a doubt for the return at Owlerton. Fellow reserve Paul Cooper was kept busy deputising for Benji, and he responded in fine style with his best-ever performance in a Tigers race-jacket at Premier League level.Redcar looked set for victory in front of a capacity crowd on opening night, a decade after the closure of Middlesbrough two miles down the road at Cleveland Park, but when Kyle Legault and Cooper combined for a maximum in the penultimate race the Owlerton outfit held the upper hand by two points. Former World Champion Gary Havelock, Redcar's new No.1, duly completed his 15-point maximum totally untroubled, but with skipper Compton partnering Emiliano Sanchez to a share of the spoils Tigers were home and dry. REDCAR: Gary Havelock 15, Kevin Little 9, Daniel Giffard 7+2, Chris Kerr 7, Jack Hargreaves 4, Richard Juul 2+1, Tomas Suchanek 0. TIGERS: Paul Cooper 13+3, Andre Compton 11+1, Emiliano Sanchez 8+1, Kyle Legault 6+2, Ricky Ashworth 5+1, Ben Wilson 3+1, Benji Compton 0.

History in the making?

SHEFFIELD Pirtek Tigers will make history when they travel to Redcar's South Tees Motorsport Park on Thursday (7.30pm)2.30 et. The Owlerton side have the honour of opening the new track, which is close to Middlesbrough FC's Riverside Stadium, in a Premier Trophy clash and the sides will meet again the following night at Owlerton with a 7pm(2.00et) start in the return fixture.Tigers co-promoter Malcolm Wright was in charge at Middlesbrough's former Cleveland Park home when it closed a decade ago. He said: "I hope the project is a success, but I also hope they start with two defeats against my Sheffield team because we need the points. They are two very important meetings!"REDCAR BEARS: Gary Havelock, Richard Juul, Kevin Little, Tomas Suchanek, Chris Kerr, Jack Hargreaves, Daniel Giffard. TIGERS: Ricky Ashworth, Ben Wilson, Emiliano Sanchez, Kyle Legault, Andre Compton, Paul Coopper, Benji Compton.

Narrow loss at Glasgow..

GLASGOW 51 SHEFFIELD 44.. TIGERS were unable to make the most of a storming start at Ashfield as they paid the price for a mid-meeting stumble in an incident-strewn affair. Ricky Ashworth and Ben Wilson combined for a shock 5-1 over Danny Bird in the first race, but the early advantage was immediately cancelled out by the Glasgow reserves in Heat 2. Bird's disastrous start continued when he touched the tapes in Heat 6 but Sheffield could not take full advantage as the scores stayed level. The visitors suddenly found themselves ten points down as Glasgow took the next three heats by a 14-4 margin, and Kyle Legault was then harshly excluded from Heat 10 after appearing to be left little room by David McAllan. A tactical ride win for an impressive Emiliano Sanchez helped the visitors to halve the gap in Heat 12, but Bird rescued his afternoon by linking with paid maximum man Shane Parker for a 5-1 in Heat 13 which virtually clinched the match for the home side. Legault was in the wars again in his final ride as he was taken down by Robert Ksiezak, but the Canadian picked himself up to bank four points from his tactical ride. Sanchez and skipper Andre Compton then combined to shut out Kauko Nieminen in the final race to at least keep the margin down to seven points, which will make Sheffield's task for the bonus point somewhat easier when the sides meet at Owlerton. GLASGOW: Shane Parker 14+1, Kauko Nieminen 11, James Cockle 9+2, Robert Ksiezak 7+1, Danny Bird 5+1, David McAllan 4+1, Lee Dicken 1. SHEFFIELD: Emiliano Sanchez 14, Andre Compton 9+1, Ricky Ashworth 7+1, Ben Wilson 6+1, Kyle Legault 5+1, Benji Compton 2+1, Paul Cooper 1. Next action Thursday 6th Apr 7.45 (2.45 et) vs Glasgow

Narrow defeat at Berwick!

BERWICK 46 SHEFFIELD 44. TIGERS suffered last-heat frustration as Berwick duo Adrian Rymel and Michal Makovsky held on to second and third places for the shared heat the home sided needed at Shielfield Park. Skipper Andre Compton raced clear but Ben Wilson, who had enjoyed a magnificent night with three wins, was unable to repeat his heroics as the Bandits won by a narrow two-point margin, leaving Sheffield with just the bonus point for their efforts. It was cruel on Tigers who held the lead on three separate occasions only to be pegged back each time. But with five of their team winning at least one race the positive signs from the opening month's action were more than maintained. Wilson teamed up with Benji Compton for a 5-1 in Heat 8 after David Meldrum had been excluded, putting Tigers four points clear until the Bandits hit back with a 5-1 of their own two heats later. Kyle Legault earnt himself an exclusion for causing Meldrum to fall, and the Berwick duo got the better of Emiliano Sanchez in the re-run. Wilson's third race win and a third for Ricky Ashworth put Tigers two points ahead again immediately, but consecutive 4-2s in Heats 13 and 14 ensured the Bandits would go into the last race just in front, and their Czech duo successfully maintained that advantage. BERWICK: Adrian Rymel 12+1, Michal Makovsky 9+3, Andreas Bergstrom 8, Lee Smethills 7+2, Craig Branney 5+1, David Meldrum 3, Danny Warwick 2. SHEFFIELD: Andre Compton 13, Ben Wilson 9, Emiliano Sanchez 7, Ricky Ashworth 5, Paul Cooper 4+1, Benji Compton 3+1, Kyle Legault 3+1.
Next action at Glasgow, Sunday 16.00. (11.00 et)