Redcar Bears Co-Promoter and Team Manager Brian Havelock should be the inspiration for his charges as the Redcar Bears race the Newcastle Diamonds in a crucial Premier Trophy fixture at the South Tees Motorsport Park on Thursday evening at 7.30pm.

The Bears have to achieve handsome victories at both home and then away on Tyneside on Sunday evening to attempt to stay on course for a place in the national semi-finals of the competition but on Monday night at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough Brian was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Evening Gazette/BBC Tees Annual Sports Awards.

Brian was a top speedway rider with various clubs in his career including the Middlesbrough Bears when they were based at the former Cleveland Park Stadium.

On retirement from competing he has been a promoter and team manager with various clubs with a return to his Teesside roots when the sport was relaunched at the Motorpark off South Bank Road in Middlesbrough in 2006. This past close season he fronted the initiative by a local consortium to take the club over.

Yarm-based Brian commented: "I was taken totally by surprise when my name was called out. It is a great honour not only for me personally but for the sport of speedway racing. I was also delighted that joint team sponsor Mark Smith of NEBT won the Sports Sponsor of the Year Award. What a double for the Bears!."

In recent years the club have won the Motorsport Award and club skipper Gary Havelock - Brian's son - was Sports Personality of the Year in 2008 illustrating the impact that this professional team sport has had in the region.

Now the celebrations are over then Brian's focus returns immediately to the task in hand. He has made it plain from day one of the season that he wants the Bears chasing silverware on all fronts but Redcar face their deadliest rivals in the shape of Newcastle and the Tynesiders will be keen to throw a spanner in the works so there is an extra dimension to the impending fixtures.

The Diamonds have lost number one Steve Boxall to a broken hand but draft in the Birmingham number one Jason Lyons as a very effective guest replacement. With Jason King a strong performer around the Motorpark's 271 metre shale speedway oval in recent seasons and Kenni Larsen a real emerging talent then a real contest is ahead.

REDCAR 'NEBT/SIMPSON RACING UK' BEARS:
1. Gary Havelock (C)
2. Robbie Kessler
3. Carl Stonehewer
4. Ben Wilson
5. Ty Proctor
6. Benji Compton
7. Arlo Bugeja
NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS:
1. Jason Lyons
2. Trent Leverington
3. Jason King (C)
4. Derek Sneddon
5. Kenni Larsen
6. Casper Wortmann
7. Craig Branney

The meeting will be sponsored by K Home International of Allensway, Thornaby.

The second leg Knockout Cup match at Newport which was washed out last Sunday will be restaged in South Wales on Sunday June 7th at 2.30pm. The overall winners will meet the Scunthorpe Scorpions in the next round.

For fuller club details log on to www.redcarspeedway.co.uk and for results updates phone 09068 664 665(calls charged at 60p per minute).