Speedway

Former club captain Shane Parker, who rode in the final two seasons in 1995 and 1996, and Mark Burrows, who rode during the 1987 season, have been invited to take part alongside three pairs from Berwick, two from Newcastle and one from Edinburgh. Other former Bears taking part in the meeting include Berwick's Paul Bentley and Newcastle's Wayne Carter.

Seven pairs will contest 14 qualifying heats followed by a grand final. The meeting takes place at Shielfield Park, Berwick, at 7pm.

THE recently reformed Bears have rearranged a fixture. Due to a spate of postponements the Hartburn Garage-sponsored Bears will now be travelling to Glasgow Ashfield's Saracen Park on Saturday, September 21, to take part in a youth development challenge.

The meeting will consist of a four rider six heat event following the Glasgow/Edinburgh Premier League match. The meeting time is likely to be 5.30pm as the venue does not have any floodlights.

The club has been forced to make a number of changes due to riding commitments elsewhere. Carl Shield, who rode so impressively at Workington recently, has a meeting at Newport for Newcastle Gems Conference League team and his replacement is another former Newcastle rider Steve Jones. The 22-year-old from Gateshead was a regular performer in the 1999 Newcastle Diamonds side until serious injury sustained in a Knockout Cup match at Brough Park against Edinburgh sidelined him for over a year.

Captain Jitendra Duffill and Chris Hunter will both appear again. The fourth spot is currently available but the club are hoping to persuade former Middlesbrough, Berwick and Newcastle rider Chris Readshaw to make an appearance. If not there are plenty of youngsters to choose from including Scott Nettleship and Alan Farrow. Both riders regularly appear in second half racing at Berwick and Newcastle.

THE Premier League's most talented riders will be on display as Belle Vue (Manchester) stages the prestigous 2002 Championship on Sunday at 3pm. Among the representatives from the North-East are Darlington-based Paul Bentley (Berwick) and Andre Compton (Newcastle).

Bentley, in his testimonial season, won the event at one of his former clubs in 1994 when he represented Middlesbrough. Compton, based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, rode the track when he was with Bradford & Peterborough.

The competition is being staged on a neutral track as Belle Vue race in the Elite League but amongst the favourites for the title will be old adversaries. Workington's Carl Stonehewer who began his career with the Manchester club and Sheffield's Sean Wilson, though Wilson can be an erratic performer on smaller tracks. Both riders have won the championship before.

Other northern clubs represented in the competition include Hull's Garry Stead, Glasgow's George Stancl - who races on a similar sized track - and Edinburgh's Peter Carr. Sixteen riders will compete on a series of qualifying heats and the top four will go forward to a grand final.

The meeting takes place on Sunday at Belle Vue Speedway, Kirkmanshulme Lane, Manchester at 3pm.

LOCAL interest is high on the agenda for the Premier League championship as both Berwick and Newcastle together with Hull, Isle Of Wight, Sheffield and Swindon are involved in a battle royale with only a handful of points separating all six clubs. Last year's champions Newcastle have produced a late run and having beaten Edinburgh on Monday although Berwick's heavy defeat at the Isle of Wight on Tuesday and the loss of key rider Michal Makovosky could be too big a loss to overcome.