IT has been an exciting and very busy winter for the Tru Plant Stars as we have implemented our plans to deliver change.
Keith Chapman, owner of the stars, welcomed Robin Brundle to the Club as a co-promoter at the start of the winter. Robin declared his intent to make his own contribution to the team and the sport in general.
Robin has previously watched speedway from afar and admired the level of success achieved by King’s Lynn over a number of years as well as the way in which the Chapman Family and their staff have worked tirelessly for the good of the sport.
Keith (Promoter), Dale Allitt (Co-Promoter) and Robin (Co-Promoter) have worked closely with all of the stakeholders, including the fans, business partners, media partners, the governing bodies, supporters club, riders and our committed staff. The feedback from each group has been invaluable in guiding the planning for the winter change programme.
The wheels of change are in motion and have already delivered a significant number of exciting projects. We are all delighted with the early results and especially the positive buzz that they have already created around the Club.
Of course, one of the main tasks of the winter was assembling the best possible side for the 2018 season as we strive to achieve on-track success. The leadership has used a much wider selection criteria than in previous years and believe that we have selected a team with the correct on-track talent and also dedication to fitness. This when combined with their excellent personalities and determination to succeed should enable us all to enjoy a successful year in the SGB Premiership.
One key element of the rider’s winter preparations has centred around the development of a new, speedway-specific training programme which encompasses not only fitness but nutrition, hydration and vision training. We have been fortunate enough to have Team GB coaches Chris Neville and Paul Suggitt working exclusively with the Stars. We hosted three training camps over a five-day period between February and March.
Speedway riders are generally incentivised as individuals. One of our challenges as a club has been to create a bond that makes them a team and pleasingly the three training camps have achieved this.
Our nutrition and training programmes have enhanced all of the rider’s personal performance as individuals.
The work ethic and dedication of our riders to achieve personal improvement is comparable to anything found in top flight sport. Work has been done to improve reaction times, introduce a pre-meeting warm-up programme and various other elements of achieving optimum performance - and all in time for when the season starts.
We would like to extend our thanks to our two coaches Chris Neville and Paul Suggitt and to our performance partners, ColourFit (nutrition), Perform Better (equipment), Science in Sport (hydration) and local King’s Lynn gyms Heros and Jordan’s.
The outputs from these programmes have also been crucial to our new link with the University of East Anglia (UEA). In addition to increasing our rider performance and general wellbeing, the generic outputs will also feed the UEA physiotherapy Masters degree course. This research will eventually help us keep our training programmes current and bespoke to speedway riders.
Our riders are incredibly fit athletes but, unlike sports such as Formula One, we have no specific information on how to enhance their performance and it is our plan for the comprehensive Sports Science programme with UEA to change that.
Another link with UEA has involved the School of Mathematics, forming the third part of our sports science initiatives.
The desired outcome is ultimately to develop a computerised tool to assist with speedway race strategy and rider selection. We would like to extend our thanks to the Force India F1 team for generously giving of their time and sharing some experience in maximising the benefits derived from analysing complex performance data.
Experience gained from top-flight motorsport suggests that this programme will take some time to develop. Each stage of the development will deliver an improved management tool that will inform our thinking around race strategy. In addition, we expect it to assist in our future rider selection and retention programmes.
Aside from our sports science and performance initiatives, we have been seeking to generate a new brand image and we have also activated a sponsorship-seeking campaign. We were delighted to announce Tru Plant as our title sponsor and our thanks go to Guy Nicholls for his continued support.
We have continued to engage with fans and media throughout the winter via a comprehensive social media programme combined with weekly press releases.
With the support and guidance of the Norfolk Rock Choir we have created and launched a catchy new anthem that will be sure to stick in your mind. You can visit the website to see the lyrics and also hear how the Rock Choir so ably sing our anthem for us.
A new Club mascot is being designed by Families across Norfolk as they enter in a competition. The details can be found on the Your Local Paper website with the winning design being announced on the 20th April. The prizes are: £1,000 of educational books to the school of the winner’s choice, along with free League speedway at the Adrian Flux Arena in 2018.
The King’s Lynn Speedway Supporters’ Club have also developed a number of new initiatives for 2018 including arranging away meeting visits, the 50/50 raffle and the end of season party in October. Money raised this year will be re-directed back to supporting fan activities at home meetings along with charitable giving which has started with the handing out of Easter eggs to unwell children in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn.
The new 2018 rider Kevlar design and the team kits are unveiled for the first time at the press and practice event on the 28th March.
These are exciting times for King’s Lynn Speedway and we are now ready for our first home racing event on the 4th April.
Keith Chapman, Dale Allitt and Robin Brundle
General Information for 2018: Provisional Event Schedule 6:00 Gates Open 6:20 Team Manager and rider track walk with Supporters Club Members 6:30 Riders -Leathers on and team briefing 6:45 Bikes to Hot Lap’s zone for warm up 6:50 Rider warm up 7:00 Hot Lap’s for Stars riders 7:15 Riders to Fan Zone (Unless they have bike issues) 7:30 Rider intro and bike parade 7:45 Heat 1 After heat 4 Track re-grade After heat 7 Track re-grade After heat 10 Track re-grade After heat 14 Track re-grade After heat 15 Home team parade on truck All riders Fan zone for media Q&A
