UPDATE: OPENING HOME FIXTURE

NORTHAMPTON Speedway can confirm tickets for their eagerly awaited opening home meeting are expected to go on sale next Tuesday evening at the earliest (April 28).

The Foxes race for the first time at Northampton International Raceway on Thursday April 30 when they take on Ipswich in the Premiership Knockout Cup.

The decision to delay ticket sales until 48 hours before the event has been taken because the club’s Speedway Control Bureau (SCB) track inspection is scheduled to take place next Tuesday.

The venue must satisfy the requirements of this inspection, including a track test with four riders completing racing laps, in order to be signed off to stage a meeting.

Since the announcement last month that speedway would be coming to Northampton this season, exceptional efforts have been made to complete the work required for the stadium to become dual-purpose, running speedway as well as its existing stock car use.

This includes work on the stadium infrastructure, electrical upgrades and additional safety measures specific to speedway, and the track work itself is now complete.

However, launching a new speedway venue in a very limited timeframe does bring its challenges, and there have also been unavoidable delays with the manufacture and delivery of other safety barriers essential to the running of speedway.

This explains why the SCB inspection is scheduled for the week of the opening meeting, when the original anticipated timeline was for it to take place this week.

We are very optimistic that we will be able to satisfy the SCB’s requirements by Tuesday; however, we feel it is prudent to not put tickets on sale until after we have received the green light, and we hope supporters will appreciate this move.

We will communicate the outcome of the inspection as soon as possible, with an expectation that tickets will be on sale by Tuesday evening should we receive a positive verdict.

Finally, if any volunteers capable of assisting with physical tasks are available to help at the stadium during the day on Tuesday, which is likely to be a busy day, please contact at the club at fox-info@northampton-speedway.com