PREVIEW: Stage is set for the 2015 British Indoor Championships

Coventry Cycle Speedway club round off a hugely successful year by staging the British Indoor Finals at the Sports Connexion, Ryton on Dunsmore, this weekend (Saturday 2nd January and Sunday 3rd January).

Hundreds of riders, officials and fans of Cycle Speedway will head to the Sports Connexion venue for a third successive year of the British Indoor Finals. However, this will be the first year the Coventry club will stage the championships as event promotors.

Competition will be fierce as riders and teams battle for both individual and team glory. In all, there will be 8 separate British Indoor Final titles to be decided in this spectacular and extreme version of Cycle Speedway.

Riders, with no brakes, take the corners, seemingly at almost 90 degrees, defying gravity. As with the outdoor version of the sport, physical contact is allowed on the corners, producing a tremendous and entertaining spectacle.

Racing will commence on Saturday morning (2nd January), with the staging of qualifying for the British Junior championships, at 10am. Amongst the main contenders will be Coventry`s Kyle Roberts and Ollie Morris.

Saturday`s competition will conclude at 4pm, with the promotion of the British Individual Final, when Birmingham’s Ricki Johnson defends his title. Former winner Mark Boaler, of Oxfordshire village club Horspath, and the robust Charlie Rumbold, of Ipswich, will challenge hard for the tile.

Sunday’s action will end at 5.30pm, with the presentation of the British Open Team Final. Holders Wednesfield Aces are likely to mount a stern defence of their crown, with Poole and Sheffield also likely to feature strongly.

Local interest will centre on Coventry’s entry in the British Junior Team championships. Led by the returning Kyle Roberts, now almost back to his best after breaking his arm at motor Speedway, they will also include World junior number 7 Mason Phillips, ex British number 4 Dan Drewett and the fast improving Ollie Morris.

The Coventry junior team will take to the track on Sunday morning, at 10am, when they face semi-final action against Wednesfield and Sheffield. Should they progress, the British Junior Team Final is at 2.30pm later in the day.

In order for the event to take place, on health and safety grounds, the Coventry club are installing a Speedway airfence to surround the track perimeter. Volunteer Coventry club members are mounting a huge logistical operation on Friday evening, 1st January, to erect the airfence and all associated facilities.

The Sports Connexion is in Leamington Road, on the outskirts of the Coventry area boundary, at Ryton on Dunsmore. Post code is CV8 3FL. The venue has all facilities, including massive car parking, refreshments and toilets.

Entry to the British Indoor Cycle Speedway finals, on both days, is free. However, spectators are invited to purchase a programme (priced at £2.50) on entry, to help the staging Coventry club with the high costs of staging the finals.

For more information on Coventry Cycle Speedway team, please go to: www.coventrycyclespeedway.co.uk