It’s now a case of counting down the days and the hours till Buxton Speedway reopens at the most picturesque venue in the UK on Easter Sunday at 3 pm.
The venue closed its doors to speedway at the end of the 2018 season, but thankfully is now not lost to the sport. There has been so much work done to get the venue open by a fantastic group of volunteers.
The trio of Tony and Melvyn Hipkiss, along with Laurence Rogers are behind the resurrection of the sport in the hills. They are starting the new campaign with a Four Team Tournament featuring the Buxton DUCTAIR Bulls, the POTTERS (Stoke connection), KINGS (Crewe connection) and the WOLVES (Wolverhampton).
The meeting has a headline sponsor in REGINA CHAIN. This is a strong beginning for the new promotion with a major concern.
To even things up, the DUCTAIR BULLS (in association with CRITCHLOW PLANT) use three of their riders in home colours in Jack Smith, Jack Shimelt and Jamie Etherington, whilst Alfie Bowtell dons the Wolves body colour and Arran Butcher the Potters’ one. Luke Harris is unavailable, and as yet the BULLS haven’t named their seventh rider, but have some riders involved in the meeting who are putting themselves in the shop window. Teenager Dylan Huthwaite, who impressed at Birmingham in the Midland Development League last year, is the fourth rider with each side tracking a similar type of rider.
The POTTERS are led by former Stoke rider Simon Lambert, who is riding for Scunthorpe in the Championship and King’s Lynn in the National Development League. He is backed up by Arran Butcher, whilst on the comeback trail is ex-Buxton and Birmingham rider Jack Roberts, who has been performing well on the grass track scene. Their up-and-comer is Harrison Rogers, another MDL rider from 2025 who secured team spots in the NDL at Scunthorpe/ Sheffield joint side and Kings Lynn.
The KINGS have Mickie Simpson lined up at No.1 with the youngster at Kings Lynn in 2026. He was a teammate of the Bulls duo, Luke Harris. Harrison Rogers and Jamie Etherington at Scunthorpe/Sheffield. He is joined by another comeback rider in Alex Spooner, who missed most of 2024 and all of 2025 but is now fit and raring to go. They give a UK debut to Edinburgh capture Ben Whalley, who grew up in New Zealand. Their up-and-comer is the older of the two Crewe brothers, Joe, with his younger brother Jack as their reserve stand by rider ….. their fans will love having two Crewe’s in the Kings’ side!
The WOLVES have BULLS No, 1 Alfie Bowtell spearheading their side, whilst the unattached Jack Kingston, who rode for Belle Vue last year and is looking for a team spot if one becomes available so keen to do any meetings he can. Former Buxton rider Kieran Douglas, who last rode for Berwick in 2023, is another hoping to impress, having decided on a comeback. Their up-and-comer is Ryan Ashcroft, who captained the Wolves to the MDL title at Birmingham last year and is keen to get an NDL place in 2026.
The stand by reserves, who will have two outings after heats 4 and 8, plus ride in the GTS PRODUCTS MDL individual in the 2nd half, are Jacob Fellows (Bulls), Bailey Fellows (Potters), Jack Crewe (Kings) and Will Boraston (Wolves).
Those four come up against four newcomers in Archie Strong, Jayden Bailey, Emerson Betty and Owen Booth in an 8-man 6-heat individual, giving them 3 rides each.
That gives fans 24 races plus some 125cc demo races for the juniors.
The meeting starts at 3 pm, with gates open at 12.30 pm. Inside parking is available to watch the meeting, at a cost of £2; once full, parking will be free in the top car park by the car track. Entry prices are: Adults £15, Concessions (65 and over) £13 with proof, Students (17-22 showing card proof) £10, whilst juniors and children 16 and under FREE !!
Programmes £3 (on sale at the gate, in the merchandise hut and from programme sellers). The merchandise hut has a range of products on sale, plus soft drinks, chocolate, sweets and crisps. A hot food bar is available next to the merchandise hut.
Advance tickets can be booked using this reference: https://www.trybooking.com/uk/GCYF
