It’s fair to say that when we have dipped our toes in to the world of Speedway over the years, we have run up against some obstacles, our goal at NORA 92 though is to help organisers wherever we can, particularly at grass roots level. We work in the background putting in a solid platform upon which an organiser can promote events and keep competitors on the track, whether that be two, three or four wheels.
As far as Speedway is concerned this has been low key for a number of years, working with Graham and Barbara down in Sittingbourne, Aiden and Kate with Ride & Skid it at Buxton, and Trevor and Karl with Dirt Track Events. So, when approached by Martin and Barry from the Isle of Wight back in 2020 we were keen to listen to their needs and do whatever we could to help them run events at Smallbrook, appealing to a greater audience and boosting their revenue to a point of being viable.
We have provided that platform and the pair of them have run with their ideas and have turned things around. They are now very successfully running events that are ticking all of the boxes, make no mistake here, this is down to the vision and dedication of the pair with a good team of supporters and helpers around them!
We have been happy to sanction some of their classes as NORA British Championships and have proudly been trophy sponsors for their end of year awards. We are however aware that the one thing they have been missing is competitive team racing, so it was no great surprise when Barry contacted us recently with the idea of a NORA 92 sanctioned league.
This is all very new and we are still in the early stages and will be sitting with the team to cross some i’s and dot some t’s in the near future, the nuts and bolts of the plan though are already in place with four teams already keen to be part of the new venture. With a plan like this there are always going to be early overheads and with sponsorship hard to come by, especially for new ventures, NORA 92 have stepped in as title sponsor for year 1 to help the teams get organised and ready for the season.
NORA are fully aware that there are other, more established, leagues out there and are in agreement with the team behind the NORA Speedway league that this is in no way designed to conflict or take away from that. Special consideration will be given to the fixtures and venues before they are released, rather we see this as a way for people to either continue to compete in the sport that they love or maybe even give the opportunity to introduce new blood in to what is an incredibly exciting sport. NORA have always been keen to support and develop new younger talent and there is potential for Speedway to become a part of the NORA CRS Youth Development program in the future.
The team here at NORA are excited about this latest idea and are looking forward to getting behind this plan and hopefully having a hand in building it in to the future!