THE promoters of Lakeside Speedway are delighted to announce that on Friday July 17th the Club will host the London Riders Championship, having received the support and blessing of its traditional custodian, Len Silver.

THE promoters of Lakeside Speedway are delighted to announce that on Friday July 17th the Club will host the London Riders Championship, having received the support and blessing of its traditional custodian, Len Silver.

The meeting is being revived to celebrate 80 years of League Racing in Britain and to ensure that support is gained for the continuation of top level Speedway in Greater London, once the Arena Essex Raceway succumbs to the plans of the Thames Gateway project.

The day itself will be a celebration of all things London Speedway with a field of riders chosen by fans of the old London clubs and taking to the track in the most iconic of those club's race jackets, again chosen by the fans.

The sounds of the old Jap and two valve Jawa will echo across the track once again to begin the night's action and at 8pm former riders, Promoters and Team Managers of London clubs of days gone by will parade before their fans of old for one more round of applause. The Championship proper will begin at 8.15pm with a field of riders drawn from the second string of Elite and Heat Leaders of the Premier League to ensure an open meeting of close action, whilst races will be interspersed by legends racing with stars of the past representing their London clubs once more. The Speedway Museum will also be providing a road show display for fans to enjoy.

Amid this fantastic night of nostalgia the very serious message of the potential need for a new home for London Speedway in the foreseeable future will be shining through with invitations to attend being extended to the Mayor of London and the Secretary of State for Sport in the hope that a show of support from the London public both current and lapsed supporters will send the message that the Capital needs and deserves Speedway for the next 80 years.

As this is an event dependent upon the fans to help celebrate the past and work towards the future, the Club will be reducing admission prices to �10 for Adults and �1 for Children.

The Lakeside Club will be inviting Supporters groups of the former clubs to join together to agree upon the rider they see would best represent them on the night and decide what body colour design they should wear. These body colours will be auctioned at the end of the meeting with all proceeds split between the Speedway Museum and the Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund.

Lakeside Co-Promoter and team manager, Jon Cook, states: "We hope the Raceway will be awash with the scarves, hats and programme boards of clubs such as Hackney, Wimbledon, White City, Crayford etc and provide us with the perfect platform to encourage the powers that be that Speedway is both a desirable and viable Sport for the Capital and its population. Stuart Douglas and myself are now in our third season at Arena-Essex and the help and support we have had from the Woodroffe family, sponsors and fans have helped us build a strong Club that is now established as serious contenders on the Elite League stage. We are committed to continue as the last custodians of Speedway in the area and hope that this meeting will bring the importance of the Sport to the general populace and ensure motor sport has a part of the Thames Gateway project or land is provided, perhaps as part of the Olympic Legacy, so that families from the Capital and its surrounding Counties can continue to enjoy a Sport synonymous with the very history of the Capital itself."

Supporters Groups and Individuals from all of London's former tracks are encouraged to make contact with the Club via Bryn Williams on his e-mail address at AWZV22@dsl.pipex.com

All past riders of London teams, ex Team Managers and Promoters are cordially invited to attend with their families as guest of the Lakeside Hammers Promotion. All that is asked in return is that they parade before the fans at 8pm and contact Alan Sargent by e-mail at alansargent@lakesidehammers.com to confirm their attendance.