We’ve got some exciting news for Gladiators fans – the brand-new Plymouth Gladiators App is almost ready to launch! 

Before we go live, we’re looking for Android users to join our beta testing team. This final stage will help us iron out any small glitches and make sure the app is running smoothly for fans everywhere.

Want to get involved?
Simply email media@plymouth-speedway.com to sign up

When you get in touch, please include:

• The Android device you’re using
• The email address linked to your Google Play account

Your feedback will play a vital role in shaping the app and ensuring it delivers the best experience possible – fast, smooth, and ready to bring you even closer to the Gladiators. 💪

Stay tuned… the official launch is just around the corner!

The former Bournemouth, West Ham, Portsmouth and Tottenham boss has decided to get fully behind the resurgence in his favourite motorsport.

Harry has joined the management team of Speedway Futures Ltd who hold the sporting, commercial and media rights for speedway in the UK and he is delighted to see the action packed sport in the headlines again.

He said: “I watch it on TNT Sports and its fantastic entertainment. These guys are going from 0-60 quicker that a Formula One car, with no brakes and they risk life and limb every time they race.

“I only live a few miles from Poole Stadium and back in the day I often took my boys Mark and Jamie to the speedway to watch the brave daredevils in action and it is still the great evening out that it always was.

“It really is breathtaking motorsport on your doorstep and it’s the same all over the country at places like Belle Vue, Sheffield, Oxford, Leicester, Ipswich, Glasgow and Kings Lynn to name but a few of the iconic venues.

“I loved watching the speedway on World of Sport on a Saturday afternoon in the football close season and got to know Barry Briggs quite well.

“It’s amazing to think that in 1981 the Speedway World Championship final drew a crowd of 90,000 to the old Wembley Stadium!

“In those days 12 million people watched speedway on World of Sport and the top riders, Briggo, Ivan Mauger, Ole Olsen, Peter Collins and Bruce Penhall became household names.

“The sport definitely suffered with the demise of World of Sport but it's back on the rise without a doubt and anything I can do to help that I definitely will.

“The racing is still out of this world and Great Britain are World Champions having won the title for the second time in four years, what an achievement and something the sport and the country should be so proud of!”

Harry has promised to play his part in raising the profile of his favourite motorsport and added: “If I can lead top football clubs to cup glory and the Champions League then I am sure that I can help a great sport like speedway hit the big time again.

“I love it, it’s a fantastic and exciting watch and must be the rawest form of motorsport in the world.

“Four riders per race, elbowing each other to win at high speed, 15 races per meeting, there is little to match it in sport and it’s a terrific evening out for the punters.

“I know once people go they will want to keep going back. TNT Sports are getting great audiences for the live events and the traditional clubs are getting big crowds…and I really want to be part of making speedway huge again, that is certainly my aim!”

 

It was disappointing that 5 minutes of unpredicted heavy rain fell onto the racetrack around 6pm Saturday evening. 

After a track walk with the referee at 5pm the referee explained that the riders were concerned about a greasy top surface, to which I advised that the forecast of clear skies and no further rainfall would dry the top surface adequately for good racing and that the base of the track was in a great condition with only 10mm of top dressing evident in 95% of the surface, to which he replied that he has seen a lot worse conditions, and as long as the slippery top was graded in to the satisfaction of the riders and to ensure rider safety, it would be good to start.

At 6pm I started to grade the top surface when the heavens opened. At this point I requested extra time in the hope of getting the meeting on to avoid wasting the costs and time of the supporters who attended and the subsequent costs of our medical staff, and the travel costs for the club, of both ours and the away team’s travel.

The Club were given until 7pm to complete the work. We tried, but the storm shower at 6pm proved to be the undoing. 

I am disappointed at the postponement as for the last 3 seasons, with the exception ironically of the Redcar meeting in 2024, all of our weather decisions and cancellations have been justified 100%.

Onwards and upwards, in speedway these happen sometimes, rider safety is paramount to costs and time, and we need to look ahead. 

Our next home fixture is on Tuesday the 24th of June when the SWTR Centurions take on the Birmingham Bulls. 

There is no meeting next Saturday as the British GP Speedway event is being held at the Belle Vue Stadium in Manchester, and the following weekend the Gladiators are away racing at Glasgow and Workington. 

Re-admission tickets can be used at any of our forthcoming meetings, and subsequently if any Redcar supporters cannot attend the re-staging date (tbc) they will be able to obtain a full refund for their tickets .

Apologies given for this weekend’s weather conditions.

Mark Phillips

Promoter.

The clash between the Plymouth Gladiators and The Redcar Bears has sadly been postponed due to a waterlogged track, following a downpour at 6pm and a track inspection at 7pm.

Rescheduled date tbc

The Plymouth Gladiators return to Cab Direct Championship action when they take on the Redcar Bears at the Coliseum this Saturday, 7th June (tapes up 7.00pm).

Following the KO Cup exit against The Poole Pirates, the Gladiators now focus on climbing the Championship table, where they currently sit in 6th place on two points.

The Bears, who include a strong heat leader duo of Charles Wright and Danny King, and former Gladiator Jason Edwards, are level on points with the Gladiators, having ridden one match less.    

The Gladiators are at full strength, whilst Redcar are missing Erik Riss and Jake Mulford due to GP qualifiers, and bring in Ben Morley to guest for Mulford, and operate rider replacement for Riss.

Teams:

Plymouth Gladiators: 

Nicolai Klindt, Alfie Bowtell, Lasse Fredriksen, Joe Thompson, Ben Barker, Mitchell Cluff, Ben Trigger.

Redcar Bears:

Charles Wright, Erik Riss r/r, Jason Edwards, Ben Morley, Danny King, Jody Scott, Ace Pijper.

Meeting Info:

Gates open 5pm – with tapes up at 7pm.

Admission:

Cash or card on the gate

Adult Seated:  £23.00 (Area 1 NHS Stand)

Adult Standing: £20.00 (Area 2: All other areas)

16 years & under: Free of charge

Students (standing): £10

(Proof of ID may be required)

For those unable to get track side, a live stream can be found here  https://www.gladiatorslive.com/

The Poole Pirates progressed through to the MaxiCab KO Cup Semi-Final with a 52-38 Quarter Final, Second leg victory over the Plymouth Gladiators, to take the tie 93-87 on aggregate.

The Gladiators delivered a spirited performance, and were only four points down after heat 7 at Wimborne Road, but the Pirates increased the pressure with a 4-2 in the eighth, followed by two maximum heat advantages in heats 9 and 10.

Nicolai Klindt and Alfie Bowtell responded with a maximum 5-1 of their own in heat 11, before the Pirates extended their lead to 16 by heat 13.  Ben Trigger and Lasse Fredrikson teamed up for a 5-1 in the 14th, before the Pirates took a 4-2 victory in the nominated heat 15 to win by 6 points on aggregate

Nicolai Klindt top scored for the Gladiators with 10, backed by Ben Barker (8) and Joe Thompson (6+1)

Poole Pirates : 52 (93)

1. Richard Lawson - 3, 2, 3, 2', 1 = 11+1

2. Tobias Thomsen - 1, 1', 1, 2' = 5+2

3. Anders Rowe - 3, 1', 3, 3, 3 = 13+1

4. Lewis Kerr - 2', 2, 2', 1 = 7+2

5. Zach Cook - Fx, 2, 1, 3 = 6

6. Paul Starke - 2, 1', 0 = 3+1

7. Darryl Ritchings - 1', 2, 3, 1, 0 = 7+1

Plymouth Gladiators : 38 (87)

1. Nicolai Klindt - 2, 3, 3, R, 2 = 10

2. Alfie Bowtell - 0, 0, 2' = 2+1

3. Lasse Fredriksen - 1, F, 0, 2 = 3

4. Joe Thompson - 0, 3, 1, 2' = 6+1

5. Ben Barker - 3, 3, 1, 1, 0 = 8

6. Mitchell Cluff - 3, 1, Fx, 0, 0 = 4

7. Ben Trigger - 0, 0, 2, 3 = 5

Heat Results

Plymouth win toss and choose gates 1 & 3.

Heat 01: Lawson, Klindt, Thomsen, Bowtell 4-2 (4-2)

Heat 02: Cluff, Starke, Ritchings, Trigger 3-3 (7-5)

Heat 03: Rowe, Kerr, Fredriksen, Thompson 5-1 (12-6)

Heat 04: Barker, Ritchings, Cluff, Cook (Fx) 2-4 (14-10)

Heat 06: Barker, Lawson, Thomsen, Trigger 3-3 (20-16)

Heat 07: Thompson, Cook, Starke, Fredriksen (F) 3-3 (23-19)

Heat 08: Ritchings, Trigger, Thomsen, Cluff (Fx) 4-2 (27-21)

Heat 09: Rowe, Kerr, Barker, Cluff 5-1 (32-22)

Heat 10: Lawson, Thomsen, Thompson, Fredriksen 5-1 (37-23)

Heat 11: Klindt, Bowtell, Cook, Starke 1-5 (38-28)

Heat 12: Rowe, Fredriksen, Ritchings, Cluff 4-2 (42-30)

Heat 13: Cook, Lawson, Barker, Klindt (R) 5-1 (47-31)

Heat 14: Trigger, Thompson, Kerr, Ritchings 1-5 (48-36)

Heat 15: Rowe, Klindt, Lawson, Barker 4-2 (52-38)

Courtesy of Speedway Updates

Image Credit: UK Weather Chase.

The Plymouth Gladiators return to full strength as they head to Wimborne Road on Wednesday evening (May 28th) in the MAXiCab KO Cup, Quarter-Final, 2nd Leg against The Poole Pirates (tapes up 7.30pm)

The Gladiators, who will be looking to defend an eight point lead from their 49-41 first leg victory at The Coliseum on Saturday, welcome back number 1 and former Pirate, Nicolai Klindt, following the cancellation of a Danish fixture he was due to be riding in. Joe Thompson also returns after missing the first leg due to the SGP 2 qualification round at Glasgow on Saturday, and joins Lasse Fredriksen in the main body of the team, with Mitchell Cluff at reserve. 

Teams:

Poole Pirates

1. Richard Lawson 2. Tobias Thomsen 3. Anders Rowe 4. Lewi Kerr 5. Zach Cook (Captain) 6. Paul Starke 7. Darryl Ritchings  Team Manager:  Neil Middleditch

Plymouth Gladiators: 

1. Nicolai Klindt 2. Alfie Bowtell 3. Lasse Fredriksen 4. Joe Thompson 5. Ben Barker (Captain) 6. Mitchell Cluff 7. Ben Trigger Team Manager: Garry May

A live stream for those unable to attend can be found here 

Image Credit:  UK Weather chase.