Hopes raised that Mildenhall Fen Tigers could return to speedway action this year

‘A pair of very big steps forward’ have been taken in the bid to get Mildenhall Fen Tigers back in action this year.

Plans to get the club returning to the tapes – after a year out – for its 50th anniversary had seemingly hit the buffers when an inspection carried out on behalf of the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB) deemed that the existing air fence at the Mildenhall Stadium was no longer adequate and would need to be replaced by a foam block safety barrier.

The suggestion was that the necessary work would cost around £90,000, and it was in March that the SCB released a statement saying that the club had missed the deadline to race competitively in 2025.

However, a recent meeting of the Mildenhall Speedway Supporters Trust proposed that the club should move away from the SCB and instead join forces with an alternative option – NORA92, which is an approved body to authorise off-road motorsport – using a bespoke combination of a foam barrier and the air fence.

Sixty-two members of the Trust all voted in favour of going down that particular avenue, with the hope now being that everything can be ratified to allow the Fen Tigers to be back in action come August.

Steering committee member Kieran Phillips said “It’s a pair of very big steps forward – the way we have secured 62 trust members all putting in at least £100 and received the full backing of these members to proceed down the routes of a foam barrier in tandem with the existing air fence, well it couldn’t be a clearer indication that people want speedway at Mildenhall Stadium again.

“We will take no chances whatsoever with safety and firmly believe that our proposals will make the Mildenhall track safer than at any time in the club’s proud 50-year history. We took great pains at the meeting to show our Trust members the exact sort of foam blocks to be used and there were detailed discussions over the logistics of track set up as well as how NORA meetings would run – to get the overwhelming support and a positive mandate to go on is so encouraging and now we move onto the procurement and set up stages.”

Meanwhile, campaign spokesperson Steve Ribbons added: “I’ve run NORA racing before, in 2024 at Iwade in Kent, and we put on excellent meetings with a very good standard of riders including an international fixture and indeed we believe we can deliver a significantly better product for the Mildenhall Speedway-supporting public than the watered down National Development League racing which seems in the main to be struggling at other tracks, with limited riders and disappointing crowds.”

Ribbons added that the hope is that fixtures will be arranged against the Isle of Wight, Thurrock, Rye House, Cradley and Kent Kings across August, September and October.