Last updated at 08:17, Friday, 12 March 2010

WORKINGTON Comets fans can see the new 2010 team in action tomorrow.

A practice day, which begins at 12noon, comes ahead of the start of the new season where Comets face Redcar in a two-legged challenge away on Thursday before the return at Derwent Park on Saturday (6.30pm start).

There have concerns in the past months about the state of the tracks all over the country due to the cold weather but team manager Ian Thomas is confident that everything will be fine for the practice day as well as the first home match of the season.

He said: “It is a good time for the riders to get some much needed time on their bikes.

“However, I don’t think the session tells you that much about how the riders will perform in matches because it is completely different when you line up against three other riders for competitive races.”

Workington’s new Dane Peter Kildemand arrived in Britain on Wednesday after warming up for the new season in Croatia with the Danish international squad.

Kildemand, untested on British tracks, has already phoned Comets owner Keith Denham saying he is excited about the prospect of riding in the British Premier league for the first time.

Thomas added: “We have had Peter in Croatia and John Branney in France so it shows how seriously the guys are taking this season and how far they are prepared to travel to get some practice.”

The practice day will be followed by a meet-the-riders night in the Derwent Lounge at 7.30pm.

Meanwhile some of the best riders from recent years will be on show at the 40th anniversary meeting on March 27.

Joe Haines and Mark Lemon will join Kauko Niemenen, James Wright and Rusty Harrison as well as the current Comets team for the meeting.

The individual meeting will start at 6.30pm and feature the 12 riders taking part over 15 heats.

Thomas said: “In a perfect world we would have had a 16-strong field and 20 heats but we were concerned about the time we would get finished.

“The transport problems locally since the bridges came down has been massive and we didn’t want to add to the problems with a 20-race formula.”

Comets legend Lou Sansom will also be at the meeting and will have a leisurely spin around the Derwent Park track.

Sansom, part of the original 1970 team, will also appear at the Washington Central Hotel the day before the meeting for An Evening with Lou Sansom.

Tickets priced £5 can be bought at the practice day and the meet-the-riders night or by phoning Tony Jackson on 01900 65963.

First published at 19:28, Thursday, 11 March 2010
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk