18/08/2026
Mildenhall Speedway CIC Press Release [PR21/26] dated 17/8/26: Two matches in five days; differing fortunes [reports of IOW vs Fen Tigers and Fen Tigers vs Kent]
Two matches in the space five days for the Mildenhall Fen Tigers brought conflicting fortunes â a breathtaking win on the road (and indeed over the sea!), grabbing a last heat victory at the Isle of Wight on Tuesday (11th. ) was followed by the disappointment of a relatively heavy defeat at home on Saturday (15th.) to the Kent Eagles, thus surrendering the Pioneer Cup to their rivals from the Garden of England.
The undoubted star man for the trip over the Solent was IOW track specialist James Shanes who delivered a peerless, 15 points maximum. It wasnât done the easy way though, for the twice European Grasstrack Champion, as he had to come from behind several times to claim wins through the very evenly matched meeting.
That parity between the teams led to the scores being 42-42 going into the final heat. It was a sensational Speedway race, rolling back the years: the IOW Warriors pairing of Darryl Ritchings and Arran Butcher led from the start with the Kiwi national champion Ben Whalley and Shanes for the Fen Tigers trailing. Shanes first had to get past his own team mate before setting after the home pair, after a lap he picked off Butcher and was quickly followed by Whalley. Ritchings looked good for the win, which would have meant the match would end in a draw, but in an amazing last lap Shanes flew out wide on turn four, and just as Ritchings moved out to block him, the Fen Tiger cut back to produce a magnificent pass and take a dramatic win for the visitors.
Whalley deserves a big mention in dispatches for his three heat wins â the longest track in the UK is clearly one which suits the New Zealander. Mickie Simpson guested for Kieran Phillipsâ Fen Tigers side and was unlucky having suffered a fall not to record more than his eight points, vital though such a return was. And returning to Fen Tigers colours on another of his former home tracks, the veteran Scott Campos delivered a hugely impressive two paid race wins â backing up Whalley twice for massively important 5-1s.
With Shanes away at the weekend on international duty in Germany (where a likely replacement Simpson was also riding) it was a changed Fen Tigers outfit who suffered home defeat on Sunday (15th.) in the second leg (and by virtue of that, on aggregate) in the inaugural Pioneer Cup - but the racing was a lot closer and entertaining than the lop-sided match result might suggest.
The excitement mainly came from some old-fashioned fence scrapping, as firstly Whalley and then home-grown thrill merchants, the Eaglesâ number one Edward Kennett and Vinnie Foord (the latter making his Fen Tigers debut) set out with a determination to show that the fastest (and definitely the most spectacular) way around a heavier than usual West Row circuit was round the outside.
Reigning NZ champion Whalley was giving the former Grand Prix rider Kennett a great race, with Fen Tigers number one on the night, Simon Lambert also joined in a thrilling three-way battle in heat four before coming to grief by going just a bit too wide. At this point the sides were fairly close in points on the day but then three successive heat advantages for the Eagles saw the visitors pull into a decisive halfway stage lead.
Heat six had been another thriller â with two battles going on at once. Kentâs Ben Morley got the better of Lambert out front after the two hugely-experienced racers were locked handlebar to handlebar for four laps. Butcher (this time riding for the Fen Tigers) and Connor King were the tasty undercard â Butcher looked to have the upper hand, but getting out of shape on the final lap lost him a point and dented his confidence for the rest of the meeting.
Then enter the massive personality that is Vinnie Foord into the fray with a pair of thrilling wins over the otherwise unbeaten Morley setting up the race of the night in heat 15 - with Kennett and Foord serving up a thrilling battle royale. Kennett hadnât appeared at Mildenhall for just five days short of twenty years: it was well worth the wait.
Mildenhall Supporters Trust CIC Chairperson Kieran Phillips reflected on the ups and downs experienced over five busy days,
"What a performance from both teams in the meeting at Smallbrook it was - it was a great advert for Speedway. On paper, both teams looked evenly matched and that was borne out on track - it really could have gone either way, right up to the last heat decider with our maximum man James Shanes doing yet another from behind heat win. Ebbs and flows in the score all meeting, certainly kept the blood pressure going up.
"To win there two years in a row, both times in last heat deciders â well, it was quite something. But more than anything, the sport and the sort of meeting NORA can serve up was the real winner. A huge âthank youâ goes to Martin Widman of our fellow NORA club, Isle of Wight for all his support and for having us."
Of the rather less close run affair on the following Saturday at West Row, Phillips commented,
"14 points down from the first leg back in May, had always left us with a mountain to climb - and it was clear that the Eagles were determined to take aggregate victory with the strength of their line up for the second leg. We also had a strong team but unfortunately on the evening things didnât pan out as we expected. There was some absolutely fantastic races though and it was a great effort by the boys and of course, our first ever woman Fen Tiger rider in visiting Aussie Tayla Street - once all the riders were dialled in it was another absolutely excellent advert for the sport".
Next up for Mildenhall is a match up with Thurrock Hammers at West Row on Saturday 19th. September.
MEETING DETAILS:
NORA LEAGUE CHALLENGE
TUESDAY 11TH. AUGUST
ISLE OF WIGHT WARRIORS 44
Darryl Ritchings 3 3 2 3 2 13
Tayla Street 1 1' 1 0 0 3+1
Arran Butcher 2 1 0 2 F 5
Danno Verge 1' 2 1' 2 2' 8+3
Charlie Southwick 2 F R 3 3 8
Alex Spooner 1' 1 2' 1' 2 7+3
MILDENHALL FEN TIGERS 46
Harry Sadler 0 R 1 1 3 5
Mickie Simpson 2 2 3 X 1 8
Scott Campos R 2' 2' 1' R 5+3
Ben Whalley 3 3 3 2 1 12
James Shanes 3 3 3 3 3 15
Harrison Rogers 0 0 0 0 1 1
Heat details:
1 Ritchings, Simpson, Street, Sadler 69.81 (4-2)
2 Whalley, Butcher, Verge, Campos 71.80 (7-5)
3 Shanes, Southwick, Spooner, Rogers 70.85 (10-8)
4 Ritchings, Simpson, Butcher, Sadler 70.84 (14-10)
5 Whalley, Campos, Spooner, Southwick (fell) 71.45 (15-15)
6 Shanes, Ritchings, Street, Rogers 70.68 (18-18)
7 Simpson, Verge, Sadler, Butcher 71.65 (20-22)
8 Whalley, Campos, Street, Southwick (exc. 2M â 15m (retired) 73.71 (21-27)
9 Shanes, Butcher, Verge, Rogers 70.87 (24-30)
10 (rerun) Southwick, Spooner, Sadler, Simpson (exc. UR) 73.49 (29-31)
11 Ritchings, Whalley, Campos, Street 70.55 (32-34)
12 Shanes, Verge, Spooner, Rogers 71.43 (35-37)
13 Sadler, Spooner, Rogers, Street 73.97 (37-41)
14 Southwick, Verge, Simpson (fell rem.), Campos (ret.) 73.84 (42-42)
15 Shanes, Ritchings, Whalley, Butcher (fell) 70.85 (44-46)
PIONEER CUP SECOND LEG
SATURDAY 15TH. AUGUST
MILDENHALL FEN TIGERS 36
Simon Lambert 2 3 2 3 1' 11+1
Arran Butcher 0 0 R 0 1 1
Ben Whalley 3 FX 0 2' 2 7+1
Vinnie Foord 1 2 3 3 2 11
Tayla Street 1 1' 1 0 0 3+1
Luke Harris R 2 1 R R 3
KENT EAGLES 53
Edward Kennett 3 2 3 3 3 14
Harry Sadler 1 R 1 2' 2' 6+2
Jack Kingston 0 F 2' 2 3 7+1
Ryan Ingram 2 3 3 1' 0 9+1
Ben Morley 3 3 1 2 3 12
Connor King 2' 1 0 1' 1 5+2
Heat details:
1 Kennett, Lambert, Sadler, Butcher 58.3 (2-4)
2 Whalley, Ingram, Foord, Kingston 55.7 (6-6)
3 Morley, King, Street, Harris 57.0 (7-11)
4 (rerun) Lambert, Kennett, Sadler (fell rem., ret.), Whalley (fell exc.) 53.9 (10-13)
5 Ingram, Harris, Street, Kingston (fell) 53.7 (13-16)
6 Morley, Lambert, King, Butcher 55.2 (15-20)
7 Kennett, Foord, Sadler, Whalley 54.3 (17-24)
8 Ingram, Kingston, Street, Butcher (ret.) 53.1 (18-29)
9 Ford, Whalley, Morley, King 454.1 (23-30)
10 Kennett, Sadler, Harris, Street 52.5 (24-35)
11 Lambert, Kingston, Ingram, Butcher 53.7 (27-38)
12 Foord, Morley, King, Harris (ret.) 53.4 (30-41)
13 Kingston, Sadler, Butcher, Street 55.3 (31-46)
14 Morley, Whalley, King, Harris (ret.) 54.9 (33-50)
15 Kennett, Foord, Lambert, Ingram 52.8 (36-53)
Aggregate scores: Mildenhall 74 Kent 105
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