A little Easter extra

If you’re looking for something different to round off the Easter weekend then you could do worse than head for Tweedbank near Galashiels on 20 April.

The home and away BSN Series Scottish qualifiers between the R.E.D Bandits, powered by STS, and Glasgow Tigers promised high-octane action before the attention switches to Tweedbank Sports Centre on Easter Sunday.

Home side Border Raiders will host Edinburgh Falcons, Fife Cycle Speedway and Glasgow Cyclones in round three of the Cycle Speedway Scottish league from 1pm.

Cycle speedway is a fast and furious unpowered version of our great sport, growing from the bomb sites of post-war Britain with World Champions Peter Craven along with Scottish legends Bert Harkins and Dick Barrie among those who progressed to the powered version while Nathan Ablitt and leading British female speedway rider Katy Gordon are recent graduates.

The Raiders – who field male, female and junior teams in addition to racing in individual championships – currently race on a grass track but are in the process of building a shale oval in the near future.

Dirt Xtra’s James Black penned a major feature on the club’s ambitious plans in the Speedway Star during the winter and the Raiders are looking to develop links with the Bandits and our supporters over the coming season.

More information about the club, which holds training sessions every Friday night, and the Easter event is available from the club’s Facebook page Border Raiders or by emailing borderraiderscs@gmail.com

Pictures: British Cycling