Happy 40th to the Comets
Workington Comets' former skipper Kauko Nieminen will be back at Derwent Park for the 40th anniversary meeting on March 27.
The Flying Finn, now plying his trade in the Elite League with Lakeside Hammers was the first name announced as a competitor in the individual meeting to celebrate the Comets' launch date back in 1970.
Nieminen was extremely popular during his two spells at Derwent Park (split by a year away at Glasgow) and is still regarded as one of the most stylish riders ever to have graced the club's colours.
 | Team manager Ian Thomas said: "It was one of the best bit of business I have done on behalf of the Comets when I travelled to Finland and signed-up Kauko. "He's always been a gentleman to deal with; a very good rider for the Comets and one who is liked and respected by the Workington supporters. It's great that he is coming back to ride on what is a very special day for the club." |
Thomas is putting together the riders who will be racing on track on the night, while club statistician, long-time supporter and a former team manager Tony Jackson is responsible for the guest list.
"We set a criteria that a rider must have appeared 10 or more times for the Comets since 1970, although there are one or two notable exceptions.
"One of those exceptions is Barry Burchatt, who had just signed for the Comets and hardly rode for us before he was seriously injured in a grass-track accident.
"He travelled from Kent to attend our presentation evening last year and he was one of he first to accept an invitation to attend the 40th anniversary bash. He loves the place because of how good our fans were to him after his accident," said Thomas.
One early disappointment, however, has been the news that Comets legend Carl Stonehewer is not able to make an appearance at the anniversary event. Stoney was asked to ride and also invited to attend as a guest but he has had to decline because of another engagement.
There's going to be a separate reunion, too, at the anniversary event as three of the Collins family have already accepted invitations - Neil, Les and Aidan - while a fourth, Chris, may also be coming. All four have ridden for the Comets.
Going even further back into the mists of time, two popular riders from the 1970s have also said they will be there on March 27.
Two of them are probably among the most-travelled riders in speedway history as Ken Vale had 12 clubs on his CV, just one more than Geoff Penniket. Coincidentally Workington was the last club on each list.
Vale rode for Aldershot, Canterbury, Cradley, Eastbourne, Exeter, King's Lynn, Long Eaton, Neath, Newport, Oxford, Weymouth and Workington while Penniket saw service for Cradley, Eastbourne, King's Lynn, Long Eaton, New Cross, Newport, Plymouth, Poole, Rayleigh, Romford and Workington.
Thomas recalled: "I think I probably owe my life to Ken Vale - or certainly he came to my rescue when I was in a spot of bother.
"I didn't get on with this particular management team at a track where we were riding and at one point I was going to be thrown out - and I mean literally - by a massive, bouncer-type guy.
"I think it might have been painful but Ken, who was a lovely, charming man, saw what was happening. He just picked-up a spanner from his tool box and quietly told this bruiser: "Touch him and you're a dead man."
"He might have been quiet but he could look after himself and the big guy obviously realised he meant it because he left me and took off."
Jackson is working hard to assemble a top class "off-track" team of riders who have represented the Comets over the last 40 years.
"I'm really pleased with the responses I've been getting and I'm sure on the night it's going to be quite a reunion," he said.
The 40th anniversary meeting will be the Comets' third of the new season as it will be preceded by a visit to Redcar (March 18) and then the return at Derwent Park on March 20 to open the campaign.
