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The 2010 international motorsport season is well underway, and this coming Saturday the
Eastbourne Eagles look forward to their first meeting of the season as British Elite League
level Speedway returns to the Arlington Stadium. The sussex side open their year with a challenge
event against 2006 League Champions the Peterborough Panthers, but before all of that we take a
look at the revised 2010 Eastbourne team in our season preview.
The Eagles welcome three new riders to the fold in 2010, with 2009 having effectively
been the end of an era. Former England internationals Dean Barker and David Norris bowed an official
farewell to the sport – Barker with a successful farewell meeting which opened the 2009 season
and Norris later in the year, after injury curtailed an impressive comeback. Former Grand
Prix Wild Card ‘Floppy’ will celebrate his farewell meeting as the last Saturday
match of Eastbourne’s 2010 season, with a big crowd predicted to turn out on 15th
May.
Also departing for pastures new is 2009 British Under 21 Champion Lewis Bridger. The Team
GB rider has ridden for his local club since his League debut in 2006, and was a part of
the sussex side’s 2008 Knockout Cup winning team. Bridger moves on loan to Peterborough,
the scene of his 2009 World Cup debut, where he scored six points for Great Britain, outscoring
2010 Grand Prix rider Tai Woffinden and beating local hero Ryan Sullivan. Bridger established
himself as a heatleader with the Eagles last season, enjoying outings as the club’s number
one during the campaign, and will no doubt be looking not only to develop his international
form, but to continue his rapid improvement on the domestic scene.
Another who will have high expectations for 2010 is Davey Watt, the Australian international
who struggled to find his best form last season as captain of the Eastbourne Eagles. The former
Eagles rider of the Year returns to the Poole Pirates, with whom he has won three Elite
League titles, on a 6.94 average, and is certain to be able to improve upon that figure.
Replacing Norris, Bridger and Watt for 2010 are new Eagles Matej Zagar and David Lampart,
along with returning former Eastbourne asset Joonas Kylmakorpi. Former Grand Prix regular
Zagar looks set to lead the charge, joining after an impressive mid-season return to the
Elite League last year. He had been absent from Elite League Speedway since 2007, when
the Slovenian raced for the final time for the Reading Racers, with whom he had emerged
from 2004. But he enjoyed his most impressive British season statistically in 2009, looked
fast in practice, and the two time European Champion could well be an impressive number
one for the Eagles this year.
Joining him in a heatleader berth is long-term former Eagle Joonas Kylmakorpi, the Finnish
international who already has 106 Eastbourne appearances under his belt. The former National
Under 21 Champion joined the sussex club in 2001, and has already spent a total of three
seasons at Arlington, racing more recently with new parent club Lakeside. Kylmakorpi
hit a peak figure of 8.08 with the Hammers in 2006, and will be hoping that a re-start
to his Eagles career, as well as the resolution of physical and injury worries that have plagued
him in recent seasons, will be enough to help him recover to that type of status within
the Elite League.
Last-minute signing for 2010 Dawid Lampart joins the side for the new season in reserve,
the Polish Under 21 International who appeared both in the Under 21 World Cup and on his
national Under 21 podium, beginning a full-time British career with high hopes for the future.
The pole competes alongside Eagles captain Cameron Woodward and Lukas Dryml in the Polish
League, and will already be known to Eastbourne regulars who caught a glimpse of him in the
October Draper Tools Challenge last year.
So, adding 2010’s new Eagles, the line-up for the season ahead looks like this. The
heatleader roles are taken by new number one Matej Zagar, returning Eagle Joonas Kylmakorpi,
and 2009 regular Simon Gustafsson. The Swedish international moved up into that role last
season after impressing in the early part of the year, taking advantage of improved
2008 form to increase his average even further in his third Elite League season.
In the second string positions, Czech favourite Lukas Dryml is joined by new captain Cameron
Woodward. The Australian enters his fifth consecutive season with Eastbourne, and will
be looking to recover from a slight dip in his 2009 scoring to post an improved average
in 2010. Lukas Dryml meanwhile enjoyed a solid first season in Eagles colours last year,
quickly becoming acquainted with the fast way around the Arlington Stadium, and the
army of colourful fans that grew up during the 2009 season will be ecstatic to note his
inclusion in the side.
A second season is also offered to Ricky Kling in reserve, another man whose average dropped
in 2009, but whose late season performances suggest much more to come in 2010. He is partnered
in heat two by the Eagles’ only Elite League debutant, Dawid Lampart.
The
Eagles open their League campaign against Swindon on Saturday 27th March, with a preceding
season-opening challenge kicking off the year against Peterborough this Saturday. Major
dates for the diary include home and away clashes with Lakeside on Good Friday, David
Norris’ Farewell in May and Sky Television’s proposed visits to Sussex on 28th April and
12th July.