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Well Done Heckmondwike CSC for their faultless presentation of this year's Grand Finale on a lovely afternoon in West Yorkshire.
I have to reiterate my previous comment on the performances of the incredible, almost untouchable double age group winners Lukasz Nowacki (35s and 40s) and Phil Gard (50s and 60s). Congratulations also to our first ever E-V Womens Champion, Leicester's Lucy Whitehead and her clubmate, the latest recipient of the Chic Mackie Fair Play & Conduct shield - Kevin Burns.
***Now if you're wondering why there are FOUR bodies in the Over50s line-up, I can report that due to immense pressure on our Administrators after the meeting to get the results out, a slight clerical error crept in, for which I blame myself as I was unable to offer any online assistance in the final deliberations (I was knackered and inattentive). Anyway, the final outcome discovered WELL AFTER the meeting was that Mark Whitehead and Steve Paver had indeed finished on equal points, so with Steve dashing back to Exeter with the third place trophy we need to get another one to the Leicester man asap. Apologies for the cockup Mark! While we're ALMOST perfeect, it's not quite 100%.
SO THAT'S IT FOR ANOTHER YEAR. WE HOPE TO SEE A FEW MORE OF YOU RACING IN 2024.
*****This has been on display a bit lower down this page for 2 or 3 years now, but here it is again:
THERE IS NO NEED FOR CLUBS TO GO MAD WITH TROPHIES! Times are hard, tone it down, medals are nice enough as mementos. (or W.H.Y.)
Further to that, there will now be NO awards presented to Over 35 finalists unless they are actually Under 39 and not doubling up in the Over 40s Final. (I think I've got that right but check with Fred!).
Euro-Vets Women's Series successful
Saturday 29th April saw the launch of the new 'Eurovet Women's Series', at East London. The Euro-Vets are proud to be providing more regular meetings for women racers. We currently have four rounds (*plus Newport's Welsh Champs round) scheduled for 2023 with the potential for more to follow. Just to be clear, this series is for ALL women, no age limits applied.
And for those who aren't particularly moved by the news, you probably missed their cracking series of races this year!
2023 FIXTURES WERE AS BELOW
EV1 Sat. 8th April Birmingham
EV2 Sat. 29th April East London
EV3 Sat. 13th May East Park
EV4 Sat. 24th June Exeter
EV5 Sat. 22nd July Newport
EV6 Sun. 6th August Glasgow
EV7 Sat. 7th October Heckmondwike.
Once again apologies to clubs that had expressed an interest in staging a round of the GP but as usual the Gaffer had to strike a balance, never easy for him. With more Vets meetings than ever now taking place it will just get harder as we're having our own opportunities gradually reduced.
*IMPORTANT* To 2024 hosting clubs
Please don't feel the need to provide massive trophies, or indeed trophies at all. In the past there have been some stunning examples provided but as nice as they can be there really is no need to go overboard. Medals or any other suitable award will do quite nicely, and considering we currently (2023- changes coming perhaps) require ONLY THREE sets of four so this should be good news for clubs hard pressed for funds or unable to find sponsors.
Calling all Over 34s - let's see you all here!
Welcome to the Euro-Vets web site, we hope it has become the definitive guide to charitable Short Track Racing for the Over 34's. For new, "mature" riders just coming into the Sport, this is the best introduction you could get. See our minimal rules and requirements further down this page.
On behalf of all of us I must offer a huge vote of thanks to the indomitable Fred Rothwell who continues to deliver the goods and enable the whole thing for all of us to enjoy, including from 2017 a much better insurance deal. Fred doesn’t work in solitary though, he has the ever-willing Norman Venson and Geoff Gamage to back him up when required and they do a great job in support.
More thanks are due to the clubs who put us on their fixture list, their hard working secretaries and ground crews and anyone who chipped in along the way.
I'd also like to give a shout out for 2015/2017 World Veterans Champion Craig Marchant who's never off Facebook trying to lever some other ex-rider out of retirement or promoting the next event for us, a real credit to the cause.
yes - YOU!
If you are reading this then you must still have some sort of attachment to Short Tracking (OK then if you must, Cycle Speedway!) whether you'd like to admit it or not. Therefore, if you've never turned a wheel in our fantastic Grand Prix series or you have but not too many times, then why not take the plunge by entering at least one round, maybe your closest one to start with? You'll be doing the Sport a great favour, having a really enjoyable few laps amongst our much travelled troupe of regulars, get a laugh or two, maybe do some catching up with old friends and/or adversaries and just have a great day out. It doesn't matter what your current ability is, middle-age is the only qualification required and you'll be welcomed wholeheartedly.
New, current or ex-rider - you are all most welcome to join our friendly Racing for Grown-Ups circuit. Over 35s race 35 to 40 year olds (possibly subject to change for 2023) and ditto the other age groups although you are allowed to compete against younger opposition unless there are no spaces in the day's programme. We'd love to see some new or old faces taking part this year, and in doing so you are not only helping prolong the life of the Sport but also helping boost its media coverage which is no bad thing these days. There's absolutely no pressure and a genuine air of calm in the pits (most times!). And of course there's the feelgood factor of supporting our chosen charities which we've been quite successful at. We'd really appreciate your presence at at least one round, but if you could manage a couple or more that would be fantastic, so take a look at our fixtures and start planning a ride or nine! We are not governed by British Cycling so you don't need one of their expensive race licences but there is the inevitable insurance cover which costs just a few quid - much more palatable.
If you're old enough you're good enough!
Who does What?
As from the end of 2018 there were FOUR age categories to keep the racing as fair as possible while providing superb entertainment within a spirit of friendly competitiveness not generally associated with regular Cycle Speedway events:
- Over 35
- Over 40
- Over 50
- Over 60
All categories are for riders either AT the magic age or reaching it in the year of competition.
Our "management team" consists of Fred Rothwell, Norman Venson and Geoff Gamage, and they control things before, during and after our meetings. Terry Kirkup looks after this site, our Facebook page and GP statistics. And of course credit to Dave Murphy who's brainchild the whole thing was way back when :)
Meeting Format
Because of the nation-wide nature of our Sport and it's widely distributed venues, it can never be known exactly how many competitors may turn up at any single event. It is therefore not uncommon to find that we have to integrate one or more age groups in order to produce a workable race meeting. Given such adverse conditions it is a regular feature for the Over 50 and Over 60 riders to be grouped together in a single match, and it has even been known for the whole of those present to compete against each other whichever group they belong in, but hopefully this will remain a rarity. Conversely, we've had to suffer the odd series of repêchage races where there have been too many contestants for the normal formulae to work properly and some dilution was required!
When the event is run along these now familiar lines, the two matches are run independently but intertwined, so Over 40s Heat One is followed by Over 50s (/60s) Heat One, etc, etc..
Even so, the format retains a full set of Semi-Finals and Finals ("A" and "B") for each of the four age groups no matter how many riders turn up on the day with awards normally presented to the four "A" Finalists and the Referee, usually provided by the staging Club as their contribution to ease the burden on the Orchid Fund.
Series points are collected and the Champion of each class is the highest scorer overall after the final round. Points are awarded as below:
"A" Final 1st: 25, 2nd: 23, 3rd: 22, 4th: 21
"B" Final 1st: 20, 2nd: 18, 3rd: 17, 4th: 16
*note you drop your lowest score, or in other words only your top n-1 scores count towards the Championship.
You can contact our Main Man Fred Rothwell on FB or the Editor here: 
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