The Somerset Rebels will be starting their 2011 season in a big way this Friday night (March 25th) with the opposition being Elite League Champions the Coventry Bees.
A big crowd is expected to flock to the Oak Tree Arena near Highbridge to watch the team (pictured above) take on the champions in the season opener, which will also include an appearance by British Champion Chris Harris.
Rebels promoter Debbie Hancock told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Alun Rossiter, who was my mentor last year, promised when the season ended that if at all possible he would bring a full Coventry side to the Oak Tree Arena for a challenge match with which to kick off our 2011 campaign.”
“Obviously things looked a bit bleak when it appeared as if Coventry may not be riding this year, but now it looks as if everything has been resolved on that front, Roscoe has been has good as his word, and I am delighted that we are able to start our new season off with such a prestigious meeting as this. Teams do not come much bigger than the current Elite League Champions.”
“Roscoe wants to make the evening as a whole very much a team-bonding event for the Bees and we will be having a disco in the Oaktree Clubhouse after the conclusion of the meeting, at which the riders will be present.”
Coventry will be having a special set of race-jackets made up for the match that will then be signed by the riders and auctioned off after the meeting itself.
Debbie added: “Given that Coventry are doing us the honour of bringing their full team to Somerset for this match, we will are to ‘draft in’ a guest rider from the Elite League to ride at number 1 for the Rebels, and I am delighted to say that we have secured the services of none other than the British Champion, Chris Harris, who also finished 6th in last year’s Grand Prix Series, but we will arrange our line up so that all 7 of the 2011 Somerset team still also get ride as part of the meeting, albeit that might mean that we have to shuffle things around a bit to accommodate this.”
“This match against Coventry has really whetted the appetite of everyone here at the Oak Tree Arena, especially with the news that Chris Harris has agreed to ride for the Rebels.”
She added: “However, as I am sure people can appreciate, we are involved in additional cost with this fixture and I would like to thank those people who have come forward to help sponsor Chris’ appearance for the Rebels, their support has meant that whilst we increasing our admission prices for this particular match, we are able to limit the increase to just £1 for all categories.”
Pictured at last Friday’s Rebels Practice Day are new number 1 Travis McGowan, Sam Masters and the 2011 Rebels team (Jay Eastwood)
