PREVIEW: Oxford Cheetahs commence their 2026 season on Wednesday evening against old rivals Coventry Bees

SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs stage an opening challenge match at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium on Wednesday (April 1) at 7.30pm – taking on a Coventry Bees Select side.

Coventry Bees are one of the most famous names in World Speedway – but have not had a home track since 2016. Oxford Cheetahs returned to action to great acclaim in 2022, following a break of 15 years, after a long campaign to restore speedway to Cowley. There is a similar campaign to bring back the sport to Brandon Stadium in Coventry.

The rivalry between Oxford and Coventry was particularly keen between 1985 and 1989, as the two clubs traded British League titles between them for five seasons, pitting the likes of Hans Nielsen and Simon Wigg against Tommy Knudsen and Kelvin Tatum.

Four-time World Champion Nielsen is back on Wednesday evening, as the team manager for Bees. In addition to his nine seasons at Oxford (1984-1992), he also spent two years with Coventry (1993 and 1994).

Oxford have been forced into a couple of changes. Mitch McDiarmid is riding in a sparring match in Poland for Zielona Gora. The Australian will be clear to ride for Cheetahs next week, when they commence their official meetings against Plymouth in the BSN Series.

Meanwhile, Darryl Ritchings had a hospital visit over the weekend. He will not ride on Wednesday to avoid any chance of infection, but will also be fine next week.

Cheetahs will use rider replacement for McDiarmid, while Max Perry steps in for Ritchings.

Oxford manager Peter Schroeck said: “This meeting isn’t just about us – it’s about the return of the Coventry Bees. We hope plenty of Coventry fans come down and show the support that still exists for their club.

“We don’t have Mitch or Darryl, but in both cases, we’re sure it will only be for this meeting. For Mitch, we wanted rider replacement, because it means extra rides for our own lads, while it’s a chance for Max Perry to come in and show Cab Direct Championship clubs what he’s all about.

“I can’t wait for Cheetahs to get on track in this meeting. We had the Cheetahs together for a couple of days last week. Not only did we have press and practice last Wednesday, but also a day at one of our sponsors Nuffield Health on the Tuesday, who support both physical and mental wellbeing. We had a real chance to bond, and the team seems to communicate really well, which is important.”

Tickets are already on sale on the Oxford Speedway website at: https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/

Admission is available at the early bird price of £21 for all adults, which increases to £23 on Race Day. All under-16s go free. A reminder that Oxford Speedway is online ticket sales only – tickets remain on sale on the website until the start-time of the meeting. Spectators are also reminded that they will need to pay £2 if they are planning to park in the Unipart car park.

Season passes will NOT be valid for this additional meeting.

If you bought a season pass with parking (either at the stadium or Unipart), please note that you paid for parking for all home speedway meetings this season and you can use your pass to park on Wednesday evening. BUT please note you still need to buy a ticket for admission to the meeting.

NOTE: Please note all the bars and the food kiosk are card only. Cash can only be accepted at the bars and food kiosk if you have the correct money. Cash is needed for Raceday Jackpot raffle tickets (at just £1 a strip it would be unfeasible to accept card payments), while programmes can be brought with either cash or card (a card option is available in the shop upstairs). Please do as if you were going elsewhere and bring a combination of cash and card with you – thank you.

Teams:

SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs: Sam Masters (C), Mitch McDiarmid R/R, Anders Rowe, Luke Killeen, Erik Riss, Max Perry, Dayle Wood. Team manager: Peter Schroeck.

Coventry Bees Select: Chris Harris (C), Jody Scott, Leon Flint, Luke Harrison, Dan Thompson, Ashton Vale, Senna Summers. Team manager: Hans Nielsen.