Bonanza meeting adds some Magic to its line-up, as tickets set to go on sale
BETGOODWIN Oxford Spires’ Polish superstar Maciej ‘Magic’ Janowski will ride in the season-opening Ben Fund Bonanza individual meeting at Oxford Stadium on Sunday, March 23 (6pm) – while another addition is Grand Prix rider Max Fricke.
Tickets go on sale on the Oxford Speedway website on Monday (February 24) lunchtime at https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/
Cost of entry is £25 for all categories of admission, but with under-16s admitted free if accompanied by an adult.
Ben Fund Chairman Paul Ackroyd said: “I hope supporters will see their admission money as a donation to the Ben Fund, and so making a contribution towards the welfare of the injured riders. I think the quality of the field will reward everyone attending what should be a great event.”
2022 World No 3 Janowski – a three-time World Cup with Poland – has won eight Grand Prix rounds in his career and reached 31 GP finals.
He was snapped up by Spires last year, his first British club since Poole in 2015. It took him a while to re-adjust to riding British tracks once more, but he showed his class in the second half of the season. Along with Rohan Tungate, he will lead Spires’ charge in the 2025 ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
The Pole is the fourth Oxford rider to be confirmed for the event – along with BetGoodwin Oxford Spires’ team-mates Charles Wright and Erik Riss, while the SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies are represented by No 1 and skipper Sam Masters.
Fricke is the third 2025 Grand Prix regular to be confirmed for the Bonanza, alongside 2017 World Champion Jason Doyle and current World No 3 Freddie Lindgren. 12 out of 16 riders have now been announced for the meeting. The line-up for the Bonanza is the strongest for the event in well over a decade.
The Bonanza will again be a 20-heat individual contest with semi-final and final. In addition there will be women’s heats and kids’ heats sprinkled through the meeting.
Supporting the event will be ACU Women’s Ambassador Pippa Laverty, who has been instrumental in advancing women’s Speedway through the FIM Women’s Speedway Academy and Gold Trophy.
Laverty highlighted the significance of this inclusion: “Speedway is a fantastic sport, and it’s great to see more women getting involved. The continued support of the Ben Fund Bonanza in featuring a women’s race is vital to increasing participation. Thanks to the support of the Ben Fund organizers and everyone involved in the sport, we are seeing real progress. Representation matters—if she can see it, she can be it.”
Rachel Hellowell, Katie Gordon, Anastasia Sallee and Tia Brant will contest the women’s races.
Another fund raiser for the Ben Fund is set to take place at the Wheatley New Club, Wheatley, OX33 1NJ on Friday, March 7 at 7.30pm. It will a Race Evening / Social Night, where participants can choose a rider (similar to horse racing race evenings). The event is being organised by Neil Ramsden. The Ben Fund mascot will be present at the event.
Ben Fund Bonanza line-up so far:
Maciej Janowski (Oxford Spires)
Charles Wright (Oxford Spires and Redcar)
Erik Riss (Oxford Spires and Redcar)
Sam Masters (Oxford Cheetahs and Leicester)
Freddie Lindgren (unattached)
Jason Doyle (Ipswich)
Max Fricke (Leicester)
Danny King (Ipswich and Redcar)
Tom Brennan (Ipswich)
Tobiasz Musielak (Birmingham)
Adam Ellis (Ipswich)
Lewis Kerr (Poole)
(PHOTO by Steve Edmunds)