Peterborough Panthers could race in the autumn and winter, while club owner praises his backroom staff

Like the rest of the sporting world, speedway is in limbo because of the coronavirus scare with no racing at all scheduled prior to a review meeting on June 15. The season should have started in March.

One plan includes one home and away meeting with each club rather than two which would mean 12 meetings rather than 24 – the Premiership Cup is already likely to be axed.

It means there is a possibility the sport can start as late as September and condense it into two months, but bosses are also looking into the possibility of running into November.

Meanwhile Panthers owner Keith Chapman has sung the praises of his backroom team for the work they put in during the winter.

The appointment of former Great Britain boss Rob Lyon as Panthers manager saw Carl Johnson move sideways to co-promoter with more commercial responsibilities.

Johnson negotiated with a number of riders and sponsors and the club now have both a main team sponsor in Crendon Timber and club sponsor in the City Auction Group.

Fans were also flooding the club’s social media channels raising concerns about the lack of speed in team building – but Niels-Kristian Iversen was the key and they finally landed their man in March.

Then came the blow of losing Bradley Wilson-Dean, but Scott Nicholls quickly agreed a return which, amazingly, would have seen him start the season at reserve.

Chapman said: “Carl (Johnson) and Colin (co-promoter Pratt) have worked hard behind the scenes and I must thank Carl for his understanding in moving into a more commercial promoter role to accommodate the arrival of Rob as manager. Carl has been an absolute gent.

“Many people questioned the amount of time it took to complete our team, but I can assure you we did everything within our power to get the team we wanted, and we got there in the end.

“Scott Nicholls is a legend of the sport and he gives us amazing strength at the bottom end of the team. He put the fact he wasn’t in Plan A to one side when he agreed to return to us.”

Chapman has penned a rare column in the latest issue of the Panthers’ programme, while co-promoter Johnson and Australian star Rohan Tungate are also featured.

The third issue is on sale from curtis-sport.com and supporters can also order previous issues.