SPEEDWAY: Panthers to host the '˜Glastonbury' of speedway

The East of England Showground will stage the new-look event over the weekend of July 23 & 24 and Rathbone reckons it will attract bumper crowds to the city.

The Fours now features all 13 Premier League teams with 72 races set to be staged across the two days in addition to live music and overnight camping at the Alwalton site.

Rathbone said: “It is an honour to stage an event of this magnitude in just our second season as a promotion.

“It is probably the biggest event in the history of Premier League speedway and it is going to be absolutely fantastic.

“It is something that has never been done before and something I expect to prove hugely popular.

“And hopefully it won’t just appeal to fans of the Premier League clubs involved. A weekend away may well attract fans from overseas.

“I believe it can become the Glastonbury of speedway – the one event that everyone wants to be at.

“We’re offering three top-quality meetings in the space of two days with plenty more going on besides the racing.”

There will be 36 heats of action on both days with Fours semi-finals taking place on the Saturday.

Twelve teams are to be split into three groups with the top team in each section advancing to a Sunday final which will also include Panthers as hosts.

That will be preceded by a 20-heat individual meeting featuring the top two riders from each of the eliminated teams.

Ticket prices are expected to be announced in the near future.