SOMERSET has been confirmed as the venue for the 2012 Premier League Pairs – and the meeting will again take place the night before the British Grand Prix at Cardiff.
August 24 is the date for supporters to put into their diaries for one of the most popular events of the season, which was won this year by the Glasgow duo of Joe Screen and James Grieves.Organisers have moved quickly to announce the date with the GP shifting into August from its’ more usual June staging at the Millennium Stadium.
That move has been made because of the venue being required for usage in the Olympics, but supporters will be pleased to learn that what has become an integral part of the speedway calendar will remain, with the Pairs at the Oak Tree Arena on the Friday night beforehand.SpeedwayGB Events co-ordinator David Hoggart said: “We wanted to make an early announcement on this meeting because we are aware that this is a Bank Holiday weekend and supporters will want to make their plans early.
“This will enable everyone who needs to book accommodation to hopefully do so in time for what is obviously going to be a busy few days.
“We’re naturally delighted to take the event back to Somerset again. It’s one of the most enjoyable meetings of the season and we look forward to another successful staging next year. There’s always a good, holiday atmosphere and I’m sure that will be the case again.”Somerset promoter Debbie Hancock is looking forward to the meeting taking place at the venue for the sixth year in succession – and she’s already hoping it will be sixth time lucky for the Rebels!
She said: “We’ve come close on quite a few occasions but we still haven’t managed to win the meeting and I suppose that goes to show we have a track which everyone enjoys riding.“We thoroughly enjoy staging this event and obviously our location means there’s always a big crowd who enjoy starting the weekend with the Pairs before going to the Grand Prix the next day.“With it being a Bank Holiday weekend anyway next year I would think there will probably be even more people hoping to come down here, and I know the hotels and B&Bs will get booked up so it’s good to get the date officially confirmed so that everyone can start making their plans.”
There have been different winners of the Premier League Pairs in each of the five stagings at Somerset. The Isle of Wight took victory in 2007, and they were followed by Workington, Birmingham, Sheffield and Glasgow in subsequent years.
