(SPEEDWAY 1)

BELLE Vue have taken the reluctant decision not to enter their Colts team in the National League this season.The Colts were revived in 2011 and enjoyed a strong campaign with local youngsters Jason Garrity and Kyle Howarth making great strides – but the club are having to concentrate on their proposed stadium move over the coming months.Operations Director Chris Morton said: “When we brought back the Colts team last season we had hoped to be in a position to go into the new stadium without an in-between year.“But now that won’t happen and we are focussing all our attention on the new stadium. Everything considered we have decided, reluctantly, to put the Colts’ operation on hold.”

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ROB Smith will return to the Isle of Wight this year – with the Islanders also promoting Rikki Mullins into their team to start a season for the first time.The club have just one more place remaining ahead of the new National League campaign and are hopeful of making that announcement next week.Co-promoter Kevin Shepherd said: “Rob is Mr. Consistent home and away, he is actually second in the averages this year, and after a year back in the sport we are expecting him to move on and do good things and be one of the key players in the team.“Rikki is keen, chomping at the bit and getting loads of practice in at practice sessions and has set himself the target of doubling his average over the course of the season, and if he does that for us we will be over the moon.”

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BUXTON’S Ryan Blacklock will be back with the Hitmen for his second season in the sport this year.Blacklock, a former motocross champion and friend of former Buxton star Craig Cook, is keen to build on the progress he made in his first National League campaign.Club chief Jayne Moss said: “Ryan has a good motocross background but found speedway was a very different challenge and it was fitting that his first race win came at Wolverhampton, which was also where he took part in his first-ever speedway race.“He persevered throughout last year and improved as time went on and was winning races towards the end of the season. We will be looking for him to continue his improvement and be amongst the points on a regular basis in his second season with the Hitmen.”