STATEMENT: NEWCASTLE SPEEDWAY

BRITISH Speedway Promoters Ltd regret to confirm the withdrawal of Newcastle Diamonds from the 2022 Championship.

Owner Rob Grant took the decision on Monday night with the Diamonds having been due to travel to Plymouth on Tuesday, and has subsequently announced he has closed the club.

BSP Ltd Chairman Rob Godfrey said: “It’s obviously a matter of serious regret to be losing a club, and it did come as a shock to us last night.

“We had been working with the Newcastle promotion in an attempt to get them to the end of the season, and every opportunity and help was given to them.

“Discussions had been ongoing for several weeks, but they have suffered a number of unfortunate problems this year.

“We did feel they would be able to see things through, but sadly that’s proved not to be the case.”

Our thoughts are with the riders, supporters and club officials affected by this news, and we sincerely hope the sport is able to resume at Brough Park in the future.

Updates to fixtures, results and rider availability will be carried out following the completion of standard protocol in these circumstances.