Bandits spurred on by tragedy.

The Berwick Bandits were spurred on to a massive victory over near neighbours, Newcastle Diamonds last night at Shilefield Park after learning of the untimely death of long-time Bandits' supporter George Bebbington in a car crash the previous night as he ironically drove up to Edinburgh to watch his team race against the Monarchs.

Three other passengers escaped with only minor injuries.
Not only was George a fan on the terraces, but had befriended many riders, providing board and lodgings for several, most notably Berwick's brave Argentinean rider, Carlos Villar, paralysed in a track crash last October. The Bebbington home has had much work done on it to make it wheelchair friendly for Carlos, and this tragic event has hit everyone at Berwick exceptionally hard.

George leaves his wife, Yvonne, daughter Steff and son Stuart, to whom all at Berwick Speedway send their most heartfelt condolences and continued support in the way only the extended Speedway family can.

Claus Kristensen, Berwick's skipper, is also a very close friend of the Bebbington family and in tribute spoke after the meeting, saying, "The last 20 hours since I learned of the crash that took my good friend George away from us have been the most terrible I can remember."

"George's passing hit me hard, as it has done all the lads, and for much of today I really did not want to even ride tonight. Many people spoke to me and reminded me that George would not want that, and the best thing I could do would be to go out tonight and score a maximum for George in tribute to him.... And I did.... All for George!"

The emotional tributes were bolstered by Team Manager, Tom Graham, who emphasised the point, "Tonight we would always have picked up the win, but the size of the win was our tribute to George Bebbington.... This one was for you!" he said, raising a fist in triumph.

Overshadowed by the awful event, the racing went on as George would only have wanted, and what an emphatic Bandit's performance it was, with two full maximums and one paid coming out of the Berwick scorechart.

The eventual 39 point margin of success could easily have been 43 had it not been for a rare exclusion for Berwick's David Meldrum in heat one having finished second as the chequered flag fell, but eagle-eyed referee Will Hunter had spotted Meldrum had inadvertently put both his wheels over the white line coming off the fourth bend, and that's an excludable offence. A Berwick 5-1 was converted into a 3-3 shared heat and a gifted second place to new Newcastle number 1, Mario Jirout.

Berwick meet Workington next weekend in a home and away situation. Workington have a strong look to them as they are headed by former Grand Prix rider, Carl Stonehewer along with Kauko Nieminen, Brett Woodifield and high-scoring reserve, Aidan Collins.