DEFIANT Damien Bates insists every effort will be made to get Sheffield on track this August.
The Tru Plant Tigers co-owner has revealed a burning desire to fulfil an ambition of seeing legendary Dane Nicki Pedersen race in club colours.
Pedersen was the headline signing of the winter in British Speedway and pre-season excitement was higher than any time in recent seasons.
Bates said: “We certainly haven’t given up on the season. Owlerton is a vast bowl and if it becomes possible in August our intention remains to get some speedway in the latter months of the regular season.
“We remain determined to see Nicki Pedersen riding for this club after all the effort we put in during the winter!
“For that to happen, the UK quarantine needs to be dropped. Spain are stopping it from July 1 and I would expect something similar here in the UK soon after that.
“Simon Stead (manager) has been keeping in touch with Nicki. His bikes remain here in the UK with Johnny Bailey, he has a van ready to go – all we need is the man himself and permission to run!
“But it’s not all about Nicki, it’s a team effort. We want to track the team we put together in the winter, I still hope that can happen but I have to acknowledge there may need to be a change here or there.
“If, for example, we get a Premiership of one set of home and away fixtures, 12 meetings, plus play-offs, that’s better than no meetings at all, I’m sure people agree.”
Pedersen will be busy throughout July following news of the rescheduled European Championship – with five rounds all taking place in Poland.
Former Eastbourne racer Mikkel Michelsen defends his title in a high profile field including world No.2 Leon Madsen and former champion Pedersen.
Organisers have plumped for staging the entire tournament in Poland over a three week period as most riders are already based in the country.
It launches and ends in Torun on Saturday, July 4 and Wednesday, July 29 respectively with Wednesday rounds in Bydgoszcz (July 8), Gniezno (July 15) and Rybnik (July 22) in between.
