Picture: Arena Essex Raceway’s Twitter @ArenaEssexPRI
The former owners, the Woodroffe family, sold the venue last year and became tenants instead under the name Arena Essex Enterprise but have decided not to extend their contract for next year.
That means Speedway team the Lakeside Hammers will be without a home for next season.
A statement signed by Lesley Wootten, on behalf of the Woodroffe family, cited a challenging year and erratic British weather as reasons behind the closure of the Purfleet site.
The statement on the Arena Essex Raceway Facebook page said: “Contending with our great British weather with the first two months of the season seeing both opening events for the Rolling Thunder Show and King of the Ring events being cancelled due to freezing weather conditions and our own season opener being held in minus 11 degrees followed by a cold and miserable Easter weekend didn’t make for a great start to the year.
“The Lakeside Hammers on a continuing downward spiral in terms of spectator support as well as having meetings cancelled not just due to weather conditions but ongoing issues with the BSPA to contend with also heavily impacted the Raceway’s income.
“The above along with the amount of investment needed to just maintain the stadium plus the continued increasing costs for compliance, insurance and health and safety has led to the Raceway no longer being financially sustainable and therefore with great sadness and a heavy heart we have to advise 2018 will be the last racing season for the Woodroffe family.
“The final event to be run bringing Arena Essex Raceway’s gates to a close will be on Sunday 4th November with the 27th Firecracker.”
It’s understood that new homes are going to be built on the site although Thurrock Council is keen to keep the Lakeside Hammers in the local area.
The team’s promoter Jon Cook told Time 107.5 spectator numbers had increased in 2018 after the Hammers moved up from the National League to the Championship.
“I think some of the comments within the press release were a little more reflective of the 2017 season which I think has impacted upon the income for the Arena Essex Raceway.
Jon added that fewer Speedway meetings may have had an impact, caused by changes to the fixture list across Speedway in the UK but he was upbeat about Lakeside’s future.
“Things are very very healthy at the Hammers and I want to get the message out there to our fans not to be too alarmed.
“We’re still there, we’re still talking to the people that matter and this is very much a fluid situation.”
“The season rumbles on. August is a very important time for us and there’s Speedway pretty much every Friday at the Raceway during the month of August and we look forward to seeing all of our fans back.”
A statement from Lakeside Hammers said: “We are saddened, but not surprised, by the decision of our former landlords, who were this year’s tenants of Arena Essex, to opt to not continue the operation into 2019.
“We are heartened, nevertheless, by our ongoing talks with the new landowners and considerable support for Speedway to continue in the area.
“While the track is still in situ we will talk to them about the continuation of Speedway at Arena, given the success of this season, the increased attendances from 2017, and the exciting plans formulated by the BSPA (British Speedway Promoters Association) for the 2019 season.”
The music video for pop star Zara Larsson’s 2017 song Don’t Let Me Be Your’s was filmed at the venue. You can watch it below.
