Kiwi ace Jade Mudgway racing in the UK led the Buxton Hitmen to a home win over the Plymouth Devils on Sunday in their opening fixture of the 2009 National League speedway season.
Having joined the Hitmen over the winter from Redcar, Mudgway settled in very quickly to his new ‘home’ and being partnered by former Cubs team-mate Scott James, a former Buxton rider, also helped.
A tough encounter was expected as the visitors had raced several competitive meeting while the Hitmen hadn’t and that race rustiness was a little concern. Plymouth took an early two-point advantage but it was the appearance of Mudgway in heat 3 that got the fans excited. James hit the front but Mudgway was pushed wide on the first turn by Kyle Hughes and relegated to third. He didn’t take long to show the Buxton that he is a determined racer as he pressured Hughes straight away and when the Devils rider drifted slightly wide at the start of the second lap, Mudgway passed him to take second. The 5-1 for the Hitmen now gave them a two-point lead 10-8.
Following a shared heat, James and Mudgway again raced to maximum points in Heat 5 as they got the better of the Devils Number One Mark Simmonds in the early stages of the race before the Plymouth rider crashed while trying to catch the home pair. The race result was awarded as a 5-1 to Buxton with Simmonds disqualified from the race for causing it to be stopped and the Hitmen stretched their lead to six points.
The Hitmen’s lead was still the same when the young New Zealander came out for his third outing. Again he faced Simmonds, a rider who started his speedway career when Mudgway was just a one-year-old, but that experience told as he used it to hit the front in Heat 9. He blocked James’s run to the first turn and then ran Mudgway out wide as they hit the corner. Mudgway eventually passed his team-mate but Simmonds was too far in front to be caught.
By the time he came out for his final programmed ride, Buxton held an eight point advantage and in Heat 12 Mudgway faced Hughes who had taken a hat-trick of race wins after being beaten in Heat 3. The Buxton rider led his opponent before Hughes passed him at the start of the second lap. Mudgway came back again and put the pressure on the Plymouth rider. This paid off as Hughes ran too wide on the second turn of lap three with Mudgway taking advantage to go on to win.
His excellent debut meeting for the Hitmen didn’t end there as he was nominated by the Buxton team manager for a place in the final race. It was a fitting end to an entertaining afternoon as James, Simmonds and Mudgway went side-by-side around the first turn with Mudgway keeping the throttle wound on to go around the other two and into the lead along the back straight. Simmonds could only follow for the rest of the race but James slowed on the final lap and Hughes passed him to share the points in the race. This didn’t matter to the outcome of the meeting as the Hitmen won 50-40 and secured a maximum three league points. Mudgway only took one meeting to endear himself to the home support and their smiles were almost as wide as Mudgway’s. It promises to be an exciting year at British speedway’s most picturesque race track if this performance is anything to go by.
