WEYMOUTH Wildcats showed off their new race jacket and looked ahead to the future as enjoyed a night of entertainment at the Wyke Smugglers on Saturday.

James Jessop, one of the riders for the next season, was at the evening and they also took time to give out awards and reflect upon the season and look ahead to the next which begins in March.

Co-promoter of the Wildcats James Tresadern said: "It was alright it was good. I mean we had more people turn up than we thought.

"It was a good night, very relaxing night for want of a better word."

The evening saw the new race jacket unveiled as the team have tried to evoke a more nostalgic feel and they were available for people try them on.

Tresadern explained: "We have gone back to the 80s with the race jacket so we felt we wanted to go backwards a little bit and bring a bit of nostalgia back with the race jacket we have chosen."

The evening also saw mascot Sam Peters' bike brought along for people to sit on and take photos with during the evening.

Tresadern said: "It is something everyone likes to do because normally you can not get right up close to have a look at the bike let alone sit on it. We are quite happy for people to do that and explain about the bikes."

The sponsors for the race jacket Chesil Radio and team sponsors Damers Blinds turned up and took photos with the jackets.

Mick Sutton was named rider of the season but he could not be there so a clip of him being informed about the result was played out over the speakers instead, while Sam Peters was given an award by Chesil Radio for his outstanding contribution towards speedway and the Weymouth Wildcats.

Also on display were photographs of the last two seasons and programmes dating back to 1954 for people to look at.

Tresadern gave praise to rider James Jessop, who came down from Peterborough to be at the event, saying: "Ever since we met him when he rode for us down in Plymouth the once he has been really enthusiastic about riding for us and he cant do enough for us.

Looking ahead to the next season Tresadern said: "It is going to be a learning curve because obviously a couple of the guys are 15 years old, Jacob and Bailey, they are jumping on a 500 for the first time sort of thing so we are not expecting to blitz the league.

"We are expecting to develop the riders which is what the league is all about so if we end up with the wooden spoon again we end up with a wooden spoon but as long as the guys have improved and have developed and are happy we can’t ask any more."