www.thisisexeter.co.uk/sport/Falcons-hopes-left-shattered/article-480980-detail/article.htmlEXETER Falcons will not be racing again in 2009, according to promoter Allen Trump.
The disappointing decision comes after a prolonged struggle to bring Premier League speedway back to Exeter by March next year.
After gaining planning permission in September to develop the site at Exeter Racecourse into a new speedway track, Trump had hoped the Falcons would be flying again within months.
But protracted negotiations with racecourse owners the Jockey Club over the terms of the lease have put a freeze on the project.
The British Speedway Promoters Association annual meeting took place in Spain this weekend but with no evidence of the Falcons having a workable infrastructure, Trump had to concede his 2009 dream was no longer a reality.
And despite a Premier League memo stating that 'the door has been left open until January 1 for a new club from the south of England to join subject to planning approval', Trump insisted it did not refer to Exeter.
"The south-based team is not Exeter," said Trump.
"Exeter will not race in 2009. We are past the AGM now and we've run out of time.
"It is unfortunate after everything that has gone on but there is little we can do now."
The BSPA said the team in question had not been officially named but was unlikely to be Exeter.
A spokesman for the BSPA said: "There are a number of teams in the south who are hoping to have a team ready for 2009.
"With the situation the way it currently is at Exeter, they are unlikely to be considered for racing in 2009."
Trump — who was also at the meeting representing Coventry Bees — is hoping he can now take talks with the Jockey Club forward with a new plan of hosting the shale sport at Haldon Hill in 2010.
With the crunch discussions looming, the speedway impresario refuses to rule out the possibility of the project breaking down altogether.
But Trump, while not revealing the reasons for the stall in negotiations, says the pressure is less now the 2009 deadline has passed.
"There's some pretty fundamental obstacles to overcome," he said.
"We are submitting a proposal at some point soon which if agreed means we can move forward but if it's not agreed means we can't move forward.
""We're still talking though and of course we're not against the clock any more as we have missed the deadline (for 2009).
"So hopefully if we can get some further impetus in the talks we will be able to come to a conclusion beneficial to both parties."
