LEE Kilby is delighted his dad Bob is still bringing people together six years after his passing.

Tonight’s Bob Kilby Memorial is set to be the final warm-up before the Elite League season begins next week and has drawn a stellar field.

The meeting, rearranged from last November, will be an old-fashioned individual competition, with 16 riders competing over 20 heats, with the top points scorer taking the title. Malcolm Holloway, another legendary Robin, will also be remembered with a junior competition run in his name on the night.

For Lee, it is a chance for him and his family to celebrate Bob’s life with the Robins fans and to get some friendly faces down to Blunsdon.

“The meeting is one of those occasions that brings people together,” said Lee. “My dad had this incredible ability to entertain people while he was racing but he also had the ability to get people together and make people enjoy themselves, and that’s essentially what the event is.

“It gives my family a chance to revel in what my dad was. The younger ones didn’t know who he was, they more know of him. It’s a really nice occasion to remember what he achieved.

“We’ve got loads of the old the Robins coming - Mike Broadbank, Geoff Bouchard, Martin Ashby, Mike Keen. I’m very lucky that I have this. Not many people get to celebrate their parents in this way once they’re gone.”

Grand Prix riders past and present, Freddie Lindgren, Chris Harris, Scott Nicholls, Hans Anderson, Bjarne Pederson and Swindon skipper Troy Batchelor all ride.

“The line-up is the key to it really,” added Lee. “There are so many individual meetings at the start of the season. I imagine a lot of the top guys get asked to do a lot of them because they’re the crowd-pullers.

“Rosco (Alun Rossiter) had such affection for my dad that he goes about doing it like I probably would, in that it means a lot to him. Fair to play to all the guys. They’re all brilliant at giving up their time, turning up and racing.”