Have-a-go offer to would-be speedway riders
Last updated 19:43, Thursday, 28 February 2008
YOUNGSTERS wanting to try-out speedway but don’t have a bike will be catered for at a special training school in Workington.
The Northside Training Track is putting on a session over six hours next month when speedway bikes can be hired on the day.
It’s all part of an initiative to attract youngsters to the sport and give them an opportunity to have a try riding round a proper track.
Northside official Judith Lomas says: “Keith Denham, the new owner of Workington Comets, is really keen on getting young people into the sport and we’re linking-up with him at Northside to try and make that possible.”
Running the session on March 29 - 9-30am-4pm - is Drew Wheeldon, a former Stoke and Buxton rider who started as a kid himself with Belle Vue Aces.
He said: “When I finished in the sport I went out of it for as while until I got the buzz back again talking to people still involved.
“I developed my own oil and formed a company Eazy Oils which now has 128 riders on its books.
“The company has backed the launch of the training routines which start at Buxton on March 22 and then follow at Northside.”
He has 14 bikes - as small as 50cc through the range from 80cc and 125cc to 250cc and 500cc - and has all the riding equipment (helmet, race-suit, gloves, goggles and body protection) which is hired out on the day for £40 to U16s.
Wheeldon said: “This is the first of this kind of training in the country. I saw there was something on similar lines in Denmark but nothing in the UK and I believed there was an opportunity to get more young people into the sport.
“I’d also like to think youngsters in moto-X will try speedway because we have the equipment they would need.
“We are also going to be hosting corporate days where riders’ sponsors can be invited to have a go at speedway themselves, with food and refreshments built into the package.
“Because I have over 100 riders using my oil in their own professional careers I am able to call on them to help out on the day as a tutor.
“It might be James Wright or Ricky Ashworth, but depending on riders’ availability there will be one of them at Northside to pass on tips.”
Riders with their own equipment are welcome as well to the training schools which will be held around the country.
The Northside Training Track and the Northside Stars, who took part in Academy racing last season, have held their presentation night.
Dale Lamb, a 13-year-old from Glasgow, was voted the riders’ rider of the year at the track while 14-year-old Jack Hirst from Manchester picked-up most rider of the day nominations at training sessions on the Northside track.
Workington-based Paul White was the outstanding rider of the year for the Northside Stars.
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