The future of British Speedway is on show on Saturday at the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium when forty-one riders take part in the British Youth Championships.
The competition is open to any British rider under the age of sixteen and the series will be staged at six different venues throughout the season and gets underway at Leicester.
There are three classes catered for, with a British Championship at 500cc and 250cc levels, and a 125cc support class. With over forty riders registered the 2013 series is going to be the biggest to date since its inception.
The competition is seen to be a stepping stone into league racing and last season’s winner of the 500cc event Josh Bates, is now riding for the Premier League Champions, the Scunthorpe Scorpions. This season there are a number of riders in the senior class who have previously ridden at Leicester and now compete in the thriving Midland Development League namely Belle Vue’s representative Michael Neale; Connor Mountain and Josh Bailey from King’s Lynn and Nathan Greaves who rides for the Milton Keynes Knights.
GB Youth co-boss Neil Vatcher said “I would urge fans to come along and cheer on the future talent for GB, and I’m sure many people will be surprised at that talent as we have riders as young as eight years of age coming through the ranks. There will be a total of 42 races, and we try to get the meeting finished in under three hours so the track action is always fast and furious. We would like to thank the following for their invaluable assistance in getting the British Youth Championships to the level we currently enjoy: our four series sponsors Friends of Speedway, Wessex Marina, NSSC and Duck Smart, and also the BSPA and SCB for funding of the events.”
For Leicester fans the interest will without doubt centre on the junior competition where their three mascots will be competing against one another for the first time. Luke Whitehead who is now into his third year as the Lions mascot and rode in the competition last season is joined by Leicester’s youngest club representatives, Dan and Joe Thompson. The twins aged eight years are making their first appearance in an official competition.
The first race gets underway at 5.30pm and admission prices have been reduced to £5.00 for adults, £2.50 for children aged between ten and sixteen and children under 10 are free.
