THE Workington Comets management have announced that their fourth team member for the 2019 season is Steve Worrall, who joins the Comets on loan from parent club Belle Vue.
In doing so he becomes the first totally new face to be announced for the club for next season, having previously only ridden for the Comets as a guest rider down the years. The 27 year-old St. Helens-born rider spent last season with the Comets KO Cup final opponents Scunthorpe, having previously ridden for both Edinburgh and Newcastle in recent seasons.
Having finished runner-up to Craig Cook in the 2017 British Final, and then starred for Team GB in the Speedway World Cup that season, his 2018 campaign was then interrupted by a broken leg that he sustained in the opening weeks of the season. As a result it was not until mid-July when he had recovered sufficiently to make a full-time track return for both Scunthorpe and Belle Vue.
He comes into the side on a 7.97 average, but with his recovery from injury now complete he is very capable of raising that starting figure with the Comets for 2019 and club owner Laura Morgan is delighted to be able to welcome Steve to Derwent Park as a member of the Comets side for 2019, as she explained:
“Steve is an excellent rider and one that has shown a good liking for Derwent Park down the years as we know.
“Because of his unfortunate leg injury last season I feel that he comes to us on something of a false average and, with the additional recovery time and the close-season to get back to full fitness, I have high hopes for him raising his average next season.
“Steve has always been a popular rider and he has helped us out on several occasions in the past so I very much looking forward to having him in the side on a full-time basis for next season.
“He will fit in well with the rest of the riders we have signed and he is another well respected team man. We saw last season the benefits of having a good team spirit and if we can recreate that once again with riders that are capable of increasing their averages then who knows what we can achieve in 2019.”
Steve Worrall (7.97) joins the already announced Mason Campton (6.32), Bradley Wilson-Dean (6.00) and Kyle Bickley (2.00) in the Comets line-up so far; which leaves 15.71 points available for the remaining three riders in order to comply with the 38-point limit that applies to 2019 team-building.