West Cumbrian star Craig Cook has been officially ruled out of tonight’s British Final at Belle Vue because of injury.
Cook is a former winner of the title, but he suffered hip, hand and thumb injuries in a first heat crash riding for Glasgow at Edinburgh on Friday.
All three riders hurt in the pile-up withdrew from the meeting which saw Edinburgh overcome local rivals Glasgow 50-40 at Armadale.
His place is being taken by Connor Mountain, whilst Danyon Hume was promoted into the line-up last week.
The meeting also carries the prestigious Wild Card for the British Grand Prix at Cardiff, which will be awarded to either the British Champion, or the runner-up in the event that GP regular Dan Bewley takes the title.
Bewley is one of four ex-Workington riders now left in the British Final following’s Cook’s enforced withdrawal.
The others are Richard Lawson, Kyle Howarth and another former winner Charles Wright.
Lawson, whose brother Simon won bronze at the Commonwealth Games over the weekend, actually guested for Cook at Glasgow on Sunday and top-scored with 13 points as the Tigers became the first club to book their place in the Championship Jubilee League Final.
The Tigers defeated Edinburgh 53-37 at Ashfield to complete the job of ensuring the Monarchs took no points from the meeting.
Tonight’s line-up for the British Final now reads: 1 Connor Mountain, 2 Leon Flint, 3 Chris Harris, 4 Steve Worrall, 5 Kyle Howarth, 6 Dan Bewley, 7 Paul Starke, 8 Danyon Hume, 9 Charles Wright, 10 Lewis Kerr, 11 Richard Lawson, 12 Richie Worrall, 13 Danny King, 14 Scott Nicholls, 15 Adam Ellis, 16 Tom Brennan. Track reserves: 17 Jack Smith, 18 Harry McGurk.
Meanwhile Nicolai Klindt, a member of Workington’s successful treble side in their final season of 2018, has signed for King’s Lynn.
Klindt comes in for the Norfolk side after his season in Poland was completed, and will make his first appearance in their home clash with local rivals Ipswich on Thursday.
Stars manager Alex Brady said: “Nicolai has been on our radar for a long time. He’s been keen to ride for us, and we’ve stayed in constant communication.
“It’s just been a case of waiting for the Polish Division One fixtures to finish to get him over here, and I’m looking forward to having him as part of the team.
“The guys here are keen to have him as well. He gets on well with them all, so I think he’s going to make a big difference to the back half of our season.
“He’ll add points on the track of course, but he’s also a bit of a leader in terms of what he does and how he approaches things, and that can certainly help our second-strings and reserves.”
