Scunthorpe have won the race to sign talented 16-year-old Luke Harrison who showed such promise riding for Workington Comets last season.
Harrison will be heading into his first official Cab Direct Championship season.
The multiple British Youth Champion rode for Workington in the National Development League this year and also gained experience at senior level with an extensive series of guest appearances for Redcar.
Scorpions promoter Rob Godfrey said: “We are Luke’s local club – he lives just up the road from us in Barnetby. But he had a choice of clubs to sign for, so I’m delighted that he’s decided to ride for us.
“He’s such a talented young rider and it’s going to be exciting to watch him progress as a Scunthorpe rider.
“I think it was always supposed to be. I went to Luke’s school around six years ago, to present him with an award.
“At that point, we shook hands and I said we’d have him as a Scunthorpe Scorpion once he was old enough. And that’s exactly what has happened!
“He scored some good points for Redcar when they used him as a guest in 2023 and he learned a lot from that. I watched him a fair bit and I’m genuinely excited what he can do coming into the league as it will be in 2024.”
Meanwhile the Comets continue talks with a number of riders as they put together their side to contest the Championship in 2024.
They have already signed Sam McGurk, who was a teammate of Harrison’s last season.
Meanwhile ex-Comet Richard Lawson has quickly confirmed his other UK commitment for 2024 having re-signed for Poole in the Championship.
Leicester have announced the return of Lawson for a second season in the Sports Insure Premiership.
The experienced British racer joined the Lions for their step up to the top-flight last winter, where they held a place in the top four for much of the campaign before missing out on a play-off place in the closing stages.
And having become their fifth confirmed signing for next year, Lawson admits the club will be determined to go further in 2024.
He said: “I enjoyed my first season at Leicester and I definitely feel we have some unfinished business there.
“We started off decent but then midway through we really got going with that winning streak. Everything was going really well and we were impressing a lot of people.
“Then we kind of let it slip. There were circumstances we all know about, but I felt like we came up short, and I was really determined to stick with the team and put that right for next year.”
