The great Swede Fredrik Lindgren will be adding his considerable presence to the line-up for the Ben Fund Bonanza at Workington on Saturday March 16 (2pm).
It will be his second successive appearance in the event and his fourth in all.
Last year at King’s Lynn he scored 12 points in highly entertaining fashion but just missed out on making the final.
He recalled “I am happy to be doing the meeting again. I remember last year some good racing and I wasn’t gating too well so I had to do a bit of overtaking.
“Is Workington a new track? So it will be the first time I’ve raced there obviously. I believe I did race there at their old track but that was a very long time ago!”
Runner-up to Bartosz Zmarzlik in the 2023 Speedway Grand Prix series Lindgren actually rode at Derwent Park in Workington in 2004. He was taking part in the Cumberland Classic and scored nine points from five rides when with Wolverhampton.
Not surprisingly there is always a consistency in the views of the riders regarding the Ben Fund. Freddie’s experience is no different. “The Ben Fund is a very good cause of course, it has helped a lot of riders and I hope it will be around to continue to help for a long time.
“The Ben Fund helped me in 2017 when I broke my neck and I was in a pretty bad state then. They were very generous with me.”
Lindgren was a very worthy runner-up in last year’s World title chase, his best finishing position yet after two previous third places. So that may be his main focus over the coming summer though he has important work to do in Poland.
“This year I will be riding for Lublin in Poland. We are the Champions of Poland and will be doing everything to retain the title. I don’t have a club in Sweden yet.”
Of course he shares everyone’s feelings on the demise of his longest-served club. “Of course I am very sorry about what has happened at Wolverhampton. Terrible news for everyone there. I hope they can get something new started there, it’s the only club I have raced for in Britain and so it is close to my heart.”
