Workington Comets will now have five former riders, as well as current captain Craig Cook in the line-up for tomorrow night’s British Final at Belle Vue.
Steve Worrall, who finished second last year as well as back in 2017, has been ruled out of the meeting due to his recent illness so ex-Comet Simon Lambert, first on the stand-by list, takes his place.
Other former Workington riders in the line-up are, reigning champion Dan Bewley, another former winner in Charles Wright, joined by Richard Lawson and Kyle Howarth. Cook is also a former winner.
Former runner-up Tom Brennan is looking to upset the Grand Prix trio in Final as the competition for the national title has been ramped up this season by the inclusion of previous winners Tai Woffinden and Robert Lambert to join current holder Bewley.
But Brennan, who finished second to Bewley in 2022, is enjoying an outstanding season for Birmingham and Poole, and he has his sights set on success himself – with the highest-placed non-GP rider set to receive a Wild Card for the British Grand Prix.
He said: “I think having those three names in there really ups the ante. It ups the level but it would be cool to kind of get one over them too.
“It will be close racing, should be hard racing and hopefully the best man will win it in the end.
“For me, I guess it adds a little bit of incentive because after the meeting you can look back and say you’ve got the better of some big names – but ultimately, we have to just go out there and ride as hard as we can against everyone.”
Meanwhile with Workington Comets on a quiet fortnight, reserve Sam McGurk gets some welcome action tonight at Middlesbrough.
He and Dayle Wood are named as guests for Belle Vue Colts riding against the Tigers in the WSRA National Development League.
The Tigers are based at Redcar’s ECCO Arena and the promotion have cut admission prices to just £10 with under-16s and season ticket holders going free.
The hosts are at full strength as they look to get off the mark in 2024 with their first home fixture, whilst the Colts are forced into changes as Sam Hagon is on SGP2 duty, Freddy Hodder is racing in the Championship for Berwick and Luke Muff is injured.
Colts boss Steve Williams said: “It’s not ideal for us to be without three of our usual 1-7 but we’ve shown before now that, even when not at full strength, we can push other teams very hard.
“It’s a brilliant opportunity for Sam Hagon to contest the SGP2 Qualifier, especially after his recent British Under-21’s triumph and we wish him the very best of luck.
“A lot of our guys have never seen Redcar before, at least not having raced it, so this will be a new experience for them but one which we’re all looking forward to.”
