Former Workington rider Fraser Bowes will miss the remainder of the 2026 season after medical investigations revealed a bulging disc in his back.
Bowes, who joined the Pirates from the Comets over the winter, has been struggling with the injury since a crash at Wimborne Road on May 20, and an MRI scan has now estimated the recovery period at between three and six months.
Pirates promoter Dan Ford said: “We’re all absolutely devastated for Fraser. Nobody has seen the amount of effort he has been putting in behind the scenes to get himself back on a bike, but he has continually been hampered by pain and setbacks and now we know why.
“Everyone at Poole wishes Fraser the very best with his recovery and we hope to see him back in British Speedway next season.
“We’ll be working hard behind the scenes to identify the right replacement. We don’t want to rush into anything, but equally we know we need to strengthen the team if we’re to achieve what we want to this season. Hopefully we’ll have some news for supporters in the coming weeks.”
Meanwhile although the Comets don’t have a fixture this weekend three of their riders are in guest action tonight.
Two of them, in fact, will be in direct opposition as both reserves Vinnie Foord and Max Perry fill number two berths for Glasgow and Oxford respectively as they meet at Ashfield.
Glasgow bring in Foord to guest for Mario Hausl who is racing in the German national championship, whilst Perry stands in for Mitch McDiarmid (Polish commitment) for the visitors.
Comets’ young Australian star Tate Zischke will be ridi at number four for the injured Ben Barker.
There was also plenty of Workington interest last night in the Premiership meeting in which Leicester beat Northampton 49-41.
Comets new signing Drew Kemp was at reserve for the Lions and picked-up five and a bonus point.
Workington’s number one Jonas Jeppesen won the reserves race for the Foxes and finished with seven points while Workington skipper Troy Batchelor collected nine points and a bonus from a win and three seconds.
The Comets are not in action until a fortnight’s time (July 17) when they visit Redcar in the Championship and the following day entertain champions Poole.
