This week one of British Speedway’s most in form riders Dan Thompson, joins Ian Brannan. Hot off the back of winning the British Semi Final, the Ipswich and Glasgow racer has bagged a paid max for Glasgow, a place in the British Final on Monday, and has a chance this month to claim a place in SGP2. He explains why the rising star system is vital for the future of British Speedway, and why getting dropped by Leicester might have been the best thing that happened to him.
Also on the show we have Sheffield captain Josh Pickering, looking back on a big bank holiday Monday as the Sheffield Tigers rode back to back meetings against Belle Vue.
And Dan Bewley talks about how he prepares for big meetings, as he gets set to defend his British title, and go for a record equalling 4 in a row!
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No purchase necessary. Open to US residents 21 or older. Ends on July 1st, 2025. Multiple entry periods. Visit michlobboulture.com/supia access/courtside for free entry. Entry deadlines and official rules. Message and data rates may apply. Void wear prohibited. No breaks, no fear. The official British Speedway podcast. Welcome along. I’m Ian Brandon. Coming up in this episode, reaction from Bank Holiday Monday. Six of the seven Rome Motoril Premiership sides were in action and we’ll bring you up to date. There wasn’t panic stations. No, but we know we needed to put our finger out and um make best starts, harder first bends and and and step it up a gear or two and um we certainly did. I honestly do think that as a 1 to seven, there’s there isn’t a better team in the league. And I I do honestly think that we can go both home and away and beat anyone on aggregate anywhere. Yeah, like I say, it’s it’s only early for me in the season. I think tonight was my seventh match. You know, I had eight months off the bike and not done a lot. So, I’m still tweaking, fine tuning everything. Everything’s kind of fell into place nicely there today. We’re looking ahead to the British final on Monday as well. One rider who qualified by winning the British semi-final was Dan Thompson. And we chat to the Ipsswitch and Glasgow star in part two. The biggest thing is the Rise of Star program. I think without that over the last year or two uh I’d have probably gone into the retirement dungeon of the sport. So I wouldn’t have had that progress into the top league and uh especially just racing championship alone or just the national league. It’s not enough to financially sustain myself. And we hear from the reigning champion looking to make it four British championships on the bounce. He’ll join the likes of Barry Briggs. And well just Barry Briggs is the only other rider that’s ever done it. Dan Buy on the way before the end of the podcast. I have no real u superstitions or anything like that. You know, I uh you know, and if I ever do get any, I feel like I always try and break them. So, you know, I might go mountain bike and if I’m tired, I might do nothing. All that and much more to come on British Speedway’s official podcast. No breaks, no fear. The official British Speedway podcast. Welcome along. Lots on the way. And we’ll start with reaction from the fixtures on bank holiday Monday. It was a packed program of course in the Row Motor Oil Premiership and the Ipsswitch Witchers remain top of the pile with a 100% record despite an early scare from local rivals Kingslin. The stars stunned a Big Bang Holiday crowd at Fauxhall by racing to a 2418 lead after seven races to leave the Witches facing a deficit on their home track for the first time this season. However, they turned the screw in the closing stages with a run of advantages including three 51s in the last four heats to run out eventual winners 5337. Top two of Jason Doyle who got 12 plus two and ML Sutin off with 12 plus one were involved in maximums in heat 13 and 15 whilst Kingslin captain Nikolai Clint reached double figures at reserve. Well, we’ll get some reaction now and team boss Richie Hawkins tells Mike Boswell it was never quite panic stations. There wasn’t panic stations. know, but we know we needed to pull our finger out and um make best starts, harder first bends and and and step it up a gear or two. And um we certainly did. And when you look down, obviously Nikolai Clint was a bit of a problem for for the Witchers and it looks like their team’s going to be made up that way throughout the course of of the season. You’ve got the knockout Cup coming up. Um your thoughts on on when you go there, is that going to be an issue for you or do you see that actually it’s strength in depth that the wishes have got? Uh yeah, Nikolai is a very experienced rider reserve. He goes very well around here on a on a slick track. So we knew he was going to be great, but our we’ve got the best reserves in the league and um so yeah, certainly not not not worried about anything. I mean um I think Dan Thompson’s pulled out two wins at the end and then that was as as important as anything for us. And looking at Dan, you know, Dan and Jordan only pulled pulled Jordan out, you know, is is um is Jordan struggling after after last Wednesday’s crash, or is it just a decision that you thought Dan might be able to go better in in the final heat? Uh Jordan, yeah, I mean Jordan’s riding through the pain barrier, but um Dan made a great start off gate four. Was the only person that could make it off of gate four today. He he made a brilliant start in his race before of gate four, so he went in again off gate four and made another superb start. So, um, Dan’s the one man who can get that working off any start any start gate and, um, you know, it’s great when you can rely on a a young rider and and still rely on him to pull out the Yeah, the big moments and looking down really, you’re right when you look at kind of looking at your finals, final kind of heats, you had Adam Ellis, Tom, Dan Thompson involved, Emil obviously Jason and to it must be nice not to have to necessarily rely on the power and of Jason and Emil when you’ve got that kind those kind of options. Yeah, I mean we haven’t had to rely on on Jason and Emma this season and they’ve um been able to sort of get themselves back into the season a little bit from from their injuries last year, but you know, this tonight uh today, sorry, when we when we needed them, they both stepped up and was absolutely superb and um yeah, that that we needed them today and they they when we needed them, they were there. Um, Adam Ellis’s ride in heat 12 was um, superb and probably that for me was the match winning ride. He did so well to get down past him. Um, and then first two laps to to get get settled into a 5-1. That that ride by Adam in heat 12 was super. I mean, I’m sure he were disappointed with his score, but that contribution in E12 was the match winning ride for me. We’ll hear more from the Ipsswich side of the pits in a little while because Dan Thompson’s the main guest on this podcast. So, he can tell us his view of this particular fixture in in just a short while. Uh right now, let’s get the view from the Kingslin camp and Richard Lawson also chatting with Mike Boswell. We started off good. I feel like we we’ve kind of thrown it away. uh coming here obviously hipster which had been riding really well and we knew it was going to be tough but you know to get um I think we were six up at one point and yeah threw that away so it’s it’s a little bit frustrating it’s a much improved from what we were on the road for sure but um yeah it just feel like um we fell apart a bit there at the end. Yeah and really up to heat number nine you were really putting the fright up the witches is only towards the end. Do you think it’s the sheer kind of heat leading status they’ve got or was it just that you guys fell apart at that point? Yeah. Um yeah, I can’t really put my finger on it just now, but obviously them big heats are tough with with Doyle, but uh yeah, just I know we we tried and everyone did. It’s uh just a bit frustrating that we didn’t get it over the line. So there’s the thoughts of Richard Lawson. The Kingsland Stars then the best performing team at Foxhole so far this season. Let’s hear from team manager Rob Lion. Many people said that you’d built the uh the Peterbo side and there could be one or two shocks. It looked that way coming into heat number nine for the Kings and Stars. Um you know, didn’t quite come through, but a good performance up until that particular point. Yeah, a little disappointing to be six up and then lose by 16. I think the score flat as switch a little bit to be quite honest, but um you know, fair play that they they’ve won they’ve got it over the line. But uh I was I was a bit I think our boys are a little bit shell shocked in that after nine like you say we were in well in it and we just dropped off the edge of a cliff a little bit really um which is which is a bit of a puzzle um but you know that’s speedway uh first time I’ve seen a blue groover around IPS to be honest but it was difficult with an afternoon meeting and sun and wind and everything else but yeah it was like I say he it was okay but we we we we were disappointed that we fell fell away so badly. really. And when you do look down kind of the score chart, you know, Nikolai, you you put him in for for the seven rides, you’ve always got that strong reserve at at the bottom, you know, um and then looking down the rest of the team, they were certainly trying. It’s just as you say, just at that end they fell away. Was it perhaps too many for Nikolai or is it just just what’s your thoughts on that? Yeah, it’s a possibility. I mean, you always sometimes you look at a meeting towards the end and RR can can sometimes work that way where it’s just one ride too many and uh it can be you can you can just run short of riders or options if you like. Um but you know we we used all our our sort of options to the best possible way we could. Um and like I say it was working a treat but fair play to us which they uh dug in and and did the job. And there’s not many teams so far who have got the score line that you’ve got when you consider there’s been 60 a lot more on the score line. You know, obviously um regroup for Kings Kingsling. Uh Ben Ben Cook, you know, when what’s the latest on Ben? What’s your thoughts on the team going forward for the Kings and Stars? Can’t give you any any update on Ben only that he’s he’s obviously three weeks in and could be another three four weeks yet. Um so it’s it’s a case of just monitoring that as he’s each week goes by, I’m guessing really. Um he’s doing everything he can to speed the process up as they do. Um but we’ll just use horses for courses, use sort of guests and RR where we possibly where we have to and and uh and take it from there. The Ipsswitch Witches then remain top of the table with a 100% record so far and it’s down to everybody else to chase after them at this moment in time. The Witchers and the Stars though only riding the one meeting in the day. There were two other fixtures which were home and away double headers starting at the National Speedway Stadium with the Belleview Aces racing to a thrilling 4644 home win over Sheffield at lunchtime. But the Tigers turned the tables with a big victory in the return fixture. It was the Olton outfit who took the majority of Rome Motor Premiership points from the day as they won 5733 on home shale to also secure the aggregate point. They were well placaced in Manchester for much of the afternoon with the Aces recovering an eight-point deficit to finally level the scores in heat 14 before Dan Buy and Brady Kurtz pulled off a match winning 4-2 split by Jack Holder in heat 15. Curts and Buy recovered from slow starts in their opening rise to score 12 and 10 plus one respectively whilst Holder scored 11 plus one for the Tigers. Rising star Leon Flynn chipped in with a not insignificant 9 plus one. Then in the evening in South Yorkshire, it was the Tigers who dominated throughout six 51s in the first 10 races to open up a 22point advantage. We can hear now from the Sheffield Tigers team captain Josh Pickering reflecting on that meeting with Belleview with Ryan Guest. Well, Pico 101 179 aggregate victory and three league points over rivals and defending Row Motor Premiership Champions Belleview on Bank Holiday Monday. That’s more than a successful day in the end, isn’t it? Yeah. Well, we knew going to Belleview this morning was definitely going to be a bit of a tough ask. Um, they are a great side and they are bit like us quite very good at home. Have two Grand Prix riders in the team as well. Don’t make things easy, but um I feel like all of us we done wouldn’t say more than more than okay, but there was there was parts where we all could have done better. Um, I know they’re going to be looking at himself thinking the same thing, but you know, I know SG dropped a couple of points there and and Anders would be a bit disappointed with a couple of little decisions that he made also and and even myself, you know, so I feel like the the little faults which end up costing us in the end, but it also put with the way we started put them in tax sub territory which then, you know, played dividends to them in the end. They had the better gates in heat 13 and and obviously had a choice of heat 15 as well. So um all over though to be honest to to show the aggregate score of of how heavily we actually did you know beat him that that was the main important task of the day and as you say another stunningly strong display on home shale as well a third straight 5733 win at all. Just how much are the boys enjoying these home fixtures early doors? It is always very important to to have an all riders that are very good at home I suppose. um that is really where you you do need to put the foundation away to go away and sort of know what you got to get. But as as well as that, you need all seven riders enjoying themselves being at Alton as much as what I do. So, um I feel like all the boys are settling in just nicely. Anders and Leon are both just they’re just stepping up when they need to and that’s great. I know Sedi and Louis, they’ve um they had much better meetings tonight at Sheffield. So, um, we can just continue to focus on the on the positive, I suppose, and and the the things that weren’t really going to plan if we can work on that to continue to be better and better. I am uh I may be biased in saying this, but I I see things for how it is, and I honestly do think that as a 1 to seven, there’s there isn’t a better team in the league, and I I do honestly think that we can go both home and away and beat anyone on aggregate anywhere. people will see yours and Jack’s Heat 15 efforts up against Brady Curts as well. Um because of how much you your gating improved, we’d almost forgot just how thrilling it was to see you battle your way from behind. So just talk us through that one from your point of view. Yeah, well me, Jack, and Brady, uh we’ve we’ve been racing each other since we were 8 years old, you know, so um I feel like we’ve all got that mutual race respect. Uh sometimes you probably line a pass up, but you don’t really know what the other rider is going to do. And I feel with with us riding the way we’ve sort of have done for for so many years, we we sort of know where we can point the bike without one endangering the other person, but two also knowing that it’s it’s good hard racing and if I left the door open, you know, vice versa would happen. So, um Brady’s at the top of his game at the minute. He’s he’s riding awesome everywhere. He’s obviously had a great Grand Prix on the weekend, but um yeah, all that sort of goes out the window. The best thing for me is knowing knowing him for so so long, I suppose. I’ve never ever looked at him as a threat, just someone to learn off and someone to try and beat each, you know, day in day out. But um yeah, the big the big Heats is what you what we want to win. We never want to leave there. And the fans obviously as well like ended on a 5-1 against the the top riders of the night. you you don’t want it to be the reverse reverse way around and uh end the meeting on a bit of a sour taste in your mouth, I suppose. So, um I wasn’t going to do anything silly as as Jack either. Like, we we still got the whole season to race ahead, but at the same time, we’re definitely going to leave any points on the table if we can if we can do well. And a week or so break now until you go head-to-head with the unbeaten league leaders Ipsswitch at Olton. That’s next Thursday, May the 15th. And that kickstarts a really busy period for the Tigers, doesn’t it? Racing on four consecutive Row Motor Oil Premiership race nights. To be honest with you, mate, I’m really looking forward to going up against Ipsswitch. I think that’s going to be our best test. Um, around Sheffield, like you line all the riders up one to one, 2:2, 3 to three, 4 to four, so on. And I really do think that our seven’s is better than their seven. Um, may not be much better, but I I do think we can come away with the points. Uh going back to to Ipsswitch, only time will tell. Um it’s a place that I enjoy riding now, so I’m looking forward to go there anyway. But um yeah, to be the best, you got to beat the best. And at the moment, as you said, they are they are in tip-top form, but I really do feel as if we’re still winning races and and all of us boys aren’t all doing exactly what we’re capable of. So, um it is very hard to get all riders to do that on the night, but I uh I really do feel it’s it is coming and when it does come, the the results will show. Well, time will tell. And will Sheffield be the team to stop the Ipsswitch witches? We’ll find out in good time. The other meeting taking place on Bank Holiday Monday was the double header between Oxford and Birmingham. And Oxford are off the mark in the Roto All Premiership with a maximum hall of points against Birmingham inspired by new signing Craig Cook. The Spires won 4941 at Cowi on Bank Holiday Monday lunchtime, then added 4743 victory at Perry Bar, where Cook reeled off five straight wins and a 15-point maximum at reserve. The home win was underpinned by a fast start to go eight points up in the early stages. Their opening combination of Matenowski and Eric Riss both scored 11 plus two from five rides. Michael Yepson Yensen totaled 13 for the Brumies and they look set to gain their long-awaited first win of the season when they led the return fixture by six points after five races. But the Spires hit back strongly 51s in heats 9 and 11 and Cook then took crucial wins in heats 12 and 14 to see them win on the night despite the Brumy’s top two of Tobias Musilac bagging 11 plus one and Yepson Yensen with 10 plus two both hitting double digits. Time for some reaction right now. Let’s hear from the man who kicked off his career with the Oxford Spires with that first maximum 15 points on the board for Craig Cook. Five rides, five points, it couldn’t have got any better. Yeah, I was more surprised than myself, aren’t I? Uh, you know, if I come over here with like what I got at Oxford this morning, I’d have been happy. But yeah, like I say, it’s only early for me in the season. I think tonight was my seventh match. You know, I had eight months off the bike and not done a lot. So, I’m still tweaking, fine tuning, everything. Everything kind of fell into place nicely there today. Um, first ride was really good. Bike was working nice. Second race, although I won it, um, just it felt a bit flat, so put the put a two put a two pack on and um, yeah, just made minor adjustments all night and engine was working sweet and pulled nicely on the track and yeah, couldn’t ask for any better. The big thing was was getting you off the off the start line because some of those starts, especially heat 14 off the outside, you absolutely flew away. Yeah, that was ridiculous, wasn’t it? I wouldn’t have I wouldn’t even have put money on myself to do that. So, um like I said, always surprising myself, but yeah, I can’t Yeah, I’m really really happy and I’m just happy for Oxford. All the management, you know, I know how much they care and how much effort they put in uh behind the scenes. I know how stressed Pete and Jamie and all been. Um they got a lot of grief for obviously dropping um young Gus. It’s not it’s not nice, you know, being dropped, but um hopefully, you know, that the two wins under the belt now is um going to kickstart our season, put a smile back on the fans faces and uh we’ve moved forward from here. And personally, you talked about needing to get back in the in the Premiership obviously for for your business as well as your your riding. So that’s a great start and hopefully kick on from that. Yeah, I got some money in the bank now. Ah, yeah. It’s just it’s just good, you know, just to to have these six meetings in 5 days. It’s been hard, but um looking forward to tomorrow, get some rest. Um still got got some ideas, a little bit more testing to do. Um maybe try and have a ride Wednesday, get out and do some testing and uh keep moving forward. But I’m in a good place right now. I’m happy with the way things are going and like I said, I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. Well done, Craig. Good to see you smiling. Thank you. Yeah, Dave Row chatting with Craig Cook there. I do apologize for the beeping in the background, by the way. Uh, it’s not your smoke alarm at home, so don’t go setting that or any alarm in your car. Uh, it is in fact the twominut time allowance at Birmingham which beeps for the entire 2 minutes in the pits and it’s pretty hard to avoid unfortunately, but that’s what it is. Just to explain where it is. Uh, that is the beeping noise. Uh, do not adjust your sets. Let’s hear now from the boss of the Birmingham Brumies promoter Nigel Tully on a frustrating night again for the Brumies. Things weren’t going our way. Um Jonas’s bike uh wasn’t on top form tonight and then he eventually retired in his last race. He wasn’t his normal self. It was all going our way to start off with. Uh I think the exclusion in heat two I think that was wrong as we’ve had a look at our video and it doesn’t show any contact. Um and that’s the sort of way the evening went on. I was after this morning, after being down there this morning, um I was expecting to be a bit closeer than it was down there. And to be quite honest, I was expecting us to come up here with the track being deeper because it was that slick down at Oxford. It was unbelievable. And our our riders couldn’t get on with that. But up here with it with the depth greater, um I was expecting us to make a 10 points. I was expecting us to get one better than the what we’ve gone down down down there. I was expecting us to get the two points up here and the bonus point, but I don’t know what’s happened halfway through, you know, blame it on the track, but that’s and certainly heat 15, they went out there and could ride the track perfectly well there. Um things could have been better on the track, but we’ve had the weather conditions have been bad again this week. We’ve know we got temperatures up to what 24 25° baking the track, no rain, and we just still can’t get the water into the track. We still haven’t got the depth in the track. I mean, there’s hundreds of tons of of shale out there, but we just can’t break into that below an inch and a half below the surface. And if we could do that, I think that would make a difference. I think would make a big difference because our guys like riding the outside of the track and they haven’t been in the first half they could successfully do it, but then in the second half they couldn’t do that. There was they just haven’t got the depth of shale on the track. So the wos continue for the Birmingham Brumies and they sit bottom of the Rome Motoril Premiership. Six matches, six losses and zero points on the board. Lovely. Conversely though, at the other end of the table, the Ipsswitch Witches who have got six meetings, six wins, and 14 points cuz I’ve taken two aggregate bonus as well. They lead the way ahead of Sheffield, who are in second place, five meetings ridden and on nine points. Belleview a third, also on nine points, but they’ve ridden six meetings. Leicester uh in fourth place, having ridden five meetings and on six points. Fifth are Oxford, eight meetings ridden and five points on the board. And Kingslin have ridden six and they have four points. Birmingham of course seventh. So that’s how the Rome Motor Premiership looks at this moment. And a bit of a break now for the uh British final which takes place on Monday. We’ll have more about that to come. Uh here are the fixtures then coming up in the Row Motor Premiership. As I say, there’s nothing over the next uh week, 10 days or so from the time of releasing this with the British final on Monday, May 12th. The next action in the Roy Motor Premiership is Thursday, May 15th, where it’ll be Leicester versus Kingslin, Oxford versus Belleview and Sheffield versus Ipsswich. That’s a big one at the top of the table there. Uh Leicester versus Kingslin. By the way, advanced notice will be live on BSN as well. So you can see that one uh on Thursday, May 15th. So in the next part of No Breaks No Fear, we’ll hear from one of those Ipsswitch Witches riders and also representative of the Glasgow Tigers who have secured their progression through to the semifinals of the BSN series. He also won the British semi-final at Leicester last week and he’s going through to the British final and also a qualifier for SGP2 on the cards. It’s a busy time for Dan Thompson and he joins us next on No Breaks No [Music] Fear. Still getting around to that fix on your car? You got this. On eBay, you’ll find millions of parts guaranteed to fit. Doesn’t matter if it’s a major engine repair or your first time swapping your windshield wipers. eBay has that part you need, ready to click perfectly into place for changes big and small, loud or quiet. Find all the parts you need at prices you’ll love. Guaranteed to fit every time. But you already know that eBay, things people love. Eligible items only. Exclusion supply. This episode is brought to you by Indeed. When your computer breaks, you don’t wait for it to magically start working again. You fix the problem. So, why wait to hire the people your company desperately needs? Use Indeed sponsored jobs to hire top talent fast. And even better, you only pay for results. There’s no need to wait. Speed up your hiring with a $75 sponsor job credit at indeed.com/mpodcast. Terms and conditions apply. My cat Freddy loves to be brushed and cuddled, but stirring up his cat allergens meant sneezing and itchy eyes. Then I found Pyina one liveclair. It’s cat food that reduced the major allergen and my suffering in as little as 21 days. Now we feel closer than ever. If you have issues with cat allergens, you really need to try Purina 1 Live Clear. Try new Purina 1 Live Clear today. Purina 1, a difference from day one. No breaks, no fear. The official British Speedway podcast. Welcome back. I’m Ian Brandon. Now, our main guest in this episode is certainly a very busy rider at this moment in time, although he’s got a bit of a quiet period in the next couple of days, but that is certainly going to change round as we head through May. Dan Thompson, undoubtedly one of the rising star success stories at British Speedway. He’s very much a man who people are talking about at the moment, rising his way through the ranks at the Ipsswitch Witches. He’s actually outgrown the Rising Star program now. Such was his average at the end of last season, which bobbled around five, if not more, through the course of 2024, and is set to head northwards again in 2025. The way he’s going, he recently won the British semi-final and now qualifies for the main British final, which takes place on Monday. And uh he’s also got qualifiers for the SGP2 series around the corner, and racing of course with Ipsswitch and the Glasgow Tigers in the championship. And he joins us now. So fair to say, Dan, obviously last season people were talking about you. That finished strongly and 2025’s got off to a fantastic start as well. Yeah, it’s it’s been a pretty cool week and a pretty good start to the year to be honest. So um I’m looking forward to the next few stages. Obviously the British final is a big one for me. Um but I’ll just be going out to enjoy it and uh see what I can achieve. Let’s talk about um the bank holiday then in general. Um you you’ve been in action with Ipsswitch first of all um on bank holiday Monday. It was local derby, but you were on your home circuit. Nine points for you. It was a bit of a a tough start, I think, wasn’t it, for Ipsswitch? Probably the the biggest challenge you’ve had, I guess, so far this season, would you say, against Kingslin? Yeah, definitely. Obviously, I knew on paper that they look strong. I’d seen a few comments saying that we had um hammer them, but looking at their team obviously with Nikolai at reserve, that’s very very strong for them. And uh yeah, they’re always going to have a good number six, which obviously makes my job harder. Um but we’re always confident at home. I think the the way the track was didn’t suit us with the the day meeting. I think that was probably the case for all of the day meetings. The tracks are different and a lot slicker. So, um, yeah, did did catch us out and at one point I thought this isn’t good. We’re not going to get ourselves back in in front. Um, but we came strong in the end like we always do. Yeah, even Chris Harris said that he’d never seen Ipsswitch as slick as that. So, it was obviously different conditions even for the most experienced of riders. So, that was a bit of a bit of a leveler, I guess, between the two teams cuz you lose your home advantage as well. Yeah, we did lose our home advantage and uh it was tough because none of our usual setups or anything that we normally run would work and uh Kingsling came out the traps in the first eight heats or so when uh they really looked like they were going to get one over us. Um it was funny cuz I’d speak to all the team and one side of the team were doing one thing with setups, the other side were doing something completely different. So, we were all sort of trying to figure out our individual setups and uh it made it difficult, but um we showed great character and uh got the job done. There’s no lack of experience particularly of that circuit. Obviously, you got Danny King who’s been there probably longer than I think you’ve been around overall, you know, knows it backwards, must have seen everything. You got Jason Doyle there, Emil Saudov, and you say you’ve got all these minds putting it together. And uh you know, if they’re struggling to to figure it out, then for someone like yourself, obviously it’s a learning curve for you though, and you go into a meeting there again in similar conditions, I guess, and and you’ll you’ll have a a different approach to it, I suppose. Yeah, I know. I mean, we know for next time after the next year for all of us about uh the day meeting and what to expect, I suppose, but uh no, it’s really cool. all the the riders at IPS which are very open with me and uh can go ask all all the other six of them what they’re running and they’ll tell me exactly what they’re doing. So, um that’s sort of what I do. I just ask for advice from all of them and then make my own decision based off what everyone’s doing and uh cuz that was one thing I was guilty of in the past was just asking one of the best riders a setup and then going and putting that on my bike. But that’s not exactly how it works. you have to still figure things out for yourself. Um, so that’s what I do. And it might come as a surprise, I think, maybe to some fans that that that sharing of knowledge, of sharing of setups and experience that doesn’t necessarily come quite so freely in some teams, does it? You know, there are some riders that will will keep their secrets very much to themselves. Yeah, I totally agree with that. I was speaking to other rising stars and other youngsters in the top league and they say it doesn’t happen in their team. They can’t really get much out of the top boys. But um I’m really lucky at IPS which everyone’s been great with me and obviously most of us have been there a few seasons or so. So um we all get on really well and uh yeah it pays off on the track. Bit of a break in action now for Ipsswitch in the Roma Motor Premiership because we’re focusing now on the British final. Viatis Insurance Sports Division British Final at Belleview on Monday, May 12th. Uh you go in there into the lineup with all of the well-known names of British Speedway. Uh a number of riders seeded through, including the likes of course of Holder Dan Bulley, Robert Lambert is in there as well, and you were the winner of the British semi-final last week at Leicester. So now you qualify for your place in the main event, and you can just go out and mix it now. Uh you never know what can happen. But talk us through that British semi-final though. Stuart Dixon was on this podcast last week. He tipped that you could be one to watch and uh Dicko was right. Yeah, that was um obviously it helps I know Leicester really well and uh still haven’t forgotten my way around there. We’ve still been doing meetings there with Ipsswitch and uh here and there and I’ve gotten reasonably well in them. So, uh, yeah, I was still still confident riding Leicester and, um, it has changed a lot over the last year or so with the, uh, the track conditions. So, actually what I was running the other night in the semi-finals was nothing like what I normally run um, sort of last year or the years before. So, um, yeah, I was still figuring things out, different things, and, uh, yeah, I seem to have a good setup in the end. And, uh, I knew when I faced Drew, whichever one of us won that race would probably win the meeting. So, uh, I think I had it a bit easier being off the inside of him in that one. And, uh, just managed to get that. Looking at the draw then, you’re drawn at number five uh, for the event. So, you’d be out in heat number two. You’re up against Louis, Carl Howeth, and Connor Mountain. Of course, the field is packed full of of experience, different levels of experience, but you got former British champions in there. Current British champions, of course, in the form of Dan Buley. I mean, I guess it’s probably a slightly easier heat than perhaps heat number six, which would feature Dan Bulley and Robert Lambert going against each other. So, you’ve avoided that one, but you’ve got to ride them all at some point. Yeah, as I said in a previous interview, I don’t underestimate anyone’s ability in Speedway. Anyone can pop out of a start and win a race. So, um, yeah, whether it’s the the top boys in a heat or some of the other guys same effort and same targets. So, um, yeah, I’ll just be going out there to try and make some starts and get myself in the mix. I’m not too bothered about gate picks or anything like that. You don’t know what the gates will be like on the day and everything always changes and I’m pretty confident in my starting ability this year. So, um, I’ll try and make it wherever I’m put. You have been on the winning side at the National Speedway Stadium this season with Ipswich. You’ve got a bit of experience of the track, but National Speedway Stadium, it presents a much different proposition, doesn’t it, from the likes of say Ipsswitch or Leicester from a from a setup points of view? Yeah, it is. I’ve um I’ve done two meetings, two league meetings around there so far this year and gone well in both of those. Uh obviously it’s a track you can’t hide around. So if the the top guys are faster than you, they will hunt you down. So um you got to be on it and uh have a pretty good setup from the the get- go. So uh yeah, that’s what I’ll be trying to do. Let’s talk about a bit of speedway that people often don’t see and that is what goes on between the meetings and um people will be aware that you’ve obviously had to find a new club. You you got dropped out of that Leicester side, got picked up by Ipsswitch. A lot of people say that was, you know, fantastic, best thing that’s happened possibly for you. But also beyond that, a lot of investment from you as well in your own fitness and condition, but in your bikes, you know, engines, all the gear you need. You aiming to get the best you can possibly get. You got some great sponsors. as I know Simon the Fredo man uh as I know him as uh you know he’s been telling me about the always telling me about you know the stuff you got new engines new gear that you know you hope carries you forward and and these investments are working you know you’re buying new stuff it’s uh it’s getting you where you where you want to be and and where everybody’s enjoying seeing you ride now last year I sort of stepped up just through my riding ability just trying to um knuckle down and score as many points as I could um this year over the winter I’ve invested heavily and I’ve been really lucky to have some good sponsors come on board and uh that’s enabled me to get much much better equipment that’s uh it’s been amazing for me and obviously you mentioned Fredo um he’s also been amazing to me and uh given me a bit of a loan that I was able to go and get a load of equipment and then now I’m doing better I can sort of cover that so um yeah has helped me to get into the season and uh obviously paying off definitely is definitely is and so that’s the British final On Monday, the full lineup is Leon Flint at one, Chris Harris 2, Dan Jilks three, Tom Brennan four, Dan Thompson five, Louis Ker six, Kyle Howeth at seven, Connor Mountain 8, Drew Kemp nine, Robert Lambert 10, Steve Warl 11, Adam Ellis 12, Danny King 13, Dan Buley 14, Anders Row 15, and Charles Wright um actually not listed with a number here, but I’m assuming he must be at number 16, but he’s last on the list. So there we go. That’s the lineup for the British final live on Eurosport Monday night. You can also get yourself to the National Speedway Stadium for the uh British final, the Attis Insurance Sports Division British Final to give its full title at Belleview on Monday. Um you’ve also got another fixture um on the 24th of May, which is significant as well, the FIMSGP2 qualifiers. There’s a few different events going on across Europe. But you’ve been drawn at the one at Ashefield in Glasgow, which works out well because you are a Glasgow rider. So that’s going to work out uh pretty handily hopefully for you. Um and Ashton Bowen also in that same meeting along with Jake Mulford. Uh your brother Joe and uh Luke Harrison have been named as reserves as well. So full family affair there for you at uh at Glasgow for a big a big day and a chance for you to get yourself on the SGP2 circuit. Yeah, definitely. That’s that’s the aim anyway and it’s it’s cool to have it at Glasgow. Um I still probably don’t quite consider Glasgow as my home track yet. I’ve only done two meetings around it yet. So, um, still getting dialed into it and, uh, hopefully before that meeting I’ll have had another couple and then I can really feel, uh, at home and, uh, used to that circuit. So, um, yeah, it’s it’s something I really want to qualify for. Last year, I did come quite close. Uh, I was in a one in Terano and that, um, was obviously quite difficult. Um but obviously having it on home turf this year will definitely give me a bit of an advantage and not every rider is getting that benefit. Um there are quite a few riders taking part in it from uh from Great Britain of course yourself, Ashton Baan and Jake Mulford. Uh your brother Joe and uh and Luke Harrison at the reserves. Um also we have Sam Hagen who’s British under 21 champion. He’s going to the Czech Republic and Luke Colleen is going to Hungary. Uh but for you you’re going to your home track of Glasgow. But I guess there’s the home comforts as well of of of you’re around people that you recognize and know. It’s a circuit that you know well and given a couple more meetings, you’ll have settled in much more. And how’s life as a Glasgow Tiger so far? What’s it like been been riding for the club up to this point though? Yeah, it’s been it’s really good. It’s such a great club and it’s a great racetrack as well and uh I figured things things out pretty quickly the other night and uh it was probably a lot slicker as well. That meeting was a bit earlier in the day as well. Um so uh things will probably be a little bit similar on the um the SGP2 day and uh yeah, I’ll be giving it my all. You say it was a kind of all right meeting, but you you actually got a paid maximum. So it was not a bad afternoon and you got the bumps and everything as well. You’re riding quite a lot at the moment in the team with Leon Flint. And to me, and probably to most people as well, when you look at it, Dan Thompson, Leon Flint, two of the, you know, rising stars of British Speedway paired together in the mid part of a championship team. That is a strong pairing. And I think, you know, you’ve got two riders there that, you know, I mean, you could be heading to number one potentially at some point. Uh but at the moment yourself and Leon, a strong strong partnership that probably will do a lot of damage, I think for Glasgow in in in the order as it currently is. Yeah, I I do really enjoy riding with Leon and uh obviously we’re both still figuring out where each other’s going to be on the track. We’ve had some good races together so far and some good 51s. Um probably got in each other’s way at times. That’s just natural in Speedway. Um, but yeah, he’s uh I believe in my ability and he believes in his ability the same and uh I think he’s more than capable of popping out and beating anyone on the track the same as I feel. So um yeah, we we can just both continue doing our thing and uh getting some more five ones and um I think we’ll be a dangerous duo. Obviously for Glasgow last year it was a bit of an unusual year. they missed out on even the playoffs and obviously the the going in as the as the defending champions found life tough. There is a different dynamic in the team uh this season. So what’s it like you know being you know riding for Glasgow the the support but also a bit of expectation among Glasgow as well but I guess that’s healthy because you want to feel confident that you know there is a chance of winning something this year. Yeah I think that’s the way I feel with both my teams. Obviously Ipsswitch and Glasgow both very driven to uh be challenging for them trophies and come so close with Ipsswitch over the last couple of years and obviously Glasgow were always in the top two. Obviously last year was a bit different but they’ve always been um in the playoffs at the end. So um yeah, I’m really desperate to keep pushing and um I do want to be on the uh the podiums with some trophies at the end of the year. We’re starting to see some team changes now um and and some of these affecting you know riders at reserve rising stars and what have you and you’ve been on that flip side. you have been that rider that was dropped as sort of touched on before you with Leicester then you’ve gone to Ipsswich really you know that’s where you’ve kicked on from you know you you’ve gone on you’ve you’ve soaked it all up like a sponge all the experience in those pits and of course investment and improvement personally for yourself but it just shows that actually when one door closes that doesn’t have to be the end of Speedway and you you can you know persist stick with it learn from it and and go again and That’s exactly what you’ve done. A lot of people have said it that um being dropped was probably the best thing for me is um I was probably a little bit too much in my comfort zone at Leicester. I was just turning up week in week out and doing the same thing. Um I guess you could say it was a bit vanilla. I was very um just going along, not really going up or down, just in the middle. And uh when I was released, it kind of gave me a new fire to try and achieve something. and get myself back in the window. And obviously I did look at the the calendar and seeing when I would next be going back to um Leicester to race obviously against them that time and that sort of gave me a bit of an aim to go back there and try and make a statement which I ended up doing. It was nothing against anyone at Leicester or anything like that. Just from a personal point of view, obviously you want to go back and um show that you can do something. Um, and then obviously I moved on to whip switch and uh that’s just been great. And obviously my improvement’s been pretty steady there from Rising Star last year and uh number six this year. We’ve got such a solid team that hopefully I think they’ll be reserved all year which obviously will be good as well. What advice would you give to some younger riders maybe who are coming through or any riders that are currently there now um about you know the drawbacks of Speedway the the sort of negative points of it where you do find yourself on the sidelines getting dropped or the pressure is on and then riding through that and getting through that and coming out the other side as as you’ve done. Um what would you say I guess to even your younger self um about that situation? Yeah, I think um just try and be involved in the team. It’s I think even before you get on the track, there’s so many factors that can affect a young rider whether they’re going to go out and perform or not. One big thing for me is just being involved in the team feeling like one of the other riders. Um because obviously in in the Premiership at a young age, you can feel very easily out of place, out of your depth. Um, and that was something I’ve experienced before, not really being included. And um, but as soon as I as soon as I came into IPS, which is sort of obviously everyone knew I’m naturally quieter, but um, they’d come grab me, chuck me in the team, talk, and uh, always make sure that I’m all right, included, and I know what I’m doing. Um, and that’s just a massive thing, being able to go into the pits and just feel at home with everyone. Um, obviously then there comes the riding aspect, which obviously that’s the main part of of racing. Um, but I just one of the things I think is you have to kind of adapt your mindset to not fear who you’re racing. Um, because every race in the Premiership is tough for me. And like yesterday, I looked at my scorecard and I thought if I don’t knuckle down, it could easily be a zero for me. Um, but I just have to um try and make my starts and uh get the elbows out and just race everyone like they’re the same. I suppose it’s easy to be overruled by either the occasion or the riders you’re up against. You know, if you’re a premiership rider, obviously you were riding with them, but you didn’t have to ride against Emile or Doyle, but um any of the other big hitters, you know, Dan Buley or um Ty Wolfen perhaps. Obviously not at this moment, but you may have faced him. riders that have been there, seen it, and done it. And if you think about riding next to them, you might be more inclined to have a bit too much respect perhaps. Whereas if you don’t really know or care who’s under the helmet, you just go for it. Yeah, I’m I’m definitely guilty of that as probably when I was 17, 18, I’d think be lining up on the start line next to, I don’t know, someone like Sam Masters in the Championships and think, what’s the point of even prepping my start gate? There’s no way I’m going to outgate him. Um but now it’s yeah, you’ve just got to treat everyone the same and this speed where you never know what can happen and yeah I’ve surprised myself quite a bit with um some of the stuff I’ve done and uh yeah I just look to keep on doing that and perhaps one of those riders looking to emulate your success and and and follow those words is your brother Joe who uh started the season with the Plymouth Gladiators in the championship but obviously looking to get back into rising star reserve birth somewhere in the premiership. and again invested heavily in equipment and you know putting all the effort in and and hoping to follow in your footsteps in 2025. Yeah, he’s uh he’s trying his hardest and obviously I’m passing on what I can to him. Um I’ve lent him one of my engines for uh the next few meetings. Um I think he’s done a couple on that so far. So, um yeah, I do have um bits and bobs that I’m giving him to help him out. Um just try and get him back on the ladder. Uh cuz obviously I’ve I’ve said to him the biggest thing is the rise of star program. Um because obviously there was talk of them scrapping it for this year or something like that, but I think without that over the last two year or two, uh I’d have probably gone into the retirement dungeon of the sport. um just cuz I wouldn’t have had that progress into the top league and uh especially just racing championship alone or just the national league, it’s not enough to financially sustain myself. Um so without a broad racing or the Premiership as well as my Championship, then it’d be a bit difficult for me. So uh yeah, he’s very keen to get into the top league and uh if something comes up, I’m sure he’ll grab it with both hands. It’s interesting you say that, you know, that that is makes the rising star program really significant then. You know, if that’s like saved you as a as a rider in effect um from, you know, maybe potentially giving it up when things got tough and and I guess as well it forces the clubs to select a British up and cominging talent rather than, you know, get someone in from whichever country that might be. Uh and and it’s just about a straight average and and obviously it becomes a different prospect then, doesn’t it? But it does give you that advantage and you know that is proof that the rising star system is working. Yeah, I think the the rising star scheme has been massively beneficial for a lot of us. Um obviously Anders has come out of it as well and he’s pushing on at Sheffield. I think um obviously Drew has as well. Um so we’re all pushing out of it and uh there’s more people this year that are doing the same and it’s going to continue happening. So maybe they might rethink the um the average for the Rise of Stars when we’re all getting better or something like that. I’m not sure. Um but yeah, I I don’t see a reason why it’s not a positive for the sport. And it’s definitely given all us youngsters a platform to um try and take the next step. And uh for me personally, it was massive going from just racing a championship meeting in a week to bit then racing every Monday, Thursday as well as my championship. I was doing a bit of national league as well. And I was just racing so much that I wasn’t I was never rusty on the bike. I could just go out and feel feel like I did the last meeting and carry on where I left off. Yeah. Well, keep doing what you’re doing because it’s working out well. And um how are you fixed this week then? because your next meeting for Glasgow is on Friday, isn’t it? Scottish Derby again facing the racing Edinburgh uh for what the the third or fourth time. Um so that’s a close one. 4644 at the halfway stage there. That’s at Ashefield on Friday night and then no action for Ipsswitch until um well Ipsswich won’t be in action for a little while now until a week on Thursday and then it’s the British final, isn’t it? So you’re preparing for that I guess now. Yeah, we’ve got Glasgow on Friday. Um that’ll be a tough one. Obviously Edinburgh got one over us at home last time. Um the same as we’ve won at their place. So um yeah, they do like our track and uh feels like the only team we’ve raced really with Glasgow been against them so many times. Um but yeah, we’ll have to try and try and win that one. I don’t think it matters too much. Uh I think we’re already through on the BSN series. Um yeah, you are. But obviously we don’t want to lose at home again and I suppose it gives our our boys a chance to try some things different and uh know the the result of the meeting isn’t going to be too crucial on anything. So um yeah, if we can uh get everyone firing in the team and um try and get a big home win, I think that’s the aim for everyone. Yeah. And yeah, Glasgow are through to the semi-finals. You’re awaiting your opposition. I think that will get sorted out over the next week. um maybe but um probably going to be I don’t know looks like Oxford and Pool might make both make it through from their group as being the best runners up. Not sure yet. And uh well it depends on Red Car. I think they’ve got a big week ahead. They’re currently leading the the other section as well. So um we’ll we’ll find out more soon. Um and then you’ve got um a trip to uh well just the short hop down to Plymouth to ride against your brother actually with Glasgow next Saturday. Um having been at Glasgow the night before. So, uh, big day on the road on Saturday. Yeah, it’ll be cool to go back down to Plymouth. Um, I did really enjoy my season there last year and obviously I know that place really well as well. So, um, yeah, it’ll be uh be fun to see everyone again and uh go headtohead with Joe again. I think he’s a he’s very handy around there. Um he’s learned a lot from the likes of uh Ben Barker and he said Nikolai’s been really good to him down there already with uh advice and getting stuck in with the team. So um yeah uh definitely going to have to try and um bully Joe off the start line. Yeah, get the elbows out as you say. Yeah, good stuff. Well, look, thanks for joining us Joe. All the best with everything that’s coming up. not least of course there the British final on Monday and then back in action with Glasgow and then uh Ipsswitch as well uh next Thursday where you’re at at Sheffield. So you’ll be riding against Leon Flint in that one as well. So busy time coming up but thanks for joining us and and um yeah hope your season continues how it started. No worries. Thank you very much. So there’s Dan Thompson and next we’ve got another Dan and it is the man who’s defending the British title. Defending champion Dan Buley launching his bid for a fourth successive title at the National Speedway Stadium for the Atis Insurance Sports Division British Final on Monday. And we’ll hear from Dan Buley in just a couple of moments here on No Breaks No Fear. Out here there’s no one way of doing things, no unwritten rules, and no shortage of adventure. Because out here, the only requirement is having fun. Bank of America invites kids 6 to 18 to golf with us. For a limited time, sign them up for a free 1-year membership, giving them access to discounted tea times at thousands of courses. Learn more at bankofamea.com/golf with us. What would you like the power to do? Bank of America. Restrictions apply. CBFA.com/golf with us for complete details. Copyright 2025. Bank of America Corporation. The new Mcrispy Strip is here. Dip approved by ketchup, tiny barbecue, honey mustard, honey mustard, Sprite, McFlurry, Big Mac sauce, double dipped in buffalo and ranch. More ranch and creamy chili Mcrispy strip dip now at McDonald’s. Hello, Nigel here. I couldn’t help noticing that you’re still awake. Now, I’m an owl. I’m supposed to be up at night, but you need your sleep. So, if it’s your allergy symptoms that are keeping you up, here’s a word to the wise. Try Zyol. You see, Zyol works fast to relieve sneezing, runny nose, itchy watery eyes, and itchy nose and throat. And it keeps going strong for 24 hours so you can get your sleep and wake up refreshed and ready for a productive day ahead. Be wise all. Take Zyol at night. Use directed. Starts working in 45 minutes. No breaks, no fear. The official British Speedway podcast. So, as we know, the draw’s been made for the Atis Insurance Sports Division British Final B Monday, May 12th. Now, defending champion Dan Buley launching his bid for a fourth successive title. He’ll be out in heat number four where he goes up against previous winners Danny King and Charles Wright along with the inform Anders Row. So not an easy start for Dan Buley. Should he win a fourth successive title though, he’ll join only Barry Briggs as the riders who have ever achieved that feat. Nobody has ever won it five times in a row. We’ll find out if he manages it of course on Monday. The Clash of Great Britain’s Grand Prix riders comes in heat number six with Dan Bele and Robert Lambert going head-to-head alongside treble champion Chris Harris and Louis Kerr. And the other previous winner in the lineup, Adam Ellis, will be kicking off his challenge in Heap Three against Lambert, Steve Warl, and Drew Kemp. Now, tickets are available at belle-speedway.com/tick. Well, we can hear now from Dan Buley reflecting on last season and looking ahead to this one with Vicky Monk from BVTV, Belleview’s own live streaming channel. Starting off the year, it wasn’t uh wasn’t brilliant and then uh I had a few injuries and stuff like that and then uh had a concussion at the middle of the season and to be honest when I came back from that it was the first time I was you know like fully healthy again and uh the season turned around for me. you know, I won the GP in Cardiff and then um yeah, just in the leagues was going very good and had some good good GPS and you know, very good end of the season with Belleview and uh you know, to win the league just topped it off. So, uh yeah, it was a really good second half of the season for me. So, to go from that mid-season to finishing the season world number four, that’s quite something. Yeah. Um after the first half of the season in the GPS, I think I was 14th and then um my points from the second half of the season, I was I was up there. So it was good turnaround. And this season, obviously, we’ve got two GPS here at Belleview, your home track. That must be really exciting. It is. You know, I feel like for the last few years, you know, I always thought it’d be cool to get a GP here, and for 100% the club deserve it. You know, it’s, you know, the track’s unreal. It’s always, you know, brilliant racing. Um the facilities here is good and you know it’s all it is a shame not to have Cardiff as well but um you know ideal world I think we’d have a GP here and at Cardiff but uh yeah but still having two GPS here is going to be pretty cool. Home track advantage in two GPS are you really saying you’d rather be in Cardiff. I’ve got to a free record in Cardiff. So I got but um no it’s uh I’m looking forward to it. Tell me what a typical week’s like for you Dan. like when you mid-season uh mid-season all depends how busy we are but um you know we can be racing four or five days but um you know if you’re a little bit quieter you know like three or four days um generally um just a little bit of training and stuff like that you know a little bit of running um um a lot of golf that’s a good one to pass some time and uh bit bit of like mountain biking stuff as well first time I’ve heard golf used as speedway training Yeah, it’s um I think uh it’s the perfect thing. You know, we get um you know, for a Monday generally, you know, if I am in Poland on a Sunday, I’ll fly in, I’ll land 8 8 in the morning and you know, if you’re not tired, it’s a very long day, not doing a lot. So, uh yeah, I have a set of clubs and go for a round, pass a few hours. And uh yeah, it’s a it’s a it’s a nice way just to you know, for me if I if I sit around all day waiting, I feel wrecked come 7:00 and uh you know, get get out bit of fresh air and I feel a lot better, you know, for for the when it comes to it. So uh it’s good. It’s a good way of clearing your mind, I guess, as well, isn’t it? Kind of reset and setting ahead of the new week. You can certainly um clear your mind, but give yourself some uh some problems, too. It’s uh gives you something else to think about. You know, you can be going brilliant on Speedway and struggling at golf, but uh yeah, for me it’s uh it’s nice. Yeah, it’s almost it’s completely different, but it’s the same challenge. End of a day. Tell me about race day for you then. What does that look like? Yeah, just um pretty Yeah, chill. Not nothing. I have no real superstitions or anything like that, you know. I uh you know, and if I ever do get any, I feel like I always try and break them. So, um, it all depends on on the day, but, um, yeah, I might go mountain biking. If I’m tired, I might do nothing. Um, yeah, might go and play golf, might just go to driving range. Might, uh, can be anything to be honest. But, uh, yeah, just pretty chilled. And then once we come to, you know, 7, half 7, and the green light comes on, we’re ready to go. When the green light comes on, what gate do you prefer to be sat at? Generally speaking, the heat leaders will be off three and four in the first race. So, I’m going to say three and four. What was it like then? You’ve said winning the league last year, obviously that would have been really special with a group of friends. What’s it like going into this season with the expectation on you guys to hopefully retain the silverware? Yeah, you know, I feel like that’s why we’re here. That’s why we’re signed. you know, it’s to to to perform and um yeah, we’ll just do the best we can and yeah, if we uh if we all deliver that, we should be uh we should be going pretty good. Dan Buy speaking to Vicky Monk there from BVTV, the official streaming service for Belleview Speedway. Now, the British final and then the AC’s home fixture against Leicester on May 19th are both live on TNT Sports. So, the next action you can catch on btv.live Live is the Bank Holiday Monday home fixture against Oxford on May 26. You can go and catch up on previous meetings broadcast there also. That’s btv.live. And as we covered the British final available on TNT Sports on Monday, May 12th, and you can see it Discovery Plus. If you’re also a TNT Sports subscriber, you can get it on there, too. Before we go then, a little round up of a couple of interviews from the Cab Championship and the BSN series, which is hotting up now in a couple of the respective divisions around the country. And Workingington won a last heat decider against Skunthorp with a 4743 victory at the GT Tires Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Comets fought back from an early four-point deficit to go six up themselves, but a 5-1 from tactical substitute Steve Warl and Connor Mountain in Heat 14. narrowed the gap back to two and set up a tense finale. However, home duo of Antie Vulas and Troy Bachelor collected a 4-2 in heat 15, split by Steve Warl to give them the win in their first home match of 2025. Vulas scored 11 for the Comets despite a last place in his opening ride. Warl totaled 11 + one for the Scorpions and reserve Declan Kennedy won three races and finished on 10 after being on the receiving end of a defeat against the red car Bears on Friday night. 24 hours can be a long time in Speedway. Jay Ethridge was voted rider of the meeting and I had a catch up with him after the Comets defeated Skunthor. Yeah, definitely. It uh kind of struggled a lot last night. It was probably my worst performance ever at Red Car, but uh we changed a lot today and uh yeah, it definitely paid off. A close meeting throughout went this way and that. um never more than a few points in it and it finished that way as well. But little bit of a late pressure um came to the four in in the final few heats but you had enough those five ones sort of the back end of the meeting did the job. Yeah, that’s it. Uh I think we we put a bit of pressure on them and then they had to use attack sub. So then that worked in their favor. So it come down to obviously yeah heat 15 but auntie pulled it out the bag and Troy and uh yeah we got the win. That’s all that mattered. It’s been a long wait for Working to get the season up and running. Obviously, last night didn’t go very well at Workington for the first meeting, but must be gate to finally get your first home meeting here in Workington on the board. Yeah, definitely. It’s uh it’s always hard when you’re in the championship like our first fixture weren’t till May. When’s when’s that ever heard of in British Speedway? So, obviously a lot of our guys are only doing one league as well. So up against red car they’ve uh they’ve done at least 10 maybe 15 meetings all their riders we we’ve doubling up. So no I think the first one we just had to blow the cobwebs out and stuff and then yeah we’re back on it now and we’re I think we’re on every weekend now till the end of the month at least. And for you personally a change of scenery of course you’ve been with Beric for past few years. you made this change to come to Workington and say finally get that home meeting on the board. But uh it’s a been a great racist track today and and usually that’s the case most weeks. Yeah, definitely. That was uh good good racing track and that today and like obviously you can come over and practice and try things as well. So which obviously worked in in my favor and stuff. Um but yeah, it’s a it’s a bit of a different change. I’ve been at Beric for a long long time now. So, uh, just a bit of a freshen up with my racing and hopefully push to to get back into that top league. A frustrating night last night at Red Car. What sort of conversations? I mean, you talked about you personally, but the team as a whole, um, obviously addressed a few problems from that first evening. Yeah, it uh we just said like, yeah, that it is what it is. And then like today, right, it’s start again, fresh. We forget about last night, never happened. So, the boys uh come out and and went firing. Obviously, the the gates were quite dominant, one and three compared to two and four. So, we just had to work on that and uh yeah, go from there. Okay. Well done tonight. Good performance for you personally. You were voted the BSN rider of the night from the from the viewers. Ah, perfect. Thanks, guys. Well, another rider who was entertaining the crowds was Vinnie Ford who put on an impressive display around Workington in their first home fixture of 2025. He’s been speaking to Haley Brmley on BSN. Vinnie, first of all, congratulations to the Comets on the home win today. That must have been a huge boost to the confidence of the team. Oh yeah, definitely. Especially after the loss last night. It was pretty hard for the team. Um yeah, we bounced back today and uh yeah, we had a good good few heats and uh yeah, the lads were doing well and I felt really good myself. Um shame about the last one, but I just uh yeah, sort of completely missed the start. Um but I’ll move on for the next and uh yeah, hopefully next time I can get a maximum. Yeah. Other than that one though, a fantastic afternoon for yourself. You must be delighted. Oh yeah, definitely. It just seems everything’s working now. I’m been practicing a lot over the winter and uh my equipment’s better than ever. So yeah, it’s just all of the hard work’s paying off and uh yeah, hopefully I can just hit hit this good form and uh keep it going. Meanwhile, on Sunday, Glasgow became the first team to secure a place in the BSN series semifinals thanks to a 4842 win over Beric at Ashefield. The Tigers were taken to a last heat decider by a battling Bandit side who fought back from 2214 down to cut the gap to just two points with one race remaining. Dan Thompson, we heard from him earlier, completed that 13 plus two paid maximum combining with skipper Chris Harris who got 14 himself for a 5-1 which got the home side over the line. We can hear from the two team managers now, Cammy Brown and Stuart Dixon speaking to BSN. We seem to have lasted the siders every meeting now. It’s uh not good for my blood pressure, but it’s it’s entertaining, but you know, I’d rather have a comfortable win, but it’s not been that way. We didn’t expect that. We bically good team. Exceptionally, well, while the the Bandits have ridden today, but you know, Glasgow, the track, a lot of riders are saying it’s just not the same as what they’re used to. Their dirt line, the dirt line’s not working like it normally is. Do you think that’s maybe affected a few of them, caught them out? It’s definitely affected Bombers. You know, he’s he’s not his usual self, although he’s had some brilliant rides. I mean, he’s he’s bombers’s bomber, but it’s not as much grip as normal. No, but uh we need to work in that. Stuart, it has been a case of the Battling Bandits today. Uh things have kind of been tricky, but it’s now a last heat decider and uh you’ll be pretty pleased with the way the boys have performed. We’ve dug in. You know, at Glasgow initially asked questions of us and they were they were stretching us. I think they went obviously they went six points up at one time. We got the tactical to work and we managed to stay in it. As I said, we’ve still been on their coattails, but there’s nothing sweeter than stealing it in the last race at E15, and that’s the plan to try and do that. I know it’s going to be very difficult, but listen, as Cammy said, Lassie deciders, close meetings, that’s what people want to see. Maybe no team managers and promoters, but the public want to see that. And for me, I know it’s been a bit slick, but I think it’s been quite an entertaining meeting. And the fact is that Heat 15 is good for the paying public. Yeah. So, the top of the Scottish group is resolved. Glasgow will win that group. Pool and Oxford are set to resolve the southern section of the BSN series. They meet at Wimbornne Road on Wednesday. The northern section qualification is still open. Skunthorp facing Workington on Friday before the Comets take on Red Car on Saturday. Glasgow, as we know, are already through. There is a prize for the best runner up across the respective three groups as well. So, finishing second in one of the groups will get you through as the best runner up. I would say at the moment it’s looking like it will be either pool or Oxford that that resolve that particular one because they had a super heat uh to decide one of their fixtures. Scottish derby on Friday, Edinburgh heading to Ashefield, but of course it’s already sewn up there. So the two sides going at it, but you you can be pretty sure that Glasgow and Edinburgh will be keeping that one very competitive indeed. Um elsewhere in the Cab Direct Championship, well the league itself gets underway this Saturday. the very first fixture of the Cab Direct Championship season at the Coliseum Plymouth hosting Glasgow. So big trip down there for Glasgow. That one will also be live on BSN as well. And there’s a big maxi cab knockout cup tie at the Echo Arena Friday as Red Car take on Beric. They’re trailing by four points from the first leg. Quick look at the World Speedway Riders Association National Development League and the National Trophy latest. Kingslin top of the early NDT table after a hard-fought home win over Birmingham which saw two riders Ashton Vale and Max Perry withdraw by mid meeting. Fox Cubs Leester captain Will Kes scored an 18point maximum and secured the win for his side when they took heat 15 from the back against Birmingham for their first NDT points of the season. And Luke Harris is joining Kent Eagles in the NDT next month as a replacement for Charlie Wood who’s injured although he’ll race against them first. He’s set to appear as a Thor Hammers uh side in for the Thor Hammers side in a challenge match at Iweight on June the 1st. Edinburgh raced their second home fixture in the NDL season. They host Belleview on Saturday and in the NDT we’ve got Leicester uh backto-back home matches as they take on Kingslin on Sunday. All right, then the full fixture picture for the week ahead. We’ve got that fixture in the BSN series on May the 7th. Wednesday, pool versus Oxford. That is level on aggregate as well. It was settled by Super Heat, but as far as the aggregate points concerned, it’s 4545 to start with. Friday, May 9th, Maxab Knockout Cup quarterfinal between Red Car and Beric at the Echo Arena. And we’ve got action in Glasgow taking on Edinburgh. Little bit of a dead rubber fixture there, but is there ever a dead rubber between Glasgow and Edinburgh? Skunthorp taking on Workington in the northern section of the BSN series. CAD Direct Championship starts on Saturday, Plymouth versus Glasgow. BSN series, Workingington versus Red Car and the National Development League, Edinburgh versus Belleview. Sunday, National Development Trophy, Leicester versus Kingslin. And on Monday, the Atis Insurance Sports Division British final at Belleview at 7:30. We’ll have reaction here on the next episode of the podcast coming to you next week. So, please join us for that. Uh, well done as well, we must say. Well done to the Walk Speedway crew. We heard from Greg Blair a week or so ago and they completed their mission 107 miles walking from Beric to Red Car to raise money for the Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund and they have raised quite a lot of money. At the time of recording this, it’s around about the £10,000 mark. They might need a couple more quid just to get them over the line. Maybe you can help out on that. But an impressive effort. They set out to raise £1,000 to begin with. Nearly 10 grand, might be 10 grand, over 10 grand by the time you hear this. I don’t know. But fantastic effort. They were limping uh when I saw them at the weekend at Glasgow. As you can well imagine, a lot of terrain has been covered. I don’t think they’re in a rush to do it again anytime soon. I did a few miles with them last week. Um and uh yeah, that was uh sort of hard enough, let alone the the other 100 miles they did beyond what I did. So fantastic effort and props to them and that money of course uh very much is going to be used very well indeed by the Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund. Thanks for joining us and thanks for your support with that if you did donate and we’ll be back with you with another episode of No Breaks No Fear next week. No Brakes, No Fear, the official British Speedway podcast. [Applause] [Music] This podcast is part of the Sports Social podcast network.