Leicester Speedway Ltd
Press
Release
Lions Team Named For Rye House
Following the news that Leicester Speedway Limited has accepted an
invitation from Rye House to send a representative Lions team to take part in a
challenge match against the home riders on Saturday 20th March, Sam
Ermolenko has been busy assembling a competitive side.
One of the first to accept was David Howe, the Leicester
based rider and former British Under-21 Champion who has been handed the
captaincy and number one racejacket for the Lions. David spent six years in the
Elite League with Wolverhampton before making a move last season into the
Premier League with Scunthorpe. He is an
acknowledged Rye House track specialist and can be relied upon to be a heavy
scorer for Leicester at the Hertfordshire
circuit.
David has been paired with the Essex
born racer Chris Mills. Whilst Chris has spent the majority of his ten years in
the sport riding for southern based clubs, four years ago he was a member of King’s Lynn’s historic treble winning team that dominated
the league, cup and trophy competitions. Last season Chris made 38 appearances
for Sheffield and scored over 200 points for
his club in the Premier League.
At number three is teenager Ludvig Lindgren, the younger brother of
Grand Prix rider Freddie. Ludvig caught the eye after completing a handful of
matches for Wolverhampton in the Elite League during 2008 before moving across
the West Midlands to ride for Birmingham
where he impressed in his first full season of racing in this country. The
rider has returned to Wolverhampton for the
current season and will play an important part in a Wolves team that sets out
to defend their title of league champions in the weeks to come.
Lindgren lines up alongside the Californian rider Brent Werner who first
raced in the UK
for Long Eaton in 1995 and was part of the Invaders team that won the Four-Team
Tournament final two years later. Werner is another rider who knows the best
racing lines around the Rye House track, having spent four years of his career
with the Rockets and during that time he helped them lift the Premier League
title and Trophy competition.
At number five in the Lions side is the double British Under-15 Champion
Josh Auty. The talented nineteen year old has already packed a great deal of
racing into a relatively short period of time and during the winter months Josh
based himself in Australia
where he won the Queensland Under-21 Individual Championship. Auty is
contracted to parent club Coventry and has
enjoyed loan spells at Premier League clubs Scunthorpe and Redcar
where he has gained valuable experience. Last year Auty made the switch to Sheffield and was the top rider for his team against the
Leicester Lions in the end of season challenge match that ended in a draw.
The third rider with Sheffield connections is Paul Cooper who will
occupy the number six team position in the Leicester
team to face Rye House. A former grass-track rider, Paul was in the midst of a
good period of scoring last year before crashing at Newcastle in August where he suffered severe
injuries to his foot. Injuries have played their part in slowing down his
development but nevertheless Paul has always bounced back and can be relied
upon to consistently get amongst the points. The 2007 season was memorable for
the fact that he escaped injury, increased his match average to nearly seven
points a meeting and amassed the most bonus-points scored in the entire British
Premier League. Cooper continues his long association with Sheffield
this year, the club that gave him his first opportunity in 2003.
Completing the side for Leicester
is Jamie Smith who will occupy the final place in the team at number seven.
Jamie has been riding speedway for twelve years and during that time he has
been involved in a series of serious crashes that have interrupted a promising
career. His bravery is unquestionable and he is poised to make a comeback after
another long lay-off with Rye House in the National League this season.
