Berwick Bandits favourite Freddy Hodder wins Stars of Tomorrow title

The 18-year-old from Rugby is a firm favourite with the Berwick Bandits fans despite struggling for points in his debut Championship season.

Despite his struggles, Hodder has remained focussed and battled his way towards form.

On Saturday he was facing many of his contemporaries from the third tier of British speedway and dropped just one point from five rides on his way to lifting the NLRC Series Stars of Tomorrow silverware at Shielfield Park.

It was a timely reminder of his raw talent, the only setback coming when he was headed home by eventual runner-up Connor Coles.

The race win reinvigorated the challenge of Coles, last year’s Bandits and Bullets rider of the year, after he had earlier been headed home by former Berwick team-mate Luke Crang.

A further second place to pre-meeting favourite Jake Mulford in his final ride ended Coles’ hopes of forcing a run-off on his 30th birthday.

Mulford’s hopes of taking top step on the podium had all but ended before they began when he picked up too much grip and crashed in his first outing, leaving Hodder to race home unchallenged.

Mulford eventually completed the podium after winning a run-off with Mason Watson, the local hero ending the night in an untidy heap on the back straight after thumping into the second bend fence in an effort to force his way past the 20-year-old after the pair tied on 11 points.

It was an unfortunate way for Watson’s evening to end, but thankfully he escaped a bad-looking crash with nothing more than a hand injury.

It was a night of drama with another fancied pre-meeting, Dayle Wood, coming to grief in his first ride chasing Coles, while Jacob Clouting and Oxford Chargers’ team-mate Jody Scott both ploughed through the tapes.

Scott, despite being only 17, is another getting a taste of Championship life and he looks to have a promising future. He certainly caught the eye of meeting sponsor Terry Straughan, who chose him as the recipient of a special trophy for the most entertaining rider of the night.

Oxford look to have tapped into a rich seam of young talent and two of their teenagers, Ashton Vale and Senna Summers, produced one of the best races of the night, albeit for the minor placings. In the end Vale used a combination of a wide back wheel, a forceful leg and the home straight fence to stop his team-mate’s run for the line.

Former Bullet Jamie Halder showed that he hadn’t forgotten how to ride Shielfield Park with a typically solid eight-point haul.

But in truth, all 16 riders on show proved that there is plenty going on below the top two tiers in British speedway.

None more so than Hodder, and his smile said it all. A perfect way to end a season which hasn’t gone to plan for either Freddy or the side he joined during the winter, which the previous day suffered the ignominy of being relegated to the foot of the final league table by Edinburgh’s victory over Glasgow.