Berwick Bandits sign Australian rider Jacob Hook to cover for injured Nathan Stoneman

Jacob Hook, 20, was released by Edinburgh last week and will make his debut for the Borders club at Redcar on Friday night (June 9).

Stoneman suffered a serious shoulder injury during Berwick’s BSN Cup Series victory at Edinburgh in April and they have used guests, most frequently the club’s NDL Bullets’ captain Greg Blair, as temporary cover.

Hook first came to the attention of European promoters after a successful junior career saw him finish runner-up in both the Queensland and Australian 250CC championships, which earned him a place in the FIM World Youth Cup, where he finished sixth.

He signed for Edinburgh at the start of 2022 and was retained for the current campaign, the Scots also taking advantage of relaxed National Development League rules to name him in their Monarchs Academy line-up.

But Hook became a victim of the numbers game as the Armadale side released him and Kyle Bickley last week to fit in Danish signing Bastian Borke.

Hook also rides for GKM Grudziadz in the Polish Under-24 league.

“I was disappointed to be cut by Edinburgh, but that’s the way it goes in speedway,” he admitted.

“Once I heard that Berwick were interested it was a case of let’s sit down and get a deal done.

“I know all of the Bandits’ side and the club has a reputation for supporting and developing riders, which I’m thinking will suit me perfectly.”

Berwick co-owner Jamie Courtney said: “We feel Jacob is exactly the sort of rider we want at Shielfield Park, young, ambitious, looking to learn and develop, so when he became available we jumped at the opportunity.”

He added: “Jonas Knudsen rides his eighth official Championship fixture against Redcar which sees his average jump significantly, meaning that we needed to get the deal over the line before that limited our options for change.

“We have only raced one Championship meeting so far in 2023 – and won it – so the push for the play-offs is very much on and starting in Cleveland.”