Up and down week for Berwick Speedway

Berwick Speedway will have two riders in the British Final, which is being held at Manchester’s Belle Vue on August 1.

Captain Chris Harris, who also rides for Peterborough in the Premiership, and Leon Flint, who also races for Wolverhampton, have both been named in the 16-man field for the event.

"It’s a long time since Berwick had two riders in the British Final,” said Bandits’ manager Gary Flint, who is also Leon’s father. "Of course, the prize for the winner is not only the title but a wildcard for the British Grand Prix at Cardiff (on August 13).”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Flint (Leon), who is also due to ride in the British U19 Final at Redcar on Thursday, missed Saturday’s KO Cup quarter-final second leg clash at home against Redcar as he sustained a back injury in a fall at Glasgow on Friday. He had been scheduled to race in Riga, Latvia, competing in the European U19 Pairs Championship alongside Oxford’s Sam Hagon, but was forced to withdraw from that event.

Bandits needed to overturn a 12-point deficit from the first leg, but with Flint and Jye Etheridge both missing, former Bandit Aaron Summers was drafted in as a guest.

The Bandits had been in the wars at Glasgow on Friday, involved in several nasty accidents, and unsurprisingly they went down 34-56, losing 73-107 on aggregate. On the night they only had two race winners and afterwards manager Flint said: “We were battered and bruised and it was a tough night. How we bounce back rom the setbacks will decide how our season ends.”

The previous evening at Glasgow, in the Scottish section of a new competition named the Championship Jubilee League, Bandits saw Theo Pijper, Leon Flint and Jonas Knudsen wereall involved in crashes.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Glasgow won 65-25 and Flint said: “The final scoreline looks horrific, but I cannt fault the riders who were caught out by an overwatered track.”

Berwick will also face Edinburgh home and away in the same competition, with meetings at Armadale and Shielfield this Friday and Saturday (July 22 and 23).

Last Wednesday, Berwick achieved their first away success since 2019 when they beat Oxford 40-50 with Harris and Knudsen both scoring 13+1.