Great Britain ready to go

Great Britain Speedway Team is delighted to confirm its team to take on Australia for August’s International Test Match at Glasgow’s Peugeot Ashfield Stadium.

The six-man team will be captained by current World Championship leader Tai Woffinden and he’ll be joined by fellow GP star Craig Cook, two-time British Champion Chris Harris, fit-again Steve Worrall, exciting youngster Dan Bewley and Adam Ellis, who is having his best ever season in the sport.

British Champion Robert Lambert was selected in the initial team however he asked Great Britain management for special dispensation to miss the fixture owing to a long-standing commitment and citing fatigue.

While disappointed not to have him in the team, the Management Team felt it was in Robert’s best interests on this occasion to have a short break from racing to recharge his batteries ahead of a busy climax to the season.

Team Manager Alun Rossiter explained his selection; “Firstly, obviously we wanted to include Robert in the team and he was selected, but he told me that he had a short holiday booked on that date and that he felt he really needed the break.

“He is one of the busiest riders in World Speedway and his schedule is crazy, so while we are disappointed he won’t be riding we felt that, in this instance only, it’s better for him to recharge his batteries and take a bit of a break. Going forward we fully expect all of our riders to race for Great Britain when selected, and they all know that.

The team we’ve got looks really strong and has a nice blend of youth and experience. Obviously we’ve got Tai at number one and he’s the best rider in the world at the moment, but he’s got some great back up in the five guys with him

Alun Rossiter

“The team we’ve got looks really strong and has a nice blend of youth and experience. Obviously we’ve got Tai at number one and he’s the best rider in the world at the moment, but he’s got some great back up in the five guys with him,” continued Rossiter.

“Cookie (Craig Cook) seems to have found his form again and was brilliant in Cardiff, Chris Harris has been racing really well for both Poole and Glasgow and everybody knows how excited we are about young Dan Bewley. He is getting better and better and it’ll be great to see him make his debut for us.

“Stevie Worrall had a tough time with his injury but he’s coming back and starting to get back up to speed, he had a brilliant season last year and hopefully he can get back to full fitness and start producing what we know he’s capable of. Lastly we’ve got Adam Ellis who is somebody I know well from Swindon and he’s having a great year, he’s really come on and he fully deserves his call-up.

The Australia Team is set to be announced in the next 24 hours however they will be led by current World Champion Jason Doyle, providing he passes a fitness test this week, and 2012 World Champion Chris Holder who is set to race on British soil for only the second time all year.