'Rider availability' sparks testimonial rethink for Poole favourite Newman

Pirates favourite Kyle Newman revealed how “rider availability” had forced a rethink over the date of his Wimborne Road testimonial.

The event had been set to begin British speedway’s 2024 calendar at Poole on March 13.

But with a number of clubs set to host their annual press and practice sessions on the same day, as well as a full fixture list in Poland, Newman’s testimonial has had to be postponed.

The 32-year-old said: "It is a big shame that we can't launch the season with my testimonial meeting but rider availability has effectively squashed those hopes.

“I want to emphasise that this is beyond the control of Poole Speedway and I would like to express my grateful thanks to Dan Ford for all the help he has given me in trying to get the meeting up and running.

“We are continuing to work closely together on finding an alternative date and hopefully we will be able to announce something in the very near future."

Newman is set to celebrate a career which has seen him race for Pirates in a total of six seasons, across three different spells.

He rode for Poole last year but has joined Plymouth in the SGB Championship for the 2024 campaign.

Pirates promoter Danny Ford stated: "We really feel for Kyle over this.

“We know that he is very keen to put together a strong and competitive line-up for his big night, as you would expect, and whilst we thought we had overcome one major obstacle when we brought the date forward originally, events have since conspired against us.

“We are determined to find an alternative date for him that would allow for Kyle to have the best choice of riders as possible and we apologise to anyone who may have made plans for the 13^th of March.

“Our season will now commence on Good Friday (29th March) with the mouth-watering home clash with Oxford in BSN Series Southern Group.

(Picture: Taylor Lanning Photography)