Dan takes the title

REPORT Thursday 26th October 2023, 2:52pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs Academy

The final big individual meeting of the year took place at Birmingham Speedway last night when pre-meeting favourite Dan Thompson became British Under-19 Champion.

Dan has been out injured since mid-August so fitness must have been his main concern, but he overcame that and defeated Nathan Ablitt in a run-off after both had scored 14 points. Dan's twin Joe came third with 12 points.

Mickie Simpson of the Monarchs Academy scored 7 points and was often in the thick of things. Mickie was one of the riders prepared to use the outside line which became more productive as the night went on. Racing warmed up after a slow start.

The other Academy representative was the very inexperienced Mark Parker who withdrew after a crash in his second ride. Mark will hopefully be able to spend the winter doing a lot more riding, as he has made strides this year with the meetings he has had.

It remains to be seen what the future of National League-level racing will be, with Berwick, Kent and Workington not competing at this level in 2024.