PREVIEW: Best Of British at Oxford on Sunday afternoon

OXFORD SPEEDWAY will be the venue for the 21st staging of the prestigious British Under-19 Final at Sandy Lane on Sunday afternoon (3pm). Along with the Grand Final of the Cab Direct Championship between Oxford Cheetahs and Poole Pirates on Saturday evening, it forms part of a fantastic weekend of action at Oxford Stadium.

The competition was first staged in 2004 – when it was the British Under-18 Championship – and has a very impressive roll of honour.

Treble World Champion Tai Woffinden won the meeting twice (in 2007 and 2008) – incidentally, Woffinden will be at Oxford Stadium on for a live talk show on Tuesday evening (October 8), for a night of speedway chat, some previously untold stories and some exclusive views. Tickets are on sale at: https://portal.offbeattickets.com/o/Woffinden

Another former British Under-19 Champion is Dan Bewley (the winner in 2018), who has won the British Grand Prix at Cardiff twice and finished as World No 4 this season, as well as leading his club Belle Vue to victory in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.

Oxford Speedway will be represented by five riders – Ashton Boughen, Luke Killeen, Jody Scott, Ashton Vale and Senna Summers. The latter four all ride for the Real Mini Company Oxford Chargers powered by SD Timmo Car Sales in the WSRA National League.

In a mouth-watering line-up, all 16 riders except Boughen compete in the NL; eight are part of a one-to-seven in the Cab Direct Championship; while Boughen and Killeen ride in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership for the OXS Oxford Spires.

17-year-old Boughen and 19-year-old Killeen will start the afternoon as two of the favourites, but they will face stiff competition from the likes of Max James, Vinnie Foord, Luke Harrison and 15-year-old wonderkid William Cairns.

Jody Scott – aged 17 – can’t be discounted, as he looks to profit on the experience gained from recent appearances for the Monarch Oxford Cheetahs.

16-year-old Ashton Vale is in his first full of NL racing with the Real Mini Company Oxford Chargers powered by SD Timmo Car Sales.

Vale said: “I’ve had a really enjoyable time riding for the Oxford Chargers this season. We all get on well as a team, while I’ve learnt a lot from the Oxford skipper Luke Killeen, because he also rides in the higher leagues.

“I rode for Kent at the end of last season, but Oxford is very different, because it’s such an impressive stadium. It was maybe slightly intimidating to race around Oxford at first, but once you’ve got the fans cheering you on, it’s great and it’s been good for my confidence.

“It’s also been fantastic having Peter Schroeck as my team manager. I’ve known him for a long time – he helped train me up when I was a little boy at Rye House. He’s always encouraging us and pushing us on so that we progress as riders.

“During this year, I moved up from reserve to the main body of the side, and that was quite hard, because you’re then facing the heat-leaders more often, and many of them also ride in the Championship, but that’s all part of improving as a rider so it’s all good.

“I also got the opportunity to be the No 8 for the Oxford Cheetahs at both Redcar and Glasgow. Sam Masters and Scott Nicholls are top riders and when I’m around them, I try to be like a sponge and take in as much information as possible.

“Of course, every rider in the British Under-19 Final wants to end up as the champion. I’ve got this year and another three years after this year to do that. I’m looking for a good afternoon at Oxford, to do as well as I can, to figure out where I stand compared to the guys in it who already ride in the Championship, and to give my confidence a further boost.”

Tickets are already on sale on the Oxford Speedway website at https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/

Admission is available at the early bird price of just £12 for all adults, which increases to £14 on Race Day. All under-16s go free. A reminder that Oxford Speedway is online ticket sales only – tickets remain on sale on the website until the start-time of the meeting. Please note any tickets purchased for the original rained off date have transferred to the new date.

There will be no Unipart car parking or shuttle bus available. The good news is that supporters can park at the stadium. All parking will be onsite from 12.30pm (admission from 1pm).

Season Passes are NOT valid on Sunday or for the remainder of the season. All 28 meetings (12 Spires, 11 Cheetahs and 5 Chargers) covered by the Ultimate Pass have all taken place.

MEETING FORMAT: Points are scored 3-2-1-0 in each of the 20 programmed heats. The rider who has accumulated the most points at the completion of Heat 20 will be crowned the 2024 British Under-19 Champion. Should two or more riders be tied for any of the rostrum places, a run-off will be required.

Revised line-up for British Under-19 Final on Sunday, October 6 at 3pm:

1. Lee Harrison, 2. Ashton Boughen, 3. Freddy Hodder, 4. Jody Scott, 5. Sonny Springer, 6. Luke Killeen, 7. Jamie Etherington, 8. Vinnie Foord, 9. William Cairns, 10. Ashton Vale, 11. Max Perry, 12. Stene Pijper, 13. Ace Pijper, 14. Luke Harrison, 15. Senna Summers, 16. Max James. Reserves: Harrison Rogers and Joe Crewe.

PHOTO: Ashton Vale and Senna Summers (pic: Steve Edmunds)