King fit and raring to go!
Redcar’s marquee winter signing Danny King is fully aware that his first appearance at the South Tees Motorsports Park in mid-March is set to be physically demanding.
The 2016 British Champion, who led Poole Pirates to a second successive league and cup double last season, joins Charles Wright, who won the title three years later, and twice former World Longtrack Champion Eric Riss to form arguably the strongest spearhead in the Championship.
And the vastly experienced King will start not only among the favourites for the Robbo Farewell individual meeting – run in aid of former Bears’ favourite Stuart Robson, but is also keen to get heavily involved in the club’s 24-hour ‘Bikeathon’ which will run through the night across Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th.
“I’m fit and raring to go,” pronounced the 36-year old from Huntingdon, who broke several ribs in a crash at the tail end of last season, adding of his support of the unpowered event which is aimed at raising funds for the much respected Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund:
“I’m pretty new to cycling and don’t do loads of it – I’m more of a runner – but there are a few of us go out who go out and cycle early mornings a couple of times a week.
“I’ve said I’ll do a couple of slots (currently set for Saturday afternoon) and come back and maybe do another the following morning but, as I’m also racing, I need to get some rest so unfortunately there’s no way I’ll be cycling during the night.
Club bosses Gavin Parr and Jamie Swales aim to do the entire ride, with ten minute breaks every couple of hours and King expects to peddle alongside them and his elder brother Jason – another former rider who now lives in Newcastle.
“Jason’s quite a keen cyclist with a turbo charger in his garage and I think he’s out there most nights – he loves it,” continues the younger sibling.
“I intend to stay near him, Gavin and Jamie and hold on as long as possible.”
King has always been a huge supporter of the charity, which exists to support riders who have fallen on tough times, usually due to injury.
He is also competing in his eighth Ben Fund Bonanza at King’s Lynn the following weekend and could become the most successful exponent of all time at the event.
The married father of two, now 36, won the Ben Fund meeting at Scunthorpe in 2020 and has finished third on three other occasions so his tally of 63 points in seven meetings trails former Redcar skipper Ben Barker by just five points at the top of the all-time list of scorers.
“I like to do as many meeting like testimonials and the Ben Fund as possible as they do provide excellent practice and a chance to test your bikes – your going from the tapes with three other guys and there’s nothing resting on it.
“It’s OK practising on your own – you might feel fast but until you are alongside others you have no idea how fast you really are.
“It’s around now that I start to get really excited – when I’m bike building I start to really look forward to it and and finished the first bike yesterday.
“It’s like being a kid at Christmas, starting from scratch and building it up from nothing and when they start to take shape and you get to the stage when you start it up again for the first time, that’s a great feeling – when you begin to get the ‘vibes’ back!
Anyone interested in supporting the epic fund-raising venture can do so via: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/srbf?utm_term=mP88wRK4v