Wright: It’s anyone’s to win!
After 163 days, action resumes at the ECCO Arena with Charles Wright’s testimonial on Sunday with another exciting season ahead on Teesside.
Ahead of his meeting, Redcar skipper Charles Wright believes the event is “anyone’s to win” ahead of a mouthwatering individual event to kick off the 2024 season at the ECCO Arena with tapes going up at 3pm on Sunday!
Wright, who is heading into his 7th year as a Bear cannot pick a winner, ” I don’t think I could pick a winner, I don’t even think I could name 3 riders who will get on the podium as it’s such an open field! There’s a lot of good riders who know the ECCO Arena track very well such as Lewi Kerr and Danny King. There’s also a few big names who will be up there but I think there will be a few surprises as well.”
The line-up includes Grand Prix stars Freddie Lindgren and Dan Bewley with Redcar fans getting a rare opportunity to see elite level riders around the ECCO Arena.
Wright has added more stellar names to the meeting line-up including Chris Harris and Steve Worrall. Additionally, Wright’s former club, Belle Vue are well represented with Brady Kurtz, Norick Blodorn, Jaimon Lidsey and Ben Cook joining Wright on his special day. Additionally, home fans will have Jason Edwards, Jonas Knudsen, Danny King and Jake Mulford (at reserve) to cheer on. There are also a multitude of former Bears in the line-up including Lewi Kerr, Jake Allen, Richard Lawson, Erik Riss and Jye Etheridge.
The former British Champion also explained what goes into running such a meeting, ” Since the end of 2023 it has been non-stop really with planning the meeting. It has taken all winter to plan it all so hopefully it will be a good day for me and my family.”
The testimonial man also discussed why he chose to run an individual meeting instead of a team match, ” There is a lot more planning as I have to find more riders and get more rider sponsorship so I actually took on a bigger task! However, it’s the way I wanted to do it and I think this is the best format as everyone likes a semi-final and a final!”
The British star also discussed how World number 2 Freddie Lindgren came to race in the meeting, ” In recent years, Freddie has been known to do some early season meetings here so it was pretty easy to get him in the line-up! Freddie is doing the Peter Craven memorial at Belle Vue so my meeting tied in quite well. I think Freddie uses these meetings to test and practise before he gets his Polish season underway.”
The mainstay of the Bears septet also explained why he decided not to race in his testimonial, ” I decided not to ride so I could enjoy the day, spend time with the family and interact with the fans as much as possible. If I was racing I would’ve been focused on winning so this was the best way for me to ensure I could enjoy the day as much as possible.”
Finally, Wright admitted there was only ever going to be one place where his testimonial was held, ” It was a very easy decision to host the meeting at Redcar, I have been with the club a long time so Redcar was the obvious choice.”
Entry prices for Wright’s landmark day have been confirmed with adults @ £22, concessions @ £20, 10-16 year olds @ £5 with under 10’s free of charge. Any supporters who are unable to attend the meeting are advised that the meeting will be live streamed on BSN for £12.99. watch.britishspeedway.co.uk
Charles Wright Testimonial Draw:
- Jason Edwards (Redcar)
- Brady Kurtz (Belle Vue)
- Norick Blodorn (Belle Vue)
- Lewi Kerr (Berwick)
- Danny King (Redcar)
- Richard Lawson (Poole)
- Freddie Lindgren (GB unattached)
- Steve Worrall (Glasgow)
- Ben Cook (Belle Vue)
- Jye Etheridge (Berwick)
- Dan Bewley (Belle Vue)
- Jaimon Lidsey (Belle Vue)
- Jake Allen (Scunthorpe)
- Erik Riss (GB unattached)
- Jonas Knudsen (Redcar)
- Chris Harris (Glasgow)
- Reserve: Jake Mulford (Redcar)