Ben Fund Bonanza preview

CRACKING MEETING STARTS SPEEDWAY SEASON

THE brand-new speedway season gets underway at Scunthorpe’s Eddie Wright Raceway on Saturday afternoon (2pm), with the highly-prestigious Ben Fund Bonanza, sponsored by the Sheffield Window Centre.

The Bonanza raises funds for the vitally important Speedway Riders’ Benevolent Fund charity, which provides money for both short-term and long-term injured riders, as well as offering them other crucial support when needed.

It is the first of two big individual meetings that kick off the 16th season of racing at the North Lincolnshire track, with the Josh Auty testimonial following on Sunday, March 22nd at 3pm.

The Ben Fund Bonanza will have two very special guests.

Sam Norris was fighting for his life on a life-support machine last June, after a serious accident at Glasgow left him in a coma. The Suffolk rider was just 15 at the time of his accident. He’s now back on a bike and is taking his GCSEs this year, while he will be making the presentations to the riders on Saturday.

Ricky Ashworth is making his first return to the Eddie Wright Raceway, since his life-changing accident during a Scunthorpe v Berwick clash in August 2013 that left him a coma for 91 days. The Salford-born rider spent most of his career riding for Sheffield Tigers. It is bound to be an emotional return for Ricky on Saturday.

The Ben Fund has not only provided vital help and support to both Sam and Ricky and other injured riders, but has also assisted the family of Danny Ayres, the tragic Scunthorpe Scorpion who lost his battle with mental health at the start of February.

Organiser and Ben Fund secretary Paul Ackroyd said: “It’s more important than ever for people to support the Ben Fund meeting this season.

“Sheffield Window Centre are the meeting sponsors, and Ian Hunter was telling me he’s in awe of the good work done by the fund. He loves speedway and tells me we’re one of the most credible aspects of the entire sport.”

Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey is proud to be staging the Bonanza at Scunthorpe for a second time – Dane Hans Andersen won the 2011 event at the Eddie Wright Raceway.

Godfrey, who is also the chairman for British Speedway, said: “This is such an important event for British Speedway and I’m delighted to be holding it at Scunthorpe.

“People may think the Ben Fund just dish out a bit of money here and there to riders who have been injured and all they do is send out a few cheques now and again, but it is so much more than that.

“There’s the incredible support that they gave to Ricky Ashworth after his crash in 2013, plus the same with young Sam Norris last year.

“More recently, we’ve had the Danny Ayres tragedy, which knocked the whole of British Speedway for six, including us all at Scunthorpe Speedway. The Ben Fund were straight into contact with Danny’s family, to help out financially and to be there to offer ongoing support.

“It doesn’t matter what age or what standard a rider is, or was, the Ben Fund is there to help.”

An attractive line-up features former British Champion Danny King, plus a wealth of riders with international experience.

A quartet of Scunthorpe Scorpions are on display: Josh Auty, Thomas Jorgensen, Tero Aarnio and Simon Lambert.

Admission prices are £20 adults, £15 concessions, £10 for children aged 12-16 and under 12s go free. A souvenir programme is available for £4.

2020 BEN FUND BONANZA LINE-UP:

Josh Auty, James Wright, Aaron Summers, Ben Barker, Steve Worrall, Danny King, Lewis Kerr, Tom Bacon, Paul Starke, Tero Aarnio, Thomas Jorgensen, Connor Mountain, Andreas Jensen, Anders Rowe, Simon Lambert, Kasper Andersen.