Flyin’ Ryan wins Ben Fund Bonanza

FLYIN’ Ryan Douglas became the tenth individual winner of the annual 2022 Thermo Homes Ben Fund Bonanza meeting after a near-perfect afternoon at Peterborough’s sun-soaked East of England Arena on Sunday.

The Scunthorpe No 1 continued his highly impressive start to the season which also saw him win the Josh Auty Testimonial at the Eddie Wright Raceway.

Two years after the meeting was last staged at Scunthorpe, crowds flocked to the East Midlands in great numbers in support of our flagship event.

Reacting to his first ever Ben Fund win, Ryan said: “Things ran very smoothly for me all afternoon. It was a new challenge being in the five-rider final but I’ absolutely stoked to have won.

“Me and Sam [Masters] seem to be going well at testimonials at the minute. We got a 1-2 in Lewi Kerr’s last weekend as well but it was nice for me to beat him in this one!

“I’ve done the six-rider final at Belle Vue last season, that was pretty wild but I’m really happy this time that I got out in front and didn’t have to battle too hard. It was great fun though.

“The track was really nice to ride. To start with it was a little bit heavy as is usual here and as it settled down a bit I felt like I had plenty of speed.”

“Really, it was anyone’s to win in that final. I knew I was quick enough to do it but I knew I’d have to get a good gate if I wanted to win and thankfully I did.”

SRBF Chairman Paul Ackroyd was delighted with the outcome of the afternoon’s proceedings, not just with the racing but also the public support.

He said: “This has been a very successful Ben Fund Bonanza. It’s a little early to estimate the total raised but this is something we hope to confirm in the coming days.

“I’d like to place on record my thanks to the staff and volunteers at Peterborough, the riders and everybody who turned out to support this year’s Ben Fund Bonanza.

“I’d also like to thank all of the amazing sponsors who donated generously to this year’s event. We have very lucky with our sponsors this year.

“And to everybody who stayed behind for the race jacket/fork covers auction, we again extend our thanks to you for your generosity.

“Not only did we have a fantastic crowd, but we were also treated to some brilliant racing and I hope everybody who came had a great time.”

(SRBF Press Release)