Jordan Palin calls it a day

19-YEAR-OLD Jordan Palin has quit speedway – due to the injuries that he sustained at Belle Vue’s National Speedway Stadium in July 2022.

The Scunthorpe asset suffered a bleed to the brain and a seizure in a first bend pile-up during a Great Britain training day in Manchester. After several days in hospital, he was discharged, but told the risks by doctors of a further accident.

Palin told Speedway Star magazine: “The risk was another big crash and head injury and I could have life-changing injuries and it could change my quality of life forever, relying on other people.

“I just sat down with my mum and dad and made the big decision. My initial plan was to take a year out and get back fit and come back. After that I got banned from driving for about a year because of the head injury and it caused loads of problems.

“I started working with my dad [a gas pipe fitter] and, as the months went by, I adapted to a normal life and enjoyed it. I wondered then whether the risk was really worth it. My decision is that it wasn’t. The risk wasn’t worth the reward.”

He also said: “I look back now and I don’t regret anything. I loved it while I was doing it. Speedway was great to me but I have moved on now.”

Palin was one of the hottest young properties in British Speedway, who learnt to ride on the training track at Scunthorpe’s Eddie Wright Raceway, under the guidance of Wayne Carter.

The Beverley-born rider started his career at Belle Vue in the National League in 2019, although he had already signed a contract with local club Scunthorpe before the start of that season. He also won the senior class of the British Youth Championship in 2019, while his long-awaited debut for Scorpions was delayed from 2020 to 2021 due to Covid.

He enjoyed a terrific first season in the two fully professional leagues in 2021. He helped Peterborough to the Premiership title, while his form for Attis Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions in the Championship was little short of sensational.

Palin top-scored for Scunthorpe in only his third-ever home appearance for the club, with 11+1 against Eastbourne and then posted 16+2 against Edinburgh at the EWR. Before the season was out, he registered his first paid maximum for Scorpions, with 11+1 against Birmingham. His calculated match average for Scorpions (minus the expunged Eastbourne matches) was 6.02.

In 2022, Palin made the transition into the top five of the Scunthorpe line-up. It wasn’t all plain sailing, but he had still averaged 5.36 from 13 meetings for Scorpions before his injury.

Everyone at Scunthorpe Speedway wishes Jordan and his family all the best for the future.

For a more in-depth interview with Jordan Palin, please buy the latest issue of Speedway Star magazine from: https://www.speedwaystar.net/

PHOTO: Jordan Palin out in front on Good Friday in 2022 (PIC: IAN RISPIN)