Fri, 30th Jul 2010
Thurrock Sport
Former Hammers mascot choose ice racing
10:20pm Thursday 31st December 2009
FORMER Lakeside Hammers mascot Rhys Naylor is breaking new ground this winter by swapping shale speedway tracks for ice.
The 16-year-old rider has been invited to compete in the Extreme International Ice Racing (XIIR) tour in the United States and Canada.
Pitsea-based Naylor rode for the King’s Lynn Barracudas speedway team last season but was invited to cross the pond to race on frozen tracks.
“He has never had a chance to race on ice before, so he will be going into it as a greenhorn,” said the teenager’s dad Tom Naylor.
“He was asked if he wanted to go to America to do ice racing and he jumped at it with open arms.
“For a 16-year-old it’s a great opportunity and he will make a lot of contacts out there.
“He has got a lot of talent and I’m in awe of it. I will miss him a lot but it’s a great chance for him and I never dreamed for one minute that he would do anything like this.”
Naylor jetted off for America on Sunday and goes straight into action this weekend at Independence, Missouri, in a two-day meeting at the Independence Events Center.
He will spend three months criss-crossing America and Canada to race motorbikes on ice circuits.
Like standard speedway machines, the bikes have no brakes but more than 2,000 metal studs are added to the tyres to give the riders grip.
Each rider races in heats of four competitors with the winners progressing to the finals.
The XIIR tour also features quad-bike racing on ice.
Riding in the XIIR is the culmination of a mixed year for Naylor, who started his speedway love affair with the Great Wakering Rebels cycle speedway club as a youngster.
High points in 2009 have been participating in the pre-meeting entertainment at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium twice, being crowned British under-15 250cc champion and getting a chance to ride for King’s Lynn Barracudas.
The low for him was his disappointment at his performance last season for the Barracudas, only finishing the season on a three-point average.
“But he has taken heart in the fact that he has been invited to ride in the XIIR tour,” said his proud mum Debbie, who admitted it had been a struggle to get everything sorted out for Naylor to compete but said it has been worthwhile.
After cutting his teeth in cycle speedway, the former Chalvedon School pupil became the mascot for Lakeside Hammers and switched to motorbikes.
He was given his chance to race with the Barracudas, which are the King’s Lynn Stars’ youth team, at the Norfolk Arena this season.
Naylor, who has already been asked to ride in the XIIR tour next winter, is due to return to the UK in March and hopes to secure a team place back at King’s Lynn.
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