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PLYMOUTH racer Kyle Newman may have had a frustrating start to 2024 after being all but forced to cancel his testimonial at Poole but he still heads into the new season with reason to be cheerful. The 32-year-old has been racing for nearly two seasons with a broken left shoulder, suffered in Oxford Cheetahs’ comeback meeting against Scunthorpe at Cowley on April 13, 2022. Newman didn’t realise he had suffered the break at the time and raced on, even continuing with his off-track job as a painter and decorator. But eventually, the pain took its toll and he was forced to get some rest, before bouncing back with a strong end to the season at Redcar. He then put in a rocksolid performance for boyhood club Poole as they topped the Championship table in 2023. The injury did not help Newman, though, and while the sport’s top riders have the funds and/or contacts to get operations done quickly, usually in Poland, the Dorsetbased racer was forced to wait for surgery on the NHS. And it’s a wait far too many people will be familiar with in ‘Broken Britain’ 2024. Finally, Newman got to the head of the queue just before Christmas. Now he can look forward to hopefully a pain-free season as he returns to Plymouth colours for the first time since he captained the club in 2016. He said: “I am feeling really good in myself after the operation. I am just working on my fitness now and the bikes. I’m getting myself ready for the start of the season and hopefully we will begin with a bang. “The shoulder hurt all the time. There were certain movements and shapes on a bike that I couldn’t quite pull. I had to adapt my riding style a little bit and sometimes I felt I couldn’t push the bike where I needed to. But I am back working with my private physio now, pushing harder and harder. “The operation happened a month later than I would have liked but in a way, it also happened at the perfect time. I was at home over Christmas, so I could just sit and let it rest. SHOULDER His testimonial at Poole may have to wait but returning Plymouth star Kyle Newman still heads into 2024 with fresh momentum after a long-awaited shoulder operation. PAUL BURBIDGE caught up with him... “I am very happy with how it is healing up. It’s a lot more stable than it was before the operation, so the surgery has done its job. Now I just need to get the strength and mobility back into it. It will be ready for the start of the season – I am feeling good about it.” THE plan had been to make his comeback in his testimonial at Poole – originally scheduled for March 20. The meeting was then brought forward a week because Premiership riders have a media day on this date. But the new date of March 13, which would have made it British speedway’s opening meeting of 2024, also didn’t work. Newman struggled to put together a line-up, forcing him to postpone his big night for now. “It was a mixture of things,” he said. “Oxford and Leicester both have their press days on the same day. Unfortunately, they are my two most local Premiership teams. “There are a few riders from those teams who are keen to do it but they can’t because they have their club press days. Straight off the bat, that was 14 riders ruled out. “Then we have Kyle Howarth’s testimonial the next day at Sheffield and the Ben Fund Bonanza at Workington on the Saturday. These are both at northern tracks, so riders don’t necessarily want to travel all the way down to Poole one night and then go all the way back north for the next, especially at that time of year. There are a couple of Polish Test matches and training camps on that week as well. “I want to run a meeting at a good standard, where fans are going to want to pay to come and watch, and whichever way I looked at it there was always a stumbling block. “Dan Ford at Poole has been great. He has been trying to help out, as have Nigel Leahy and David Adams at Wessex Marine. Some guys just weren’t interested in riding; that’s always going to happen. But I got to a point where I had to commit and push on or call it off. I had only four riders who had agreed to do the meeting at that point and it just didn’t work. “Dan has said we will look to do it in the summer sometime. Obviously, we need to apply to the BSPL. I have spoken to Rob Godfrey and he has been supportive of the decision. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t get enough riders committed. If I had another five or six 24 speedway star February 17, 2024
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Pictures: STEVE HONE R TO THE WHEEL riders already committed at that point, I probably would have gone for it. But it is what it is. There is no point moping about it. I just need to plan a decent meeting later.” A summer date will hopefully bring Newman warmer weather and a better lineup. In an era when Championship clubs have nowhere near the same number of fixtures to accommodate that they used to have, he is hopeful another slot can be found. “I definitely think it’s feasible,” he said. “I have to sit down with Danny and pick a date. We will make sure there are no other fixtures on and make it more realistic to get a high standard of riders available to us. “You are never guaranteed the weather, especially in the UK. But you have a better chance in the summer, so it’s all looking pretty positive. I am not going to get grouchy or downbeat about the change. It’s done, we just have to try and find the best solution moving forward.” W T HEN the meeting does take place, Newman is keen to pay homage to some of his current and former clubs. “I will run it as a four-team tournament-style event with Poole, Plymouth, Somerset and Eastbourne as the teams,” he said. “That’s two of my former clubs that have shut down, so hopefully we can give some enjoyment to their fans who haven’t got speedway anymore. “I wanted to include clubs from my past in one way, shape or form. That was the best way we could look at doing it. With it being a four-team tournament, the boys can just go out there, go for broke and race. Hopefully the meeting will provide some good racing.” where they should be.” Newman has also won silverware in Plymouth colours, lifting the 2016 Championship Fours at Peterborough. He joined forces with now world No. 4 Jack Holder, who was then in only his second season in Europe. Then Australian Champion Brady Kurtz and his older brother Todd completed a rock-solid side. “That was the last time they won some silverware,” Newman said. “The plan is to try and bring some trophies back to the club. I was captain then and had a good time with Plymouth, so hopefully we can resurrect those happy times.” HE Devon club’s hopes of silverware suffered a setback last Friday after one of their star signings, Italian international Nicolas Covatti, sustained a broken arm and leg in a horror crash during an Argentine International Speedway Championship round at Bahia Blanca. Speaking to local media, Covatti pledged to do everything he could to get back on tour for the spring. But his injuries have potentially left Plymouth bosses Mark Phillips and Garry May with work to do. “It is a big blow losing Nico,” Newman said. “We will have to see what Garry can do but hopefully he can bring in someone suitable. “I don’t know how long Nico is out for – whether we are looking for someone to fill in or come in for the season. But hopefully we can find someone of quality to put in good performances. Losing Nico is a bitter pill to swallow for Garry and Mark.” At a very tight 216 metres in length, Plymouth’s track is the smallest in the country. Having raced there regularly before, as well as starting his Conference League career on Weymouth’s old 223-metre oval at the Wessex Stadium in 2007, Newman certainly has the experience and skills for the job. But he insisted: “There is no real secret to it – you just have to go out and find a setup that’s comfortable for you, especially around those little tracks. “Some people go to Plymouth and chase setups and what other people use there doesn’t necessarily work for you. The setup I use sounds a lot safer than what other people use but, for me, it works around there.” Getting physical also helps. Some riders prefer being able to hang on to the handlebars and fly around high-speed circuits like Manchester’s National Speedway Stadium. Manhandling their 500cc machines around Plymouth poses an entirely different test. That doesn’t faze Newman. “I don’t mind dropping an elbow over someone on the first turn,” he smiled. “At tracks like Plymouth and Edinburgh, you have to do that. I am working hard on my machinery, so hopefully I will be fully prepped and ready for the start of the season. I am looking forward to it.” Newman raced for Eastbourne in 2019 and 2021 and enjoyed some stellar seasons with Somerset in 2012 and 2013, winning a Premier League and Knockout Cup double in 2013 and the Premier League Cup in 2012. His record with Poole is pretty stellar, having been part of three Elite League title-winning seasons in 2011, 2014 and 2015. He also came within touching distance of a Championship treble with the Pirates in 2023, only to be left with just the BSN Series trophy after the club fell short in the play-off and Knockout Cup finals. It was expected that he would be back at Wimborne Road this season but it’s believed the unexpected availability of Great Britain international Tom Brennan prompted Poole into a rethink. Despite being forced to look elsewhere for a team, Newman didn’t have to search too far after Pirates’ south coast neighbours Plymouth made their move. He admits a much more long-haul option was also on the table. “I did talk to one club a lot further away, which would have required flying,” he revealed. “It very nearly came off but when Plymouth came on board and expressed an interest, it was good. It’s on a Saturday, not too far from home and I can drive it. It made more sense. I have had good experience there in the past and have an affinity with the club. I want to help restore them to February 17, 2024 speedway star 25

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PLYMOUTH racer Kyle Newman may have had a frustrating start to 2024 after being all but forced to cancel his testimonial at Poole but he still heads into the new season with reason to be cheerful.

The 32-year-old has been racing for nearly two seasons with a broken left shoulder, suffered in Oxford Cheetahs’ comeback meeting against Scunthorpe at Cowley on April 13, 2022.

Newman didn’t realise he had suffered the break at the time and raced on, even continuing with his off-track job as a painter and decorator. But eventually, the pain took its toll and he was forced to get some rest, before bouncing back with a strong end to the season at Redcar. He then put in a rocksolid performance for boyhood club Poole as they topped the Championship table in 2023.

The injury did not help Newman, though, and while the sport’s top riders have the funds and/or contacts to get operations done quickly, usually in Poland, the Dorsetbased racer was forced to wait for surgery on the NHS. And it’s a wait far too many people will be familiar with in ‘Broken Britain’ 2024.

Finally, Newman got to the head of the queue just before Christmas. Now he can look forward to hopefully a pain-free season as he returns to Plymouth colours for the first time since he captained the club in 2016.

He said: “I am feeling really good in myself after the operation. I am just working on my fitness now and the bikes. I’m getting myself ready for the start of the season and hopefully we will begin with a bang.

“The shoulder hurt all the time. There were certain movements and shapes on a bike that I couldn’t quite pull. I had to adapt my riding style a little bit and sometimes I felt I couldn’t push the bike where I needed to. But I am back working with my private physio now, pushing harder and harder.

“The operation happened a month later than I would have liked but in a way, it also happened at the perfect time. I was at home over Christmas, so I could just sit and let it rest.

SHOULDER His testimonial at Poole may have to wait but returning Plymouth star Kyle Newman still heads into 2024 with fresh momentum after a long-awaited shoulder operation. PAUL BURBIDGE caught up with him...

“I am very happy with how it is healing up. It’s a lot more stable than it was before the operation, so the surgery has done its job. Now I just need to get the strength and mobility back into it. It will be ready for the start of the season – I am feeling good about it.”

THE plan had been to make his comeback in his testimonial at Poole – originally scheduled for March 20. The meeting was then brought forward a week because Premiership riders have a media day on this date.

But the new date of March 13, which would have made it British speedway’s opening meeting of 2024, also didn’t work. Newman struggled to put together a line-up, forcing him to postpone his big night for now.

“It was a mixture of things,” he said. “Oxford and Leicester both have their press days on the same day. Unfortunately, they are my two most local Premiership teams.

“There are a few riders from those teams who are keen to do it but they can’t because they have their club press days. Straight off the bat, that was 14 riders ruled out.

“Then we have Kyle Howarth’s testimonial the next day at Sheffield and the Ben Fund Bonanza at Workington on the Saturday. These are both at northern tracks, so riders don’t necessarily want to travel all the way down to Poole one night and then go all the way back north for the next, especially at that time of year. There are a couple of Polish Test matches and training camps on that week as well.

“I want to run a meeting at a good standard, where fans are going to want to pay to come and watch, and whichever way I looked at it there was always a stumbling block.

“Dan Ford at Poole has been great. He has been trying to help out, as have Nigel Leahy and David Adams at Wessex Marine. Some guys just weren’t interested in riding; that’s always going to happen. But I got to a point where I had to commit and push on or call it off. I had only four riders who had agreed to do the meeting at that point and it just didn’t work.

“Dan has said we will look to do it in the summer sometime. Obviously, we need to apply to the BSPL. I have spoken to Rob Godfrey and he has been supportive of the decision.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t get enough riders committed. If I had another five or six

24 speedway star February 17, 2024

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